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Testing out a new tasty little melon inspired by dino eggs

As the summer solstice passes, a very 'spring to summer' plant comes to mind- oso berry. They are pretty much the very first native plant to bloom in our area, a PNW herold to spring. And around the summer solstice is when their oso-dangly fruits ripen. Previously known still as "Indian plum", the progress of renaming plants to remove the colonial offensiveness is in favor of oso berry. “June plum” is better too and helping highlight the deep purple berries.They are a native

I will never forget being puzzled by a large tree, trying to ID it during a plant monitoring project but the leaves were all too high up and young to distinguish. So I climbed it. That’s when I had the “oh duh!” moment. Looking closer at a small branch, the large paired thorns below leaves of many pinnate leaflets were a total give away- that’s a black locust tree! Quite pretty actually, but still not a tree I especially like. Dang, not what we wanted to find. botanist,

What's the best way to get rid of weeds? Eat them, of course! And we are hitting prime dandelion season, so it's time to get digging. And roasting. And sauteing. While weeding the older dandelions out of the yard which are ready to bloom right away (continuing to spruce up the area after a tenant's prior neglect), I filled a 5gal tub with some decent sized taprooted dandies and nice tender young ones for their leaves. Naturally I needed to pluck out the pristine ones for

You know how it is. When you're a pretty little thing with a brown complexion, folks tend to nickname ya "Chocolate". Not that I have anything against actual chocolate. Cocoa. Theobroma cocoa is her full name actually and boy what a fascinating lady. But we ain't even in the same order, let alone the same family. Just got a color in common. Needless to say, I also don't have Cocoa's bittersweet flavors. But we do have some bulbous parts (pardon my French) and we are e

There are dozens of flavors for vodkas on the liquor shelves, some fruity, some floral. As delightful as a toasted marshmallow vodka can make your cocktail, I have found a new favorite. And it's one you WON'T find on any store shelf (unless you have a special boutique and botanical liquor store, lucky you!). Ribes sanguineum (red flowering currant) in full bloom on early sunny spring day I was admiring the red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum) in my yard, the very rich

I would bet this plant is among those that most people, even the botanically interested, would pass right by. Rosy twisted-stalks, and other twisted-stalks (we have several in the PNW) look like a cute zip-zagging plant similar to Solomon's seals. But if you lift one up you'll see- I think of it like the classic romantic scene moment where the confident love-interest lifts the chin of the bashful beauty for a kiss that says "I love you for you and see just how beautiful you