Rio Rose

Chaga can definitely be found in the wild in the lower 48, though relatively rare. I’ve read it infects about 1 in 20,000 birch trees and it certainly seems to me I check that many before finding some!

Some things I’ve learned about Chaga: it should only be harvested from a living tree. Chaga will eventually kill its host tree, at which point it produces spores and is no longer as beneficial medicinally.

Chaga should not be consumed every day for long periods of time, especially not in high doses. There is apparently such a thing as too many antioxidants! It seems to be best used periodically or when you need it vs. in a daily regimen.

As far as foraging ethics: I personally will not harvest the entirety of the chaga on any given tree. In fact I revisit chaga bearing trees for years, harvesting here and there. That’s just me. It feels greedy to do otherwise, and harvesting only what I need allows me repeated harvests - Chaga takes a long time to complete its life cycle.

I encourage everyone to their own research and to listen your body. Happy and safe hunting and wild medicine making.

You know the saying, Nature abhors a vacuum?

I think you are missing half of the solution. You’ve got the first half - removal by hand. But you’ve then left a vacuum which is happily and promptly filled by your nemesis.

I’d be asking myself if there’s a plant that fills a similar niche (acidic soil loving, shade tolerant, low growing, tenacious) that you wouldn’t mind having everywhere until it runs its course or fulfills it’s biological need in your landscape.

Once you’ve got a target list you can start introducing them into your sorrel spots. My two cents.

I don’t have any potential plant suggestions except possibly miners lettuce, Claytonia species. It makes a tender and lovely salad green and for me anyhow, grows on the same sort of spots as the sheep sorrel. Good luck! 🍀

Rose-hip purée in place of tomatoes in pizza sauce is surprisingly on point. Combined with all the other aromatics you might find in a tomato based pizza sauce, (herbs, garlic, etc.) you might not even guess it didn’t contain tomato.

It must be Pie.

We are fishing folk near-ish to Glacier NP - last season on the water over the span of several months we saw sick and/or dead: black bear, bald eagle, merganser, grouse, turkey - all in the same general area, all on or adjacent to the river. Many of these animals were collected by fish and game and bird flu was suspected (but not yet confirmed) for all including the black bear.

Our small wild bird populations (songbirds) do not seem affected judging by our observations, and my research indicates songbirds are the least vulnerable of all wild bird types. The birds we saw sick or dead were the sort most commonly associated with Avian Flu (waterfowl, poultry, and those who feed on them, the raptors).

There have been confirmed cases of Grizzly Bear in the park with Avian Flu (2023) - those bears were euthanized, and exhibited the same symptoms as the black bear we encountered. Flathead and Glacier Counties have both confirmed cases of Avian Flu in domestic poultry flocks as well. It is definitely here. And whether or not what we witnessed was Avian Flu as we suspect, something odd is afoot (and awing), in these parts.

Fermentation is fabulous. I wouldn't make it through winter without it. Fermentation is like a secret the modern world doesn't want us to know:  
Wait....bacteria can be....good, even healthy??? Egads!!!
Wait...preservatives are not the only way to keep food from going bad??? Mon Dieu!!!
Wait...it can make food even more delicious??? Woohooo!!!

My life is so much richer, now that fermentation is well and truly in it. My body is healthier, my taste buds party at every meal. I save a ton of money, I waste less food. Experimentation keeps my mind alive. Stacking functions like it's going out of style!

Hi Kate! Cheese and now sourdough, hooray and thank you!

I've been doing the sourdough bread dance every week for several years now, but still have much to learn. My goal was always to be able to bake like my ancestors, without a scale, without analyzing hydration, just by my hands in the dough. But first I had to learn the  basics. I delved deep into recipes and forums and measured every last particle to the gram like the experts said you must. For years. Technical and intimidating, both.

Once I started getting comfortable with that process, I wanted whole grain that I milled at home, not the shelf-stable stuff on grocery shelves. Fresh-milled flours perform quite differently, and 100% whole grain is harder to make lofty. My loaves went from wondrous to wonky.

Every layer of this process that I uncover, there is another beneath. I am only just getting to a place where I can make a delicious intuitive whole grain bread (no measuring of flour, starter, water or salt). Though I have yet to make a whole grain loaf that rises to the heavens like that sifted shelf stuff.

Still - years later, the number one hardest thing is the timing of it all, and fitting that into a life chock full of other demands. Now that I'm using fresh-milled flours, I am soaking them anywhere from 4-12 hours prior to adding starter. It makes a difference, but is an added time constraint that takes my bakes to three days of process.
Even without the soaking, it's a long haul, the timing of which is dictated by your wee sour-inducing beasties, not you.

How then, to not be held hostage by your bread baking schedule? My dream sourdough baking book would contain tips and tricks for just that.

As an example - and this is something I've never read in any book or forum, but I recently learned (out of necessity, as midnight came and went) it's possible to retard (refrigerate) your dough during bulk ferment instead of the traditional final proof, if your life blows up and you can't keep waiting on it. The bread that emerged from this reverse process, was excellent. That was a freeing lesson!

In hindsight I think it is so much more important to have a good understanding of the science and why bakers do all those technical moves, the secret lives of yeast and bacteria. That good understanding will allow us novice bakers to pivot, explore, make it more of a creative process than simply following another’s route.

You’ve nailed all my issues - the perfection and analysis paralysis is real too. But I’d tell my early baking self that sourdough is like the rest of life, you can’t let fear of messing up stop you. And I would never have believed this in the beginning, but I’ve eaten every single one of my failed lumpy brick-like loaves, and loved them. Eat your failure! You might be surprised at how delicious it is. It’s fun, too. I look forward to reading your work!

Family heirloom vinegar mother, how cool is that! Mine is nowhere near so venerable, but perhaps my experience will help you. I've been keeping a homemade crabapple vinegar for some time with mother on top - it is exquisite. Or rather, it was...

The last time I removed some to use, I found it seemed almost bland, or watery.  It was enough of a change that I did not use it and relegated it to the back of my mind and pantry. Then, while listening to a podcast featuring fermentation teacher Sandor Katz, he speaks about vinegar losing acidity when exposed to oxygen. In an open vessel, once the alcohol is gone (leaving vinegar) the acetobacter will consume the acetic acid it has just produced and the product will be degraded.

He recommends keeping your fermentation vessel full with minimal oxygen at all times, instead of taking some off the top to use as you need it. When you want vinegar you decant and fill smaller jars (preferably the sort with narrow necks, to the rim), keep those sealed until needed, and refresh your main fermentation vessel back to full. If there is visible air gap in your crock at times, this might be the issue.

Good luck, may your lovely mother live long and nourish future generations!

Regarding Cast Iron: I recently purchased a Tetsubin cast iron tea pot to live on my wood stove, where it has been performing admirably for the better part of a month. My only critique thus far is that rust spots are starting to appear in the spout (above the normal water line), and tea left overnight develops some unsightly blotches on top, almost reminiscent of oil. My old tea pot (stainless steel) I could leave tea in overnight with no problem, and refresh the next day. Supposedly this type of teapot adds beneficial amounts of iron back into your beverage, but if that's what is going on, I am not inspired to drink a liquid with unidentified blotches on it.  The manufacturers recommend to dry it out thoroughly after each use, but it can be hard for me to remember to empty and dry the tea pot at night - this time of year, sleep descends with the ferocity of a hammer not all that long past dark, and usually with teacup at hand. It was expensive and I'm sticking with it for now, but the rust issue seems a fatal flaw whose only workaround is extra care on the tea maker's part. Those copper pots are beautiful!

If I could have one instant gratification upgrade to my life today, it would be about food: every now and again, I would love someone to prepare me delicious food I can feel good about, and do the dishes after.

Once upon a time, that wish was easily granted - in restaurant form. All one needed was money, the options were endless. But for me at least, things have changed.

The problem with taking charge of my own health and diet for years now, is that I have changed my biome. Even if my taste buds were fooled into thinking this food is acceptable, my body is not. Every restaurant experience for the last six plus years has ended with me feeling queasy and generally unwell. It is salt in the wound that I paid money for the experience.

I live in a remote place where food service options are limited and far from my preferences, which compounds the issue further. I recently traveled to see family, and in more urban environs was able to indulge my food fantasies. Farm to table - clean - ethical - sustainable eateries DO still exist. But at $52 for a single plate of braised short-rib and $38 for a pasta dish with heirloom vegetables, well - that pushes it back into fantasy realm for me. I even spied a single steak valued at $350 - an animal that had been honored from inception, apparently.

So much for instant gratification in the food realm. I’m about to braise the venison neck of a buck I hunted alone last year in the mountains near my home and processed myself - he’s been marinating in wild Oregon Grape wine and spices for several days - also harvested and processed myself - served over vegetables I’ve grown with sourdough I've baked of local home-milled flour. Months of effort for a single dish prepared over days. Price tag:  impossible to calculate.

Whatever the opposite of instant gratification is - that is the life I’ve chosen. Most days, I view it as a privilege. But oh how I wish the rest of the world thought clean food was as important as I do. It would not be so hard for us to be well fed and healthy. Food shops and restaurants everywhere would be places of nourishment, instead of experiences which leave us depleted. And farmers would be revered - Heroes of Legend. A girl can dream.