Chestnut Herbal School
Garlic mustard
Last updated on June 9th, 2023

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor - Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata, Brassicaceae) is one of our earlier wild spring greens. With a flavor slightly reminiscent of mild arugula and roasted garlic, it makes a nice addition in salads with milder wild greens like chickweed and violets. I find that its flavor doesn’t [...]
River bed
Last updated on June 8th, 2023

Water

WaterWritten and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor - Cherished water, teacher of infinite lessons and giver of life, May I possess the grace and wisdom to know when to rest in a shallow still pool and when to jump into the current’s strong pull.  As I bump up against the temporary solidness of rocks and yield [...]
Wild greens on a bagel.
Last updated on October 17th, 2023

Wild Greens Bagel

One of my favorite breakfast dishes; a heart-friendly, wild foods/herbal version of the classic toasted bagel—Violet leaves and flowers and chickweed greens with a raw garlic olive oil sauce atop a whole grain bagel. Both chickweed and violets are rich in anti-oxidant vitamins and the violet flowers are colored by bio-flavanoids.

Yellowroot growing next to a stream.
Last updated on June 9th, 2023

Yellowroot

– Yellowroot’s elegant, subtle maroon flowers are just emerging in March in the mountains of North Carolina.  This native shrub in the buttercup family prefers the dappled sunlight and silty soils of the streamside and floodplain, but will tolerate drier soil in cultivation.  Yellowroot grows abundantly in central and southern Appalachia near forest streams that […]

Oak Gall powder puff.
Last updated on June 9th, 2023

Oak Apple Galls

Oak Apple GallsWritten and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor Oak Gall powder puff - Oak Apple Galls make nice powder puffs, once they are vacated. Another lesser-known use is a wet willy-tickler, as demonstrated by the adventurous Megan Riley. These are some of the most common galls I see in the southern Appalachians, and can be [...]
Purple dead nettle
Last updated on June 9th, 2023

Purple Dead Nettle

Purple Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum)Written and Photographed by Juliet Blankespoor - Yesterday we had a wild greens salad with dead nettles as one of the primary ingredients, thanks to one of my enterprising apprentices. Dead nettles  (Lamium purpureum, Lamiaceae) is one of the first plants to flower in the southeast; sometimes even in January. Native [...]
Daylily flower.
Last updated on October 11th, 2024

The Delectable Daylily – Stuffed Daylily Blossoms Recipe

The daylily is not only a versatile wild edible, but a beautiful and easy-to-grow perennial garden flower. It is native to Asia and has escaped cultivation over most of eastern North America. Daylily is a familiar sight alongside streams, roadsides, and fences. Chances are you are already living close to a patch of this showy member of the Xanthorrhoeaceae family.