Rusty Ring

(This entry from my ango log is a timely reminder of how difficult life was in the jungle during those first frigid, rainy months. I...

(Feral apples are almost always the best-tasting, and you can't beat the price. With all the former farmland around here, the scrumpi...

( Malus fusca . Native to the North Coast, in my home county it's a common understory tree, flourishing on the margins and in clear...

'Way back in the first weeks of this blog I posted on the sourdough bread that's been part of my monastic practice since b...

(Still Pleurotus ostreatus . I've posted on these before , but it never ceases to amaze me how attached this species is to the ...

( Polypodium glycyrrhiza . Common fern of the North Pacific Coast, usually spotted as an epiphyte of broadleaf trees. When growing on a...

( Pieris japonica, known here as popcorn bush, is a popular landscaping shrub on the North Pacific Coast. Native to the same latit...

(Here are a few of the largest rings I've collected for making fudos . [Among those not yet deployed , of course.] Most of the mall...

(Both sourdough recipes.) Appearing also on My Corner of the World .

(Found these while biking, growing by the side of the road. Interesting thing about the way Pleurotus ostreatus behaves in these parts: it...

(Квас из овса. Made from toasted rolled oats. Very good; light and dry when well-chilled, with a honey-like perfume. Will be most welco...

When I first became a hermit monk I had no zafu, so I sat on a sofa cushion. That got me off the ground – no pun intended – but was bul...

(Good eating while they last.) Appearing also on My Corner of the World .

(I've been making kvass [квас] more or less weekly for the past five months. This photo, from my first batch, is квас из черного хл...

'Way back at university I decided I had to do something about New Year's Day. Here in Anglophonia, it's only a holiday in the ...

Here are a three easy tricks to spruce up your workaday winter tea for the season: Oranges are an ancient part of the holidays, o...

(Rubus armeniacus.) Appearing also on My Corner of the World .

Last week I was down to the tea bog I've frequented for 50 years, and while there, under dark wet skies, I snapped a few (not very ...

Here's a seasonal blessing worth knowing. The recipe is as simple as they come: you pour boiling water over elderberries , which s...

( Sorbus sitchensis . AKA rowan.) Appearing also on My Corner of the World .