In Michigan, California Poppy is grown as a self-seeding annual. The entire plant (roots, leaves, and flowers) can be harvested in late summer when the plant is flowering. Preserve the fresh, finely chopped roots in 40% alcohol to make a tincture that will last for years. Flowers and leaves can be carefully dried to make tea. Use one or two teaspoons of dried herb in eight ounces hot water and steep for 45 minutes. To collect seeds, watch for the plants to form long, thin seed pods and wait until the pods begin to turn brown and dry. Collect intact pods into a brown paper bag and allow them to dry. The pods may burst open on their own, or you can gently roll them between your fingers to extract the small, black, round seeds.
Posts filed under Food & Nutrition
Gardening for Nutrition and Delight
I’ve helped many people start gardens over the years, and my first question is, “What do you want to accomplish with your garden?” The answers vary widely, from “saving money” to “growing exotic ingredients” to my favorite: “The garden is now solely for the delight of the kids.” These are all valid approaches! To help you think about different approaches to gardening, here are some ideas for a simple 4’x8’ raised bed garden.
Cooking with Lisa: Moon Milk and Harvest Lentil and Wild Rice Soup
Recipes for Moon Milk and Harvest Lentil and Wild Rice soup. Winter Issue #91
Winter Food Preserving: Turn Frozen Produce into Jams and Sauces
Beat the winter blues by turning your frozen summer harvest into delicious preserves! Learn tips on canning tomatoes, making zucchini bread, berry jams, and pumpkin soup with our expert guide and recipes.
White Lotus Farms Café: Bread, Beauty, and Belonging— Extending the Spirit of the Farm into the Heart of the Community
The buzz had been building for months about White Lotus Farms opening a Café, and by the time you’re reading this, it is open.
Cottage Food Businesses in Michigan: Creative Connections and Community
Michigan’s Cottage Food Law allows small businesses to make and sell homemade foods from their home kitchens without cumbersome and expensive commercial licensing or inspections. Goodies like breads, jams, cookies, candies, granola, and more can be sold directly to consumers at farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and fairs. It can be a wonderful way to connect with the community.
Tea with Peggy--Yaupon Tea
Most continents have their own unique tea blends. Maté is typical to South America and Rooibose to South Africa. True tea, or camellia sinus, can be found all over Asia. For the longest time, I could not believe there was not a plant or herb that was unique to the North American continent that could be considered tea. Then, I discovered Yaupon tea while on vacation in Florida.
Cooking with Lisa
Recipes for fall 2025: Maple Roasted Delicata Squash Salad and Kale and White Bean Stew
Kindred Conversations with Hilary Nichols: Phillis Engelbert, Owner of Detroit Filling Station, North Star Lounge, and Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe
“Operate from a position of generosity and humanity. Watch how it benefits your business.” This simple statement is key to the working philosophy of Phillis Engelbert, owner of the Detroit Street Filling Station, North Star Lounge, and The Lunch Room Bakery & Cafe in Ann Arbor. The concepts of generosity and humanity might not be the most common buzz words in today’s business culture, and her central tenet doesn’t come without a cost—but that is not what concerns Engelbert. She recommends it for reasons that transcend the financials.
Gardening Phenology: Planting by Nature’s Cues
As a gardener, and a general nature romantic, my heart begins to feel torn around mid-February. On one half, I want to honor the last of winter’s deep rest and on the other half, there is the burgeoning energy of spring’s return. One of my favorite activities at this time is to thumb through my seed stores, as well as the new year’s seed catalogs, and begin to plan my garden in earnest.
Nutrient Cycle at Strawbale Studio: An Evolving “Circle of Life”
There are many ways nutrient recycling is implemented at Strawbale Studio that can be used in your home garden. You might even get together with your gardening friends and start an “idea map” of the various natural resources on your site or community garden, and in your region, and how they could be returned to the circle of life!
Tea with Peggy: Minty Cool
When I think of mint, winter comes to mind—a nice cup of cocoa in which I steep some peppermint tea leaves. It’s invigorating, refreshing, and cooling. Wait a minute... if mint is invigorating, refreshing, and cooling, why am I drinking it in the cold of winter? I should be drinking in the warmth of summer instead!
Cooking with Lisa: Chickpea Salad Sandwhich and Herbed Polenta
his sandwich is a celebration of simple ingredients coming together in the most satisfying way…a little moment of deliciousness—one that feels both nourishing and delightfully familiar.
Herbs for Your Garden: Marshmallow
Are you looking for a unique, useful, and beautiful herb for your garden? Let me introduce you to Marshmallow, a hardy perennial whose every part has a use. It can grow quite tall, up to four feet, with soft fuzzy leaves and light purple flowers. This plant has many cousins in the mallow family which are planted as ornamentals. Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) is the medicinal species that we will explore today.
The Michigan Medicinal Herb Supply: The Current State and a Vision for Re-localization
After a long day, you reach for your favorite herbs to make a soothing cup of tea: a spoonful of tulsi, a scoop of chamomile, and a pinch of peppermint…perfect! Just what you need to unwind. The fragrant brew might relax you, but did you ever wonder what went into bringing the herbs to your cup?
Boost Your Winter Immunity with Plant-Based Foods
As the cold winter season approaches, ensuring a healthy, responsive, and robust immune system becomes even more important. Freezing weather, short days, and reduced sunlight can put stress on our bodies and increase our chances of getting sick. A plant-based diet, full of immune-boosting antioxidants and nutrients that naturally fight inflammation and promote immune response, is an excellent way to make sure you and your family stay as healthy as possible this winter.
Cooking with Lisa: Winter 2025
This Winter Vegetable Buddha Bowl is a nourishing, colorful meal featuring roasted sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and red onions over a bed of quinoa. Topped with fresh kale and spinach, creamy avocado slices, and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds, it’s drizzled with a tangy tahini dressing, offering a perfect balance of warmth, flavor, and nutrition.
Tea Time with Peggy: Rooibos Tea
I enjoyed a cup of tea long before I knew it could help me in my quest to become a healthier person. Upon discovering that something I enjoyed doing on a daily basis could actually help improve my health, I decided it was time to do some research.
The Sugar Shack: How One Sweet Family Tradition Turned into an Airbnb Experience
It’s the time of year where the wind is nipping at your winter coat and the gopher may or may not have already seen its shadow. Many Michiganders may opt to stay indoors while the final weeks of winter thaw to spring, but Kirk Coppernoll of Sugar Shack Experiences in Grass Lake insists that these are actually the proper months to tap a maple tree and sip a maple cocktail in the woods. Grab a tap, boil some sap, and meet some other nature-loving strangers as the syrup boils: this is the Sugar Shack.
Slow Farm: Growing Healthy Food and Justice in the Food System
In late April, on a mostly sunny, cool morning, with the temperature in the low fifties, I drove out from Ann Arbor on Whitmore Lake Road to Slow Farm. I found Bayer and co-farm manager Magda Nawrocka-Weekes standing at the edge of a large field on the west side of Whitmore Lake Road, near the farm’s gate.
