Cover of the Spring Issue

Cover of the Spring Issue
March 2, 2019 Christina Mullin

It was fun creating the flower motif cover for this issue, using recycled paper and filling the triangle pouches with seeds I had collected last year from my garden, along paths and in the field.

The native Milkweed doesn’t grow abundantly in the field by my house, but it will this year, after I plants seeds. Planting native Milkweed will ensure a good food supply for the monarch butterflies this coming summer, and for years to come.

Purslane is a wonder of a wild edible, which can be found in every country around the globe, except in extremely cold regions. Pick purslane only in areas where it has not been sprayed with weed killer. I encourage it to grow in a corner of my kitchen garden, picking off stems to add to summer salads, and upping it’s nutritional benefits with purslane’s omega-3’s.

Nasturtiums are excellent as a natural pest control, because it draws aphids away from vegetables. I add the flowers to summer salads and make pesto from the leaves.

Mullein is a wild medicinal plant that is also loved by bees. I haven’t tried yet, but mullein is used to make cough syrup.

Poppies, the same red ones that I grew up loving, when I lived in the south of France as a child. In early summer, the sides of roads and fields would be full of them. The bees love them too!

Cosmos is a flower that is one of the easiest to harvest seeds from. Spread them along pathways, in your garden and in the fields because they are a great source of food for bees and butterflies.

Rudbekia, also known as coneflower or black-eyed susan, are a staple in wild summer gardens, in fields and along roads and the butterflies flock to them.