Genus Bar

Eli and Niladri took a mini hiatus, as lives got busy. But finally got a chance to talk about genus Sambucus: the Elder/Elderberry.Elderberries are a gateway. They're a great topic to search to find podcasts, from botany through herbalism and permaculture. It seems that most plant-focused podcasts have an elderberry episode. Elders are also great plants to get you started foraging (much more beginner-friendly then mushrooms). They're great for your first native hedge, or your first foray into permaculture. But I used 'gateway' deliberately, because of an old European belief that passing between two Elders could have you stepping into the Fey Realm. We hope that you enjoy this episode, and are inspired to try getting a little closer to your local Sambucus species.

Eli and Niladri talk about Asclepias (the Milkweeds). We start with some of the cool unique characteristics of species of Milkweeds - botany for non-botanists, by plant enthusiasts. We talk about many of the New England species, and Showy Milkweed that is common out West, then move on to the vast diversity of associated wildlife (yes, including Monarch Butterflies).The second half is on human use, from the use by many Indigenous peoples throughout the US, to use by foragers, in integrated pest management (IPM) and in ecological gardening across cultures today. The Common and Showy Milkweeds that thrive on disturbance, and have accompanied human agriculture for the last millennium, actually thrive when harvested. These species are a wonder wonderful example of how our use of native species can benefit wildlife, and us, at the same time. *hopefully worked out some kinks so that this episode should work on mobile devices across most podcast platforms at this point ** Corrections: when discussing the milkweeds of New England, I said Asclepias speciosa when I meant A. tuberosa, which is our small, orange-flowered, drought-tolerant species often referred to as Butterfly Milkweed. I also said that plants from big box stores are often treated with systemic herbicides; I meant systemic pesticides.