Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush …

July 24, 2026 The sweetest treat we offer at FECO are the drupes (berries) from our Illinois Everbearing mulberry tree. The tree not only draws crowds, it is self-pollinating and, in our experience, disease free. It produces copious amounts of fruit all summer long, hence the name Everbearing. In Turkey they make a snack called […]

To Pea Or Not To Pea

June 22, 2026 To pea or not or pea. That is the question … I ask myself every spring. Shelling peas, to be precise. In early March I ponder, should I torture myself again for a few handfuls of shelling peas? Spring rains can rot the seeds and turn them to mush. The squirrels dig […]

The World’s Smallest Prairie

May 12, 2026 We have a prairie at FECO! It’s three feet by ten feet. (I didn’t want to take on too much.) The area is a bit wet; an apple tree rotted there. My goal was a mini prairie with edible native plants. In 2024, I planted early blue violet (Viola adunca), nodding onion […]