Feral Kevin
Partnering with Blue Honey Farms
Collaboration with Blue Honey Farms in Eagleville, TN. Tony and Joy run Blue Honey Farms, which has been primarily a blueberry farm for over a decade, just outside of Nashville. Kevin and Tony have been collaborating on growing some unusual fruits. This year, after a warm winter with early blooming followed by a freeze, the majority of the blueberry crop was lost for the season. God often works in mysterious ways, so a new direction and partnership was born out of what seemed to be a disaster. At Blue Honey, a variety of crops have been introduced besides blueberries as well as a variety of growing strategies. There is nearly an acre of elderberries planted and this year should be the first harvest! You can visit both Tony and Kevin at the Franklin Farmer’s Market on Saturday.
Why We Grow What We Grow
Why Grow Unusual Things? Eating new things is not only fun, but very important for food security!
Here are the 3 primary reasons:
Nutrition: Some of the foods we choose to grow are superior in nutrition and medicinal benefits to more common fruits, vegetables, and herbs. These include elderberries, Egyptian spinach, stinging nettles, tulsi (holy basil), cilantro, kale and collards, okra, jujubes, aronia berries, paw paws, goumi berries, rose hips, purple sweet potatoes, blueberries, maypop passionfruit.
Fun and Interesting Flavors: Some that come to mind are papalo (Kevin’s favorite herb), hoja santa, huacatay, aji amarillo peppers, tulsi (Kevin’s favorite ice cream flavor), BBQ berries, and paw paws (George Washington’s favorite dessert.)
Food Security and Healthy Environments. Our food system is precarious due to many factors that is a rabbit hole of a subject that could be a volume of books. On a basic level, our narrow range of crops that we grow to feed ourselves are highly inbreed, weak, and vulnerable to disease, pests, and climate related crop failures. The solution that Kevin has been promoting for 20 years is to diversify what we grow and what we eat.
This can be someting that is botanically unrelated to anything else we eat, plants that have resilience not only because they haven’t been weakened by modern breeding and selection, but because they are in different plant families than any other crop, thus less vulnerable to the same pests and diseases. These crops are often tougher and more resilent, and require less inputs to grow, which creates a more sustainable and secure food system. Many of these plants attract pollinators, and provide habitat for native species.
On the hand, taking more “normal” crops and trying to re-wild and rejuvenate them is another approach that Kevin is more and more getting into. This is the concept of not only saving seeds of heirloom and other less common varieites, but participating in something called landrace farming. This is the concept of allowing plants to cross and hybridize naturally, and saving the ones that thrive under local conditions. Over a few generations, the seeds become more genetically rich and diverse, and are thus able to adapt to local conditions. Requiring less inputs and no sprays or pest control necessary. And how cool is it that they become and expression of the land itself!
Some of Kevin’s Favorite Plants He Grows:
Tulsi — also known as Holy Basil, this plant is renowned for its health benefits and anti-inflammatory properties. Look up the health benefits of tulsi and you’ll find them to be numerous. This summer annual plant is very resilient — so gets the food security checkmark. It is also delicious, Kevin’s favorite ice cream flavor, that he and his family use to make smoothies all summer long. Also makes delicious ice tea. So tulsi gets all the check marks! Flowers also attract bees and pollintaors.
Papalo — This herb from Mexico and Central America was used for thousands of years like cilantro is often used today. But unlike cilantro, it loves summer heat and grows at the same time tomatoes, peppers, and other summer foods are available. The flavor is totally unique, and is Kevin’s family’s favorite herb, that is used fresh in tacos, salsa, and as a pizza topping in his household all summer long (and into the fall a bit.)
It is easy to grow and resilient so it gets the food security check mark as well. It is also possibly super nutritous (not a lot of research on this.)
Maypop Passionfruit: This is Tennessee’s state wildflower. It is very reslient, and attracts myriad native pollinators and the like. It is also absolutely beautifu. The fruits are passionfruit, and their juice is tropical tasting deliciousness! And unlike other passionfruit species that are tropical, maypop has edible and medicinal leaves and flowers with a unique flavor and renowned for it’s health benefits, particularly concerning relaxation and improved sleep.
Egyptian Spinach: In the summer heat, all of the traditional greens don’t fare so well. Lettuce, kale, collards, spinah, and chard. However, Eygptian spinach is the okra family and loves summer heat. It’s leaves are mild in flavor but superior in nutrition.
Jujube: These amazing fruits grow on trees that are not only drought tolerant and disease resistant (they are unrleated to any other food crop) but also late to leaf out in the spring and early to go dormant in the fall, making them less susceptible to crop failures due to weather fluctuations. They are also superior in nutrition to most other fruits, and besides rose hips, by far the highest source of vitamin C you can grow in a non tropical climate. They also dry and store very well making them a great food security plant. — (at that point they taste like apple pie filling “nouget”)
Purple Sweet Potatoes (and sweet potatoes in general): That purple color means extra nutrition, (check that box), the flavor is different that other sweet potatoes (to Kevin they often taste like brownies but not super sweet), and they get an high score in the food security category as well. Sweet potatoes are a staple crop — they grow well with not too many pests or diseases, and produce lots of calories. We could essentially live on sweet potatoes, and Kevin’s number one food security crop by far. And the greens are also edible and nutritious! The only thing about then is that they are propogated asexually from cutting/clones “slips” from the tubers themselves. What this means is that each plant is genertically identical, thus prone to disease related failures. That is why Kevin has started planting true sweet potato seeds and will continue to select new varieties primarly based on their ability to set seed. This will hopefully lead to more resilience in sweet potatoes.
Aronia: Aronia is a resilient shrub that produces copious amounts of extremely high antioxidant berries — way higher than blueberries and pomegranates. They dry and store very well and although outright the flavor is at the same time both incredible and mouth puckering/astringent and a little gritty, when blended in a smoothie with other sweet fruit imparts a rich almost chocolate like flavor (and of course all the nutrition!)
Elderberries: Elderberries are becoming famous for their superious nutrition and health benefits. They also are very fast growing and resilient to most pests and diseases as they are unrleated to other food crops. They also attract native pollinators and other beneficial species. Kevin is happy to be partnering with Tony at Blue Honey Farms where there is an elderberry orchard they are working on together.
About
Kevin was born and raised in Nashville, moved to California for 20 years where he farmed regeneratively, authored several books, and was a renowned foraging instructor. In 2021 his mother died, and he and his family returned to Tennessee, and live in the house that he grew up in. He and his wife Lauren, and their son Hank, farm the backyard (including the driveway) as well as 3 neighbors’ yards.
Kevin has been known as Feral Kevin in social media for years, and is on YouTube and Instagram. His farm in California was Feijoa Farms, now renamed Vicky May Farms, after his mother.
Collaboration with Blue Honey Farms in Eagleville, TN. Tony and Joy run Blue Honey Farms, which has been primarily a blueberry farm for over a decade, just outside of Nashville. Kevin and Tony have been collaborating on growing some unusual fruits. This year, after a warm winter with early blooming followed by a freeze, the majority of the blueberry crop was lost for the season. God often works in mysterious ways, so a new direction and partnership was born out of what seemed to be a disaster. At Blue Honey, a variety of crops have been introduced besides blueberries as well as a variety of growing strategies. There is nearly an acre of elderberries planted and this year should be the first harvest! You can visit both Tony and Kevin at the Franklin Farmer’s Market on Saturday.
How we farm: We are non-certified organic, we don’t use any chemicals ever, and focus on growing using ecologically regenerative practice, providing habitat for pollinators, and building the soil food web.
Learn about our unusual food crops and why we grow them!New location, new foraging class!
Saturday, November 12, 2022. 10:30 — 1:30 College Grove, TN
$50 per person (kids under 12 are free if they are accompanied by a paid adult)
Join me for the last foraging class until spring on an amazing piece of land just south of Nashville. We will be learning about various wild plants growing on the property, the ins and outs of foraging, and there are wild trifoliate oranges growing on the property! Take some home! There might be some mushrooms as well depending on the rain.
For payment information, email me at feralkevin@gmail.com
Recipes from the farm
Tulsi milkshake
Tulsi is also known as Holy Basil, and is widely grown in India and other parts of Asia. It is considered a sacred plant there, and it renowned for its healthful and medicinal purposes. It has been recently popularized by health afficionados in western countries as a healthful tea. Organic India is company that sells tulsi tea.
The variety we grow is called Kapoor, and in our opinion has the best flavor of all the tulsi varieties we have tried.
We love the smell of the tulsi we grow, with hints of bubblegum (or something) that led us to the following miraculous recipe that changed our culinary lives!
In a blender (Vitamix) add:
- At least one giant handful of tulsi — leaves, flowers, and stems (so long as they aren’t too woody).
- Vanilla ice cream (like 3 small servings worth)
- Frozen blueberries (1 to 1.5 cups)
- Enough milk for it to blend and be a thick milkshake
This is one of the best tasting deserts I have ever eaten. (And minus the sugar, super healthy.) Its flavor is so unique, one can only describe it as such. “Imagine you never had anything with vanilla or anything with chocolate, and try to describe those flavors.”
Share on FacebookFeral Kevin returns to his home state, Tennessee
After 20 years in California, I have moved back to Tennessee. Currently in Nashville. And the foraging here is amazing! So I am offering wild food walks right away. Check out the class schedule below!
Sunday June 13, Franklin, TN 10 AM — Noon
Sunday June 27, Franklin, TN 10AM-Noon
Share on FacebookNow offering ZOOM classes. Lead me around your landscape . . .
In your backyard, neighborhood, park, or favorite wild spot. So long as you can take you camera phone and have a signal, I can give you are tour at a place of your own choosing anywhere in the world!
Just email me at feralkevin (at ) gmail (dot) com
Share on Facebook3 Cornered Leek (Wild Onion Lily)
I just wanted to share a bit about one of my favorite wild edibles in the Bay Area: the 3 cornered leek. For years I called it the “wild onion lily”, and it was mentioned in my book, The Bay Area Forager, as such. I cannot remember where I first heard the new name, but 3 cornered leek is way sexier to chefs and eaters alike. This name sounds more like a gourmet edible than a bush food and it deserves high consideration as a culinary delight.
Closely related to garlic and onions, the 3 cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) is from the Mediterranean region of the world, and was introduced to California by European settlers. It now grows wild all over the Bay Area, typically in human disturbed landscapes — lawns, gardens, and in urban and suburban landscaping. Most consider it a weed! Despite the fact that it is delicious and attractive. I use the very mild greens like chives or green onions (but I like them more!) and the beautiful white flowers I add to salads and on top of soups. The flowers are much stronger in flavor than the greens. The bulbs are also delicious, especially cooked, where they can become almost creamy. They take several years to get golf ball sized as best, so I typically reserve the bulbs for special occasions or when I have access to a giant overgrown patch.
Their season is basically our rainy season, October until May. They die off in the summer and disappear from the landscape until fall, when new green growth emerges from their dormant bulbs. Flowers are typically available in April.
Be sure to enjoy some this season!
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The Novel is Now Available!
Matthew Falco wants to heal the planet by growing his garden. Real estate being at a premium, he purchases land far out in the rugged and beautiful wilderness. He sets out with the intention of thriving on the land, but the struggles he encounters test his very will to survive.
The tale follows Falco as he rehabilitates the land, forages for wild plants and mushrooms, hunts wild game, and faces his biggest challenge — the loneliness of his own mind. Enter the wild, full of beauty and danger, where Falco strives to find his role in the world of society and his place in nature.
“In The Primitive Gardener, [Kevin Feinstein] candidly shares his rich knowledge of living with nature, foraging, and food growing to weave an amazing fictional adventure that in many ways is more of a how-to guide than his preceding non-fictional endeavors The Bay Area Forager and Practically Wild.”
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Summer Garden Tour
Wild Edible Plant Foray and Tour and Mega Diverse Garden Tour — August 12, 2017 Saturday 10am-12pm (Lafayette) $40 –Join Kevin Feinstein (Feral Kevin) on a guided tour of local edible wild plants in the hills East of the Caldecott tunnel. Sample the promise of what the season brings to our area in terms of foraging. In this class, we are able to actually forage for many things! So not only bring your learning hat, but your bags and clippers, too! Also visit the mega diverse garden, full of unusual and exciting fruits, greens, and herbs! Directions will be emailed to you, please follow them!
Share on FacebookPower of seed saving?
Notice in the picture how the one tray of tomato seedlings looks way further along and happier than the rest.
The only difference was that the plants that are grew much faster were from seeds that were saved on site by me. The rest were purchased (but very high quality.) Same soil mix, same type containers, same watering, equal lighting — the exact same conditions.
Other than consciousness affects, the source of the seeds is the only theory I have as to how there could be such a marked difference in the growth. I would assume because they are already that much more adapted to our local conditions. Yay seed saving!
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Finally a bit of sun
Not only did we have our first sunny day in a long time here this weekend, it was warmish (61 or so) and beautiful. Now being in mid February, we are far enough away from the Winter Solstice that the sun can actually begin doing something. I made a green smoothie from the backyard patio garden for the first time in a while.
From the backyard I gathered: purple tree collards minutina greens and immature seedheads cilantro flat leaf parsley chickweed cleavers a few sow thistle leaves To these in the Vitamix I added: — 2 small meyer lemons whole — peel and all (from the lemon tree I have tended for 11 years) — 1 organic pear from my box with Imperfect Produce — 1 organic (peeled) kiwi fruit from Imperfect Produce — 2 organic bananas from Whole Foods — some high quality sea salt — a tablespoon of MCT oil — 1.5 tablespoons of Organic India Psyllium husks — a good helping of organic chia seeds — Reverse Osmosis water my avocado was rotten, but would have added it (and always recommend avocado in green smoothies) Enjoy! Share on FacebookMaybe last mushroom class of the season
It’s been a great mushroom year, and they are still popping up! This Sunday, January 22, 2017, I will be leading a mushroom class in Petaluma at Tara Firma farms. Candy caps, for one, have been spotted!
I will offer private mushroom classes going forward, but this is probably the last open mushroom class of this season. I won’t probably schedule another until late November 2017.
Share on FacebookMushroom Classes Added!
The rains have begun, and if other forces come together, there will be mushroom foraging! I’ve added two classes for now, hopefully there will be more possible and remember our mushroom season is super short, so don’t miss it!
I am also available for private mushroom tours, just email me! feralkevin (at) gmail (dot) com.
Crash Course in Wild Mushroom Foraging and Tour November 27, 2016, Sunday 10am-12pm. (Lafayette or Oakland Hills TBA). This is the class you need if you are a beginning mushroom forager. I recommend taking this class BEFORE you start trying to use field guides to identify mushrooms and BEFORE you go on a big mushroom expedition. This is the class I wish I had when I started learning about mushrooms years ago.
Crash Course in Wild Mushroom Foraging and Tour December 10, 2016, Saturday 10am-12pm. (Lafayette or Oakland Hills TBA). This is the class you need if you are a beginning mushroom forager. I recommend taking this class BEFORE you start trying to use field guides to identify mushrooms and BEFORE you go on a big mushroom expedition. This is the class I wish I had when I started learning about mushrooms years ago.
Share on FacebookFancy backyard salad recipe with loquats and feta
We were out on a bike ride and noticed a beautiful fully grown loquat tree at the end of a court along the trail. Many of its fruit were ripe, reachable and good, so we grabbed a few to take home for later.
At home, I gathered from the backyard patio garden some of my finest ingredients:
- wild onion lily flowers and greens
- tiny broccoli tops
- minutina (buckhorn plantain) leaves
- cilantro pre-flowering tips
- johnny jump up (edible violet and pansy relative) flowers
- flowering mache tips
- baby purple tree collard leaves
We chopped them up and added to them: the slices of loquat, feta cheese, camelina oil / olive oil blend, black pepper and the finest salt in all the Shire.
For Dessert:
Also while out on the trail, we came across a very interesting super early feral mulberry tree. We gathered a handful of the ripe berries, which were very good, not the sweetest but had more of that unique mulberry taste with an amazing texture. We added them to Strauss vanilla ice cream drizzled with sunflower butter. I might make another post about this mulberry tree soon.
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Garden salad and cornbread with ingredients from recipe
Garden salad with:
flowering mache tops
cilantro tips
wild onion lily flowers
baby purple tree collards
fresh lemon juice
olive oil
the finest salt in all the Shire
coarsely ground black pepper
comments: The baby collards hit the umami receptors, but all the food had that richness. The subtle mustardy spice kick of the collards and the garlic/onion spice of the wild onion lily flowers was balanced by the cool succulent quality of the mache. The cilantro tips add almost a sweetness that just made it all work. It really brought out the taste of the garden. We liked this one a lot. Did nothing else while eating it.
Cornbread with:
cornmeal with baking powder
coconut flower
camelina and coconut oil and grass fed butter
chopped wild onion lily greens
salt
cilantro
pastured eggs
rice milk with lemon juice
Comments: “Tell me that’s not the best cornbread you have ever had” “Wow. Wow.” ” Defintiely one of the best ever. The onions! I can’t even have it any more without the onions.”
Everything in both dishes organic and beyond. All greens and herbs from 8 feet outside the kitchen grown in soil high in trace minerals and beneficial microbes using filtered water.
Share on FacebookSpring Update and New Classes
It’s been an unusual spring weather wise, — at least unusual relief from the past 5 years of drought. The wild plants are going crazy and the hills are as green as I have ever seen them.
The warm season plants aren’t very happy. Things like tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, moringa, longevity spinach, etc. We haven’t been particularly cold, but certainly have lacked warmth. But lots of wonderful moisture for the cool season crops. I love not watering the garden!
We’re just barely past the equinox, so there is still so much potential for growing food. My favorite time of year!
New classes are up. Happy Spring!
Wild Edible Plant Foray and Tour — April 17 2016, Sunday 10am-12pm(Lafayette Community Park meeting spot, Lafayette) $40 — Join me on a guided tour of local edible wild plants in the hills East of the Caldecott tunnel. In this class we are able to actually forage for many things! So not only bring your learning hat, but your bags and clippers, too.
Neighborhood Edible Plant Tour — April 23 2016, Saturday 10am-12pm (Walnut Creek, CA) $40 — Neighborhood Edible Plant Walk. I will take you around the local hood sharing his knowledge of the diversity of plants that grow right off the sidewalk, road, and trail. We’ll meet at the Contra Costa Canal Trail right below Masses Sports Bar and Grill. Park on the street, not at the Masses. Thanks!
Wild Edible Plant Foray and Tour — May 8 2016, Sunday 10am-12pm(Lafayette Community Park meeting spot, Lafayette) $40 — Join me on a guided tour of local edible wild plants in the hills East of the Caldecott tunnel. In this class we are able to actually forage for many things! So not only bring your learning hat, but your bags and clippers, too.
Share on FacebookPlant and Seed List
Here are some plants and seeds that I am looking to sell or trade. Originally intended for the Seed Swap but it was rained out. Just email me what you are interested in and we can work something out. I will mail seeds, but plants must be gotten in person. All the proceeds will go into further locally adapted plant research that is my ongoing passion.
I will have more to come, also feel free to contact me with questions or requests. I actually might have something you want that is not listed or could grow it this season for you.
Just EMAIL me at feralkevin (at) gmail (dot) com
Black Nightshade:
Also known as sunberry, these plants are 3rd generation container grown in the garden. They are very productive, very tasty, unusual wild fruits that don’t need nearly the time, sun, heat, or soil that tomatoes do, but very similar to them and closely related. Small black/dark purple fruit size of a huckleberry. Has a long fruiting season, producing both early and late.
I only have a few plants left — in 4 inch pots.
Wild Onion Lilies: Originally given to me as transplants from Mia Andler at her Fairfax, CA home, these beauties are musts for Bay Area gardens. When hearing about what I do (teaching wild food and foraging classes) folks often ask if I gather wild onions. And the short answer is “no” because we don’t really have wild onions in most of our ecosystems here. The wild onion lily is the only major exception and is a frequent and very tough weed in many urban and suburban settings. It’s very beautiful in most opinions, with delicious spicy edible and beautiful white lily like flowers. The greens add an exciting wild flare to various dishes, eaten raw or cooked. Another wonderful thing about wild onion lilies besides how easy they are to grow, is that they only appear during the cooler months of the year. Disappearing completely by June, you can grow a summer plant (like a tomato) in the same container and when the tomato is finishing up in the Fall (or dies from frost) the wild onion lily reappears from its warm season dormancy, brightening your winter blues.
Great for under deciduous fruit trees such as apples, plums and persimmons, but still excellent for containers and gardens, either in ground or raised beds.
I have seeds and plants!
Longevity spinach cuttings:
Gynura procumbens. I only have unrooted cuttings, but they are easy to root!
This plant is one of my most favorite finds in recent years. I first heard about it from John Kohler at growingyourgreens.com. It’s a sunflower family member (not related to spinach) from tropical and subtropical Asia where it is renowned for its healing and superb nutritional properties. Beyond that, the leaves taste great! Very crunchy and succulent in salads and accents to summer dishes. It can grow year round, dying back if there is a frost, so it might need winter protection briefly in certain parts of the Bay Area. But for a tropical frost sensitive plant, it sure seems to be tough in long periods of cool weather. Grows very quickly in warm weather, even in hot places.
Stinging Nettles:
All are from my stinging nettle mother plant (either cuttings or seedlings) from my original Oakland planting nearly 10 years ago as seen in one of my original YouTube videos.
This is the stinging nettle you want. Very easy to grow, productive, gourmet-delicious, and can be one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.
My Extraordinary Tomatoes: These tomatoes I’m hoping are going to be something special. Last year, January 2015, I fertilized/mulched many of my winter plants and pots with my own homegrown worm castings. Several tomato seedlings came up in my pots as weeds basically. The extraordinary thing was, it was in January! I have never in this area (Walnut Creek, CA) seen tomato seeds come up this early out in the open (no greenhouse). Not even close. Extraordinary thing #1.
The varieties: I only eat heirloom or open pollinated tomatoes that I grow myself. That’s all it could have been in the compost. I knew the main variety I had grown and eaten that year was either Black Krimm or Cherokee purple (unfortunately got my labeling mixed up and these tomatoes are very similar.) The others I did not know the variety, except that we only order open pollinated heirloom seeds. Hillbilly potato leaf was one of them I remember. I grew out two of these January seedlings. One was certainly either Cherokee purple/Black Krimm but the other was something different. It was straight red and a bit segmented or jagged. Super early fruiting, and one of the most productive tomato varieties I have grown. Very mild flavored, versatile tomato. Enjoyed them over a very long season.
The other thing is that these tomatoes did very well and produced sweet and delicious tomatoes for a long time. An Extraordinary thing #2 — they were both grown in pots too small for them and in a place that doesn’t get but a few hours of direct sun each day.
I saved those seeds and was going to plant them out in mid to late January of this year. However dozens of tomato seedlings came up in the same fashion as the year before from my worm castings. This year they came up outside with no overhead protection or extra heat, in EARLY January! — Extraordinary thing #3. I suppose they could be seeds from 2014 season that did so well for me last year. Or they could very well be the seeds from the food scraps of the 2015 Extraordinary tomatoes. I think the latter is the most likely, so I would assume either my segmented prolific red or my CP/BK.
So I’ve potted them up and have way more than I can plant. Looking to sell or trade.
Seeds only:Tulsi (Kapoor.) Originally from Horizon herbs, now 4th generation from my backyard container garden. Grows mainly in the summer months. It is actually a type of basil (holy basil) so grow accordingly.
Prized in Auryvedic medicine for thousands of years as a healing, tonic herb, it is held sacred my many peoples. Its most common use is as a tea. This particular variety has an almost “bubble-gum” like flavor that in our opinion doesn’t show up in simply using it for tea. I like it in smoothies and especially in the tulsi berry sorbet seen below.
Cape Gooseberry. Physalis peruviana — also known as goldenberry, poha, Incan berry (of superfood fame), and ground cherry. 5th Generation seeds stretching back to when I first got this plant in 2005. Since then, each generation seems to have gotten more tropical tasting. I think this should be all over the Bay Area in markets and restaurants. It is something amazing and unusual that is greatly suited for our unique Bay Area climate, and can’t be grown in the vast majority of the U.S. They are similar to tomatoes in many ways but have a wonderful tangy rich tartness that always reminds me of pineapple and coconuts.
Just EMAIL me at feralkevin (at) gmail (dot) com
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