Fall is quickly approaching and there is nothing more satisfying than sitting by a campfire and enjoying a hearty meal from a Dutch oven. Simple one pot meals that will give your taste buds a treat and a full stomach. These tried-and-true pieces of American history haven’t change much over the years and a quality oven can last a century. Many new campers and outdoor enthusiasts alike are anxious to learn how to cook in them. I have been around …

If you have read my blog for a while, you know that I get side-tracked from fishing every year when the turkeys are gobbling.  Spring is a great time in Nebraska’s outdoors except for one thing:  There is so much to do and so little time!  Once I finally satisfy my spring turkey addiction for a while, I wander around picking mushrooms: I did not have a good mushroom year.  I think it has been too dry. Then, as I …

Story by Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Photos by Jesse Deuring The year was 1958. “Volare” dominated the Billboard Hot 100. NASA got its start, and the first Intel microchip was created. In Nebraska, the Blackstone Hotel made its own history. Primarily known for its invention of the famous Reuben sandwich, the Omaha landmark also bears a vibrant, storied past. Black and white photographs hanging in the renamed Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel pique interest, especially among hunters. “The photos kind of remind me of …

You have just read the title to this blog and you’re thinking ‘Whoa! What? Wagner is way off base with this one!’ PL-EASE … Allow me, the avid forager, to explain. Now that spring has sprung and while you wait for your morel mushrooms to emerge, some of the more prolific, more accessible wild edible foods are making their initial appearances … in your yard! No kidding! This is the time of year when when edible wild plants emerge and …

Spring has sprung! The amount daylight is increasing. The weather will be warming. In Nebraska, there are a multitude of activities that you can do in early spring. Here are eight to encourage you to step outside. (1) View Early Spring Birds. A wide variety of opportunities await Nebraska bird watchers in early spring. The migration of wild fowl is truly something to behold! The spring spectacle of the sandhill crane migration along the Platte River in south-central Nebraska should …

By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley Servings: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 4 hours and 30 minutes Ingredients: • 1 pound of venison stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but cold • Salt and freshly cracked pepper • 4 tbs. all-purpose flour, separated • 1 pound of baby bella mushrooms, quartered • Cooking oil • 1 medium onion, chopped • 1 medium to large carrot, peeled and large diced • 2 anchovy filets packed in …

By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist Humans eat them. We have about a million puns associated with them. They’re pretty to look at, and they are literally found everywhere. I’m talking about fungi, a group of spore-producing organisms, which includes molds, yeasts, mushrooms and toadstools. Fungi evolved around 1.5 million years ago, and today, they make up around 25 percent of all the biomass on earth. There are an estimated 3.8 million species in the world, and scientists have studied …

By Monica Macoubrie, Wildlife Education Specialist Phenology is a word that you may not be familiar with, but I am pretty sure that you’ve experienced it. Think about what season it is. Spring? Summer? Fall? How do you know it is that season? Phenology, that’s how, which can be defined as the timing of events in the life cycles of plants and animals. For example, you know that winter is waning when you see robins begin building nests or when …

  By Alie Mayes, Community Science Education Specialist You are looking to connect. So, you open your dating app and start scrolling through profiles. No, no, nope, heck no. And then, you pause. Something’s different about this one. It reads: “About Me: Life is all about the connections. I am dynamic, resilient and always seeking balance. Love Languages: Acts of Service and Quality Time What I’m Looking For: I’m Looking for a partner who is nurturing, always looking for the …

I was out wandering in the woods this week.  Recalled an incident that happened while my daughter and I were wandering in the woods last spring.  We do a lot of wandering in the woods in the spring. While we were hiking along a creek bottom, I noticed my daughter, Emily, had become quite interested in a particular dead tree.  I circled back to see what the fascination was.  No, it was not a snake, was not a pile of …