It can seem like everything here in the Sonoran Desert is thorny. I got jabbed picking a mesquite pod. Betsy got stuck trying to show me Woolly tomentum on the golden barrel cactus. And beware those super sharp agave thorns. Their sap is intensely irritating. But it turns out some of those thorns aren't thorns at all. They are spines. "Thorns are modified stems. Spines are modified leaves." Roses and raspberry bushes have thorns. So does mesquite. But cacti and agave have spi

Here's a fascinating article by a beloved sister who works with mushrooms. She's focusing on lion's mane here, but what she has to say...

I declared 2025 as a year of love letters. I envisioned writing a love letter every month. I've been wondering why I haven't. I got off...