PhilosophicalFolia

PhilosophicalFolia Inspired by foraging, mycology, & herbalism. 🍄 linktr.ee/philofolia

🪴 PhiloFolia is centered around holistic wellness with a wide variety of all-natural, creative, handmade products with well-researched effective ingredients and home-deaigned recipes!

Still in my era 😅🌱Pine resin is difficult to work with, but it has some incredible properties as an eco-friendly seala...
06/03/2026

Still in my era 😅🌱

Pine resin is difficult to work with, but it has some incredible properties as an eco-friendly sealant, glue, grip enhancer, wound healer, natural insect repellant, skin protector, and as a delicious scent bomb! Hence, I will be using the purified resin in my (currently experimental) products such as hair pomade, wound balm, bug away balm, and wood polish, and I’ll use the strained-out solids in incense.

Follow me if you’d like to see more nature-based science experiments in progress!

🌲🌲🌲



https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZI5bMWJDKY/?igsh=MWlnN2x5NGFseXh1ZA==

To bonsai or not to bonsai? 🌳That definitely is the question! 😅Today was my (and Trilli’s) first day ever trying to bons...
05/17/2026

To bonsai or not to bonsai? 🌳

That definitely is the question! 😅

Today was my (and Trilli’s) first day ever trying to bonsai some lemon trees, coffee plants, and maples. It took me a while to even decide which plants to start with. Some produce leaves that stay too big, while others start producing smaller leaves with consistent pruning. Some grow quickly, others slowly. Some plants (like maples) need to be overwintered outside but are great for bonsai. Some plants can produce flowers, fruits, and seeds when bonsai-ed (such as lemon, coffee, maple, crabapple, and bougainvillea), while others cannot. Some flourish while root-bound and others don’t. 🌺

I will attempt to propagate the cuttings using rooting hormone to hopefully create more plants with these top branches that already took so long to grow! This is definitely an art of patience, and I’m already antsy to see what their final forms (and ugly stages along the way) will be! 😌

If you have any tips, insights, or comments about this practice, I’d love to hear in the comments! Thanks for the tips and inspiration you’ve already shared!

05/14/2026

Turn this common watermelon-flavored mushroom into Tajin-inspired chili lime candy!!! 🍄‍🟫👉🍬

Recipe in my blog at philofolia.com. 👨‍💻

🗑️ Kitchen scraps ⏭️ windowsill garden 🧑‍🌾Experiment update: Lookin’ good! 👀I made a quick garden box that actually fits...
05/06/2026

🗑️ Kitchen scraps ⏭️ windowsill garden 🧑‍🌾

Experiment update: Lookin’ good! 👀

I made a quick garden box that actually fits in our tiny apartment’s tiny windowsill by using a box from our recycling bin, cut grocery bags, and duct tape.

Ft.:
🥕 Carrot tops (produce edible and nutritious shoots and seeds)
🧅 Onion (produces many “rounds” of greens if cut; can also go to seed)
🍠 Sweet potato top (can make new sweet potatoes from each “slip”/sprout; beautiful houseplant)
🥬 Cabbage butt (produces edible leaves)

Bacon? 🚫Dryads saddle? ✅I rarely find “tween” dryads saddle — usually huge, mature, tough ones. But what they say is tru...
05/05/2026

Bacon? 🚫
Dryads saddle? ✅

I rarely find “tween” dryads saddle — usually huge, mature, tough ones. But what they say is true! The smaller dryads saddle mushrooms (or “pheasants back mushrooms”) are super tender and make a mean vegetarian bacon! 🥓

Just slice thin and sautee in butter with a little bit of salt, thyme, and garlic powder for about 10 minutes. And they are even high in protein but have many more healthy and medicinal compounds than bacon, and a delicious flavor all their own. 🍄‍🟫

04/29/2026

It’s crazy what you can find just looking under trees in a normal public park! 🌳

Glad I decided to take a short walk in the rain with Trilli. 😊🦮

I used to dissect owl pellets as a kid and that’s why I’m a nerd now. Should I make bone jewelry out of the owl pellet bones? 🦴

Because I can’t be up north and not throw foraged finds in my dinner… and because I’m the kind of person who tries thing...
04/23/2026

Because I can’t be up north and not throw foraged finds in my dinner… and because I’m the kind of person who tries things for myself before recommending them to others or sharing what I think… 🙈🍄‍🟫

BUT birch polypore (Fomitopsis betulina) was a fail (in terms of culinary use). 👎 While it likely has a ton of medicinal potential for immunity, anti-inflammatory benefits, anti-cancer potential, digestive stimulation, antimicrobial activity, and antiparasitic activity, it’s… well, gross (bitter and tough).

Good thing I kept it in long chunks I could pick out of my otherwise delicious tempeh-potato-garlic-onion stir fry! 😂😱

Hopefully researchers will study this mushroom more thoroughly in the future, as well as the SO many others with huge medical (especially anti-cancer) potential! 🔬

P.S. Don’t try eating foraged mushrooms unless you are 100% sure of ID. 🪪

Although I’ve been impatient for mushroom foraging season to start here in Wisconsin (searching high and low with our ne...
04/22/2026

Although I’ve been impatient for mushroom foraging season to start here in Wisconsin (searching high and low with our new dog Trilli) while all our friends in Iowa are finding pounds of morels in their yards without even trying, at least the few plants that are already growing are edible ones I can throw into my rice and beans to make them not sad! 🥳🌱🍛

Ft. Garlic mustard, daylilies (tubers/‘potatoes’ and sprouts), and white pine.

It’s actually delish and now I’m healthy so don’t throw shade. 💁‍♂️

Also featuring an anthill so big that I consider it a landmark and the only reason I can find my way back to our property from the woods behind it.

What are you foraging this late April?!

Who says you can’t forage in the dead of winter?!❄️🌲❄️🌲❄️Pine resin has been used for AGES to heal wounds, flavor wine, ...
01/22/2026

Who says you can’t forage in the dead of winter?!

❄️🌲❄️🌲❄️

Pine resin has been used for AGES to heal wounds, flavor wine, waterproof boats and leather, and much more. Its terpenes and resin acids not only give it antimicrobial and healing properties, but also that marvelous genuine forest scent. and I already made homemade incense with it, and I plan to experiment with the rest by incorporating it into my wound balm, pomade, and deodorant recipes.

Did you have to prune a frightening amount of branches off the bottom of your Christmas tree to get it to fit in the sta...
12/01/2025

Did you have to prune a frightening amount of branches off the bottom of your Christmas tree to get it to fit in the stand? You can use them to make a wreath and save $50! 😂 I just bent a wire hanger into a circle, overlapped and tied the best-looking branches to it with green twine, then stuck any extra bits and pieces firmly into the bare spots. It took me about an hour, and I’d say it was worth it for the cute and Christmasy decor! 🎄❄️

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