A jar of poppy seeds sitting open next to two poppy seed bagels. - Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock It's tempting to wonder if that little jar of grocery store poppy seeds in your pantry could do more than top ...

Haley Mast is a freelance writer, fact-checker, and small organic farmer in the Columbia River Gorge. She enjoys gardening, reporting on environmental topics, and spending her time outside ...

Growing up in suburban New York City, our house was surrounded by woods of primarily American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and white oak (Quercus alba). And one year it occurred to me that I could ...