chaoticforager

12/04/2025

I'll be at SOMA camp this year! Come hang out!!!

12/01/2025

By far the most common preservation method in my book’s recipes is fermentation. It’s beginner-friendly, wildly creative, and one of the most exciting ways to transform food you might otherwise throw away into something you’ll actually want to eat. I love using pieces of past ferments to spark new ones!

11/28/2025

Looking to do some holiday shopping this weekend? Consider NOT buying from the giant corporations that are bleeding us dry, hurting humans, destroying the environment, and accelerating the climate crisis. Amazon and other mega-corporations may offer unbelievable convenience in the short term, but they don’t deliver on community care, employee safety, or environmental responsibility.

If you’ve seen the film Spirited Away, you might remember No-Face, a shapeshifting spirit who grows bigger and more monstrous the more he consumes. Nothing is ever enough. That’s how corporations like Amazon operate. They grow massive by swallowing everything around them, but they give back only shiny trinkets that, upon closer inspection, have no real value.

I’m almost certainly hurting my book sales by not including an Amazon link in any of my promotions of Gathered. But I think the cost of promoting a company that exists to swallow up independent companies is far too high to pay in the long term. I understand that nothing is black and white, and I cast zero moral aspersions on anyone (especially anyone who needs to use Amazon or other mega-corporations in order to access what they need), but if we want to live in thriving communities full of art and life and beauty, we need to support them.

If you’re so inclined to pick up a copy of Gathered, I’d ask that you get it from an ethical e-commerce site like , or from your local bookseller. And as an added incentive, if you send a snapshot of your local purchase receipt and a good address to [email protected], I’ll mail you a signed bookplate and cover the postage myself.

Thanks for supporting my book, and I think you’re gonna love it!

11/26/2025

“Wonder is something we inherit, and it’s something we can choose.”

11/15/2025

calling for more transition season drinks! this lil cocktail is perfect for the changing seasons, and it’s my new favorite thing! special thanks to for always knocking it out of the park, and to for the super thoughtful book release gift!

11/09/2025

LION’S MANE CRAB CAKES!!!! Will my college students eat them???? Would YOU??!!?!??!
While this recipe may not appear in my book, you can learn all about how to identify, harvest, prepare, and preserve all kinds of plants and mushrooms when you order my new book “Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life.”

11/05/2025

11/01/2025

It’s lion’s mane season again! Bring your chaos (and a ladder and a telescoping pole) find your maples, and get to hunting!

10/31/2025

Happy Halloween from Maomao, your favorite apothecary! (ft lemon balm from the garden)

10/26/2025

Words can’t describe how incredibly overwhelmed I feel by the reception my new book has received. It was so special to spend time celebrating with my family, friends, colleagues, and everyone who showed up this weekend at , and to have the honor of answering your questions and sharing my thoughts and feelings about this book and why I wrote it. From the amazing spicebush coquito gelato made with love by my new friend PK at to the thoughtful conversation I got to have with , to my family who came to support me (sorry Mom and Joe, IG auto-cropped you out and i couldn’t figure out how to fix it), to the wonderful community I have here, thank you. I’m so glad to have you in my life.

10/22/2025

another day, another dose of AI nonsense 🙃🙃🙃 dramatic reading courtesy of .luck

10/22/2025

Please come if you can! You'll get to meet my mom if you do! I'm so excited about this event and I can't wait to share in the joy with all of you.

"Gathered is an adventure in foraging that awakens us to the beauty of the seasons and the world we live in, heightening our senses to the crunch of snow underfoot and the sharp prick of a thorny bramble."

Join us this Friday, October 24, at 7 PM in the shop, when Gabrielle Cerberville will discuss her new book—Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life—with Matthew Burtner!