Walk in the Woods

09/01/2025

🌍🌏🌎

What if healing the planet starts with changing the way we see it?In this deeply thoughtful episode of The Big Question, Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist, autho...

08/22/2025

🌞🔥💛

“There is a different kind of fire in August—
Not the fierce blaze of destruction,
but the slow, steady sunfire that has ripened the world from within.

It lives in the gold of wheat fields,
in the warmth stored inside each seed,
in the quiet hum of bees moving through the last full bloom.

This is the fire that asks for patience,
for trust,
for the long view.

It is not just warmth—it is wisdom.

It has fed the roots, drawn sweetness from stone, and coaxed life from darkness.

Long before we measured time in months and hours,
we measured it in seasons of becoming:
the turning of the soil,
the planting of hope,
the waiting,
the tending,
the surrender.

Now, the Earth gives back what she has made of light and labor.
But harvest is not just receiving—
it is remembering.

To gather what has grown is to remember: the effort it took to begin, the hunger that shaped the planting, the storms weathered in silence, the small, unseen miracles of growth.

And beneath it all, the Earth knows this:
Nothing is taken that is not also offered.
The grain gives itself to the scythe.
The fruit falls when it is ready.
The warmth of the sun becomes your bread.

This is Lughnasadh.
The first harvest.
A sacred threshold between abundance and decline.
Between full light and the coming inwardness.

It is not a celebration of achievement,
but a reverent pause:
to give thanks,
to take only what is needed,
to ask: What has ripened in me? What am I ready to share?

Let this fire be a teacher now—
not the fire that burns,
but the one that nourishes,
that gives without noise,
that teaches us how to receive with humility.

This is the element of sunfire.” ☀️

🎨 & 🖋️ (ig)

07/05/2025

My spouse has been casually tending a patch of wild black caps over the years. The patch is still expanding; because, why not? We're now able to harvest enough for fresh eating and all manner of preserving... plus there's plenty for the wildlife, and we even share some with our two-legged comrades (especially when they're willing 'n' able to harvest for themselves).

These berries are a mighty gift of the season. *nods*

Jump to Video Black raspberries or black cap berries evoke memories of summer berry picking and days gone by for many. They were the first wild fruit I

07/01/2025

It's July 1.
I'm pretty sure June was a week long this year.
Tempus fugit, eh?

And Asclepias incarnata blossoms, because *swoon.* 😘

🕊⛤🕊
rose
linktr.ee/walkinthewoods

06/19/2025

Summer’s almost here, and so my focus shifts to the gardens, the harvests, the meals, the preserves...

If you'd like to read today's musings, the 🔗 is 👇.

06/16/2025

Who can relate?

06/15/2025

Today I'm planting two of these plants - Verbena hastata, a lovely relaxing nervine, commonly called blue vervain 'round these parts. I'll be tucking their roots near the skullcap, with a blessings that they make a home in the patch of earth that I'm offering them.

Before I head out to the gardens, I'll be squirting some tincture into my water bottle, and - methinks - thanks to yesterday's reminder from Jessica Grant of PrimaWellness during her talk at Pleasant Valley Botanicals, AND this oldie-n-goodie video from Sevensong. Take a listen. *nods*

Thanks to community - IRL and virtual - I'm inspired to revisit this plant Medicine... and I invite you to be inspired to get to Know this lovely botanical. *nods again*

🕊⛤🕊
rose

7Song discusses identification, medicine making and medicinal uses of Blue vervain (Verbena hastata, Verbenaceae).

06/04/2025

I realize I'm getting repetitive, yet I won't apologize. After all, 'tis the season!

So: local/region friends...

I'll be back at Pleasant Valley Botanicals in Barkhamsted CT for a couple more pre-Plant Sale offerings. I'd love to see some of y'all there!

Deets:
Thurs 6/5 4-4:30pm I'll be offering a FREE "Farm to Ferment" demo - a simple fermentation demo 'n' chat. This is an opportunity for you to see how miraculously simple (and safe) it is to preserve deliciousness and nutritioness this way. 🤭

Sat 7/7, 9-10:30am - And a FEE* class - "Making Herbal Medicines," a demo 'n' chat to learn or refresh the processes of making simple teas, nutritional infusions, vinegar infusions, alcohol extractions (tinctures), and infused oils... and some of the ways we leverage them for food, Medicine, and more.
*FEE: $20 for the 1st person, and $15 for each additional person that carpools in the same vehicle.

Join us if you can! Register here: https://openfoodnetwork.net/pleasant-valley-botanicals/shop #/shop_panel

I'd love to see you!

🌱🕊⛤🕊🌱
rose
https://linktr.ee/walkinthewoods

06/02/2025

I love this botanical, and it finds its way into many a tea blend.

It's such a charming, unassuming plant; a delight to add to any garden (or juicy wild space). And once established ('round these parts), it will grace you with its charm and gentle, loving Medicine for years to come.

*nods*

For my local/regional friends, Pleasant Valley Botanicals has it for you!
👉🏼 https://openfoodnetwork.net/pleasant-valley-botanicals/shop #/shop_panel