Big Medicine

After much intensive hands on labor, the medicine seeds have all become healthy plants. There are so many that I have potted some of them to give away to dear friends. It feels good to have done this work. My husband was a big help because while I was away in the Southwest in April, he cared for the seedlings, making sure they got enough outdoor time during the day and brought them in every night. It will be while until I can harvest. Perhaps next year,  Siberian Sage, Arnica Montana, Angelica, Mullein and Western Mugwort will be big enough to yield some sweet leaves and branches for my work.

I was a little worried about what to do with the extra Nettle plants, because I didn’t have enough room to put more in the designated Nettle bed. However, I found a perfect place hidden away behind a bunch of Barbary bushes by the fence–in a woodland-like habitat that gets morning sun. I expect that next year there will be lots on Nettle there! Oh Joy, Nettle tea and tincture!

I love my plants. The garden keeps me sane.

The Seeds of Spring

This is the first year of wintering for this new garden. Covered with mulch and leaves, my plants are in deep slumber. Going out to the garden is still a joy for me and even though it’s bare,  I visualize the roots of my medicine plants snug and cozy under their covering of Mother Earth and contented in their dreamtime.  Lavender, Sage, Comfrey, Rosemary and Lemon Balm  still show their tops above the ground, braving the cold with a barrier of branches around them for protection against the wind.

During our warm days in January, the snowdrops I planted this Fall began to sprout. Oh, what a lovely sight of fresh and tender greens and white buds above the stems! The squirrels took notice and began to dig and eat the tops of the flowers–they too must yearn  for greenness.  Just as quickly, I made a tent from fallen twigs and small branches and placed it over the snowdrops to save them.

Looking at the sky I knew that it would be short-lived, this quick awakening to false Spring. Within days the weather turned again to bitter cold and the plants went dormant again, ensuring that I would have a good crop of these graceful maidens in my garden come Spring.

In mid February I will start my seedlings in the kitchen. It’s my tradition to start all the plants that I use from seed. I believe that this intentional practice creates a deep bond with the plants and is good medicine;  by nurturing their growth and life cycle, they recognize  and nurture me and my loved ones in return.

I will be sprouting  poppies, western mugwort, motherwort, garlic chives & bronze fennel ( whose seeds I collected from mother plants in  my previous garden last Fall ) greek mullein, nasturtium and jewelweed seeds ( wildcrafted this Fall ). I will have a large collection of beautiful and potent plants for healing.  I can already feel them and smell their wonderful fragrances!

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