Nurturing the Wild Heart

I just hacked my garden all up. There is something about garden therapy that is so very healing. When I can control nothing in my life, I can go to the plants and find peace. I ripped down the old passionflower vines that are dying back. The blue flag iris has been divided, part was moved to another garden area and I trimmed the rest back with the old lilies. The rosemary and sage have been pruned. The poor tomato vine that didn't handle the wind we had a week ago is gone and in compost heaven. Everything weeded and in order. Passionflower at the first of the season Ripping and pulling and trimming....the things I sometimes want to do in my daily life. Ripping down the problems that can be so overwhelming I feel I can't breathe. Pulling out the anxiety and tension and tossing it away. Trimming the parts that I need to change to grow stronger. Letting go completely of things that no longer serve me. Knowing that after the work there is always some rest. The dreaming of ...

Gladiolas from the kids' garden Today was a beautiful solstice day! I love to roll with the seasons so I like to celebrate each of them in some way. So today we all started in the gardens! It has been unusually hot here for the month of June but some nice thunderstorms in the evenings lately have been helping to keep the plants happy! My youngest talking to the bees this morning on the Bee Balm  We had so much fun relaxing together! My husband and I drinking coffee, while laughing at one of our dogs, watching the birds, and doing a little pruning and harvesting. Harvest from the herb garden   The best part of the day was a short hike at Medoc Mountain. One of our favorite places to hike around here. It is always gorgeous out there! A brilliant blue dragonfly who wanted his picture taken!   My oldest, that was recently diagnosed with Crohn's disease, loves to hike but since her flare up she has been very fearful to attempt it. She did...

We have been getting some pretty gnarly winter weather here in NC lately. Last week it was an icy mess. You couldn't even walk across your grassy areas because you might slip and fall. My kids however thought this was the best because they could "ice skate" on grass! It was bitter cold and our heaters never stopped to rest which had me a little nervous with our wallet getting a little too light shelling out money for fuel. Today it isn't as cold but it is snowing. Everyone around here isn't used to this weather and EVERYTHING shuts down. So most people are not happy with this newest development Mother Nature is throwing our way. It is hard because some people, like my husband, dad, and brothers, have to get to work even on the snow covered roads and the county is just not equipped to deal with snow or ice very quickly. This morning when I woke, even though I love snow, I found I was also less than excited to see the white stuff. So as I made a mad dash to the...

***1*** St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Lovely Sunshine St. John's Wort It's medicinal properties are sedative, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, astringent, antidepressant, aromatic, nervine, diuretic, vulnerary, expectorant, and hepatic. Dosage: 1-2 teaspoons of dried herb per cup of water. Steep, covered, 10-15 minutes. Drink up to 3x a day. Or if using tincture 1/4 to 1 teaspoon up to 3x a day. I have been in love with this plant since I first met it. It was amazing to see how if you rubbed St. J's green leaves or crushed it's yellow flowers it would bleed red! It was also amazing to see the color change when you put it in oil. It goes from green olive oil to ruby red infused oil in a matter of days sitting in the sun! I have used this oil to treat nerve damage in the back, on a broken foot for pain and inflammation, for ear infections, and turned it into salve for wound healing, burns, pain, insect bites and stings, and ra...

Resting on some roots while hiking. We are a nature loving family. We love watching the skies for birds and learning about different creepy crawly bugs. Our field guides are always close at hand. We let spiders hang out in windows and watch them do their thing. We eat wild weeds and leaves from trees. The kids love it! They love to show their friends! That amazing spark you see in their friends' eyes when they discover something amazing about nature is priceless. I tend to beam with pride when someone gets a boo boo and my girls run to find some Plantain or when they find a Sassafras tree and nibble a leaf because they taste like a fruity cereal. For the most part they are always open to trying whatever I tell them is safe to eat like Chickweed, Lamb's Quarters, and Sheep's Sorrel. My kids can identify without any help at least 15-20 plants and more than that many animals. That is why when I saw this it surprised me "The average American child can recognize ...