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Registration is now open!

April 2, 2017March 16, 2018

Hello, friends. Registration is now open for both the Autumn Women's Herbal Retreat and the Green Magic Summer Camp! (Just a head's up that Green Magic Summer Camp is nearly full already.)

You can read all about them on my new Herbal Retreat page. I do hope you can join us!

Happy weekending,

Rachel

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One of my favorite corners at our small town natur

One of my favorite corners at our small town natural foods coop is the garden seeds station. Here we can buy all manner of garden seeds by the tiny scoop full or (in some cases) by the single seed. This has been a game-changer for me, and I can plant my whole garden for just a few dollars vs a few dollars per packet (when I normally need just a few)!

We brought home calendula, beets, kohlrabi, sunflower, radish, zucchini, butternut, and so much more for less than $4. Most packets we bought were 10¢-50¢ each!

Oh, and last year’s seeds are available for customers to take home free of charge as well.

What out-of-the-ordinary offerings does your favorite shop or coop have?

#kickapooexchange
#gardenseeds
#naturalfoodscoop
#gardening
#coop

Ramps today. I foraged a gallon bag of single leav

Ramps today. I foraged a gallon bag of single leaves, and dug around 100 bulbs before the storm. While I planned to keep a few to eat, I ended up transplanting all the bulbs I dug. It seemed like a higher happiness return on my effort than I'd get by simply eating them.

I put around 25% in bare spots at the park where I forage and 75% back home in our our woods (it was clearcut in the 1920's and never recovered). The ramps I've planted here in the past decade are doing well, but they are few and I want to see this woods carpeted once more.

Shout-out to Samuel Thayer's new mini-documentary on ramp populations and the benefits of transplating. His video inspired me to plant more today than I have in recent years. That right there is the power of sharing what we're passionate about.

#foraging
#ramps
#wildedibles
#alliumtricoccum

It’s been a minute since I’ve felt called to c

It’s been a minute since I’ve felt called to come here or to post here, including sharing the progress of our kitchen build.

Honestly, the state of the world—from genocide to climate change to politics—is generally too much to bear. So I gravitate to public quietude while life and activism and the search for goodness goes on privately over here.

I’m writing letters to my representatives (not that we’ve moved the needle much, yet we persist) and raising a family and sweeping up drywall dust and picking out hardware and making friends with the table saw and finding beauty in the unfolding of spring.

We’re plugging along, healing our grief and planting seeds and cooking meals and building a home and growing old. All while the world wobbles dangerously on her axis and we do all we can to steady this beautiful planet and protect her from harm.

Anyway, the kitchen.

Here we are, after 13 months of weekends. Despite fumbles and slow downs, and burnout and busyness, we’re nearly there. Another 1-3 months should do it. And, honestly, I’m smitten.

#diy
#chambersstove
#remodel
#diyrenovation
#colorfulhome

Hey, beautiful friends! I'm down to just 3 spots o

Hey, beautiful friends! I'm down to just 3 spots on my upcoming Wild Ireland tour. If you've been contemplating joining me, this is your sign! A brief description follows, or drop me a note and I'll send you a link to all the details.
Is Ireland calling you?

This July, I'll be co-hosting an off-the-beaten-path journey through the heart and soul of western Ireland. Far from the bustling tour bus routes, we'll travel together down quiet back-country lanes, gather at prehistoric sacred stone circles, listen to storytellers spin tales from Ireland's rich past, and forage wild things from hedgerows and along the seaside. We'll busy our hands weaving willow and making herbal remedies, and dance (or just listen) to lively fiddle tunes. We'll visit a Shee La Na Gig, an ancient oak forest, and sit in quiet contemplation beside bubbling sacred wells.
Ten days of exquisite food, glorious accommodations, and the just-right pace of slow travel through the countryside.

If this speaks to you, leave me a note below and I'll provide you with all the details. It's a once-in-a-lifetime journey that I'd love to share with you. All genders are welcome, and mature pre-teens or teens are invited to join with a guardian! As they say in Ireland, it's going to be grand.

Slan!

Today marks one week shy of a year since we starte

Today marks one week shy of a year since we started what was supposed to be a quick kitchen remodel that turned into a tear-off/rebuild/addition on account of all the issues we found once we tore in. (My phone just autocorrected “tear-off” to “tears” which isn’t entirely wrong).

Last night and today I installed our upcycled wall boards (formerly ship lap that we removed from the stairwell and pulled nails; then I ran through the planer a zillion times until sawdust came out of my nose; then ripped down to square on the table saw). Painted and sealed, this will be our countertop backsplash.

Pete got most of the ceiling beadboard installed today as well and now I’m heading back to the shop to build cabinet bases. 🙌🏻💪🏻🤜🏻🤛🏻

51 weeks and it finally feels like we’re rounding the corner! Still a lot to do, but today was easy to see progress and I’m here for it.

Is Ireland calling you? This July I'll be co-hos

Is Ireland calling you?

This July I'll be co-hosting an off-the-beaten-path journey through the heart and soul of western Ireland. Far from the bustling tour bus routes, we'll travel together down quiet back-country lanes, gather at prehistoric sacred stone circles, listen to storytellers spin tales from Ireland's rich past, and forage wild things from hedgerows and along the seaside. We'll busy our hands weaving willow and making herbal remedies, and dance (or just listen) to lively fiddle tunes. We'll visit a Shee La Na Gig, an ancient oak forest, and sit in quiet contemplation beside bubbling sacred wells. Ten days of exquisite food, glorious accommodations, and the just-right pace of slow travel through the countryside.

If this speaks to you, leave me a note below and I'll provide you with all the details. It's a once-in-a-lifetime journey that I'd love to share with you. All genders are welcome, and mature pre-teens or teens are invited to join with a guardian! As they say in Ireland, it's going to be grand.

Slan!

Happy Imbolc, dear ones. We’re half way to throu

Happy Imbolc, dear ones. We’re half way to through to the heart of spring.

A spontaneous bonfire with a few neighbor-friends was the perfect way to celebrate this turn of the season. We’ve been so preoccupied with the kitchen build and house renovation that we rarely pause to play. So when our neighbor invited himself (and the rest of the valley) over for a bonfire at our house, it was a needed excuse to put the tools away and pause. To recalibrate. To look toward spring.

While this winter had left so many of us worried for what’s to come (folks are tapping in early February?!), the pull of longer days remains a powerful force on our spirits, drawing us out toward longer, warmer season ahead.

Find joy and connection out there, loves. It’s kind of the point of this whole messy, anxiety-inducing, beautiful ride.

It’s been a minute since I updated you on the DI

It’s been a minute since I updated you on the DIY kitchen build. Month by month, weekend after weekend, I’m learning loads, stretching myself, and doing my damndest to move from frustration and overwhelm into curiosity and grit.

And… we’re making progress! It’s torturously slow but we’re getting closer. And soon(ish) our dream kitchen will be done, built with our own hands. What a journey!

Last weekend: dense pack recycled cellulose. (Grateful for kind and knowledgeable neighbors who came by to show us how it’s done. I still screwed it up (obvs), but that’s learning for ya.) Next up: drywall, a beaded board ceiling (a tribute to the original we discovered hiding in our original kitchen but damaged from a fire many decades ago), and the prettiest tile backsplash you’ve ever seen.

Whoop whoop! You guys. We’re building a GD kitchen. We’re doing this! With our own hands. 🙌🏻

#womenwhobuild #diyremodel #farmhouseremodel

Have you ever rested amongst the roots of a 1500-y

Have you ever rested amongst the roots of a 1500-year-old oak tree, ancient branches stretching skyward? Have you ever touched the mysterious goddess carvings of the Sheela Na Gig, sending forth wishing for that which you wish to birth?

Have you ever raised your voice in song to an ancient blackthorn hawthorn tree, her branches bedazzled with wet mosses and ferns? Have you sat at the feet of a pagan priestess, as she spins you tales of what was before and what shall someday be?

Have you visited with the Hag of Bera, the stone presence who sits patiently waiting at the edge of the sea? Have you ever woven willow branches or rushes, or foraged seaweeds along the windswept coast of Ireland? Have you put your hands to work making plant medicines to give to those in need?

Have you dined on five-star meals while sitting beside the sea, visiting with new friends and watching the sun set beyond the hills?

All this and more await you in Ireland.

Not a trip through the fast-paced, touristy, crowded places tour of Ireland, but a slow-travel, back-roads, secret-nooks, off-the-track journey deep into Ireland’s true heart.

A trip designed to be savored, not hurried.

A place with, beside, and for the...
wanderers
artists
herbalists
storytellers
tree-whisperers
the old goddesses
the care-takers
...and so much more.

We have just a few spots left for mature teens and adults of any gender. Are you called to join me? Say yes to this trip of a lifetime.

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