Spring has Sprung!

Wind gusts of 50 miles an hour last Thursday so I couldn’t go to SDG until Saturday. I was caught in the microburst in May 2018, so I’m fairly cautious now. April showers are one thing, but add in the wind and it becomes a dangerous situation. At least the weather seems to have settled down into Spring temperatures 50 - 60º.

Settling in to quarantine, Marc has purchased a pile of baked goods that I’m trying to stay away from, unsuccessful Thursday stuck inside. Interestingly enough, the gardens are my regular workout so I was wired until 2:00am Thursday night. As the hours wore on I realized there was nothing to do, but wait it out.

Hiddenbrooke Friday, I find the first few weeks of coronavirus here were pure anxiety and returning to Hiddenbrooke solidifying routine. The only thing that has changed for me is Marc home on a daily basis. Spring proceeds, Mama does her thing. I am a Spring baby (April 6) so Spring makes me blissful, Maple, Magnolia, Forsythia, Cherry, Rododendron, Quince, all bursting forth in their floral glory.

Magnolia, Magnolia x soulangiana

Forsythia, Forsythia x intermedia

Juneberry, Amelanchior arborea

At Hiddenbrooke, I cleaned out the drying shed and opened up Anise Hyssop and Skullcap beds and cut down last year’s Elecampane stalks. new growth on Aniset Hyssop and Elecampane beds, no Skullcap yet. I got three straw bales to use as mulch. Mugwort and Stiltgrass are the biggest challenges at Hiddenbrooke. The season starts with cleaning. I leave tall stalks through the Winter for birds to land on when it snows, so I spend April cleaning. Without Flora Jones, I am on the hunt for my Wild Salad and what to my wondering eyes should appear at Hiddenbrooke, but Chickweed! Head over to my You Tube Channel Wise Woman Spiral and check out the video. I also harvested Cress, Dandelion and Garlic Mustard for Wild Salad.

Magnolia, Magnolia x soulangiana

Forsythia, Forsythia x intermedia

Juneberry, Amelanchior arborea

Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale

Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata

I direct seed Kale at the end of the month. We will be adding more herbs at SDG. I have worked alone for the last three years, but with Celia and Sarah, I can work on beds I haven’t used in those three years. I’ll be getting in Sage, Shiso and Sunroot this year. Sarah has already planted Nettle. I worried for many years herbs would become invasive, but they will actually round out the garden nicely. Also considering Elderberry.

Spring has sprung despite Covid-19, quarantine, etc. My gardens are the only time I spend outside beyond errands. Sunshine feels good. Susun Weed says vitamin D is good for the immune system. She also has a good video WARD OFF CORONAVIRUS. We are wrapped up in medical industry advice. Remember, it is an industry and profit the objective. Herbal medicine is folk medicine, affordable and often times free. The medical industry wraps us in a cloak of fear and then controls who can afford to live.

Over time, we can hear our body’s wisdom and provide our own healthcare. We have done so for millennia. The Witch Trials in Europe took healthcare out of the hands of the people and the medical industry was born. A world offered only to men and mother and child mortality and respiratory illness have been a problem ever since. Earth is a system and we are part of that system. Earth has, does and always will support us. The medical industry is alternative medicine because herbal medicine is as old as time.

We’ve forgotten our wild selves. Our selves connected to Earth, our Mother, sustainer. The relationship is always there for the asking. The Establishment is loud and we can no longer hear ourselves in the hustle and bustle, it is why meditation has become so popular. Recommended by the medical industry even! In the quiet, in the stillness, Spirit awaits our beckon and our reconnection. She sighs now, a breath of relief and our animal family returns to the wild lands, our skies clear of pollution - relief, restoration. For too long we have been in an abusive relationship with Earth, we the perpetrator. We have a golden opportunity right now to reimagine a harmonious relationship with Earth.