All you farmers out there interested in speaking with the buyer for Gaia herbs, come on out on Friday April 15, to the Mill Spring Ag Center. We will be talking about the medicinal herb market, how to contract with buyers for specific crops, harvest and post harvest processing, organic certification process and more.
It will be informative and expansive, come with lots of questions.
We are also interested in getting a group together to share expertise, learning, equipment and ideas...if this sounds like something for you, be sure to join us Friday April 15 at 12;30pm Lunch will be provided, home made with local produce and really really gooood!!!!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Propagating Elder Plants
The Elders are just leafing out...there is still time to make more from branches that shoot off the main part of the plant. If you cut about a pencil diameter sized 'whip' about 1-2 ft long, and put it in soil that is near a stream so it stays moist, you will have a new plant growing in a few weeks! I am astonished at how simple it is to do. Elder flowers and berries make good medicine. Why not include these amazing healers in your garden or yard repetoire? Happy planting!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Equinox Elegance
How fortuitous that the Equinox this year is accompanied by International Astrology Day and a full moon larger than any in 18 years! Certainly a powerful combination!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
communication
I learned in mushroom class that when a dead tree falls, it actually communicates to the mycelium within that it is time to fruit. You can thump your mushroom logs to stimulate this process. I guess that means it actually does make a sound if no one is there to hear it! Also, mushrooms being the fruit of the fungi, you can think of the mycelium as the “plant.” It can span miles sometimes even acres and is considered to be the original internet. These mycelia nets communicate chemically underground with the plants and help certain ones to grow. Our native orchid, the Ladyslipper depends on a certain mycelium combo to grow. Without that communication, it cannot flourish.
Trillium have an interesting symbiotic communication with ants, who feed off the fat surrounding their seeds and carry them into their dens, hence planting the next generation. If there were no ants we would see a rapid decline in the Trillium population among other issues. Did you know a Trillium can be over 70 years old? Plants communicate with each other as anyone who knows about companion planting will attest. When I was learning form a Native elder, and a man was coming down the trail he motioned that the guy was in a bad mood. “How do you know?” I asked. He told me it was because the plants were leaning away from him!
The plants, animals, insects and Nature herself are powerful communicators if you know how to listen and respond. It is NOT a dead world out there! The more we connect with natural rhythms and humble ourselves to learn, the richer the forest becomes. Our part in the dance will be so much smoother if we open our hearts in communication with the forest.
Trillium have an interesting symbiotic communication with ants, who feed off the fat surrounding their seeds and carry them into their dens, hence planting the next generation. If there were no ants we would see a rapid decline in the Trillium population among other issues. Did you know a Trillium can be over 70 years old? Plants communicate with each other as anyone who knows about companion planting will attest. When I was learning form a Native elder, and a man was coming down the trail he motioned that the guy was in a bad mood. “How do you know?” I asked. He told me it was because the plants were leaning away from him!
The plants, animals, insects and Nature herself are powerful communicators if you know how to listen and respond. It is NOT a dead world out there! The more we connect with natural rhythms and humble ourselves to learn, the richer the forest becomes. Our part in the dance will be so much smoother if we open our hearts in communication with the forest.
Monday, March 7, 2011
communication
Forest communication
Did you know that everything in the forest is communicating all the time? We have lost the awareness that this even happens in our culture, because it takes quite a bit of time and lengthy solitary trips into the wild to learn the code. If you can clear your mind and become 100% present, you will discover the amazing sensitive entity we call the forest. I can tell you it is definitely worth the trip. You can enter the forest in a certain way and become virtually invisible. You can see the fox licking her paws as the kits ramble about or be in the midst of a herd of deer feeding and going towards the river to drink.
Is it magic? No, it is learning to move in the forest the way the animals move…respecting each others territory, gaining trust and permission, picking up subtleties of body language, learning the etiquette…an art of communication we can certainly use more of in our own culture. Most of the time, the sheer velocity of our incessant thinking creates a kind of static which is unsavory to the beings who live in harmony with what is NOW.
When we barge into the woods, it first scares off the ground birds. Those are the ones you need to see and pay attention to, they are the first ones to acknowledge. They will actually give you a few warnings before flying off emitting the alarm call that someone without manners has entered the wood. If you watch animals, they always pause and check things out before entering the woods that is the first step towards harmonious forest habitation.
Did you know that everything in the forest is communicating all the time? We have lost the awareness that this even happens in our culture, because it takes quite a bit of time and lengthy solitary trips into the wild to learn the code. If you can clear your mind and become 100% present, you will discover the amazing sensitive entity we call the forest. I can tell you it is definitely worth the trip. You can enter the forest in a certain way and become virtually invisible. You can see the fox licking her paws as the kits ramble about or be in the midst of a herd of deer feeding and going towards the river to drink.
Is it magic? No, it is learning to move in the forest the way the animals move…respecting each others territory, gaining trust and permission, picking up subtleties of body language, learning the etiquette…an art of communication we can certainly use more of in our own culture. Most of the time, the sheer velocity of our incessant thinking creates a kind of static which is unsavory to the beings who live in harmony with what is NOW.
When we barge into the woods, it first scares off the ground birds. Those are the ones you need to see and pay attention to, they are the first ones to acknowledge. They will actually give you a few warnings before flying off emitting the alarm call that someone without manners has entered the wood. If you watch animals, they always pause and check things out before entering the woods that is the first step towards harmonious forest habitation.
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