Fall Gatherings, creating space

With the expansion and excitement of summer waning, we are all settling back in to home. It’s time to get warm and cozy. It’s time to gather our people around us. Friday October 1st will be our first Medicine Woman Gathering since spring. We are going to make some pies, tell some stories and let [...]

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Plentitude ~ Recipes and Love for Stinging Nettle

Last year at this time my little piece of land was being hit by yet another snow flurry.  The many feet of snow that had fallen in December was slowly decreasing yet the whole ground was still blanketed in a thick covering of snow turned ice. Down the valley, towards the Sound the weather was [...]

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It’s our NETTLEVERSARY!

This month’s gathering we returned to the season that first brought us together. A lot has transpired during the last year. We have all been gifted in profound ways and we have all continued to work with the herbs, learn from the planet and provide for each other. It is hard to believe the incredible [...]

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Verdant Healing ~ The Evocative Nature Of Plants

The snow level has fallen and the mountains, now colored black and white, threaten to begin blanketing the river valley with the same frozen rain that will cover them through the winter and into summer. Smoke from the moxa Ellen made wafts out of the bamboo box it burns in and the room is doused [...]

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The Final Fruit ~ Apple,Hawthorn and Nootka Rosehip Butter ~ A Late Fall Heart Tonic

The leaves have changed.  My land is covered in a veil of fallen leaves, remnants of summers prime.  We are entering the darker time, the static withdrawal, the pause before the re-fruiting.  This is the transition time.  The apple trees still have a few ripe fruit clinging to their branches even though the leaves have turned yellow [...]

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Mushrooms-October Gathering

October in the Pacific Northwest is mushroom time.  The cooler days and wetter weather often bring large flushes of fungi growth in our forests.   This month we organized a foray with local experts and mushroom aficionados Jack Waytz and Buck McAdoo.  We arrived at Deception Pass on a beautiful fall day.  It was wonderful mix [...]

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The Blue Elderberry, my fall obsession.

 I would consider my “culinary point of view” to be – one of a sneaky cook. My goal is to make dishes that my family will eat, AND that are good for them. As my children get older, at times that is hard to accomplish. Elderberries are an amazing healing food. They taste wonderful. First [...]

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Yard Soup!

  This week is Eat Local Week! in Skagit County. Sponsored by Slow Food Skagit and Skagit Valley Food Co-op. The event is designed to raise awareness and build community and on Sunday September 20th there will be a neighborhood potlucks all over the valley. So check out the calendar and get on some good eats! [...]

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