I’ve been blogging a lot about sustainability and community–and this is for good reason. I’ve come to understand, as I worked my way through the AODA’s 3rd degree (where I investigated the relationship of druidry as a spiritual practice and …
Progress
Sacred Actions, Blending of Inner and Outer, Oak Knowledge, Living Druidry – Insights from my AODA 3rd Degree Process
I started the Druid’s Garden blog a little over three years ago. I started this blog specifically as a way to document my journey while completing my Ancient Order of Druids in America’s 3rd degree program, which was a self-designed …
Garden/Homestead Updates – June 2013
I wanted to spend a bit of time on my garden updates–its been a while since I showed progress. So here’s what’s happening at the Druid’s Garden (zone 6a, South-East Michigan, USA). Photos were taken about 4 days ago. Chickens …
Historical Reenactment and Reskilling – Learning from our past
A great deal of discussion exists within the sustainability/transition movement concerning the loss of “old” and sustainable skills and the importance of reskilling to help preserve the future and live comfortably in it. The concept of reskilling is a simple …
Building Community – The Oakland County Permaculture Meetup and How to Form a Permaculture Group
I think community and community building should be a critically important part of any sustainability efforts. When I first became interested in sustainability and permaculture, I checked a bunch of books out of the library and set to reading and …
January Garden Updates
I really love January. The bitter cold, the winds, the snow–there’s something so magical about being out in a snowstorm. Where most people lament for the sun and hot summer months, I welcome all of the cold, the wind, the …
Growing Amaranth for Food and Beauty
Amaranth is a wonderful plant to grow for a variety of purposes. First of all, many varieties of amaranth are absolutely beautiful. I grew Hopi Red Dye Amaranth this year, and as you can see from the photos, its stunning.The …
Gardening into December: Hoop House Updates, Chickens, Composting, and More!
I wanted to post another update about the progress of the hoop houses and other gardening activities in mid-November in my Zone 6 climate in South East Michigan. As I wrote about in earlier blog posts, I have been experimenting …
Natural Building II: Rocket Stoves!
Earlier this week, I blogged about my visit to the Strawbale Studio. In this second Natural Building post, I’m going to talk about the rocket stove workshop itself. I’m quite excited about rocket stoves, because they use simple materials to …
Chickens and Sustainability
Chickens as part of a sustainable system. Raising chickens has become an activity of growing importance within permaculture/sustainability movements. Most backyard chicken owners raise their birds for eggs, meat, companionship, manure, happiness, and natural pest control. Chickens can form one …
Garden Updates – July 2012
Hello everyone! Its been a while since I posted actual updates from the garden. So here are some new photos! We have had very little rain in the last two months, so I’ve had to water a bit. The heat …
Building Outdoor Sacred Spaces, Part 2: Stone Circles, Stone Spirals, and Permanent Outdoor Spaces
In permaculture gardening, one of the key principles is to mimic patterns found in nature in designing garden and outdoor spaces. I believe this principle is critical to creating outdoor sacred spaces–look around you, and when you are designing a …
Druid Garden on OBOD’s website!
Hi everyone–I just wanted to share with you that the Druid’s Garden has been showcased as the “blog of the month” on the OBOD’s website. I feel very honored by this recognition! Here’s a link to their page: http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/resources/druid-blogs/blog-month
Mushroom Gardens
If there is one thing that’s pretty difficult to find locally, I’ve found it to be mushrooms. Once when I was at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s market (which is about an hour and 15 min drive for me, so I …
Shelter and Growth: Hoop House Gardening
Throughout ancient sites in the UK, where Druidry originated, we find barrows, underground tunnels, and chambers hidden deep within the earth. These “protective places” are sites sheltered from the elements, the bitter cold and frigid winds, where people could find …
Druidry and the Land
I’ve added a number of permanent pages on the blog–I hope you’ll check them out: About Druidry: An introduction to druidry, as I see it! I cover the basics of druidry as a spiritual and life path today as well …
Sheet Mulching / Lasagnia Gardening – Instructions and Experiences
Last year, I reported that I started my garden beds using a Sheet Mulching (aka Lasagnia Gardening) approach that I found in Gaia’s Garden and select places online, such as here, here and here. A year later, and I’d like …
Garden Plans and Updates
I have been busy planting seeds so that after our last frost date (May 15th) these new little plants can go into the ground. Seeds contain so much potential–its amazing to watch them grow and get stronger each day as …
Garden Plans
Winter, especially as we approach Imbloc, is an excellent time to begin garden planning. One of my concerns is that I will plan too much and won’t be able to get it in the ground! Take my sheet mulching, for …