This is the time of year when the leaves all drop in their delightfully whimsical fashion. And yet, it seems that fall is not an enjoyable time for many, especially if those leaves end up on the lawn. I’ve discussed problems …
Fall
Don’t Let End of Season Veggies Go to Waste! Making Nutritive and Healing Soup Stocks/Broths
So its the end of the season, a very hard frost is on the horizon for the week and several lighter frosts have already occurred. You look out across your garden with its overflowing abundance. There are still beans, swiss …
Wild Food Profile – Burdock Root (spring and fall)
Foraging is an important part of my spiritual path, as it is one of the ways that I build a closer relationship with nature. I also think its an important part of the “oak knowledge” that druids should consider cultivating. …
Wild Food Profile: Autumn Olive / Autumn Berry (Elaeagnus umbellata) + Autumn Olive Honey Jelly Recipe
About the Autumn Olive Autumn Olive (also called Autumn Berry, Japanese Silverberry, or Spreading Oleaster) is a bush that is native to China and is considered an “invasive” in the USA. In a good part of the 20th century, it …
Elderberry Syrup with Ginger, Cinnamon, and Clove: A Powerful Medicine to Keep Sickness Away
It is that delightful time of year again, when the berries of the fall ripen, when the pumpkins grow orange on their vines, and when the elders are literally loaded with berries. The elderberry tree is a fascinating plant, rich …
Ode to the Apple: Making Applesauce
In a recent blog post, I talked about the apple as a sacred tree in that it provides us with bountiful, amazing cider. In this post, I’m going to walk through the art of making and canning applesauce. The applesauce …
Ode to the Apple: Harvest, Pressing, and Fermenting Apple Cider
I’ve been meaning to write a series of posts on the apple tree for quite a while, and here in the depths of winter, I have finally found time to do so! And while my timing is off-season, I think …
Four Sacred Trees Brew (Druidic, Magical Tree Tea with Hickory, Pine, Birch, and Maple)
There is nothing like an earthy, warm, sweet cup of tea on a cold winter’s night. This recipe is a magical blend, one of the most sacred drinks I have ever enjoyed. This recipe is derived from an Algonquin recipe …
Tree Profile: Hickory’s Magical, Medicinal, and Herbal Qualities
I am going to do a series of posts on trees–I started a second 3rd degree Adept project for the AODA, and its on expanding the traditional Ogham to include plants native to the Mid-west/mid-Atlantic region. This project will also …
Samhuinn Magical Crafting – Making a Magical Herbal Hawthorn Tincture
Samhuinn is the final holiday that is connected to harvests in the Druidic Wheel of the Year, and this is a time of apples, pumpkins, hawthorn berries (haws), nannyberries, rose hips, and rowan berries. I always like to do some …
Cover Crops in the Fall Garden: Winter Rye and Red Clover
One of the practices that has been central to my work in my annual (vegetable) garden is the cover crop. In nature, we very rarely see bare soil–the ground is always green and lush most times of the year (and …
Garden Update & Permablitz: Many Hands Make Light Work
I wanted to post another update from my garden and update from our Permaculture Meetup, which blogged about some time ago (Here’s our meetup group site: Oakland County Permaculture Meetup). Recently, I hosted what we call a “permablitz” or a …
Planting Garlic: How to Guide
Tis the season to plant garlic (at least here in South East Michigan)! This post will talk about some tips and techniques for planting garlic in your organic garden. I planted garlic for the first time a year ago, and …
Wild Food Profile: Dryad’s Saddle Mushroom
Dryad’s Saddle, also known as Polyporus squamosus, is a delightful mushroom that you can find the spring and fall cool weather. I first learned about this mushroom earlier this spring, and I must say, I gorged myself on it quite …
Finding the Balance in Providing One’s Own Sustenance: The Time-Intensive Example of Canned Corn
I’ve not been blogging as much as I did a few months ago for a simple reason–the harvest is upon us. Starting with the black raspberries in June to seeking out wild mushrooms the start of apple and autumn olive …
Embracing the Sacred and Understanding the Druidic Garden: Growing and Preserving Your Own Food
When I was a child, I used to read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. In her books, Laura spends a lot of time talking about food preservation–slaughtering the pig, making maple sugar, making “head cheese”, sowing crops, cutting hay for …
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 …