Category: Gardens
The Great Tick Illusion
Before I share a brand-new video with you, I have some great news:
My newest online course, Elders: The Ecology of Old-Growth Forests, will be open for enrollment in two weeks!
I’ve spent the past 16 months filming, researching, and structuring this course to be a comprehensive guide to these incredible ecosystems. I’ve gone deeper into the science and soul of the forest than ever before, and I’m excited to finally bring this vision to life.
If you’ve been following the updates over the last few months, thank you for your patience.
Keep an eye on your inbox over the next two weeks. The official launch date is Monday, May 11.
In the meantime, I have some new information to share with you about a well-known member of the forest:
The black-legged tick.
So far this year, I’ve had more than two dozen ticks crawling on my body. [Fun fact: Not all these ticks surprised me. To capture video footage of ticks, I often have to intentionally walk through shrubs and tall grasses to find them.]
No matter how they end up on my body, I’m always left with the same question: Where are all these ticks coming from?
For a long time, we’ve been told that ticks are simply moving north as the climate changes. But interestingly, a recent preprint study challenges this assumption.
It turns out that the history of the tick on our landscape is far more complex and ancient than we realized.
In a brand-new video, I discuss the latest research and what it actually means for those of us living in tick territory.
Thanks for reading and watching!
— Adam Haritan
A Wheel of Deepening Land Healing through Sacred Gardens and Refugia, Part II: Radiating Rituals and Sending Energy Outward
A Wheel of Deepening Land Healing through Sacred Gardens and Refugia, Part I
Mace—December’s Herb of the Month
By Maryann Readal
Mace: The Elegant Twin of Nutmeg
Mace is a wonderfully unique spice. It derives from the Myristica fragrans tree and is native to Indonesia’s Banda Islands—the legendary “Spice Islands”—though it is now also cultivated in Grenada and other tropical regions. You can’t talk about mace without mentioning its twin, nutmeg, because, even though they are different spices, they grow together hidden inside the fruit of the Myristica tree. When the fruit is ripe, it splits open to reveal the seed (nutmeg), which is covered in a delicate, lacy, red membrane, called the aril, otherwise known as mace.
Elderberry – November’s Herb of the Month
By Maryann Readal
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is an herb of many faces. In spring, its white, lacy blossoms brighten woodlands and hedgerows, attracting bees and butterflies with their sweet fragrance. By autumn, those delicate blooms transform into heavy clusters of deep purple berries — a feast for birds, wildlife, and humans alike. Every part of the elder — flowers, berries, leaves, and even wood — has long been treasured for food, craft, and healing.
A Storied Past
The story of elderberry stretches back to the Ice Age, between 12,000 and 9,000 BCE, when glaciers carried its seeds across North America, Europe, and Asia. By 2000 BCE, early peoples were already cultivating the plant for its medicinal and culinary gifts.
Before Halloween, There Was Samhain: Honoring the Herbs, Flavors, and Fires of the Season
By Beth Schreibman Gehring
“The scent of rosemary, the smoke of sage, the whisper of bay — the old language of the earth still speaks if we pause long enough to listen.”
— Beth Schreibman Gehring, from Forage & Gather
Before Halloween, there was Samhain, the ancient Celtic turning of the year when the harvest ended and winter began to breathe at the edges of the fields. It was the time when fires were lit high on the hills to call the sun back, when families gathered to share what they’d grown, and to honor what they’d lost. They believed that on this night, the veil between worlds grew thin so that those who came before might wander close for just a moment, drawn by the scent of wood smoke and the warmth of the hearth.
The herbs of this season are the same ones that have long carried us through the threshold times, the in-between spaces when the light fades and the earth exhales. I think of them as old friends who know how to steady us when the days grow short.
Creating Your Wildcrafted Magical Apothecary
By Dana Driscoll
Throughout the year, including on warmer days in the deepest winter months, you will find me out on the land: scattering seeds; planting and harvesting; communing with the plants, trees, and mushrooms; and working nature magic. With baskets overflowing with abundant herbs, nuts, seeds, and mushrooms, I take only what I need, leaning into the abundant plants, and harvest with permission and gratitude. I leave offerings, scatter seeds, and weave magic and flute songs. I often have other people with me–friends, herbal apprentices, visitors, cats, geese. We honor the land while we harvest the plants that heal, soothe, and help us connect with the sacred.
From Harvest to Hearth: Herbs for the Autumnal Equinox
By Beth Schreibman Gehring
The autumnal equinox, which falls on September the 22nd, is a spoke in the wheel of the year — the brief pause when day and night are perfectly balanced, before the tipping into the darker half of the seasons. In the old calendars, it was a time of harvest and gratitude, a season of preparing pantries and hearts for the coming winter.
Across cultures, this threshold was marked with festivals. The Celts observed Mabon, a harvest rite of thanksgiving where fruits, nuts, squashes, and grains were gathered in and shared with kin and community. Herbs such as sage and thyme flavored the loaves and stews, while rosemary was woven into wreaths to bless the home. It was a season of pausing, giving thanks, and carrying the abundance of the fields inward. Continue Reading …
Setting Up and Using Your Home Herbal Apothecary
By Dana Driscoll
A growing number of people are taking an interest in herbal medicine. Why learn herbalism now? For many, it is a way to deeply learn and lean into the nature right outside their door. Further, learning how to identify, prepare, preserve, and use medicinal plants helps you take health into your own hands. A lot of people who live in the US (especially in rural areas) recognize that healthcare is more costly and more difficult to access: it is harder than ever to keep a family doctor or get specialist care, and it is so costly that a lot of people can’t afford visits, tests, or medicines.
Paths I Walk 
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