Chervil – Herb of the Month

by Maryann Readal

chervil plant Chervil, Anthriscus cerefolium, is similar to parsley but has a milder, anise flavor. It is sometimes called French parsley or garden parsley. The Romans named it cherifoliu, the ‘cheri’ part meaning delight and the ‘folium’ part meaning leaves—the joy of leaves.

Chervil is important in French cuisine, where it is an ingredient in classic sauces such as béarnaise and ravigote. These sauces pair well with fish, veal, or chicken. Along with parsley, chives, and tarragon, chervil is in the French herb combination, herbes fines. Chervil is better used fresh as it loses its flavor when dried. It should be added at the end of cooking to get the most out of its flavor. It is a good addition to omelets and salads and can be sprinkled over fresh fruit. Chervil makes a flavorful and colorful butter. The leaves and flowers can…

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Druid Tree Workings: Finding and Working with Grandmother Trees

The Druid's Garden

The Ancient Maple – Grandmother Tree. This grandmother lives in a middle of a rock pile. the three branching trunks signify she may have been cut at one time and regrew. Grandmothers can be stubborn!

A grandmother is a really special person. I remember going to my grandmother’s house when I was a little girl–it was literally my favorite place to go. My grandmother and I would go to the thrift store and buy used clothing, then spend the morning sewing doll clothes and repurposing those old clothes for amazing new clothes for me–skirts that swirled out wide and colorfully printed tops. We’d go out into the garden and pick herbs, and she’d cook up an incredible pot of mushroom soup. She was full of generosity and love and always fostered my creativity and joy. My other grandmother was quite different–she was a bit of a firecracker, sassy and short-tempered…

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Sensory Herb Gardens for Special Needs Children

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Candace Riddle

Ever since Beatrix Potter wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit,children and gardens have had a special friendship. That friendship is even stronger between children with special needs and special gardens called “sensory gardens.”

The difference between a sensory garden and a “regular” garden is the human factor— regular display gardens are designed primarily for visual beauty, while a sensory garden is designed to stimulate all the senses: sight, sound, scent, touch, and taste. A display garden is meant to be viewed or seen from either a short or long distance, whereas a sensory garden is meant to be experienced close and personal using all five of the human senses.

Educators describe a sensory herb garden as peaceful and calming with the ability to draw kids into the moment; even non-verbal kids can show their feelings about their garden experience.

When we use the term “children…

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Druid Tree Workings: Principles for Establishing Deep Relationships with the Trees, Part I

The Druid's Garden

Trees provide an abundant amount of resources…shelter, food, fire, friendship–but they also as this blog has shown, can work various forms of magic through their energetics, through their lore, through their divinatory meanings. They are some of the most kind, giving, and accessible beings on the landscape, and certainly a place to not only begin a nature spiritual practice but deepen it over time. As I’ve written on this blog, working with the trees must be a matter of exchange–honoring them, treating them as elders, listening to their stories and songs–and if you want to work tree magic, this magic requires us to be in a sacred relationship with the trees. I’ll be doing a short series on how to establish, maintain, and grow relationships with plants and trees.

Powerful Chestnut Tree bearing nuts!

In this first post of this new series, we are going to focus on the concept…

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An Enchantment Spell for this Full Planting Moon

This Full Planting Moon is the first of 4 super moons in a row this year. This is also the first full moon of the astrological new year.

The energy has been intense leading up to this full moon. Establishing order, healing of old wounds and trying to maintain and establish harmony might be some major themes for you right now.

There are some powerful lessons with this moon. It is opposite Venus, trine Saturn and opposite Chiron. The Moon will also make a perfect triangle configuration to both Saturn and Mars, known as a Grand Trine.

This Full Moon is opposite Venus which can increase your need for love and affection, helping us connect to others on deeper levels. Be careful that with this vulnerability you don’t give into things like jealousy or obsession or codependency.

The Moon is trine Saturn, which gives us the patience, inner strength and wisdom to handle any of the obstacles that might come with the intense energies of this full moon.

Chiron, the wounded healer is conjunct the Sun and Venus, and opposite the moon right now too, so there are some unhealed wounds that might be making themselves known to you right now. These might come in the form of new experiences that hold similar energy to a past event.

You might feel like your healing is going backwards, but trust that it is cyclical. Trust in the seeds you’ve planted in the past. Trust in your inevitable period of blooming.

The full moon is also known as the Planting Moon. The Seed has sprouted. Life is flowing and growing wild.

The Planting Moon brings you back to Earth. Prepare your garden so your dreams can grow. Spiritually and quite literally.

For this earthy full moon, we are reconnecting with Gaia- the plant allies, crystal companions and our ritual from last month by completing our witches garden.

If you haven’t planted any seeds yet, no worries! There is still plenty of time. If you did already plant your seeds, they might be big enough to be moved to a bigger planter.

But before we transplant plant our seeds, we are going to create a dedicated planter to hold them and help them grow.

Read full article at: Spirit de la Lune ~ An Enchantment Spell for this Full Planting Moon

To Be or Not To Be

Our most popular F R E E Online Herbal Course is back

Birdsong Paula,Is spring singing sweetly in your neck of the woods? Here in the southern Appalachians, we’re sitting on the edge of our garden stools, ready to be fully wooed by the season. There’s nothing like the spectacle put on by vernal green beings, whose soft brightness is the ultimate restorative after months of dark and cold—figuratively and literally.As redbuds swell and daffodils nod their sunny heads, we’re feeling more than an emergence from winter. This past year surpassed seasonal hibernation; it was a chrysalis moment. A time of dissolution, solitude, and soul-searching, and for many of us a test of spirit as we mourned the loss of loved ones and faced unparalleled challenges. As the veil of the past 12 months begins to lift, we’re ravenous for the renewal of apple blossoms and robinsong.Throughout the last year, cascades of folks have found health, connection, and resilience through the study of herbal medicine. People have turned out for herbal classes, learned to make their own medicines, and grown gardens for the first time in profound numbers. Do you want to join the movement?Registration has just opened for our most popular FREE Online Herbal Course.

Our HANDCRAFTED HERBALISM FREE ONLINE MINI-COURSE is a foundational introduction to some of the most important subjects herbalists need to learn:
Sustainable Wild Food + Medicine ForagingHerbal Medicine MakingPlant Identification + Herbal BotanyIf you enroll by March 29th, you can join us for four vibrant videos, three downloadable lessons (yours to keep!), review Q+A’s, and a self-graded quiz (so you can tape your herbal report card to the fridge).

Enroll in the Mini-Course

The Gifts

Delectable Native Edibles

The Herb Society of America Blog

By Andrea DeLong-Amaya

tradescantia flowers You may be one of the growing numbers of home gardeners who have put shovel to soil in the effort to nourish themselves and their families with wholesome, organic, fresh, and ultimately local vegetables and fruits. It is empowering to know exactly where your food comes from. And, while gardening is perfect exercise…it can be a lot of work! What if you could grow food plants that all but took care of themselves? Or better yet simply harvest, with caution of course, from the wild.

Native produce? Yes! The plants I’m about to tell you about are all easy to cultivate within their home ranges and, once established, may not require any attention outside of harvest. There are many virtues of raising locally native plants, such as decreased use of water, fertilizers, and pesticides, and promoting regional identity, and providing for wildlife. But those aren’t my main…

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A Spring Equinox Meditation: The Mysteries of the Dandelion and the Three Currents

The Druid's Garden

Fields of dandelion

One of the hallmarks of spring is the blooming of the vibrant and colorful dandelion. Emerging as soon as the coldest of the temperatures ease, the blooming of the dandelions affirm that the long, dark winter is indeed over and summer is just around the corner. In today’s post, and in honor of the Spring Equinox and the incredible dandelion, I offer a spring tonic and meditative journey to celebrate the Spring Equinox and learn more about the mysteries of the dandelion. This is one of my monthly AODA-themed posts, so I hope you enjoy it and have a blessed spring equinox!

About the Dandelion

The blooming of the dandelions is a special time of year. For us here in Western PA, dandelions bloom just as the final frosts are easing, and are a sign that we can start planting some of our more tending crops in…

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