If This Isn’t Good Medicine, I Don’t Know What Is
To find good medicine, look in a forest. In a forest, you’ll encounter plants that have the ability to heal human ailments.
Many years ago, I learned about the medicinal properties of a particular woody plant. This woody plant, when applied to my face as an extract, improved my poor complexion.
Over the years, I’ve been able to maintain a decent complexion thanks to this plant (and thanks to significant lifestyle changes). While I no longer rely on this plant to heal my physical ailment, I do rely on it to address an existential problem.
Plaguing the human species, this problem can be solved if we know where to look.
To learn more about this plant and its ability to offer good medicine, check out the brand-new video.
I’d also like to mention that I’ll be part of the Wild Ones Western PA Chapter’s annual symposium on March 26, where I’ll be joining a panel discussion focused on strengthening communities and native habitats.
You can learn more about the event here.
Thanks for reading and watching, and thanks for your continued support!
— Adam Haritan
California’s Dangerous Path: Oil Refinery Takeover & The Coming Supply Crisis
A Massive Maple Lives In These Woods
Rough, weathered, worn, and warped.
Humans try to avoid these four conditions. Old trees embrace them.
This is why I advocate taking long walks in the woods. In wooded ecosystems, we sometimes discover the ragged splendor of old trees.
On a recent walk in a hardwood forest, I rediscovered a tree I had first encountered many months ago. Rough, weathered, worn, and warped, it’s one of the most remarkable trees I have ever seen.
To learn more about this aged beauty, check out the brand-new video.
Thanks for reading and watching! Have you seen any remarkable trees lately?
— Adam Haritan
Preseason Morel Mushroom Hunting Tips
If you want to find morel mushrooms this year, here’s a tip: don’t wait until spring to begin your hunt.
This might sound like unconventional advice. After all, current temperatures are too cold for morels. Wood frogs haven’t even bred yet. Spring is still another 50 days away.
All these things are true. But this next statement is also true: you can drastically improve your future chances of finding morels by doing a few things right now.
In a brand-new video, I discuss several tactics we can implement immediately. I also share my predictions for the upcoming season. Will the mushrooms be plentiful this year? Will they be scarce?
You can watch the new video here.
Thanks for reading and watching!
— Adam Haritan
Juniper: A Common Evergreen
Are Monarch Butterflies Really In Trouble?
“Happiness is a butterfly.”
At least that’s what some people say. If it’s true, then sadness would have to be a butterfly-less world.
Fortunately, you and I will probably never experience such a world. The planet currently hosts over 17,000 butterfly species. The United States alone has over 700 butterfly species. Most of these species are doing okay, but some are at risk of extinction. The Karner blue and San Bruno elfin, among others, are endangered in the United States.
And then there’s the monarch butterfly — an iconic species known for its epic migration. Monarch populations, according to several credible sources, are declining. To halt the decline, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently proposed to list the monarch as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Interestingly, this proposal is receiving criticism. Some people think that monarchs don’t need our help. Some researchers even claim there isn’t strong evidence of widespread declines.
Who are we to believe? Are monarch butterflies really in trouble? If so, why are populations declining? Is more intervention a good thing? Should we really be raising monarchs at home? And how does organized crime tie into all this?
In a brand-new video, I address these important questions. You can watch the video here.
Thanks for reading and watching!
— Adam Haritan
An Easy Way to Identify Certain trees in Winter
Want to improve your winter tree identification skills? Here’s a good tip: Look for marcescent leaves.
Marcescence describes leaves that have turned brown and are still attached to trees. These withered leaves often persist on the trees until spring.
As you might expect, marcescence isn’t a feature displayed by too many woody plants. When you see a marcescent tree or shrub, you can narrow down your ID choices to a relatively small number of species.
In the temperate woodlands of eastern North America, marcescence is often displayed by hornbeam (Carpinus), beech (Fagus), witch-hazel (Hamamelis), hophornbeam (Ostrya), and oak (Quercus).
No one is exactly sure why marcescence exists. Here are a few hypotheses:
- It allows plants to photosynthesize longer into the autumn season.
- It deters herbivores from browsing twigs and buds.
- Marcescent trees provide shelter to animals that in turn provide nutrients to trees.
- Marcescent leaves, when they finally fall off, provide pulses of nutrients to their host trees.
- Marcescent leaves, when they finally fall off, smother new growth of competing woody plants in the spring.
All of these statements can be true to some degree, but it is uncertain whether any one of them is the true reason for marcescence.
Still, you and I can use marcescence to our advantage when attempting to identify woody plants. A good first step is to learn which woody plants are marcescent in our region. We can then seek out these plants, spend some time with them, and fall in love with the process.
To learn even more tips for identifying trees, consider enrolling in Trees In All Seasons. Today is the final day of the winter sale.
You can learn more and register here.
Also, if you’re interested in learning how to forage mushrooms this winter, consider enrolling in Foraging Wild Mushrooms. This 4-season online course is on sale until the end of today, December 23.
Thanks for supporting nature education!
— Adam Haritan
Solace Stones: Retreating into Stone Spirit Medicine ~ Krista Mitchell
There is a solstice occurring tomorrow, Saturday Dec. 21st.
In the northern hemisphere at dawn this will herald the rebirth of the sun and the return of the light.
In the southern hemisphere at sunset there will be a gala of light meant to raise us to ascendency.
Both are rites of passage and devotion that were once held sacred by the wise ones of old.
They would gather or retreat within stone circle and dolmen. They would purify and pray. And then they would prepare to commune with their higher powers, receive the Earth’s song, and heal from the geomagnetic energy that poured through the stones themselves.
While in our modern times this no longer occurs, the stones still stand, and they remember.
I can feel within our own community here an increased desire for fellowship, communion, and to have a genuine experience of the sacred. This is understandable in a world that feels increasingly unsafe, uncertain, disconnected, and cruel.
But it’s also something in our blood: I firmly believe that all of us here walking the spiritual path now have walked it before, in lives past, and we remember the circles and rites of old.
We remember the stones, too.
It’s why we feel a pull to crystal and stone, water and trees, the sun and stars, and each other.
| Crystals for deep listening: Nuummite, Moonstone, Labradorite, Amethyst |
| When I feel lost I know now to retreat into Spirit. I take hold of a crystal that sings to me, close my eyes, and listen for its voice. I drop down deep within, and I listen for my soul’s voice, too.The collective crystalline consciousness that I channel teaches us that Spirit finds us in silence. That all we need to do to reconnect with the Sacred is to simply go quiet, let ourselves have some peace, and listen.Tomorrow there will be plenty of circles (you can join the replay of mine, here), and ritual ideas and tips, but for some of you it may be the simple act of finding your own inner sacred that will bring you the greatest healing, or peace, or revelation.Spirit and consciousness is in all things, which means it’s in you, too.If you can tomorrow, or any time leading up to the end of the year, see if you can carve out some time for quiet for yourself. To sit simply with a crystal, and listen. To let the Earth’s song rise up through and around you, and remember your magic. Wishing you all the best of the season. ~ Krista Mitchell |
Questions To Ask A Tree
“The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more.”
It’s no surprise that Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote these words. The famous American writer was intimately connected to trees: He planted trees, gathered their fruits, and taught his children the value of learning their names.
Emerson spoke the language of trees, yet was still humble enough to acknowledge that every encounter with trees presented a fresh opportunity to engage in wonder.
Who are you? How old are you? Why are you here? Can you say anything about the underlying rocks? What can you tell us about the broader ecosystem?
In the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson, you and I can ask these kinds of questions every time we encounter a tree. When we ask questions, we engage in wonder.
A basic step we can then take to answer those questions is first to learn the names of trees. Fortunately, there are many ways to learn. We can:
- Study tree ID field guides
- Learn how to use dichotomous keys
- Learn all major physical features of trees (buds, bark, leaves, flowers, etc.)
- Learn habitat characteristics of trees
- Attend tree ID walks
- Visit arboretums (where trees are often labeled)
- Cultivate friendships with local tree enthusiasts
- Teach others what we have learned
If you’re looking for a carefully curated opportunity to improve your tree identification skills, consider enrolling in Trees In All Seasons. This online course teaches you how to identify 100 trees in every season. It’s currently on sale through Monday, December 23.
You can register and learn more about the course here.
Regardless of how you decide to learn, I strongly encourage you to hone your tree identification skills over time. With learning comes wonder, appreciation, love, and the unraveling of at least some of nature’s mysteries.
—Adam Haritan
Paths I Walk 
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