Note: Thank you, again to Christy – during this season of the Dandelion, she has offered a special piece on remembering early spring foraging foods for the bees in our landscapes. How You Can Be A Bee-Friendly Gardener It’s never too soon to start planning your garden for next spring. You want the best for…
I recently finished reading the book Braiding Sweetgrass; Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and highly recommend it to plant people, nature lovers, herbalists, you, your family, your friends, people that breathe air, eat food, and drink water….ya know…so it’s a good read for a few of us…
While bees are viewed as pests by many people, there’s actually quite a lot to like about these small creatures; for one thing, they play a huge role in much of the food we eat, from pollinating fruits and veggies like broccoli, apples, and peaches to ensuring that the animals we consume have enough to eat. Now that they’re facing dangers such as pesticides, habitat loss, and disease, the bee population has steadily dwindled in recent years, to an alarming degree. But what can we do to help?
Beginning in May, and continuing through September, I will be doing monthly plant walks in the Congress Park and Park Hill neighborhoods. These will be in the evenings of the third and fourth Thursdays, respectively, (specific dates and times to follow at the end of this post). The first plant walk I attended was half…
My little bit of earth is greening, slowly, which sprouts all kinds of ideas, goals, resolutions – much like New Year’s Eve and Day do for many. I never have really connected with the concept of self-improvement or renewal at the Gregorian calendar New Year, but in late winter, when days start getting longer and…
Gardening is at a slow pace right now, with the waning of the season, which has given me time to pursue some extra learning opportunities to deepen my knowledge, as well as get prepared to teach an upcoming workshop on herbs for the immune system! In the last few weeks, I have been blessed enough…
When I was moments away from launching my medicinal gardening business in April of 2014, I had a meeting with the owner of another new small business to see if there was any way we could somehow help each other out. I want to make healing gardens for people, and she wants her products to heal dry irritated skin, one store shelf and artisan market at a time. I created a body care garden for her, thinking that maybe plants that I had grown from seed would some day end up in some of her products, and I could take pride in knowing that I had a small part of the process.
Every year I try to include new things that I haven’t tried before into my gardens, while keeping my mainstays on board as well. When it comes to vegetable and herb gardening, I am mostly self-taught. I didn’t grow up with a gardening family, and even though I’ve worked in greenhouses, growing plants in the soil outside your door is far different than keeping potted plants in a greenhouse alive. So, sometimes gardening lessons take years to learn.
Many of us will have to start again. Some of us will throw our hands up and say “never again.” Talk is cheap, you never-againers. My motto this year has been something along the lines of Plants are a disease, without any cure. Once you have the gardening bug, it’s there to stay.
I am teaching another class at Artemisia & Rue on Wednesday May 6th, from 7-9pm. This class is geared toward helping you plan a medicinal garden by taking into consideration special gardening needs Front Range dwellers generally face, and information on selecting plant medicines that can thrive in your unique garden.
