Happy New Moon – September 14, 2023 Ancient Figs Figs and fig trees show up in many myths and origin stories. The Egyptian goddess Hathor sometimes embodied a fig tree as she nourished and guided souls after death. In the bible story, Adam and Eve clothe themselves in fig leaves, which I always thought odd … Read more
Full Moon Greetings – August 30, 2023 Herald of Summer Ending Chrysanthemums are fall blooming perennials that announce the fading of summer. Mums (for short) are beautiful and tidy plants that come in a range of shapes and colors from deep orange and yellow to lavender and mauve. Flowers are shape shifters and may resemble … Read more
Happy New Moon – August 16, 2023 The chaos of a typical August garden may make practicing mindfulness in your green space a bit challenging. Plants are producing abundantly and all a bit overgrown, tangling around and into each other. In addition to the usual tending of plants like weeding and watering, most of us … Read more
Full Moon Greetings – August 1, 2023 Calendula officinalis is the first plant my mind goes to when I think about creativity. It holds an energetic resonance with imaginative forces and can inspire us to discover our unique style of creativity. Of course, many plants inspire creative endeavors, but Calendula bridges artistic, healing, and culinary … Read more
What of enlightenment? When I began meditating many moons ago, the workshops and books I was immersed in promoted a concept of enlightenment. They weren’t referring to The Enlightenment with a capital E that happened in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, but instead a spiritual shift in perspective. Since meditation has become mainstream, the … Read more
Full Moon Greetings – July 3, 2023 Ancient Fava Beans Fava beans (Vicia faba) have been cultivated around the Mediterranean for a very long time – since at least 6,000 BCE. So you can imagine in that long history that a range of stories, myths, and opinions might arise about this plant. Some of the … Read more
New Moon Greetings – June 18, 2023 Most gardeners have heard of the Three Sisters – a plant community made up of pole beans, corn, and squash, with benefits to all three plants. The Three Sisters have been utilized by many Native American cultures for thousands of years. Although the varieties of these plants vary … Read more
Full Moon Greetings – June 3, 2023 Gifts of Comfrey Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) has just begun to bloom in my garden. But the delicate bluish-purple flowers are easy to miss. Tiny bell shapes hang in clusters under the leaves. You have to look closely to admire them because they are dwarfed by the rest of … Read more
New Moon Greetings – May 19, 2023 Garden Evolution Garden Experiments are about pushing the boundaries of what you ordinarily grow. When my children were young, I focused my garden efforts exclusively on edible plants and healing herbs. Feeding people and having plants to make my own teas, tinctures, and salves was the top priority. … Read more
Happy Full Moon – May 5, 2023 Delicate Tiny Beauty It is finally spring in Denver and my violets are in bloom. Violet plants flower early in the spring along with tulips and daffodils. But unlike their very showy neighbors, violets have a quieter energy and can be almost invisible. Violets grow naturally in shady areas. … Read more
