Want to read this email on the web? Click here. My experience has shown me the wisdom of remaining open to the possibility of growth in any and all circumstances, without ever knowing what shape that growth may take ~Rachel Naomi Remen Dear Reader I don’t remember exactly when I began a writing practice. I certainly didn’t yet consider it a practice, but rather an essential tool that helped me make sense of life’s uncertainties. It was part of my being before marriages and children, and...
4 days ago • 6 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Sunflower is what you plant when you’re done fighting nature and ready to partner with it. ~Jay Drysdale Dear Reader On Wednesday, the land and gardens hummed not only from our bee friends but from the mindful tending of many hands. A joyful team got an early start as late summer projects were ticked off the list in preparation for two open days for the Gemmo Forest and our family gardens. There were mowers mowing, loppers lopping, and snippers...
11 days ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. The revolving cycle finds us each year at a different moment in the story of our own lives; the unfolding events of history change us, but the seasons do not change. ~Eleanor Parker Dear Reader This week had me out in the new Gemmo Forest herb beds with intern Lucie and later pulling onions in the front garden; both areas where Mullein is plentiful. From my first encounters, I fell hard for this Dr. Seuss character of a plant. With its plush...
18 days ago • 6 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. ~Hermann Hesse There is a settling of the land and the gardens with the arrival of August. What will be is already in progress; what won’t just isn’t meant for this season. From April onwards its been a steady monthly build-up and August delivers a series of peaks and plateaus. Harvest time is in full swing, and yet it is punctuated with pauses....
25 days ago • 3 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. The most important distinction anyone can ever make in their life is between who they are as an individual and their connection with others. ~Anné Linden Dear Reader I so enjoy the mama deer who has year after year raised her young in the Gemmo Forest. Well camouflaged, I often don’t spot her until she is in retreat and I catch a glimpse of her white tail over the shrubs. This year, however, the abundance in the forest didn’t quite meet her...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside, awakes. CG Jung Dear [FIRST NAME GOES HERE] A soft, low-lying fog hangs over the landscape this morning, muting the vibrancy of mid-July, softening all the edges, and lending an air of mystique. Though we think of fog obstructing our vision, it has the potential to dial down distracting sensory input and extend moments of...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Growing asks you to remember the part of yourself the world has conditioned you to forget. Dear Reader I honestly don’t believe there is anything more delightful in the midst of July than to wake to a soft, steady rain. The muted shushing of drops running off foliage and the sharp, clear birdsong pierce my heart. Not wishing to miss a moment of this sensory feast, I quickly assembled tea and berries on my breakfast tray and made my way to the...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. ideas are not “out there” waiting to be discovered, but are tools—like forks and knives and microchips—that people devise to cope with the world in which they find themselves. ~Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club, A Story of Ideas in America Dear Reader When it’s Thursday afternoon, and I don’t have a throughline for my weekly missive, I know I’ve likely been looking in all the wrong places, missing the obvious storyline right before me. And so,...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Want to read this email on the web? Click here. Garlic bridges ancient wisdom and modern science as a protective ally – nourishing our bodies, healing soils, and guarding gardens in an era that needs its resilient spirit more than ever. ~Jay Drysdale Dear Reader I honestly don’t know how I have lived 66 years without experiencing garlic scapes, yet somehow I have. I actually had never even seen a scape until my first beds of garlic produced them last season. Whether it is possible for me to...
2 months ago • 3 min read