text: The calendar says that spring has arrived. The weather here in upstate New York says otherwise. We had a few inches of snow two days after the equinox, so Grandmother Winter is not quite ready to hand over the reins yet.
  I don’t know about you, but I’m ready.
  Ready for some warmer days, ready to have the windows open, and ready to dig in the dirt a bit.
  N & I have always lived in apartments, so there’s been a limit to what we can plant. If it doesn’t do well in a pot, then it’s not for us. Our first two places also had tons of shade to contend with – so everything had to be pot-prolific and shade okay. Before we relocated, we were able to use some garden space at my brother-in-law’s house, so we got a little experience in growing things outside the pot realm. But they also lived a half hour from us, which was not conducive to harvesting and weeding during the height of growing season.
  The place we are in now has garden plots available for any tenants that want them. Oh man! Do we have lofty plans! We are both so excited to be able to grow some veggies this year! Chard, carrots, beets, patipans, eggplant, tomatoes, beans….. I’d love to plant some medicinal plants, but as we are not planning on staying here for too long, I don’t want to get too attached.
  Last year I finished a 2 1/2 year Herbal Immersion Program through the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. (It was seriously one of the best things I have ever done for myself.) Not only did it strengthen my knowledge as an herbalist, but I learned tons about plant propagation, soil health, organic pest control… all things that I never knew. The most exciting part were all the projects. Having to grow plants from seed, learning to divide by root cuttings or layering – it was amazing!
  It was also beyond frustrating.
  I did not have a greenhouse or a heat mat to start seedlings on, and many did not sprout. Once the ones that made it were transferred to pots and hardened off to be outside, there were other issues. We had one of the rainiest summers in a long time, so my plants got overwatered. We had a squirrel who liked to dig in our pots and pull out things. And of course, that limited sunshine that happens on a shady back deck.
  But I learned. And I took notes. And as my plants grew, so did I. I learned that I can not control the weather. I learned that plants don’t need to stay in one spot on the deck (especially in pots!) – they can be moved to get as much of that elusive sunshine as they can. I learned that the local wildlife appreciates tasty new growth after a long winter as much as the rest of us.
  And for everything that did not go as I planned (or wanted), there were plenty of things that went right. My stem cuttings from a friend’s garden took off phenomenally, and they made the drive to NY with us. I invested in a small heat mat to start seedlings indoors. I learned to love the anticipation of waiting for seeds to break through soil. It taught me patience. And resilience. How to go with the punches.
  It also reminded me that we are all connected. The more time we take to nurture other living beings, the more it nurtures ourselves.
  That spring returns every year and with it, so does our opportunity to regrow and begin anew.
  Share this:
  Twitter
  Facebook
  Like this:
  Like Loading...
  Published March 25, 2019 March 25, 2019
  Post navigation
  Previous Post On stress & oils (Part 2)
  Next Post On infusing oils
  Leave a Reply Cancel reply
  Enter your comment here...
  Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:
  Email (required) (Address never made public)
  Name (required)
  Website
  You are commenting using your WordPress.com account.	( Log Out / Change )
  You are commenting using your Google account.	( Log Out / Change )
  You are commenting using your Twitter account.	( Log Out / Change )
  You are commenting using your Facebook account.	( Log Out / Change )
  Cancel
  Connecting to %s
  Notify me of new comments via email.
  Notify me of new posts via email.
  Δ
  Follow Blog via Email
  Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
  Join 241 other followers	
  Email Address:	
  Follow
  Little Flower Botanicals
  Little Flower Botanicals
  Instagram
  I never get tired of looking at grape agate! Did you know that grape agate is a trade name? It's actually botryoidal purple chalcedony!
  Look at this beauty! She's 10" tall, 4" wide at the base, and over 6 pounds! 😯😍 Make someone's holiday season with this added to their collection!
  Rose quartz seer stones are back in stock along with newly arrived smoky quartz!
  This lone little goldenrod hanging on in the snow. I feel ya, little buddy. I feel ya.
  Get more of your holiday shopping done for those crystal lovers on your list!
  Tourmalinated quartz (or tourmaline quartz) can help to bring balance to your life - integrating yin/yang, masculine/feminine, dark/light, and active/receptive energies. It restores harmony, helping you to shift from a negative to positive mindset. Tourmalinated quartz is useful for purification, helping to reduce self- sabotage. It can also help with growth and clear thinking.