There are few things in life more joyful than going for a walk in nature, identifying a plant, then foraging and wildcrafting with it to create a delicious meal or medicinal herbal remedy. Engaging in the ancient and beautiful tradition of foraging and wildcrafting is an enriching practice that intimately bonds us with the natural world. Although, foraging of any kind has an impact on the environment. Here’s a handy checklist covering safe, sustainable, and ethical foraging practices that all foragers should review before foraging and wildcrafting.

On the shortest day and longest night of the year, twenty four of us gathered at the harvest table to celebrate turning the year once more. The greenhouse on the land at The Kinlands was the perfect setting to host this seasonal gathering. While the greenhouse glowed with warmth from within, the harvest fields beyond lay bare and the animals quietly dozed in the barns. All that space on the horizon, left blank by Autumn’s hand, rendered our gaze ample room to drink up the dark starry sky. And that we did, in addition to copious amounts of hot herbal tea and warm company to keep winter’s chill at bay.

The wheel of the year turns, we bend toward darkness, and the cross quarter festival of Samhain nears. At this distinct midway point between the Equinox and the Solstice, we are pulled into a descent, a subterranean journey. The Otherworld and the Unseen are close at hand; the veil is thin. Feasts are set for the ancestors, there is a place for them at the table. In this spirit, I am inspired to share pieces of my journey and experience in the interweaving realms of Ancestral Lineage Repair and Plants.

Learn how to install a native wildflower meadow and enjoy the progress updates over the course of a 6 month period.

Installing a regenerative orchard is a process that requires a foundation of knowledge. It would be foolhardy to plant any ol’e fruit tree in any ol’e patch of land, so I’m sharing some of my best master gardener tips to help you learn how to plant fruit trees.

I am a lover of nature and the transitions from one season to the next are sacred to me. Rather than celebrate hallmark holidays, I elect to root into each seasonal transition by observing the natural phenomena that occur at the change of seasons. Today I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I create intimate seasonal gatherings with the intention of providing inspiration and tips so you can recreate a similar experience in your home. In partnership with Bloomist, I’ve curated a beautiful tablescape that sets the stage for intentional conversations shared over an autumn meal.

Every piece of land holds innumerable stories. When we breathe deep and quiet our minds the language traverses into our bodies like gently moving mist. It’s delivered in a language only our bodies can speak. It is my desire for the knowing of such stories that leads me back into these misty mountains time and time again to the land that has cradled me since I was a babe.

One of the most powerful things we can do as gardeners and eco-minded citizens is to actively steward the creation of soil-regenerative land that invites high biodiversity and traps carbon from the atmosphere. How do we do that? Enter cover crops. In this informative post I’m teaching you all about cover crops, their many benefits, and how you can incorporate these wonder-plants into your garden.

I wanted to capture the poetic and whimsical elegance of this late summer meadow in motion by mindfully crafting an ikebana flower arrangement.

Our latest project in our backyard consisted of installing a hügelkultur privacy berm along the perimeter of our property. There are many benefits a berm offers within the context of regenerative gardening and beautiful landscaping. I’m excited to share my latest project with you in hopes that it can inspire a greater understanding of garden ecology while showcasing that earth-healing practices can be implemented while creating a beautiful landscape.

On this harvest season festival I’m celebrating Lughnasa + Lammas with friends in the backyard for an indulgent summer picnic gathering. Join me as I share the pleasures of the season along with the history and symbolism accompanying Lammas and Lughnasa.

Cultivating community through homegrown food around the table has always been a long held passion of mine. I love the connection and celebration that summer gardening, cooking, and gathering friends around the grill brings. It’s a ritual I’ve deeply missed since the pandemic began. Nothing brings me more pleasure than crafting a freshly harvested meal after a day spent tending the garden, then sitting down to a seasonal table scape to enjoy the evening with family and friends. I am thrilled to welcome that winning trifecta back into my life this summer with special thanks to The Home Depot, Traeger Grills, and Bonnie Plants.

We’re well into the growing season and while swoon-worthy photos of lush veggie plots saturate my social media feed, I can’t help but feel a little left out as my garden looks a bit… unconventional this year. I’m not letting it get the best of me because deep down I know I’m making magic. When it comes to cultivating a garden from scratch, or rather, fully regenerating a soil ecosystem from dead to thriving, it’s a slow process.

As record drought grips the western US, yards and gardens everywhere are suffering. I cannot underscore enough that as our planet continues to warm and endure extreme conditions, water-wise farming and gardening is essential. The truth is that we often don’t need to water our yards and gardens as much as we think, we just need to implement water-wise gardening methods. Here are some ideas to help you conserve water in the garden.

On a blazing day in the garden there are few things more revitalizing than sipping an ice cold herbal water. Crafting hydrating waters infused with freshly clipped herbs, flowers, juicy berries, and spritzes of citrus quenches thirst and invigorates the senses. Floral and herb infused water can also offer medicinal benefits.

Spruce tips are one of my favorite easy spring plants to forage. I especially love to munch the raw, tender, zingy shoots with trail mix on a hike. While other wild plants might be elusive to locate, spruce tips are usually quite abundant and safe to forage. Because this plant is a great introductory plant into the world of foraging I thought I would share tips for foraging wild spruce tips plus my recipe for quick-pickled spruce tips, so you can also enjoy the wild flavors of the forest this spring.

I’ve been going through a phase of intense deconstruction; both in my yard and in the landscape of my personal life. I’m learning that healing old wounds in relationships is not all that different from re-landscaping. Resources like sun, healthy soil and water (or vulnerability, understanding and acceptance) need to be present. In both regards, one must be willing to do the work. Bottom line is that it’s hard manual labor - literally and figuratively. It is possible, though, to regenerate the land so things can grow once again. But until then, this is the place I find myself in - a phase of deconstruction.

I long to see a renaissance of deeply meaningful traditions that encourage human connection, like the nature-rooted festivals of the Wheel of the Year. As a gardener and forager, I find the celebrations that invoke connection to self, community and nature to be much more rewarding than those centered around commerce. This Beltane I’ll foster community connection through hosting a bonfire and surprise-gifting May Day posies to friends and family. I want to capture the whimsy, magic, and community joy of May Day, so I crafted these beribboned paper cones to hold flowers. On the eve of Beltane I’ll surprise-gift these to neighbors, family, and friends by hanging them on them on doorknobs.

This Easter holiday I’m crafting up a simple yet delicious cast iron skillet carrot cake. This skillet cake has all the yumminess of traditional carrot cake, but much less fuss. With a single tier and fabulous ingredients this recipe is adapted for cooking outdoors in a backyard or camp setting.

I just spent the day working in the garden. It creates a certain sort of soreness in all the large and small muscles that is most gratifying. As I dust off my knees, hang up my tools for the day and rub my allergy itchy eyes, the only thing I want to do is take a long hot soak in the tub. It’s my favorite way to nurse my body after a hard day in the yard. So I turn to a few of my favorite floral plant allies to quickly craft up a nourishing and soothing blend of bath soak and body oil. As a bath soak and body oil blend, chamomile and rose is divinely aromatic and calming. As I soak the day away at golden hour and watch the buds of rose and chamomile swirl in the steaming waters around my knees and hair I dream of the flowers that will soon burst to life in my freshly prepped garden.