Gardening & Native Plants
I love gardening as well as identifying and learning to use native trees, plants and herbs. My husband Dave and I have a small family farm we call Spirit Tree Farms where we are working to identify and use the many native plants, trees, and herbs that grow here. We believe as we heal the land, we heal ourselves. I’ll be documenting what we learn and create here.
- Interview with American Burnweed
American Burnweed meaning, symbolism and uses. What can we learn from this prolific plant about confidence, creativity and sharing our messages? Find out in my interview with American Burnweed. - Reality Check: Don’t Compare Your Worst with Someone Else’s Online BestReal life isn’t what people portray on social media. It’s great to look for the good, but we also need to avoid comparing our worst with someone else’s best. People tend to show only the good when they’re showcasing their homes, their lives, their property, or their projects online. But real life is messy. Things…
- It’s a Partnership: Learning from the Earth and Nature Through the SpiritThe earth isn’t something beneath us to be fixed. It’s our partner in healing. Together with the earth and our Creator we can heal ourselves and nature. My husband, Dave, and I had the opportunity to present about how we partner with and learn from nature as part of the “In the Company of Stewards”…
- Simplify Your Life & Make Room for PeaceThe parable of the Chinese privet illustrates how to simplify your life so you have more room for peace, love, joy, wonder and fulfillment. Are you often overwhelmed by everything on your plate? Are you dealing with financial, relationship, or health challenges that are stealing your peace? Does the world’s drama stress you out? Many…
- Native Wildflower TreasuresIn the past, I have not been a fan of letting grasses grow. I’ve been partial to a well-mowed field, but this year we’ve let our field grow a bit. The cool thing about letting things grow is you discover that you have treasures you never knew you had. To help the pollinator population, we…
- God and His PollinatorsThis morning I took some extra time in nature to learn about our nature as human beings. My husband came in from working outside early this morning and suggested I go down to the cedar circle because there were lots of flowers in bloom and the temperature was a cool 79 degrees F. In the…
- Garden Fresh Tomato Basil Soup RecipeThere’s nothing like homemade tomato basil soup with grilled cheese sandwiches! Make that tomato basil soup with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden, and it’s amazing! Growing Tomatoes This year, we have the best tomato crop I’ve ever had. We got our tomato plants from various locations – many of them came from our…
- From Field Wheat to Banana Bread with Our GranddaughterMy 4-year-old granddaughter and I threshed and winnowed wheat from our field together. We took the wheat from the spike all the way to banana bread. She was completely fascinated by the process.
- How to Hand-Harvest and Hand-Process Winter WheatMy June experiment has been hand-harvesting and hand-processing winter wheat. The biggest lesson I learned is to make sure the wheat is dry. This video illustrates the process I used to hand-process winter wheat.
- Bee Balm – Wild Bergamot HerbThe Eat Your Yard, Edible Plant of the Day is Bee Balm, also known as Wild Bergamot herb. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the term bergamot, I think of the delicious orange-smelling essential oil. Bee Balm, or wild bergamot, does not smell like orange. It smells savory like thyme and is…
- Chickweed Hemp Heart Pesto RecipeDuring the summer we grow basil and make pesto. When basil’s not in season, we have plenty of chickweed growing around our raised beds in winter and spring. So, I make this Chickweed Hemp Heart Pesto. We really enjoy it. It’s lighter in color and flavor than the basil pesto. About Chickweed Chickweed grows low…
- Eat Your Yard: Sweet Tea AlternativeMost of the time when people weed their gardens, they throw away the things they consider “weeds,” but many common weeds are actually edible and good for you! For example, the “weeds” in this video make a delicious sweet tea alternative that is healthier for you and good for allergies. In the video below, you’ll…
- Eat Your Yard: VioletsThe edible plant of the day in my Eat Your Yard video series is violets. We have wild violets growing in various places on our property including our flower bed, in a pot, and in random places across our property. We use the violet’s heart-shaped green leaves in our salads as well as the purple…
- Eat Your Yard: Creeping CharlieThe edible plant of the day in my Eat Your Yard video series is Creeping Charlie. Creeping Charlie grows like crazy in our yard and is an intense ground cover. It can be pretty, but it’s also invasive. We make the best of it by eating Creeping Charlie in salads or using it in teas….
- Eat Your Yard: Evening PrimroseThe edible plant of the day in my Eat Your Yard video series is Evening Primrose. We have a bunch of this growing in our raised bed and all over our back yard. In the winter, we used the green leaves from it as a leaf-lettuce in our salads. It’s a lighter, refreshing leaf that…
