i call this - garlic sleeping in a bed of snow 🧄 late winter vibes. we've been frantic lately making preparations for spring - driven by cabin fever and those random sunny days above 50. all the future growing spaces are sheet mulched and proud to say we've reduced our turf by 2/3. big sketchy box elder pruned. winter cover crop is tilled into the raised beds. brick paths have been laid, bulbs are in ground, grow lights are set up, and just today cabbage and lettuce emerged. .
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as much as i look forward to spring, trying to stay rooted in late winter. today's snow in asheville a nice calling back to these long nights, hot drinks, cozy times under the covers. stillness, sleep, rest. cuz i know once spring comes, it's gonna be balls to the wall around here! .
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#homesteader #homesteading #homesteadersofinstagram #gardening #garden #growyourownfood #growfoodnotlawns
geekin' out at work today, 75' up in a northern red oak on my biggest removal yet! five months into this big career shift and nothing but gratitude, excitement, love. how lucky to be up in this tree on a friday, watching it snow and cover the field and ridges below, the pigeon river visible at the bottom of the valley. i was for real smiling the whole time i was in this canopy, running a chainsaw and dropping big limbs, watching them implode when they hit the ground. truly feeling like i have the best job in the world. grateful my boss gave a chance, grateful for my friend @danstouch for the mentoring and encouragement and laughs. and duh grateful for andrew for never second guessing this work (even though he probably is in his head) and for packing my lunch every day and meeting me at the door with a kiss every night. feeling on top of the world! .
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tbh i thought I made a huge mistake 2.5 years ago when i walked away from my "real job" (aka desk job) in natural resources with no plan for what came next. but the reality it made space for a lot of healing and so many new experiences and opportunities. some days i absolutely wonder what the fuck i'm doing with my life because this work is hazardous and hard on your body and doesn't pay great but those feeling are always, always outweighed by the fact that - finally, i'm happy. i don't look in the mirror anymore and hate what i see. now i see a badass woman with muscles and calluses and courage and confidence and (most impt) an intimate relationship with the southern appalachian forest. .
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just some friday night rambles. in case you can't tell, this isn't really an account about an herbal business anymore. because the trust is, that was never really my life. my life isn't cute and perfect and photo worthy, it's filthy and scattered and honestly pretty smelly. it's feral. and i fucking LOVE it. so from now on, that's what i'm sharing. if you're one of my 1200 followers whose still around and you read all this, you're my hero!!!! i love y'all 🖤🖤🖤 .
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#arborist #treeclimbing #treeclimber #trees #arboristsofinstagram #treelife
scenes from the winter woods ~ great smokey mountains national park ~ 01.12.20 ~ there are days the woods fill me with childlike wonder. glad i happened to have my camera with me for this one. i'm a summertime girl and i force myself to hike thru the winter because i know it's good for my body, mind, soul. but i spend most of my winter walks inside my own head, sorting out my thoughts and daydreaming. but not this day. every single little plant, fungus, rock, rotting log, bark pattern called out to me. it was a high of sorts, being totally present in the moment, feeling all the love and life radiating from the forest on a lovely sunny winter day. grateful, grateful to all the changes i've made in my life to allow these opportunities, to center myself around nature, to make nature connection a priority. .
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#nature #naturephotography #plants #plantphotography #fungi #moss #naturewitch #hiking #smokies #gsmnp #northcarolina #northcarolinanature
cabbage rolls, our new years ritual food. eaten just once a year, they are a pain to make but so comforting. this year, i really took my time preparing them, partially because i'm a bit hungover, but mostly because i'm trying take life at a slower pace these days. when i first set out on this journey of self reliance, i was in a frenzy to do it - to grow food, to preserve food, to bake and make cheese and beer and wine, to buy nothing from the store, yada yada yada. it was overload and even though i probably was at my physical healthiest and having the lowest impact on the planet we've ever had, the impact on my emotional well being was huge. i was overworked. so in the past two years, i've been forced to slow down my a variety of means but i still haven't forgotten what's important to me, to us. our core values of caring for the natural world and living in close connection with it. the pure joy that comes from doing, making, crafting things with your own hands. trying new things and learning new skills. and obviously, love - loving each other, loving our friends and families, and loving mama earth and all her gifts. our favorite gift being food. as i dwadled in the kitchen tonight i thought about one of my first goals as a homesteader - to cook a meal entirely out of food i've raised myself. i'm not there yet, but these cabbage rolls were made with tomato sauce i canned last summer. apple cider vinegar we fermented last year. dried herbs from my garden. rolled with my own two hands. sometimes i feel like we've lost our path, but this ritual new years meal was a nice reminder that we're still on it, just at a much less frantic pace. wishing you and yours a slower 2020, i think we could all use it. .
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#homesteader #homesteading #homesteadlife #plantwitch #kitchenwitch #hedgecraft #cooking #homecooking #gardening
believe it or not, i'm still slinging tea, herbal extracts, and very limited quantities of skin care good over on the etsy, and from now til thursday at midnight everything is 20% off. i can guarantee orders will be in the mail by saturday at the latest, but i cannot guarantee you will receive these orders before dec 25. so maybe just treat yourself. after thursday, the shop will close until 2020. .
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to be honest, i'm tired. all the time. i don't have a ton of leftover energy for running the business and keeping this IG account up to date. i feel guilty, like i'm letting someone or something down. but the reality is, when i get a few hours of free time, it's much better served by going and wandering in the woods, spending time with my partner off my phone, practicing yoga, or reading quietly. root lore goods feels like work, those things don't. hoping to come around in the new year to a business model that serves me better. as i've said before, what's listed in the shop is what i have and once it's gone it's likely gone! .
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hope yalls are having a great holiday season 💚 from the bottom of my plant lovin heart 💚 ct 💚 .
