Biodiversity

I’m very happy to be starting the 5th growing season here in Canada. It seems like a lifetime ago, as always. The time passes so quickly and I am an ALL in person, committed and ready to love, heal, grow and give.

I plan to attend the Almonte Farmers Market again this year, from May 29th onward, but due to the pandemic the timing is not 100% guaranteed. But, you can reach out to me by email, Instagram, or Facebook and you can place an order in the webshop located within our website. I will continue to fill out the descriptions of products and oils blends and try to give as much information as I can. Following me on social media allows you to see any products as they become available and to see what I have growing (and all the wildlife). I ask that you reach out to me directly for any custom orders or needs. I have many healing hydrosols and resins of the forest. I am going to be restocking the lip salves and have a couple of neat things that are new like the Queen of Hungary tonifying spray and an educational sampler mix of truly Fair Trade Frankincense and Resins that will fund raise for the Global Frankincense Alliance that will be added in the shop as soon as we possibly can! I have struggled with what to do about the ethical use and trade of these precious and endangered resins and for now I will continue to make and sell the resin based boswellic acid-rich salves and oils for healing emotional, mental, and physical stress but I will donate 10% of the sales of these products to GFA and continue to source all resins from trusted Fair Trade Sources like Apothecary’s Garden – Dan Reigler and Floracopeia.

Floracopeia is a leader in Eco projects for sustainable harvesting and replanting projects and continues to be my number one trusted source for all essential oils (and some carrier oils) and I continue to learn from its founder David Crow through his many classes on herbs, Ayurvedic health, and essential oils.

I am also nurturing my own soul through education with wonderful teachers like Matthew Wood, Judith Hill, and Sajah Popham. I am growing as an herbalist and gardener through my relationship with the plants. When asked what brings me happiness or joy when I am at my lowest the answer is truthfully – the birds and the plants. The only time that I don’t have doubt is when I am working with them. That is slow time, breathe time, real time. So I crawl along this Spring (literally in the mud) and wait for my vaccine, desperately miss my granddaughter who turned 8 this April, and see my children through the 7th and 11th grades, while nourishing my significant others through great change and challenge and find joy in the Sandhill Cranes and Cardinal’s song each morning, the fox, the bears, the bees, the little sprouts pushing up, the wild ramps, the violets, the peepers, the turtles, and the snakes.

I am thankful to have this garden, If you are local and are interested in doing some work in trade for plants or herbs then feel free to contact us to see if we can make it happen. And of course this will be after the lockdown!

Acknowledging that all these lands are of Anishinabewaki and Algonquin peoples.