Healing Gardens

WEEK 2, #1

WEEK 3, #2 

WEEK 4, #3

It is amazing to me the correlations between a human and a plant.  We both have our roots that ground us, some shallow, some deep.  We have times we reach for the sky and times we die down to the underground, sinking into our roots until it is safe to emerge again.  And we find unique ways to pass ourselves on.  At times we are viewed as holding medicine within; at other times we are considered poison.  If we are pulled up incorrectly, without regard or forethought, our roots are damaged and the root cap is no longer there to fully help promote growth.  And we both need the earth to prosper.

I view myself as a budding “plantswoman”.  As one who is just beginning to tap into the magic, the life of plants.  While I wish the process was faster, I have to be patient and like my garden, wait for the blooming.  There is an odd beauty about the land in winter I had not noticed before.  A kind of breathless waiting, a land ready to burst forth.  Sleeping, but just barely.  Defiantly not dead.   

I look forward to studying skull cap (Scuttelaria lateriflora).  So far I can only find a couple of very small pictures, but it looks really cool.  I am not sure why I choose it.  I look forward to using it and calming my nerves.  I feel like the season, gathering energy for the rest of the year.  Only I cannot sleep.

Alisa McDuff

WEEK 5, #4

I am happy the snow is gone.  For many parts of the world it signifies nature.  For me it is just plain cold.  Something to drive to and enjoy, not for everyday life.  I look at my garden, my bulbs, and I wait and hope.  The trees and bushes have no leaves allowing me to see into my neighbors yard.  Everything seems waiting.  Including me.  I am getting ready to change the course of my life.  I have been pruned, treated for bugs, and my roots are storing what I need to start the spring growing straight, tall and fruitful.  Not like past years were I neglected myself and came in bent over and not ready for the rest of the year.

I don’t like to sit in the wet.  The damp does not speak to my African roots.  I journal looking out of my breakfast nook window, wanting to be brave but still staying inside.  My dislike of the damp and my fear of drawing makes my journaling more of a chore than a joy.  I hope the drawing workshop will help with the fear and maybe I can find a dry shelter to work from.

Medicine is something used to heal the body and/or soul.  A garden is a place where medicine grows.  Not just the physical medicine that can be harvested and prepared, but also the spiritual medicine of fresh air.  It includes the look and smell and feel of plants and the earth.  It includes the memories associated and the feelings brought forth.  A garden can be as small as a 2” pot in a window sill.  Or as large as the earth.  Most of the time the medicine cannot be measured in ounces or pills.  The healer receives medicine from gardens during the harvest too.  Physical medicine can be made into teas, tinctures, bathes, polices, and curries.  Both gardens and medicine are hard to define.  They are endless.

WEEK 6, #5

WEEK 7, #6

I have been enjoying this quarter more than the last.  I still feel I don't know near as much as the other students.  My plant ID skills before Healing Gardens was next to nill.  It is better now and I look forward to always continuing to improve.