OCTOBER 2013
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Green Blessings ...
with Susun Weed

Halloween Salad; Wheel of the year is turning
serves 4

  • 16 dandelion leaves
  • 8 mallow leaves
  • big handful of wild oregano tops
  • as much wild mint as you like
  • 40 sheep sorrel leaves
  • 12 lemon balm tops
  • 16 garlic mustard leaves
  • lots of chickweed
  • 8 violet leaves
and finished with
  • red clover blossoms
  • dandelion and chicory flower petals
  • wild carrot flowers
  • mallow flowers
  • the last of the nasturtiums\

The wheel of the year is turning, turning.
Gateway between the worlds stirs.
The veil grows thin.
Celebrate the change. Halloween, Samhain (Saw-ween), Day of the Dead.
The wheel of the year is turning; it is turning into darkness.
Spirits of the Ancestors, hear us.
Spirits of the Ancients, we will feed you.
Blood in our veins, yours.
The wheel of the year is turning, turning, turning into winter.
The veil grows thinner.
Gateway between the worlds stretches.
Frost comes killer quick leaves black.
Spirits of the Old Ones, we feel you stirring.
Cut the nettle right to the ground.
The veil disappears.
The gateway dissolves.
The wheel turns.
Listen for ice.
Cut cronewort for dream pillows.
They are here. Put out the feast.
Vampires fear garlic.
Witches melt when wet.
Watch for shooting stars.


We had a fantastic, fun, productive Halloween work weekend at the Wise Woman Center: We pressed apple cider, made apple sauce, cleared part of the goat barn, started a compost pile, cut herbs in the gardens and made anti-oxidant-rich herbal vinegars, covered some garden beds with finished compost, raked some leaves, took down some dried herbs and bagged them, picked wild salads, and frolicked with the goats. Since we didn't finish any of it, there is still plenty to do on our next work weekend, November 9-10. This work weekend will include a special field trip to a local production of Dracula on Saturday night. Come work and play with us and the goats. The Ancestors insist!

Chicory continues to brighten the mornings and evenings with her brilliant blue flowers. The light frost seem to have deepened the color of the blooms until they verge on indigo or ultra violet. An invitation to those who wish to work more clearly with their third eye energy.

We continue to find red clover, wild carrot, and dandelion flowers to gladden our salads and our hearts. Remember! Green blessings are everywhere.

Susun


Grapes

Grapes grow wild all over where I live. They grow in the deep woods, with monster vines flying hundreds of feet up into the trees. They grow in the garden, if you let them, and sprout from every cut with vigor, twining and climbing. They grow where the lawn meets the trees, looping and tangling, tripping the deer, offering refuge for birds.



According to Eating on the Wild Side, eating the fox grapes – or some varieties of cultivated grapes – that festoon the woods, gardens, and edges of my world are one of the best ways to lengthen life and help prevent a host of chronic diseases. Drinking grape juice, eating grapes, or eating raisins has been shown to markedly increase the activity of the brain, increase the flexibility of the arteries, lower blood pressure, thin the blood, reduce the risk of blood clots, slow the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, and protect breast cells from the effects of chemicals, says author Jo Robinson.


Wild grapes not only irritate my lips when I eat them raw, they are so incredibly tart that it is hard to eat more than one or two. So this year I experimented with "cooking" my fox grapes, to see if I could make better use of the bounty surrounding me. Of the five ways of cooking – heating, freezing, fermenting, dehydrating, and covering with oil – the fourth, dehydration beckoned. Grapes into raisins is an easy way for those of us who don't drink wine to reap the benefits of more grapes than can be eaten. I harvested the grapes late in the afternoon, when they were sun-warmed, laid them on my cookie cooling racks set into a lipped cookie sheet and put them in my gas oven which has a pilot and so stays at 110-112 degrees F.


In three days, I had lovely, chewy, delicious raisins that did not sting my lips. Happy Susun :)

Wild fruits often taste better after the first light frosts, so don't hesitate to try this now.


Green – and purple – blessings are everywhere.


The Wise Woman Center exists to re-weave the healing cloak of the Ancients. This land is sacred, it is a safe space for women, and a place for the teachings of the Wise Woman way. The Goddess lives here, as do goats, fairies, green witches, and elders.
Located between Woodstock and Saugerties, 5 miles from the NYS Thruway, the Wise Woman Center is easily accessible while private enough for nude swimming. You'll receive a map and directions when you register. Incredible wild-food vegetarian meals are included with all workshops. Two - and three-day workshops (limited enrollment) include camping or indoor sleeping space and meals. Click to learn more

 

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