When I left Calgary, Alberta to "Go West" I truly had no idea where I was headed. So much so, that all I carried with me in my faithful little Honda Prelude were a few clothes, my journal, some books, two huge pottery bowls, my daft black Lab "Magic"... and ALL my pots of herbs. To Vancouver Island. The warmest place in Canada. From Calgary. Where it has been know to snow every single month of the year. Really.
There is something comforting about a herb garden. My dream has always been to create a medieval herb garden with as many variety of medicinal and nutritional herbs as possible. I would have separate areas of herbs for tea, for cooking, for salves and tinctures. For calming, soothing, relaxing...
For a few years now I have been wanting to learn about the nutritional and healing properties of herbs and the plants of the region that I live in. Nature has given us so much to feed, sustain and heal ourselves and I have often felt that it is a greatest insult to her that we seldom take the time to harvest and use what is so abundantly and unconditionally given.
This year I made a commitment to change this, at least for myself. Not sooner had I made that decision (as often occurs if the timing is right) the opportunity presented itself in the form of a series of weekly Herb Talks here on the little island where I live. Tuesday was the first evening and I came away inspired and excited about embracing the mystery of nature's gifts. I know this learning is going to open up for me a whole new way of living upon this earth. I'll be sure to share here what I discover..
My mother, Kathleen, at eighty, resting after repotting all my herbs.
