Wise Woman Herbal Ezine ~ August 3, 2012

To read the entire Wise Woman Herbal Ezine, including color photos and a recipe for you, visit: http://wisewomanherbalezine.com/august3-2012/index.html

Weed Walk
August 3, 2012

Umbels and Asters

Green blessings to you all. Ah, the first days of autumn. Yes, really. The beginning of August is the beginning of fall. Now the days grow noticeably shorter as we move toward equinox. Leaves are already turning: carmine red ones on the woodbine, yellow ones on the birches. It is time for the joyous Feast of the First Harvest. John Barleyco
must die!

With the shifting light, new plant families can claim their turf and declare it to be their time. Cool-weather loving Brassicaceae (cabbage) family plants are mostly gone, though they’ll have plenty of leaves for us to harvest once the nights grow chilly. And our friends, the Rosaceae (rose) and Lamiaceae (mint) families are past their prime flowering in most areas.
Summer’s heat has baked the earth. There is a stillness, an in-drawing of breath on the part of the plants. Another turn of the spiral.

Now the umbels (Apiaceae) and the asters (Asteraceae) are the stars. (Literally, since “aster” means “starry.”) Have you noticed lacy, floating, white umbrellas all along the road? That’s Queen Anne’s Lace, wild carrot, Daucus carota. She is in abundant, and magnificent, bloom here in the Catskills as I write. I sing her praises, I inhale her glorious scent, and I dedicate this week’s ezine to her.
Next week is the Green Goddess Apprentice Week, the biggest event of the year at the Wise Woman Center. It is quite demanding on me: I tend to the students, create the menu, shop, cook, organize my co-teachers and my helpers (and yell at them as needed), take care of the goats and rabbits, and, oh yes, teach. This year we have an additional challenge, our beloved Rainbow Weaver is learning to live without her right leg. She is thrilled to be joining Whitefeather and I as teachers at the Green Goddess Apprentice week. So, no surprise, I probably won’t get around to doing an ezine next week. I leave the door open, but no promises.

But enough of that. Come. Let’s sit with Queen Anne and listen to her stories.
Green blessings.
Susun

To read the entire Wise Woman Herbal Ezine, including color photos and a recipe for you, visit: http://wisewomanherbalezine.com/august3-2012/index.html