Every year it seems autumn arrives on the calendar, but summer weather lingers a bit longer than I like. I appreciate the cool mornings here that actually feel like autumn. I’ve started pulling up the dead plants in the garden to clear out the beds to plant alfalfa.  Back in May when I planted the seeds in our garden, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience. I felt the excitement of waiting for the first sprouts to appear, and then I was eager to see them grow up and mature. And now on the other end, I’m digging up roots and clearing the beds to plant a cover crop to help regenerate the soil. It’s satisfying work.  I am also eager for cooler weather in hopes that the sluggishness I feel in the heat of summer will leave me. Cooler weather always enlivens me and inspires me to keep active.

A photo of our old backyard back in Pasadena because I have no new photos to share.

There’s a new podcast I started listening to called Off Camera. There were two episodes I listened to recently, one with Sarah Silverman and one with John Krasinski, in which they both shared how supportive their parents were of their dreams. Their respective parents believed in them. Zoey shared with us recently that when she grows up she wants to be either a singer on stage or a restaurant lady (her words). I hope that when the time comes, Stephen and I can believe in Zoey and Zane wholeheartedly, too so they can follow their passions wherever it leads them.

And one more photo of our Pasadena house from the archives that has nothing to do with anything.

And as a final reminder, in two days I will begin my write 31 days in October challenge. Get ready to be impressed.

I’m amazed everyday that these beautiful sunflowers in our garden grew from tiny seeds. Anyone know how to make sunflower seed butter from sunflower seeds? It’s a popular food with Zoey and Zane.

Stephen sent me this New York Times article How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain. It’s a quick read if you haven’t already read it. I should swing daily on our tree swing as good medicine for my body. I wonder if swinging on a tree swing changes your brain.

For my Yerba Woman Herbal apprenticeship program, I had to choose an herb to study in depth to present to our class in November, the last month of the program. One of the first plants I noticed on our property up behind the guest house and near the shed was a soft, furry green plant growing in a rosette pattern in the ground. It was only later when I was reading Rosemary Gladstar’s book Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health that I realized the tall flowering stalks with yellow flowers was mullein (Verbascum thapsus). At the end of our first herbal class when I had to choose an herb to study, it was fairly obvious I had to learn more about mullein because it was growing all over our land. In the photo above, you can see a group of mullein stalks to the left of the shed. There was a bunch of mullein on the dam by the lake that flowered in June, and I meant to harvest the flowers to make an infused oil, but I missed my chance. They do not flower for long. Then this past week while out walking on the east road, I was pleasantly surprised to see a circle of mullein growing around a pile of old, discarded vineyard stakes. Her circle of beauty in the midst of unwanted scraps made me smile and gave me hope and encouragement. Some people find winter a difficult month to get through, but for me the heat of summer wilts me and depletes me of energy. Mullein is teaching me to find the beauty in the middle of the mess.

A view from the High Line in Lower Manhattan.

A little over a week ago Stephen and I flew back east for my 15th college reunion. The kids had a week-long sleepover with my parents. After the reunion, we spent a few days in New York City. I didn’t realize how much I would miss my kids until we were away for soooooo long. We needed some alone time, and thanks to my parents we were able to have that time, but we both talked about how fun it will be to take the kids back when they are a little older and explore Manhattan more.

Another view of the High Line and the Standard Hotel in the background.

While we were walking the High Line, waiting for the Whitney Museum of American Art to open, we realized that the park looked exactly like the children’s book The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. It’s a lovely children’s story if you’ve never read it. And now on to my favorite things.

Eataly in New York City. Have you been there?

We ate lunch there, had gelato, and went back our last night for a decadent dessert. We could have eaten all our meals there, but there were so many other good restaurants to try. And no, I was not following any restricted diet, AIP or otherwise, on our vacation.

We returned home after a week away and were amazed to see how much our plants have grown. We harvested our first batch of French Breakfast radishes. Don’t forget you can eat your radish greens. I used ours in a pesto.

I have to say though that my favorite favorite thing this month was seeing Zoey and Zane after a long week away. I fell in love with them again, not that I was out of love with them, but in the same way that you fall in love with your spouse over and over again even though you never stop loving him or her. Lots of things to do around the ranch. In two weeks my herbal class meets again. I have tinctures and liniments to make. Zoey’s last day of school is on Friday. And then we have the whole summer ahead of us. Work on the main house is starting. I’ll be taking more photos in the weeks ahead to post.

One of the homeplay assignments for my herbal class this month is to find a wild edible weed everyday and to eat it. I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy this practice until I started walking around our ranch and noticing all the edible weeds. Here are a few of my favorite things this month:

Picking miner’s lettuce with Zoey early in the morning and watching her eat the wild weed with me.  She can already correctly identify it around the ranch.

Drinking a modified version of Rosemary Gladstar’s Liver Tonic Tea with wild edibles growing on our ranch. Here’s the recipe I’ve been making:
–3 parts nettle leaf (Mountain Rose Herbs)
–2 parts dandelion leaf (picked near our orchard, found in your backyard?)
–2 parts lemon balm (Mountain Rose Herbs)
–2 parts red clover flowers (picked near our lake)
–1 part water mint (picked from the spillway of our lake)

Pour quart of just boiled water over herbs and cover. Infuse for 20 minutes.

Watching Zane walk. In the past week, Zane has really taken off with his walking. He still crawls a bit, but mostly walks these days. He wobbles and bobbles and falls.

Yoga With Adriene. I’ve been doing her 30 days of yoga for the past 60+ days because I can never manage to do yoga daily, although in my dream world I rise with the sun and go outside on snake rock (aka “the loading dock”) and do yoga before the wee ones wake up.

We’ve started planting our vegetable and herb garden. I’ll wait until some sprouts come up before I post any photos. I found this quotation I wrote in an old journal from Sue Monk Kidd’s book When the Heart Waits and thought I’d share it with you as I think about waiting for our plants to grow:

She writes about going on a retreat and she sees a monk just sitting quietly. She wonders how he does it and he tells her–

“I hope you’ll hear what I’m about to tell you. I hope you’ll hear it all the way down to your toes. When you’re waiting, you’re not doing nothing. You’re doing the most important something there is. You’re allowing your soul to grow up. If you can’t be still and wait, you can’t become what God created you to be.”

I thought it would be fun to share some things that are making me happy this month. Here’s the list.

Sparkle Stories: a podcast for children with short stories we can listen to on our way to or from school. I think I may enjoy them more than Zoey, but perhaps as she gets older she’ll enjoy them as much as I do.

Annmarie Gianni beauty products: I’m still loving Annmarie’s products. I use her aloe herb facial cleanser, neroli toning mist, anti-aging facial oil, coconut honey mask, dead sea scrub, and sun love sunscreen. Can you tell I love her products? And they smell so good! Back in December I was asked to participate in her Beautiful Voices column. Check out my interview answers here.

Ben Hewitt’s The Nourishing Homestead: An inspiring book about a husband and wife living in Vermont with their two young sons who farm, raise animals, and live off their land as much as possible. It’s inspired me to get my hands dirty.

Modern Farm Girls podcast which can be found on iTunes. This is my favorite new podcast about farm life with a special focus on female farmers.

And the book I’m currently reading: Owen’s Daughter by Jo-Ann Mapson. I’ve read a couple of her other books, all of which I’ve enjoyed.

So there you go. Tomorrow is my first herbal class at Motherland Botanical Sanctuary. It’s one weekend a month for nine months. I’ll write more about it in another post.