For folks familiar with my old blog Unstuffed, you probably already know about my Sit Spot. For those of you who don’t know, my Sit Spot is a place that I have been visiting on a regular basis since last September, after taking a class with the amazing herbalist Paul Bergner.
“A Sit Spot is a nature awareness technique of finding a spot in nature, visiting the same spot every day for a minimum of 20 minutes and observing the environment over a prolonged period of time to gain a sense of understanding of self and place and witness the natural progression of seasons, changes in patterns and interactions of different elements in a system. The two main requirements of a sit spot are that it be close to your home and that it is a safe space to visit. Ideally it will have a good view, biodiversity and be wild in the sense that the area is uncultivated, but it doesn’t have to be in a remote, rural area. One should visit their sit spot during daylight and darkness, wind, rain, snow and sun.”
You can read about that class and see the first pictures of my Sit Spot here.
I’m happy to report that I have been going to my Sit Spot at least 3 or 4 times a week for the last 7 1/2 months, with long stretches of daily visits.  This practice is truly a blessing and gift.  It’s relaxing, peaceful and utterly stress reducing.  It keeps me grounded and reminds me of what is important.
Every visit I make a new discovery, observation or witness something that amazes me, makes me smile or marvel in wonder.  And it doesn’t take long at all before rhythms and patterns make themselves known.  This year I noticed that the mallard ducks stayed all winter and the crows used the ashes across the river as their staging ground every evening, before heading to their roost at dusk.  The seagulls were the first migratory birds to return, followed by the Canadian geese, then the red winged blackbirds, then the cormorants.  The muskrats were really active in December and then disappeared until just a couple of weeks ago.
I’ve watched the water level rise and fall, freeze and thaw and had to move further up the bank this month as the actual spot where I sit has been under water for weeks.  Yesterday was the first day I was able to sit where I usually do.  It was gorgeous out so I brought a blanket and a book and stayed for two hours reading and napping along with my usual practice of ‘sitting’.
On the old blog I posted monthly pictures of my spot and will continue to do the same here.  If you want to check out past months I’ll post links at the bottom of this post, and here is April.  (The place where I normally sit is just to the left of the branches sticking up out of the water in the first photo.  It was under a good 3-4 feet of water at the beginning of April.  Yesterday I sat there.)

Well, I thought I’d post an update on my plant babies.  First of all, the business card I planted has sprouted!  Within just a few days the first seedlings popped up and now they are developing their first set of true leaves.  I visit with them every day, say hello, give them a little bit of water and tell them how beautiful they are.  It’s exciting to watch them and imagine them all grown up and in bloom.
This is the state of the living room these days.

Our canoe has been temporarily repurposed as a plant nursery.  It provides shelter from the wind, protection from the squirrels and ensures they don’t get run over or otherwise damaged by the traffic that passes through the space.  We can cover the whole canoe with row cover to add a little extra warmth on the cooler days, and just yesterday I picked up two window panes left out for the garbage.  They fit perfectly across the canoe and when the sun shines, the temps inside the canoe get downright toasty.
So far, all the plants seem to be happy, thriving and growing fast!

We were a small but sturdy group of intrepid souls who braved the chilly temperatures and blustery winds to attend the first plant walk of the season.
I headed out earlier that morning to gather some ingredients for the wild snack I always provide on my walks.  But first I harvested some litter, as every good forager should!

Back at home I quickly whipped up a wild greens pesto.  It’s a fast and easy treatment that works especially well in the early spring when there might not be enough of any one thing to make a meal from, but there are small amounts of a few different things that add up.  It’s also a good way to incorporate the bland or not-so-choice edibles like purple deadnettle and Virgina waterleaf.  On their own they don’t taste like much, but they work just fine added in small amounts to a dish, with other greens.  Apparently, deadnettle is high in iron, so what it lacks in taste and texture, it might make up for in nutritional value.  Mixed with a lovely oil, nuts and a healthy dose of cheese doesn’t hurt either!
I must confess I’m not one to follow recipes to the letter, often playing fast and loose with substitutes and amounts, adding a little of this, throwing in a dash of that, so I apologize in advance: I’m not the one who will offer you precise recipes or step-by-step directions.  Rather, I’ll provide you with suggestions, ballparks and guesstimates that will hopefully inspire you to play with your wild food and try new things using what you have at hand.  The good news is, this here internet is full of fabulous people who love to write detailed recipes and I’ll point you in their direction whenever I can!
So for the wild greens pesto, I would suggest taking your favourite pesto recipe and substituting the basil for whatever wild edibles are growing in your backyard.  Don’t have a favourite pesto recipe?  Try this one!
For this batch, I used about 2 cups of greens, one cup of EVO, a handful of sunflower seeds, three cloves of garlic and the aforementioned healthy dose of Parmesan cheese.  I whirred it up in my blender and added S&P to taste.  Once I got the final stamp of approval from my head taste-tester it was ready to go.

Hi!  If you made your way over here fromUnstuffed, well thank you.  *blushing*  I’m touched and honoured that you stopped by.  Welcome to my new digs.  It’s still a huge work in progress, so please bear with me.  I’m a Luddite at heart, but as you know, I’m also the DIY type, so I’m determined to create this website myself (with huge, huge help from the ADG aka Computer Whiz and the advice of other smarty-pants, techie friends).  But I’m also writing a business plan, starting said business, planning and getting ready to plant a 1/4 acre wild garden, teaching a course on herbs here, getting organised for a series of plant walks and 438 or so other things on my to do list!  Oh, and trying to remember to take deep breaths.    So, while I have big plans for the site and a vision of how I want it to look, it will evolve slowly as I have the time to work on it and figure out what the heck I’m doing.
One thing I plan to commit to, is keeping the new blog up to date.  It’s definitely going to be pretty much all plants all the time: healing plants, wild foods, gardening, permaculture, wildcrafting, food forests, land stewardship, medicine making, botany….I’ll be geeking out on all of it right here.   I will document my experiments, successes and failures in my new garden, share the joys and the tears, the sunburns and the cold, wet feet.  There will be lots of pictures and I might even try my hand at some videos!
If you’re into that sort of thing, I hope you come back often and feel free to subscribe for blog posts by email and follow me on this crazy new adventure.  Things are about to get real dirty ’round here folks!
PS:  This Luddite is now on Twitter and the Wild Garden has a Facebook page too.

My business cards arrived yesterday and I am so pleased with how they turned out.  The logo and design was created by my friend Amy Thompson.  She’s a crazy talented artist, who just also happens to be a crazy talented graphic designer.
When she sent me her vision for a logo, I immediately fell in love.  She took the ideas that I gave her, read my mind, looked into my soul and captured the spirit of what I hope the Wild Garden will be.  I think the image evokes the kind of gentle, contemplative feeling that comes over one, when sitting quietly with nature and connecting with the plants.
The cards are also planted on recycled paper that has been embedded with wildflower seeds.  That’s right!  You can plant your business card and grow your own wild garden.
I planted a card this morning, so I will post updates on when it sprouts and as it grows!

I was thrilled to see that two of my seed trays have already germinated less than 72 hours after having been planted.
Welcome to the world calendula and chamomile!  May you be fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.