It feels like the universe, in all its goodness, has given me a garden this year wrapped with a ribbon and bow. How else could I explain that our friends Brittany and Kevin just happened to have a spare corner of land on their farm? And that it included a hundred medicinal plant seedlings, gifted from one of their friends from her own medicinal herb farm after she finished her spring planting?

Generous. That’s what the universe is, working through friends and friends of friends. 

As Seth and I wrote out our goals and plans earlier this year, with the snow knee high and a baby sleeping in my arms, I placed gardening high on my list of priorities. It may have been a bit of cabin fever. I didn’t get to work in a garden last year with the morning sickness and drought. The necessary, long recuperation from giving birth this winter made me wild for getting my hands in the dirt.  My schemes weren’t too grand; I thought I’d be ok with a few calendula plants and some herbs and wildflowers. 

But now I have about 200 square feet studded with all manner of plants, most that I’ve never grown and a couple I can’t identify. It’s slow growing.  I got the plants in the ground halfway through June instead of halfway through May. The frequent rainy days have delayed things a bit too. But oh, to be growing again!

I’ve been chewing on this blog post for a while, trying to think of how to introduce this unexpected garden, and even now I pause a minute. But the truth is that I’m growing again: medicine, yes, but also myself. Learning how to care for new plants, expanding the medicines I’ve been making. Squeezing in work between looking after not one but two babies. Oh goodness. These are things I never thought I’d be doing. 

The list of plants is extensive. Vervain, marshmallow, motherwort, oregano, valerian, St. John’s wort, bittersweet nightshade, echinacea, milky oats, borage, thyme, rosemary, calendula, yarrow, lemon balm, California poppy, catnip, anise hyssop, common and clary sages. Enough plants to heal your skin and help you sleep, soothe your muscles and lift your spirits. And a few things that I don’t know yet. What are these two plants? Time will tell (but I wouldn’t say no to a little friendly internet help either). 


Meantime, I’ll be out there hoeing and trying not to hoe my seedlings that look like weeds. The flea beetles have gotten to my bittersweet nightshades but we’re not down for the count yet. I planted the marshmallow and valerian on opposite ends of the garden so I wouldn’t get them confused (their leaves look alike at this size). And I got the last of my very favorite calendula seeds to sprout. Small steps in the right direction, as always.