Plant Stories & River Tales | The Medicine Woman's Roots

The Sweetness of Summer

The Comfrey is in full bloom, the sand is too hot to walk barefoot on and the birds start serenading at about five in the morning – it must be summer! One benefit of the long days and scathing heat is the ability to cook many of our foods in the solar oven. Ours was a gift, in a model I haven’t seen in forever. It’s all heavy wood and brilliant mirrors. It’s awkward to move in order to properly align it with the sun through the afternoon, but its high quality and energy efficiency is well worth it. This is especially true on days when it’s too windy to have an open fire outside and too hot to have the wood stove going inside. Just this afternoon, Loba was baking delicious rye bread and chicken thighs in it! Rhiannon’s been...

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The Scent of Late Spring – Inhabiting the Season

The weather has finally turned truly hot, and in the late afternoon the air hangs heavy and dense inside the cabins. This is the time of year when we take all our eating out of doors. Early in the morning Loba starts a small fire out in the stone circle to cook breakfast on and we gather in the shade of Junipers and Oaks to eat eggs, wild greens and rainwater. Even the dishes are often done outside in this season, and all hot baths are taken late at night under the cool glance of starlight. Riverside, the Willows and Maples have grown thick and lush, and we make tunnels through the greenery to reach the water. The dragonflies have arrived and flirt on the long thin reeds while Elk stomp through the current. I lay under the Alders and stare up at the sky, brilliant...

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The Forager’s Song

As much as I love all local foods, there’s something truly special about wild, totally uncultivated food growing right at my feet, and in the case of the Wild Grapes, dangling right above my head. There’s a vitality to be had in wild river-grown Watercress that the best cultivated varieties can’t even compete with. The sharp bite of Mustard, the sweet crunch of Wild Lima flowers and the fine flavor of fresh Cottontail brings me back to my body, and closer to this particular stretch of enlivened land. Late afternoon often finds me waiting out the heat down by the river. After floating on my back down the cool current I usually gather greens for dinner in the shade of the Cottonwoods and Alders. Come summer, I’ll be able to curl up in...

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The Greening of the Canyon

The snow and rain earlier in the week have made for rapid green growth throughout the canyon bottom. I was down by the river this evening playing in the plants and gathering Horsetail and couldn’t help but snap a few pictures of the absolute glory of spring in the Gila. It’s just the beginning too, the Cottonwood leaves are still little, the Smartweed just emerging and the Cockleburs growing like the crazy weeds they are. I also gathered up some of the invasive Russian Thistle, roots and all, to bring back up to the cabin for an evening snack. I just cut the roots off, chopped up the greens, and through them in a pan with brown rice vinegar, a pinch of brown sugar and butter. Cooked for about fifteen minutes, they were tender, crunchy and truly tasty....

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Home in the Mountains: May 23rd Snow Storm in the Gila

Well, this is how I know I’m not in the desert. The desert is indeed nearby, but this canyon is nestled into the Mogollon Mountains, being the southern most extension of the Rockies and the beginning of the Sierra Madres. It started raining last night, cold rain that got me out of the outdoor bed quick when it started splashing against my face. After covering the bed with a tarp, I wandered sleepily around with Loba, transferring water from barrel to barrel, storing the much needed liquid in every available container. Even though we were draped in capes and raincoats we still got soaked and frozen while playing in the rain. It’s worth it though! Back in a warmer, dryer bed I listened to the wind whip around the corners of the small cabin and the soft...

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The Journey to Faery: A Story in Pictures and Pieces

The road to faery is lined with flowers and butterflies and paved with quartz-studded volcanic rocks. We (Rhiannon, student Stacey and I) hiked the arroyo today, up through the faery grounds and into the narrow, wetter paths where the Wild Valerian, Mountainspray and Gooseberries grow. Armloads of Beebalm were gathered and I plucked the last fresh Cherry flowers for one more tincture. ~~~ There’s something innately enchanted about climbing through a narrow channel worn through stone by rushing mountain water. The rocks here are rich shades of black, red, purple and cream and speckled with deep pockets of crystal quartz. Pools of water remain here nearly year round, providing much need moisture to the animals and insects. Shy coatimundi and elusive lions...