Herb Pharm: Week Two

I woke up this morning at 7:30 feeling fully rested. Climbing out of the top bunk is still an adventure, even after a week and a half. I made it down safely after concluding that going down backwards like my father taught me years ago is, in fact, the wisest technique for this endeavor. Directly out of the window from my bed I can see trees and some sky, but when I walked up closer I was forced to pause by the mountains in the sunlight. The lowest trees at the base of the closest mountains glowed deep yellow, turning dark green further up at their still-shady tops, against a backdrop of further mountains wearing snowy crowns. But no matter how poetically I attempt to describe the landscape my words cannot come close to the beauty of this farm. And the longer I stay, the more beautiful it seems to become.

I spent the whole week hoeing: Echinacea the first two days, Motherwart at the end of the second day, and a field full of baby nettles at the end of the third to the end of the fourth day. I and my friend Ki have spent the most time in the fields as everyone else has either spent a day in the greenhouse thinning baby plants, spent a day at the house being housekeeper (we call this day/position "Hazel,") or spent the week on landscape-crew in the garden. My arms and lower back hurt the most on the second day, blisters solidified on my hands by day four (I hope they will be calluses by the time I have to hoe again). But while the work may be monotonous and slightly painful at first, it is lovely to be outside everyday, using my body to make things grow. I look up and see Canadian geese flying low, I see the sun and the clouds shift light, direction, and shape over the mountains, I can practice focusing in on what's in front of me- staying in the moment, and I can have sometimes hilarious/sometimes informative conversations with the rest of the farm crew.

We had a few classes this week also: Botony for herbalists, an incredibly informative plant-walk, tincture-making procedures, and client constitutional intake. It is very intense having such a tight schedule on top of living in such tight quarters, but it's a shove in the right direction.

I'm beginning to think about what I want to do next, and where I want to do it.
I'll keep you posted.
Much love 'til next time
K