by Krista | Jul 28, 2021 | Winter
Create space.
Create space for what matters to me. Space for what I want to learn, experience, understand, taste, and see. Create space for the life I want to live.
I’ve been mulling over these thoughts recently, taking time to observe how I spend my time and if it really, truly reflects what is important to me. My friend Mary recently shared this quote by Victoria Erickson:
“If you inherently long for something, become it first.
If you want gardens, become the gardener.
If you want love, embody love.
If you want mental stimulation, change the conversation.
If you want peace, exude calmness.
If you want to fill your world with artists, begin to paint.
If you want to be valued, respect your own time.
If you want to live ecstatically, find the ecstasy within yourself.
This is how to draw it in, day by day, inch by inch.”
Reading these words made me smile as it sent my mind whirling into the realms of what do I long for? What do I want? What delights, intrigues, and inspires me as I am now?
I’ve been playing with ideas for months, painting them, writing them, talking them through with Bear. I follow ideas like breadcrumbs, ideas for work and play and adventure and connection, experimenting as I go, embracing what sticks and releasing those notions that float on by.
In the beginning, it was really hard. My answers to my questions were mostly, “I don’t know.” My thoughts were muddied by musts and shoulds and by giving weight to voices not my own. But, I stuck with it, returning again and again to the question, “What do I want?” And slowly, steadily, clarity came, sometimes in bursts of inspiration, sometimes in gentle knowing. Each discovery was a gift, an affirmation deep in my heart, a hearty, confident YES.
I learned that I need to do a much, much better job at looking after myself. I need more rest, more downtime, more fun, more community, more adventure, more discovery. I’ve been creating space for those things and it has been so good for me, my marriage, my clients, my friendships, everything. I love seeing the glorious ripple effect of true self-care.
Some of the changes are really simple. I need more sleep than the average person, and I’ve finally made peace with it. I stopped setting my alarm and sleep until I wake up. I schedule meetings for later in the day so I can have a peaceful and leisurely start to my day and approach my projects and work and commitments from a place of rest and calm. My stress has plummeted and I have more time and energy to live my life rather than recovering from it.
I learned that walking and hiking are the best exercises for me. I hate going to the gym, running is the devil, but my whole being lights up at the thought of a hike in the mountains or a walk through the woods. Weight training is important for my strength and resilience, so I get that in through lifting feed bags, hauling rocks, and using a 6-foot crowbar to dig holes for trees, bushes, and fence posts. Rebuilding my body is no longer a misery. I know it will be a long process and I’m finally enjoying it and loving my body as it is even while I help it get fitter and stronger.
Other changes required some grieving and letting go. I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and I must adjust my life accordingly as I no longer have the strength and energy I once did. After grieving the loss of Old Me, I’m learning how to build a good life with Chronic Fatigue.
I still love gardening, but I’m shifting to gardens of mostly perennials, things that self-seed and look after themselves, plants that provide us with food without requiring so much effort from me. So, I’ve put in a lot of fruit trees, berry bushes, perennial herbs, and veggies like artichokes and asparagus that just keep going and going. I’ve put in drip-hoses to make watering easy, hung shadecloth to protect from the fierce Aussie sun and wind, and have Seasol and organic fertilizer pellets on hand to easily keep things well-fed.
We still love our farm, but we’re cutting way back on stock to make things easy to manage. When we sat down and talked things through we realised that we’d rather spend more time with each other and our luvs doing fun projects, visiting around the fire, and enjoying life. It will take time to downsize, but we’re looking forward to it.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about community. Covid has wreaked havoc in this area, disrupting so many events, traditions, and experiences where community is built and nourished. One way I’m connecting with people is through my workshops. I don’t do them to make money, but to create opportunities for relationships. Workshops are expensive to put on and I barely cover my costs each time, but I don’t mind because they give me a chance to get to know people and let them get to know me. For a few hours each month, we can immerse ourselves in creating something fun and interesting while being brave and opening ourselves to connections with potential kindred spirits.
I’ve loved every workshop. I’ve met wonderful strangers and forged new memories with old friends, heard amazing stories, laughed hard over the craziness of life, and even shared grief. No matter who attends the workshop or if things go smoothly, I always return home with a full heart, hopeful for the state of the world, grateful to the folks who take time out of their busy lives to invest in community.
I love that I never stop learning and growing and changing. I’ve heard folks say that people never really change, but I disagree completely. I’ve seen liars become truth-tellers, broken people become whole, fear turned into incredible courage. We can change, and that is a gift worth embracing and creating space for.
What is something you want to create space for in your life? xo
by Krista | Jul 12, 2021 | Winter
It’s a frigidly cold morning on our farm as I park myself right by the heater and sip copious amounts of hot coffee and herbal tisanes to keep warm. It’s a hot-buttered toast, cuddle with dogs, and snuggle under blankets sort of day. My favourite.
I’m feeling rather bubbly today, excited and full of anticipation as I share my books with you at last. With full-colour images and recipes I’ve developed and refined over the last 10 years, these books offer a blend of history, culture, and deliciousness that delight, nourish, and restore.
From Spiced Elderberry Cordial and Fenugreek Fever Gel to Rose Mint Pastilles and Wild Cherry Marshmallow Cough Syrup, this book is full of recipes that use things easy to find in your pantry, garden, or local farmer’s market to ease headaches, soothe upset tummies, and tend wounds. Embrace your inner wild spirit and discover how easy it is to mix and brew things that can restore you and your loves in mind, body, and spirit.
Click here to order.
From harvests in lush oases and seaside fishing hauls to foraging and hunting in the windswept desert, the food of medieval nomadic tribes was an ever-changing feast utterly dependent on weather, economic stability, and proximity to trade routes.
In these pages, you’ll find luscious, creamy pudding and piquant cheeses, succulent roast meats and delectable wine, spreads, sweets, dried yoghurt, and other ingenious recipes designed to withstand the searing heat of the desert.
It’s exciting to see how the ancient food practices of the Bedouin are perfectly suited to camping, road trips, hikes, and anywhere you don’t have access to modern conveniences.
A Comforting Brew
One of my favourite blends from herb & spice is Lemon Cheer Tisane. Opening a jar of this heavenly
tisane is pure happiness to me. Made of lemongrass, lemon verbena, lemon balm, lemon thyme, and lemon bergamot, it is a blend designed to calm the nervous system and cheer the soul. I also add a bit of peppermint to brighten things even more.
Lemongrass and peppermint can ease headaches, lemon balm and lemon verbena are soothing and aid digestion, lemon bergamot and lemon thyme are excellent for flu and cold symptoms, and lemon myrtle is an indigenous bush medicine long used to ease sinus problems and sore throats.
Not only is this tea soothing, cheering, and invigorating, it also smells divine and tastes great either hot or iced, especially when sweetened with a spoonful of real maple syrup.
Lemon Cheer Tisane
Ingredients:
1/4 cup dried lemongrass
1/4 cup dried lemon verbena
1/4 cup dried lemon balm
1 tsp dried lemon thyme
1/4 cup dried lemon bergamot
1/4 cup dried peppermint
Directions:
- Pour all ingredients into a medium bowl and stir well until blended. Store in an air-tight container.
- When ready to serve, place 1 heaping teaspoon in a tea strainer, pour over 1 cup of just-boiled water, steep for 3-5 minutes and sweeten to taste with honey or real maple syrup.
by Krista | Jul 7, 2021 | Winter
“Listen to me, your body is not a temple.
Temples can be destroyed and desecrated.
Your body is a forest—
thick canopies of maple trees and sweet-scented wildflowers sprouting in the underwood.
You will grow back, over and over, no matter how badly you are devastated.”
Beau Taplin
You will grow back, over and over, no matter how badly you are devastated.
How I love those words today. Love thinking of my body as a forest, not a temple, able to renew itself and grow tall and strong and verdant, over and over again.
The forest has always been a haven for me, ever since I was a little girl in Canada running as fast as I could along trails carpeted thickly with pine needles. I can still feel the spongy ground underfoot, smell the pine trees warmed by the sun, feel the dappled light on my face.
I’ve seen forests blackened by fire and scarred by logging, but, given time, they always come back. In Canada, they’d return with a crop of seedlings, brilliant fireweed dancing in the wind, huckleberry bushes, and plantain. Here in Australia, I see healing in charred gum trees covered with clumps of leaves that slowly become branches, frothy clouds of lantana flowers, and the sound of bellbirds in the undergrowth.
I feel burnt and scarred by the events of the past few years: cancer, hospitalization, virus, injured hubby, and the death of my brother, to name a few. Followed by the deep, internal changes that come out of such things. I have changed, and I’m still feeling my way forward, sometimes blindly, trusting that I will find where the new me fits.
The forest continues to comfort me as I go through these changes, reminding me that nothing stays the same, grief, loss, and pain are inevitable, but so are joy, wonder, and beauty.
I love seeing how broken things – trees torn out by flooding, branches sent crashing down from storms – now provide homes for amazing lichen, fungi, and the tiniest plants. Brokenness is not the end, not the final chapter, it just means change.
So, on days when grief is especially fierce, when the painful things of life seem to far, far outweigh the good, I go to the forest and wander and linger and weep and smile and get back to the things that nourish me in body, soul, and spirit so I can keep growing, so I can grow back.
I will grow back. xo
by Krista | May 11, 2021 | Autumn
It’s autumn here in Australia, resplendent with foggy, chilly mornings and lusciously golden days of sunshine and blue skies. It is hands down, my favourite time of year.
My gardens are full of herbs for me to harvest, dry, and store for making all sorts of good things to keep us healthy, cheered, and comforted through the frigid months of winter. This week I’m harvesting roses, lemongrass, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon thyme, rosemary, rosellas, lemon myrtle, cinnamon myrtle, anise myrtle, stinging nettles, burdock root, motherwort, wormwood, mugwort, spearmint, dandelion root, peppermint, elderflower, and elderberries. Soon our little house will be filled with a dizzying array of scents as the dehydrator works overtime drying everything for storage. Over the next few months, they’ll be turned into teas, tisanes, infusions, and decoctions. What’s the difference, you may ask? I’m so glad you did!
What’s the difference between teas, tisanes, infusions, and decoctions?
Tea
Tea is made from the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant. Black tea, oolong, white tea, and green tea all come from this plant and are uniquely processed to give them their distinctive flavour, fragrance, and colour. Tea is also any kind of tea blend that includes tea leaves such as Earl Grey, which is black tea with bergamot or Chai, which adds all sorts of warming spices to a tea base.
Tisane
Tisane (pronounced tea-zahn) is made from herbs and does not contain any tea leaves. This includes single herbs like chamomile or peppermint and blends that mix an assortment of leaves, flowers, barks, roots, fruits, seeds, and spices. If you make a chai with a rooibos base, it becomes a tisane instead of a tea. Tisanes always make me think of Hercule Poirot, who drank them to stimulate his little grey cells.
Infusions and Decoctions
Infusions and Decoctions are simply different words for soaking plant material in hot water to leach out the flavour, colour, and properties.
Infusions are generally made by pouring just-boiled water over soft plant material such as leaves and flowers, while Decoctions are made by simmering hard plant material such as bark, roots, and woody stems in water.
Infusions are best for leaves and flowers because you don’t want to stew them and end up with nasty flavour and fragrance. Decoctions are best for bark and roots because you need that intense heat and long cooking time to remove the goodness from the plant and get it into the water so you can drink it.
Infusions generally take 5-10 minutes for a tisane. I usually add a heaping tbsp of dried herbs to a mug, cover with one cup of just-boiled water, cover with a saucer and leave to steep 5-10 minutes. Then I strain it, sweeten it with honey or maple syrup, and sip happily. However, if I’m using the herbs medicinally, I’ll add 1-2 cups of dried or fresh herbs to a jar, pour in just-boiled water to the brim, cover, then let sit on the counter overnight. This produces a potent brew that can be used to treat symptoms or as a tonic to support good health.
Decoctions take longer. A good rule of thumb is 1-2 tsp of dried or fresh root, bark, or woody stem to 1 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool. Strain, sweeten with honey or maple syrup, and drink.
Elderflower Yarrow Tisane
One of my favourite tisanes for winter is made with elderflower, yarrow, peppermint, rosehips, rose petals, hibiscus, and calendula. Not only is it delicious, but it does wonders in combating cold and flu symptoms and really helps clear blocked sinuses so I can breathe and sleep well.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried elderflowers
2 Tbsp dried hibiscus flowers
1/4 cup dried yarrow
1/4 cup dried peppermint leaves
2 Tbsp dried rosehips
2 Tbsp dried rose petals
2 Tbsp dried calendula flowers
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together well and store in an airtight glass jar, such as a mason jar, out of direct sunlight.
When ready to drink, scoop 1 heaped teaspoon in a tea strainer and place in a heatproof mug or cup. Pour over just-boiled water, cover, and leave to steep 5 minutes. Sweeten with maple syrup, honey, or sugar.
Chai Decoction & Infusion
My favourite winter tea is chai. It’s so creamy and spicy and is unique because it’s both a decoction and an infusion. I love simmering whole or ground spices on my stove as the winter sunshine floods the kitchen. The fragrance is so comforting and the steam so warming that the whole brewing process makes me feel happy and cosy.
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1 cinnamon stick
10 cardamom pods (or 1 tsp cardamom seeds)
1 Tbsp dried ginger root
5 Tasmanian Mountain pepper berries (or black peppercorns)
1/2 star anise
2 clove buds
1 tsp fennel seeds
maple syrup or brown sugar to taste
10 tsp black tea leaves (or rooibos, if you want a tisane)
2 cups just-boiled water
Directions:
- Place milk, all spices, and sweetener in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. (Watch carefully because the milk will boil over if you’re not careful.)
- While the milk mixture is simmering, place tea leaves in a small saucepan, cover with just-boiled water and leave to steep 5 minutes. Strain and throw tea leaves on the compost heap or in the trash.
- When the milk mixture is done, strain and return to pot. Add tea and stir together. Taste for sweetness and serve immediately or let cool to room temperature then bottle and store in the fridge to serve as iced chai.
If you would love to learn how to make your own tisanes and teas and other delectable and nourishing remedies, I am teaching three workshops on 5 June, 12 June, and 4 September. You’ll learn all about choosing the best herbs for you, great tips for blending and storage, and creative ways to use your concoctions in your cooking or home apothecary. I’d love to see you there.
What are your favourite beverages during cold months? xo
by Krista | May 5, 2021 | Autumn
When my middle brother Evan killed himself in February, my life changed forever. The loss of a sibling is always devastating, but there’s a special kind of pain when that loss is due to suicide. There are no answers that can assuage such grief, no explanations, no reasons, it must simply be felt, honoured, and endured.
Some of the grief can be shared, but most of it can only be borne privately, quietly.
I went to the mountains with my grief, alone in a wonky tent as rain poured and winds howled. It felt like the sky itself was grieving with me. I hiked for hours each day, getting drenched to the skin as I trudged and slipped my way down muddy trails through the rainforest, letting the storms camouflage my grief from the occasional passing hiker as I sobbed and hiked and talked to Evan. I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore, and then I laughed, knowing how Evan would shake his head at me and chuckle and say, “Girl, you’re crazy, but I love you.”
I talked to him as I hiked along swollen streams, clambered gingerly over moss-slick logs and boulders, and emerged from dense rainforest to breathtaking views of the plains far below. I pointed out amazing mushrooms and gorgeous lizards and the tiniest of wildflowers and grinned to myself at how exasperated he would’ve been at me stopping every few feet to take pictures of red berries and dripping ferns and incredible fungi.
I linked arms with grief and didn’t let go, didn’t turn away, didn’t worry one bit what anyone thought of the red-eyed woman camping alone in a tent nearly flattened by storms. I wrote my grief, drew my loss, trekked my pain, and each night, slept like a rock. Each morning I woke up feeling stronger, braver, more connected to the world. And when my final day in the mountains dawned, I was ready to go home to my Bear, our animals, our farm, our life.
I don’t know why Evan killed himself. I never will. But, as I hiked mile after mile, I came to peace with that. I don’t need to know. I can trust, accept, and respect his choice in spite of the horrendous pain it inflicted on those who love him. For him, it was the best possible choice, and I will honour it.
I will also wake up every day and make my best possible choices. I will choose life and choose love. I will embrace all avenues of healing possible and strengthen relationships with people who see me, know me, and love me faithfully. I will keep creating, keep building, keep loving, and keep looking for ways to grow, learn, explore, and delight.
And I’ll keep going back to the mountains to restore my soul, body, and spirit. xo
