Establishing Roots

Several years ago, we walked into a small shop in Whitefish, Montana, where items from local makers were thoughtfully spread out on tables. As I sipped local ginger beer from one of the vendors, I stumbled across beautiful little jars of rose and lavender face lotion. My skin, as is usually the case in the drier parts of the country, was parched, so I brought some of that homemade and wildcrafted lotion back to our AirBnB. I loved it so much that I have ordered face lotion and oil from, Moji Herbals, ever since.

The owner, Petra, always includes a little note, a sprig of pine or lavender, and a seasonal ribbon in each shipment. In her blog post last month, she talked about the many medicinal and culinary uses for sage (which just happens to be flourishing in our garden right now!). I plan to try some of her suggestions for using fresh and dried sage and soaking up sage’s medicinal properties while enjoying tea and even her salad dressing recipe on some of the fresh lettuce growing in our garden soon. Petra also wrote about the magic of this season and how we often feel more connected to our ancestors, our roots, this time of year.

Earlier this week, I attended the unveiling of The Truth is I Love You, a permanent public outdoor sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas at the Austin Central Library. After the event, the artist shared his process with a small group of Library Foundation supporters and Austin Central Library staff members who gathered to celebrate his work. He told us about how the foundation of a tree is its roots and that his sculpture has the feeling of a tree with roots we don’t see (which could represent the stories of our ancestors). He feels that we all embody our ancestors and discussed a common saying in Black communities: “We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” along with art historian Cherise Smith, Executive Director of the Art Galleries at Black Studies and Professor, African and African Diaspora Studies, at the University of Texas.

The branches of Hank Willis Thomas’ public art installation extend into speech bubbles that represent the fruit of a tree, which may represent the lives and stories of the next generations and their truths. Having ways to respect each other through words and language was a central theme of the piece. The artist, Hank Willis Thomas, encourages us to learn one word in each language to bridge the gap between cultures so that we can connect and share our truths, which is why the sculpture includes words in both English and Spanish.

As I consider the many gardeners, nature lovers, and farmers in our family ancestry, I’m reminded that those roots are present in me as I prepare the garden for winter. Plants are also creating sturdy roots for the winter, albeit unseen above ground, to withstand colder temperatures and gusty winds. In last week’s post, I wrote about how we added spent mushroom blocks to our garden and landscape. These mushrooms use their mycelium to help plants and trees obtain more nutrients from the soil, while the mushrooms benefit from sugars from the plants and trees. There is so much magic happening beneath the soil.

Learn more about mycorrhizal fungi networks in Listen to the Language of the Trees by Tera Kelley and Marie Harmanson (also available at BookPeople)

“The hyphae explore the soil or any other substrate where fungi are growing and secrete digestive enzymes onto their food source, often dead organic materials and sometimes living organisms.

These enzymes break down the matter into smaller parts that feed not only the fungi, but also their plant partners and many other organisms. They can also ferment foods, increasing palatability.”

-Source: Kew Gardens

I’ve noticed little nibbles on the oyster mushrooms that popped up throughout the garden after the recent rain. Squirrels, foxes, deer, raccoons, and armadillos have been known to dine on these gourmet offerings. On our wildlife camera, I often notice the raccoons washing their paws in our birdbath and wonder what they are doing. Maybe they just enjoy clean paws? They seem to love playing with the water wiggler, but maybe they appreciate the moving water for washing their hands! You’ll notice we have a large, sturdy base for our birdbath. We learned quickly that a pedestal base wasn’t made for raccoons stopping by for a drink.

“Basically, raccoons wash their food to make it “wet” before eating. Interestingly, the raccoon’s scientific name, “Procyon lotor”, means “washing bear.”  Basically, they don’t wash the food but make it moistened with water. Raccoons have an incredibly sensitive sense of touch. This creature’s brain focuses mainly on touch, using over two-thirds of its sensory power for it. Its small hands have over ten times more nerve endings than a human hand, making them incredibly sensitive. Basically, they wet the food to excite the nerve cells present in their paws.”

AND

“Yes, raccoons are clean animals in the animal kingdom. Usually, they groom themselves and wash their food before eating in their natural habitat.”

-Source: All About Raccoons

If raccoons decide to eat a mushroom, they might wash it off, take a little bite, and see if it makes them sick. Once they’ve found a safe source of mushrooms, they will teach their little ones which mushrooms are safe to eat. Most mushrooms safe for humans to eat are also safe for raccoons.

This year has been a mast year for trees and berries here in Central Texas. Branches are heavy with fruit, and acorns are sprawled across fields and driveways. Folklore would say this is because we have a particularly cold winter ahead, but in truth, it may have more to do with the seasonal conditions of a spring that allowed for more fruit to set and the timing of rain that allowed these berries and fruits to flourish.

On that same trip to Whitefish, Montana, several years ago, we made our way to a local natural food store up the street from the shop with artisanal goods and overheard some of the locals saying they were having trouble sleeping because of the wildfire smoke. Wildfires were raging in many of the western states that summer. To get to Whitefish, we traveled by ferry and then car from the San Juan Islands in Washington, through Idaho, and on to Montana, with wildfire smoke and even some fire visible in the forests along the roads. The smoke cleared enough for only one day to explore Glacier National Park as we made our way up the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

I highly recommend listening to the “Yosemite National Park” and “Glacier National Park” episodes on The Washington Post podcast, Field Trip, to learn more about how the caretakers for National Parks are changing their approach to wildfires.

We need wild places where wildlife can thrive without much interference from humans. Sometimes, we need to let nature engage in something destructive and rejuvenating for the soil and trees, especially trees like sequoias that depend on wildfires (just not the intense heat and scale of the ones caused by mismanagement of forests and climate change) so that swaths of wildflowers can grow. Listening to indigenous voices who took care of these forests long before National Parks were created and learning from their wisdom will benefit nature for many years to come.

This wild native beehive in a black walnut tree on our land reminds me that we can be in awe of nature’s beauty and complexity without needing to monetize or “improve” it. We need to learn how to be good caretakers so that wild ecosystems are a part of our future.

Part of being a good caretaker of nature is spending time being an observer. This week, I began listening to The Wild Remedy: How Nature Mends Us by Emma Mitchell (also available at BookPeople). The author begins to take walks near her home as a way to manage her crippling depression and finds it a therapeutic and helpful addition to medication and therapy. She uses observation, field guides, journaling, photography, meeting up with other naturalists, and sketching her discoveries to focus on nature’s abundance and wisdom rather than the “gray slug” of depression (a term she coined).

“During the winter months, we tend to spend more time indoors, which can lead to feeling rather Eeyore-ish. One way to fend off the dark forces is to gather as much light into the eyes - and serotonin into the neurons - as possible by venturing out on walks.”

-Emma Mitchell from Making Winter (also available at BookPeople)

Ensure your pets are also getting plenty of sunlight in their daily routine this time of year by taking them on walks during the daylight hours, giving them time to lounge outside on a sunny afternoon, or situating their bed near an open window to soak up sunlight at some point during the day.

“If you go to a place on anything but your own feet, you are taken there too fast and miss a thousand delicate joys that were waiting for you by the wayside.

-Elizabeth Von Arnon, author of The Enchanted April (also available at BookPeople) (quotation was mentioned in The Wild Remedy by Emma Mitchell)

I hope that wherever you are in the world, you are taking time to nourish yourself and feel grounded and rejuvenated through your interactions with nature.

I’ll see you next week with recommendations for winter reading, a few gift ideas for the readers in your life, and how to support indie bookstores in the next edition of Reading Seasons!