Writings - Mary Plantwalker

Mary shares both brief thoughts & longer essays through these postings. Follow along on Instagram and sign up for her quarterly Newsletter to not miss her regular, earth-based inspirations.

Do Not Forget

Do not forget, dear one, That you are made of Earth and Sky. Over half of you is water, contained by vessels and solid bone With a marrow that holds space. Do not forget You are made of carbon, You thirst and hunger and breathe everyday And…

Writings

Honeybees & Beekeepers

“That which is not good for the swarm, neither is it good for the bee.” -Marcus Aurelius Beekeeping is estimated to be as old as 5,000 years, although archeological records show we were robbing wild hives long before we kept them, bringing…

Writings

Quotes

I always love a good quote. We have a chalkboard by our front door where Hart or I leave a quote to ponder throughout the week. This has been such a fun little ritual. I also love taking photos. So this post is an offering of two of my loves-…

Writings

A Yarden Pesto

Eat something wild everyday, or at least eat something Green everyday! It’s a simple, powerful way to do something good for ourselves, to take care. Yarden is the combo of foraging from the yard and harvesting from the garden, and it makes…

Writings

Ragweed as Teacher

You may not have this exact plant growing near you, but likely there is an equivalent- a native annual that grows several feet tall in one season, is rich in pollen and is cursed by farmers and gardeners because it makes them sneeze and overtakes…

Writings

Avena sativa

Dear Avena sativa This is how I know you~ In cookies, in granola, in bread, as breakfast, as tea, as tincture, as bath, as waving growing grass. I like to eat your groats, steel-cut or rolled. I like to place them in a muslin bag and let you…

Writings

Motherwort

How I see you… Being introduced to you with the name of Motherwort certainly guided my perception of you from the start. Knowing that wort just means plant- you are the Mother Plant I asked? The Plant for Mothers? Yes, both, and so much more.…

Writings

A Reckoning in the Darkness~ my dark cave retreat

My eyes widened at the sight of the perfectly intact body of a dead Luna Moth that lay below the nesting box. I gathered the eggs with the curve of my shirt and scooped the moth up with the other hand, then wandered down the hill to show Hart.…

Writings

Costa Rica and Thoughts on Traveling

It’s February, the high and dry season in Costa Rica, and Hart rented a 4x4 camper from Nomad America. This was the strangest trip I’ve ever taken as I had no desire to go, but wanted to support Hart in this fantasy he’s had since we…

Writings

Many Mini Pilgrimages

One day it dawned on me that I don’t have to travel halfway around the world to have a pilgrimage. I realized that some of the greatest pilgrimages I’ve done were actually the ones closest to home. A pilgrimage is about taking a journey,…

Writings

Imbolc and Elderberry

Blessed Imbolc dears! I thought I would share one of my Imbolc rituals with you of tending to Elder (Sambucus canadensis) and then wax on a bit about this Adoxaceae family member while I’m at it. For those of you who do not know about Imbolc,…

Writings

What’s for Breakfast?

What do you eat for breakfast? Are you one who pretty much eats the same thing over and over? A routine breakfast eater? Or do you shake it up? I am somewhere in the middle. All I know is if I go without eating breakfast, my day is wonky. I…

Writings

Pondering

It is the end of the calendar year and for many of us that leads to reflections. Maybe those reflections lead to resolutions, maybe not. Although I have a private journal that is meant for no one else, ‘writing therapy’ as I call it, I also…

Writings

Do I Contradict Myself?

“Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am vast. I contain multitudes.” Walt Whitman wrote these words in Song of Myself and I return to them when I am feeling guilty and confused about my contradictions and inability…

Writings

Plant Ally Cards

A little project I am currently undertaking...to make a deck of plant ally cards. Begun end of 2022. Here are 11 examples. Once I have completed the deck, I will surely be shouting it out! I love the color dusty rose and chose that as…

Writings

Plants To Keep Close

There are certain people that you just know you need to keep close, even if you are living far apart. You know what I’m saying? You know who those people are—think of one right now and send them the sweetness of your heart. Yes, there are…

Writings

Naming Doesn’t Have To Mean Shaming

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, the school and church I attended and the family and social conversations I witnessed never broached the subject of what we did and were doing to Indigenous peoples in order to hold the life of comfort and…

Writings

I Have A Feeling…

What if it turned out everything had feelings? How would you behave differently? I believe they do, and definitely plants. I believe appreciation or gratitude is the feeling they thrive upon. The realm of feelings I write of here is more energetic.…

Writings

A little Beach Plant Walk

Huntington Beach State Park located in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, is a haven of undeveloped seashore, dunes, salt marshes, brackish waters, freshwater ponds, expansive ocean, nature trails, boardwalks, interpretive signs, guided tours and…

Writings

Sweetgrass Teachings

I first met Sweetgrass thirty years ago at a sweat lodge when an indigenous elder burned a braid of it before we went in, and the smell transported me to my childhood, sitting on my Pop’s lap, admiring his handsome grin while he smoked his…

Writings

Nothing Remains In Its Prime For Long

Until recently, whenever I’d have a bouquet of flowers, the moment they started to wilt, lose their ‘fresh’ look, drop petals, and fade, I’d dump them out as quickly as possible. I mean, who wants to look at spent flowers, right? Hart…

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Sicilian Plant Pilgrimage

I recognize that traveling internationally is a privilege. I am humbled by the opportunity. If you have never immersed yourself in a completely different culture and there is a chance you can, please do take it. It broadens your perspectives…

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Blog Articles for Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine

Mary Plantwalker has been enjoying penning some articles for Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine's Blog! Check them out! Why Plant a Medicinal Herb Garden? How to Grow an Herbal Tea Garden Herbal Tea Ceremonies Compost Magic for…

Writings

Upon Whose Shoulders I Now Stand

Yesterday would have been the 99th birthday of my paternal grandmother whom I am named after. Mary. She and my mother were the dearest women of my life and now they are both gone. Gram died 7 years ago, mom 5 months ago. Sometimes I feel such…

Writings

Calendula

Never do I tire of being a voice for calendula and incorporating her into my life! Calendula officinalis grows easily from seed and will self sow year after year in Zones 5 and up. They will bloom until frost if you pick their flowers…

Writings

The Light In The Dark

The bats were coming home to roost when I awakened at dawn. They sleep under the eves outside our bedroom windows and on the mornings when my own awakening chimes in with their swirling-whirling descent dance to hang upside down for over 12…

Writings

Everyday Is A New Song

How many of us wake up singing? How many of us sing while doing the dishes, showering, gardening, driving or during other tasks throughout the day? This is your daily reminder that if you can talk, you can sing, and singing is an essential form…

Writings

Eat Your Flowers!

There are so many flowers we can eat! Some taste better than they look, others look better than they taste/ just like people! Here are some photographed from our gardens at Herb Mountain: Day lilies Bachelor Buttons Calendula Rose Nasturtium Evening…

Writings

My Walk With The Plants

Perhaps it was having a pond at our house growing up that eventually led me to become a plantwalker. One of the most intriguing ecosystems to lead a child back to nature, I would sit, walk, swim and wade for hours in that pond, watching tadpoles,…

Writings

Mamas

Not one of you reading this is without one. No one can make the passage to earth without a mother. Whether she be alive or dead, you will always have a mother as she is a part of you more than any other human, having given half her genes and…

Writings

Only One Earth

Beech, Sourwood and Maple grew up together, and are as close as can be, lives forever intertwined. Together, they make this portal that beckons. When I first came to Herb Mountain Farm in 2005, the bank holding these trees was covered in…

Writings

Don’t Be Rote

As I watched this beautiful egret skillfully feed in the Everglades Sawgrass, I was struck by this thought- Does this bird give a damn what anybody thinks or says its experience should be? No! It is both intuitive and constantly adapting to…

Writings

Unfurling

I am honing skills at aligning my time and energy with what I want to see flourish. It’s such a continual practice! Whether it be plants, friendships, family bonds, community service, or something else, it is evident that what I give my attention…

Writings

Earth Devotions

Hello, it’s April 5, 2022, and I am beginning my Earth Devotions, regular writings on how we love and care for our one precious mama planet. Which is really about how we live. From day to day, year to year, our lives unfolding. Sometimes these…

Writings

Stewarding the Land Interview

Interview with Mary Plantwalker on stewarding Herb Mountain Farm, by Kelly Moody of Groundshots Podcast

Writings

Species Inventory of Herb Mountain Farm

In 2014, Luke Cannon, aka Luke Learning Deer, helped us compile a species list of the flora we have met on the property. Over the past few years, Marc Williams has been a valued investor in not only updating this list, but bringing plants to…

Writings

Cosmincidence

Mary Morgaine’s first introduction to Herb Mountain Farm and the Cosmincident that followed. “Be very careful what you set your heart upon, for you will surely have it.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson In 2005, A friend called and asked…

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Writitngs

Mary shares both brief thoughts & longer essays through these postings. Follow along on Instagram and sign up for her quarterly Newsletter to not miss her regular, earth-based inspirations.

I see the world and the world sees me- everything is alive and changing, infinitely.

Follow Mary’s conversation with the natural world on Instagram

This world needs good earth stewards because what we do each day ripples into the future.

I see the world and the world sees me-
everything is alive and changing,
infinitely.