Oh March, you bittersweet month!

March is really and truly here, and it announced itself in full gusts back on the first of the month. It’s been banging against my house and crinkling the plastic we have over the windows to help keep us toasty and insulated. There have been teasingly beautiful warm days and gray, wet cold days.  This morning, I woke to snow blowing in spirals around my yard, but now it is gone and the sun is out. March teases us, reminding us that the winter isn’t all over, and we have to squish through the mud in order to get to springtime.

This part of the year is an emotional one for me – the in-between times make me feel grey and tender, raw and vulnerable. I tend to clamp down and want to hide away, like the seeds under the soil who need the frosts and mud to wake them up. I take heart from their example and remember that vulnerability and tenderness are not bad, just difficult to process. Diving into the tender places is an important work that will also help me to burst out of my hard seed coating, stretch for the light, and eventually blossom!

One of the projects I’m working on today while feeling sodden-hearted and heavy is an herbal mead. The combination of heart and emotional balancing herbs is one that came to me in a moment of inspiration, and once it’s done brewing and I have finished experimenting with it, I’ll be sure to share the recipe.

Staring into the contents of a well-stirred brew is one of my favorite meditations #mead #homebrew #homebrewing #makingmagic #pixiespocket

A post shared by Amber Shehan (@amberpixiespocket) on Mar 10, 2018 at 11:01am PST

In outdoors news, the trees, blueberries, goji bush, and last year’s herbs are all surging forward with new life and settling into the muddy wet earth to grow strong. I’ll soon be starting tomatoes and peppers for later transplanting. I tried starting some seeds two weeks ago, but the dirt went moldy and cold and the orange habañeros won’t sprout in those conditions! I need to put some work into my seed-starting process before next spring.

United Plant Savers is having a membership drive. Pixie’s Pocket has been a member for a year now, and I appreciate the work they do! Your membership fee of only $35 helps to run the program, including:

• General operating costs
• Subsidizing the Medicinal Plant Conservation Certificate Program
• Funding research on ‘At-Risk’ medicinal plants
• Provides funds for ‘Planting the Future’ events and workshops
• Ongoing habitat restoration and preservation at their Goldenseal Botanical Sanctuary and beyond

For a limited time, you can get a free poster when you sign up! Include my name, and I’ll get one, too.

I hope your squishy spring season is not taking too much out of you, friends. Spend your energy wisely, and prepare for the times of growth as you can!