I have started a blog about rain about five ten three hundred times this summer. Then I think, “Is weather talk really that interesting? and “Doesn’t everyone have weather?” Finally I have to say that at this point, I doubt our weather would bore anyone. And I really hope people aren’t having weather like we are having weather.

As you know we look out onto the hills of Vermont. We are just a few miles from Vermont as the crow flies. This means we have been getting the exact same weather as Vermont, so our roads have flooded and some have washed away. I am grateful to be on a hill, that is for sure.

The Vermont town my eldest son Ben (webmaster for GHF) lives in made the opening sequence of the ABC and NBC news. I am grateful he too lives up a hill. In Quechee, anything near ground level was flooded out. Here’s his photo of one of the golf holes near his house. This was well before the streams crested.

Below is a shot of our favorite specialty grocery store in nearby Woodstock, Vermont, the Woodstock Farmer’s Market. The store posted this photo on their Instagram Page.

The store is in the middle of the shot and the building on the right is where they cooked their food. The main road going east west across Vermont is Rte #4, and you can see here that it too was flooded. The Woodstock Farmer’s Market is was the place for particularly delicious sandwiches, choice produce and enormous fun cookies. We had just been there a few days before the flood.

The Woodstock Farmer’s Market lost everything during Hurricane Irene in 2011, and they have lost everything again. We hear they had time to get all their stock out and donate it to needy folks. They have always had a particular mission to feed the hungry but this was heroic.

Every time I think this extreme weather is over we get more rain. Last night daughter Emily who lives across town sent this picture which she entitled “The Edge of Mordor.

Yes, it heralded a new storm coming in with thunder like I have never heard. One crack last night rumbled so loud and so long that our house shook for what seemed like a minute. Since the noise was pretty much in total sync with the lightning, we looked around wondering what had gotten struck. We texted our neighbors to see if they were okay. They were fine but also wide awake like we were!

The gardens soldier on, but the endless wet and wild winds have knocked over some plants that I didn’t expect to find wind and rain a challenge. Here are some of the Scotch Thistles this morning.

I just went and cut this all away as they were flumped on the Red Shiso.

Yes, the Red Shiso is quite small. Like most plants, it needs sun, and between the smoke and the endless rain we haven’t seen sun very much. BTW if you know a farmer, they probably need your kind words of support. This has been quite the growing season just about everywhere.

As far as our vegetable garden goes, it looks fairly lush but looks can be deceiving. Two fawns have figured out how to join the groundhog in feasting on the produce each night. They have eaten down the peas, beans, beets, and swiss chard twice. You can see the swiss chard at the bottom of the shot trying to come back. And did I mention how much the bugs like these wet conditions?

I am just grateful for the farm stand on the other side of town and the fact that no one seems to like basil, parsley, celery or onions. The fawns also broke into the blueberries. Lizzie chased them out this morning. It is hard to get cross at fawns, but Jim probably was pretty irritated with them by the time he had repaired the netting they ripped to shreds.

Well I have got to go. A delivery of 54,000 bottles has just arrived and I have got to get it tarped and ready for the next big storm predicted to arrive any moment! Wish me luck!

Feverfew is a magnificent Flower and Flower Essence.

This time of year, the garden is full of Feverfew and I am happy to welcome each and every blossom.

Feverfew moves around the gardens of its own accord. I never know if or where it is going to plant itself each season or even exactly what it’s blossoms will look like.

It has a couple of variations in form. Here’s one.

Here’s another.

As far as where it establishes itself, this year it wanted a seat at the table.

Literally!

Can you see how it is growing up through the metal mesh of the chair? I am loathe to remove it so we may not sit down in the Arbor Garden until Feverfew has gone by.

Basically it has taken over the entire table in the Arbor Garden. I am quite enjoying this!

It certainly is a Flower worthy of any space it wants to occupy.

I first made Feverfew Flower Essence after a shaman from Ecuador came to the garden and talked to me about the Flower. Among hundreds of different Flowers in the garden, he zeroed in on this plant. Plucking a number of sprigs, he settled in to do a healing session with someone while I watched. He placed Feverfew blossoms on this person in very specific locations as she lay in the garden. He explained that he used Feverfew in this way whenever possible. He shared that this plant was a treasure of deep purpose and significance and that it was important to respect and encourage it wherever it wanted to grow. He noted that it always chose the places it wanted to grow and simply would not grow any place it didn’t want to be. I don’t think I ever weeded out a Feverfew before Alberto’s visit but I certainly never have since then.

After Alberto’s visit in the early 1990’s, I spent much time with Feverfew and made it into a Flower Essence. Since then it has been a mainstay in our collection. Feverfew is a Flower in our Arbor Garden mix which is made annually from all the Flowers blooming in the Arbor Garden. Feverfew also is included in other combination remedies including Emergency Care and Anxiety

Think of this friend if you are feeling restless, nervous, overwrought, jittery, despairing, agitated or in any way unsettled. It offers tremendous information about calming ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. I can’t recommend it too highly. Its I AM affirmation, I AM the peace that passeth all understanding, suggests its strengths, but words cannot convey the healing gifts of this Flower and its Flower Essence.

We’ve had an epic amount of rain here recently. It’s rained off and on every day for several weeks, leaving the gardens as green as Ireland, the Roses glorious and the slugs very happy.

Somedays it’s been a bit too much rain. Case in point was a storm last week that dropped five inches of rain on us in an afternoon, flooding nearby rivers and streams. Despite this rain constantly clearing our air, we continue to deal with serious smoke from the fires in Canada. Sometimes it’s a little unclear what is haze and what is smoke. Sometimes it is beyond obvious as the light is so peculiar and the air smells like smoke. Regardless of our discernment skills, mobile phones tell us constantly how bad the air quality is. Family members in nearby Montreal last weekend learned that the city was considered to have the worst air quality on earth because of the fires.

All this means I keep a spritz bottle of Breathe at the ready for the people, dogs and cats in my life. Healthy Coat too is great for irritated tissues like the eyes which really taking a beating from this smoke.

I mentioned in an earlier blog how helpful the Flower Essence combination remedy Breathe is for breathing concerns related to this smoke. This week the Angels had me upgrade this mix with a new Flower Essence.

Horehound.

I have always felt a deep affection for Horehound. As a small girl, I liked that this herb joined with sugar could become brown and dusty cough drops, always a comfort when I had a sore throat. I recall meeting Horehound plant in an herb garden at the living history museum of Sturbridge Village. Herbs have always been my friends, and even as a small girl, I felt a great loyalty to them and a great delight when meeting them in person. This loyalty showed not bounds. After our day in the village, when we were in Ye Olde Sturbridge Gift Shoppe, I would resist the temptations of striped penny candy sticks in every flavor to chose the Horehound sticks. On the drive home my siblings would enjoy more modern flavors like Watermelon, Cinnamon, Sour Apple and Lemon Lime but I stuck to my Horehound guns.

A few years ago, I grew Horehound for the first time. It was long overdue. Horehound sputtered along for a few years in a garden spot it really didn’t like then gave up the ghost one tough winter. I didn’t make in into a Flower Essence as I don’t think it bloomed.

Last summer I was guided to start Horehound from seed again and plant it in a different place. This time it grew robustly and overwintered just fine. All spring as I trotted around the garden with wheelbarrows of mulch, I frequently passed this beautiful family of Horehound plants. Come June, they blossomed abundantly. I admired its Flowers rising up the stalk in spheres of white blossoms and its wonderfully textured leaves….. but the penny did not drop.

Then one day it did. I recalled that Horehound was for throat issues and bronchial problems. There was a reason it was made into odd brown and dusty cough drops. So yesterday I made Horehound Flower Essence. Hopefully by fall I will have learned a lot more about Horehound as a Flower Essence and can share all I learned here on the website. But I know one thing for sure, its going into our Breathe mix right now.

Many years ago I saw a photo of a Scottish garden that had these striking and statuesque gray plants at the back of the Flower beds. I got a bee in my bonnet about figuring out what this plant was.

(And speaking of bees, the hive discussed in the last blog got moved seamlessly. The bees are now ground level, and Jim has his ladder back).

In any case, a bee in my bonnet is a mild way of describing my reaction. I WAS GOING TO SEARCH THE PLANET FOR THIS FLOWER, so I too could grow these gorgeous giant plants.

First of all they were spiky, and I am ALWAYS on the lookout for spiky plants. Spiky plant armor usually indicates a high vibration Flower protecting itself from predators. Spiky plants like this form the foundation of our Golden Armor combination Flower Essence mix, our remedy for energetic protection, so when I saw this mystery plant I was determined to grow it here and add it to our Golden Armor mix.

There is a surprising amount of digging through old books in my work. Searching through musty ancient tomes, I discovered that this plant was Scotch Thistle, bane of Scottish farmers.

Having identified my new plant BFF, I needed seeds. This proved a challenge because most farming resources were all about removing this “scourge” from pastures. Any mention of Scotch Thistle came with extreme warnings. Eventually I found the seeds and threw caution to the wind. After all, Teasel is considered a similar garden menace, and I love Teasel. Yes, I have to weed it our with some vigor, but every year there are Teasels that I have let flourish AND I LOVE THEM ( and add their Flower Essence to Golden Armor).

Scotch Thistle also proved a magnificent friend in the garden and in Golden Armor. It does however have a mind of its own and moves around the garden, springing up where it wants to grow and disregarding any sense of appropriate placement. As in, it prefers to grow right in the front of a bed, making all the plants behind it difficult to see or weed around. Believe me, its spikes are the real deal!

Scotch Thistle is a biennial, so it takes two years to bloom then dies (something the Ispahan Rose will be glad about). The first year I usually don’t notice or pay attention to where the Scotch Thistle has snuck itself into the Flower beds. During the second season when it rises up seven or eight feet in the air, it’s hard to miss (though a bit hard to find on our website as its listed on the 27th page on the Additional Flower Essence list and can be ordered here ).

This year most of the Scotch Thistle in the garden is in its second year. It hasn’t yet bloomed, but it certainly has already made a statement in the garden. Frankly, it is everywhere. When planting the bulk of the Red Shiso, there was a wedge of Scotch Thistle in the garden space we were planting in. It told us in no uncertain terms to leave it alone and let it do its thing. We were happy to let it be, as we were certain it would protect all the little Red Shiso seedlings at its feet.

Recently the owner of a marvelous online knitting shop called The Woolly Thistle came for a visit. Corinne was born and raised in Scotland but now lives in our village. Jim taught her two children, so he got to know Corinne at parent teacher conferences. In addition, in the early days of the Woolly Thistle, before Corinne moved the business into larger quarters, her staff packed orders at her home, and her wool was mailed from the Meriden Post Office where we mail our Flower Essences.

Green Hope Farm staff Goddesses frequently ran into Woolly Thistlers at day’s end when we were all dropping off packages. Staffers liked this chance to chat, even though our postmaster didn’t like the logjam created by our simultaneous arrivals.

During covid, I was particularly grateful for Corinne as she shared her ideas for managing a mail order business with a skeleton staff. She helped us laugh instead of cry.

Corinne grew up near Glasgow, has spent time on the Shetland Island of Fair Isle and has a mother living in Nairn (the town next to Findhorn, one of the gardens that inspired Green Hope Farm). She has a wonderful youtube shopcast which I watch while knitting, so I feel I know Corinne well. During our recent garden ramble, it felt like visiting with an old friend. We had many common threads to discuss, not the least of it was her fantastic woolly wool imported from Europe. It has travelled through my knitting fingers to become numerous gorgeous sweaters!

However the thing that was funniest about our meander through the gardens was that every time we paused, we were not alone. There was always a SCOTCH THISTLE right next to us, partaking in the conversation and keeping our attention riveted on all things SCOTTISH and all things WOOLLY THISTLE. In retrospect, I felt the Scotch Thistles had planted themselves exactly where they were this season for a visit with Corinne.

Native daughter to native plant, they got each other in a way I can only aspire to.

I often play the game “If I could only have three Flower Essences what would they be?” or “If I could only have one set of Flower Essences which set would I choose?” While my answers change, if I had to choose a set today, given the Quebec wildfires, I would pick the Animal Wellness Collection as my one and only set.

Here are some Animal Wellness Collection Flower Essences that are extremely useful right now.

*Breathe is excellent for situations involving bad air quality.

*Animal Emergency Care is a boon for animals and people under stress. Yes, Emergency Care is the mix formulated for people, but its recipe is very close to Animal Emergency Care. They can be used interchangeably.

*Anxiety is a comfort to one and all. And right now we all need comfort.

Healthy Coat helps with inflamed tissues like sore throats and sore noses from the smokey air.

Flow Free keeps our systems moving and flowing which helps when conditions are rough like right now.

I keep spritzers of Flower Essences in several places including over my kitchen sink and by the bathroom sink. Putting the spritz bottle in these heavily trafficked areas means I remember to spritz myself frequently. My current mixes have these Animal Wellness Combos in them.

I will be spritzing all involved tonight as we move hive boxes of new honeybees to a better location. One of our hives swarmed this week. The swarm assembled on a larch tree branch about fifteen feet up in the air. Lizzie and I were at peace about the swarm finding its own new home, but we also thought we’d give it a try to box the swarm in our hive boxes.

Lizzie went up the ladder with the hive boxes and shook the branch over the boxes. She calmly scooped the honeybees still on the branch into the top box. Then we left the scene. If the queen was in the box and felt like staying we would have a new hive. If the queen was not in the box, the swarm would regrow on the larch branch then take off to parts unknown when it had found a new home it liked.

A few hours in we both thought the queen was still on the larch branch. We left the boxes in place and went to bed. The next morning the hive boxes were bustling, and we knew the queen had decided to stay in our set-up.

This afternoon I made foundation frames for the upper hive box which is currently devoid of frames. We put this upper box on top of the bottom hive box that had frames so that when Lizzie shook the branch, the upper empty hive box would contain the honeybees until they went down into the lower hive box.

Tonight we will don our bee suits again and move the hive boxes down to the ground. Honeybees don’t like being moved, but we have to get these boxes down onto terra firma. Jim needs his ladder back.

Wish us luck!