Late Summer Harvesting: Roots, Seeds, and Berries to Gather Now

August is when the character of the harvest changes. The flowers of high summer are giving way to seeds and berries, and beneath the ground the roots are beginning to pull their energy back down after the flowering season, concentrating their constituents in...

The Autumn Apothecary: Stocking Up for the Season

September has a particular urgency to it in the herbalist’s calendar. The elderberries are ripe. The roots are beginning to concentrate. The last of the summer herbs need to be preserved. And the cold season, with all its demand for immune support, warming...

Elderberry Season: Everything You Can Do With a Basket of Berries

The elder trees that covered themselves in white blossom in May are now, in September, hanging heavy with clusters of deep purple-black berries. This is one of the most rewarding moments in the foraging and herbal calendar: an abundant, accessible, well-distributed...

The Autumn Equinox in the Herb Garden

The autumn equinox arrives in late September with a quality that is different from any other moment in the garden calendar. The light is level, day and night equal, and the balance point between the expanding and contracting halves of the year is visible and felt in...

Root Harvesting Season: A Practical Guide

Root harvest is one of the most satisfying and most physically demanding parts of the herbalist’s year. The principle is straightforward: when a perennial plant has finished its above-ground season and is pulling its energy back down into the root for winter...