Field Notes ~ Time to Make the Essences!
Spring and summer are pretty busy around Delta Gardens as we jump back into essence-making mode. Every year, we inventory our 700+ essences and map out a plan for replenishing mother tinctures that are running low. We identify the plants we'll be partnering with and follow their blooming cycles - doing our best to catch the flowers at their peak for highest potency.
We grow most of the plants we use in essences in our own gardens, but some we need to find out "in the field." If we miss a bloom, we obviously have to wait a while to get another shot at making the essence. Once or twice, we've traveled north to find later-blooming plants when we've missed a flower locally.
Pictured here is Bloodroot, one of the plants that we needed to locate in the woods this year, along with Blueberry. Both essences can be found in the Medicinal Herb Set.
After many years of essence-making, David has some favorite spots for certain wild plants, but once in a while, when conditions change or a plant doesn't come up in an expected place, we need to find a new source.
David originally made Bloodroot in the woods of New Hampshire. This year, he made the essence in North Carolina, following his plant-tracking instincts up a mountain where he found several Bloodroot plants growing at higher altitudes.
This spring, I scouted out a patch of low-bush Blueberry bushes on a riverbank in Massachusetts. All of the bushes are now loaded with tiny white bells, and I made the essence last week, using flowers from five or six plants. When working with flower colonies, we like to take blooms from different plants to invite the energy of the collective into the essence.
Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis ~ Take this essence when you're feeling scattered and need to warm and settle your energy - the essence supports healing on deep levels. Bloodroot strengthens your higher guidance for greater certainty about your life direction and daily choices. It can help you focus your spiritual goals into practical realities.
Blueberry Vaccinium angustifolium ~ This essence can help you concentrate on challenging tasks and situations, allowing you to filter out distractions and focus on what you need to do. Take this essence when you have a deadline, are trying to finish a project, or need to come up with a solution to a problem that's eluded you.
Want to know more about our essence-making process? Drop us a note at info@deltagardens.com or visit the Contact page for more information.
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Jennifer Elmore
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