Back to your roots: Spreading the seeds of tomorrow

It’s good to know your roots. Where you come from and what makes you feel whole.

I know that mine have been firmly planted on Shelter Island since I was born here on this beautiful island sanctuary I call home. Some of us are finding our way back to this place… reconnecting to self and Mother Earth. Wanting to participate with the way our food and medicine is grown. 

I understand that the many years of effort, education, and earth activism that I have shared with my community have been inspired by the little roots and seeds I’ve grown and tended to in my own garden over these last few decades. The ones I have cultivated, in simple raised-bed rows, for the food and medicine of my household and friends’.

I am also reminded of the endangered ones that I have protected from footsteps, sheltered from sunlight, cultivated from transplants and rescued from threatened habitats. And better yet, the wild ones. Oh, the Wild Ones! They penetrate sidewalks and soil, shower our yards and gardens with golden sunshine and remind us the rush and warmth of spring are finally here. The “wild weeds” we spend so much effort trying to remove, maintain and control… these are what inspire me!

Today more than ever, people are seeking a connection between the land, community and environment around them. Gardening is a perfect endeavor for those wanting to experience that connection. Small or grand in scale, tame or wild in nature, people are looking for a chance to explore “their roots” and they express this with what they choose to plant, eat and grow around their homes and yards each season. I delight in the interest people are having with herbs. As an herbalist and beekeeper, I am always encouraging individuals to plant more native, drought-tolerant species, stay away from the use of harmful lawn chemicals, and create habitats that benefit all the wildlife.

Now more than ever, I ask that you plant for the pollinators! Without them and their tremendous responsibility to our food security, we would not exist. Encourage them to want to be in your yard and garden with the choices that you make in the landscaping you have. Grasses, boxwood and bamboo do not provide proper foraging habitat for them. Flowers, herbs, and trees do. Understand that the roots and seeds you plant today make a huge difference in the environment around you. Oftentimes, they are subtle messengers usually there waiting for you to take notice of them. They may seem humble and small, but they are food, important forage and medicine for something or someone else.

Let’s take a plant like the dandelion, for example. Yes, I said it. Dandelion! A powerful ally for gardener and soil. Dandelion flowers provide one of the first nectar sources for honeybees and ruby-throated hummingbirds. Its flower, leaf and root have been wild-crafted as food and medicine, and made into wine, beer and fermented beverages for centuries. My apothecary shelves are lined with jars of dried roots, leaves, seeds and blossoms and filled with books and formularies that have celebrated and documented the use of this plant as a healer to the soil, animals and humans.

Today, we have a war on these “weeds.” Yards are loaded with chemicals to “protect” the lawns and landscaping. Our food and soil are being laced with GMOs to resist the growth of these super weeds. Yes, they are Super Weeds indeed! Our Island sea life, deer populations and pollinators are being poisoned each and every season with abundant amounts of tick, mosquito and weed killers applied in the name of normal landscaping practice, at the expense of other beneficial insects like the honeybee and monarch butterfly. And much at our own expense, if we forget to value this common weed’s advantages and availability.

Do you want to be inspired and see how biodynamic farmers, herbalists, earth activists, and beekeepers are celebrating dandelions this spring? Come to the Dandelion Festival held at KK’s Biodynamic Farm on Sunday, April 24 from 1 to 4 p.m. at 59945 Main Road, Southold. This free, family friendly event will offer wild edible tastings, explore historic uses and demonstrations using the plant, educational workshops, kids crafts and dandelion ice cream!

So, here’s a thought… as you pluck this golden weed or “wishing flower” this spring, do it with joy instead of distress. Know that you are reconnecting to something deeper — a ritual that gardeners, farmers and your grandmothers have been doing for centuries. Harvest instead of eradicate. Plant the seeds of tomorrow in your community.

Now is the time to step up, or better yet, kneel down and make a conscious collective effort to be the change. Take a deep breath, make a wish, and scatter those seeds into the horizon.

Here’s to Spring!