2009 Classes and Conferences

July 24-26: Pleasant Hill, OR NW Herb Fest, check it out www.herbaltransitions.com
A robust herb conference at Wise Acres Farm in southern Oregon.
EagleSong is presenting Topical Applications of Herbal Remedies, Garden Rant and Hedges and Edges: Cultivating Medicine of the Future

August 6: Kitchen Gardens of the World photo presentation, Spokane, WA with The Inland Empire Gardeners www.tieg.org

August 15 A Day of Fermentation at RavenCroft Garden 10am-4pm
$75.00 includes a fresh, local foods lunch. To get details and register send email to eaglesong08@gmail.com Register with a friend and take $10.00 off each registration
Back by popular demand! Our fantastic Food Camp condensed into an action packed, fun, messy day of bubble and spark. We'll be making Audrey's Famous crock pickles, kimchee, wine of a seasonal nature and, of course, yogurt.

September 10-13: The 23rd Brietenbush Herbal Conference, Bringing Herbalism Home, Brietenbush Hot Springs, Detroit OR www.breitenbushherbalconference.com
EagleSong is presenting a 1 day pre-conference intensive: Slow Food, Slow Gardening, Slow Medicine: Healing in an Age of Blinding Light; Keynote: What is Herbalism? Where is this Place called Home? and A Walk in Beauty Adventure, photo presentation

Fresh Eggs, Cowslips and Herbs, Spring has Sprung!

I venture out each morning to feed the goats, hearing bird song and smelling the balm of gilead ripe in the air. Sitting on the back porch bench, I see the hawks still live here, I am glad to be home, delighted to move slower and once again have the earth touch me in her slow caress.

Nettle is up and in the pot these days, here's a family favorite I'm sure you'll enjoy:

Nested Nettles & Eggs or Green Eggs & Nettle

Simply cook up a pot of rice, brown or otherwise, I like the plump kernels of short grain brown rice for this dish.
Boil up a batch of fresh nettle and poach golden eggs in the nettle by making small nests and dropping the egg into it, then basting the eggs with the nettle broth.
Serve the eggs and nettle over the rice with nettle broth and top with:
Gomasio:
Toasted sesame seed ground in a suribachi with a bit of salt to taste...add a little dulse or kelp for a richer mineral hit from the sea! This is the taste of spring!

Work/Learn Update

Our last Work/Learn Day was a great success. Even with a surprise snowfall we managed to pull a truckload of ivy out of the maple tree and shadow garden. Nettle-potato soup was a hit at lunch and we finished the day off with an elecampane dig, lifting a beautiful large root to divide, share and make a batch of tincture.

Sunday, April 20 Work/Learn Day:

Herbs & Vegies in the Garden

Clearing beds for kitchen garden herbs and vegetables, mini-workshop in the afternoon on the how to plant & enjoy the best herbs for the kitchen and simple propagation techniques for making more!

Work/Learn Days begin at 10am with a Talking Stick circle, then we work in the gardens for a couple hours, break for lunch and have a mini class in the afternoon. This is a casual, joy filled day to celebrate gardens, herbs and each other. We look forward to sharing the day with you. Be sure to RSVP so there's plenty of lunch to share. 206-694-2530 or leave a comment here at the blog

Zoodo & The Rose Garden Brain Trust

http://www.zoo.org/zoo_info/rosegarden/rosegarden.html

The Rose Garden at the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo is undertaking a complete transition to sustainable maintenance begun last year and continuing this year with a call for willing, thoughtful minds to collaborate on the project. The Rose Garden presents a perfect laboratory for the task with it's spacious grounds, rolling lawns and large trees and shrubs.

Under the direction of EJ Hook and Dr. Doo, Dan Corum, lively batches of compost tea, composted zoodoo mulch and organic fertilizers are the core of the fertility program. The roses present a variety of challenges with black spot and powderly mildew among them. The garden is visited by thousands of rose lovers every summer and is home to many old favorites and new trial roses as well.

I'll be working with the Brain Trust on design of a challenging area above the beautiful bass relief on the north side of the garden and will keep you posted on how the workings of this project may benefit our home gardens.

The Rose Garden is well worth a day trip as the weather warms and days lengthen. You can even take in a lion or tiger or bear while you're in the neighborhood!

April showers promise May flowers, walk gently, dig softly and enjoy the sweet caress

of the earth as seeds settle, take root and grow into the gardens of our hopes and dreams.

Bright Blessings until next time,

EagleSong

Divide & Multiply March 30th Work-Learn Day

The beauty of plants is that they love to grow! And by doing so, they outgrow their places or congest their root systems or cause havoc by performing poorly in the garden. So we, the gardeners, must divide and multiply!

Join me for a morning of plant division in the Womb Garden followed by a hearty lunch and short class on different kinds of root systems and how to make many plants out of one! Day lilies, monarda didyma, Siberian iris, spearmint, rhubarb and many more will be lifted.

Work-Learn days are offered as an energy exchange. You work for 4 hours, then eat and learn as my gift back to you. Divisions of plants will be sold after class.

Sunday, March 30 (9:30-1:30 garden work, 1:30-2:30 lunch, 2:30-4:30 mini-workshop)
Please RSVP 206-694-2530 or email eaglesong08@gmail.com

March Pruning Event with Edmonds CC Pruning Class

What a great way to start spring with a garden makeover...It was fun to share RavenCroft with classmates from the Edmonds CC hort program. After 13 years of growth all hands were welcomed to reduce heaps of wonderful biomass to mulch! Check out Edmonds CC Horticulture program for interesting classes in all aspects of horticulture. Register for spring quarter classes now! www.edcc.edu

Mike Klima's class opened up daylight in many places in the gardens. Roses, grapes, the willow and rugosa rose hedges all got beautiful haircuts. From sun to torrential downpours, the pruners slogged on!

We have mulch for garden paths and shrub beds, the roadside hedge is once again safe for drivers and the large chipper was well worth the rental fee!

February Presentations

I am giving 2 public presentations in February, hope you can join me.

For the Love of Herbs
February 17, 2008 2pm
Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island
A slide show, hands-on, tea and cake presentation on winter herbs for the kitchen, medicine where you least expect it and beautiful herbs for the garden or border.
http://www.bloedelreserve.org/

The Future is Green
February 24, 2008 4:30pm
NW Flower & Garden Show, Seattle
A look at the transition from organic to sustainable garden practices for a green future at the west coast's largest garden show!
http://www.gardenshow.com/

Teamwork, friendship and love

Although not part of the ever-changing menagerie at RavenCroft, these creatures are exercising 3 qualities for which RavenCroft's apprenticeship programs are known.

Teamwork, friendship and love; how important they are for our well-being.

Teamwork connects us to an experience we could not have alone. Friendship can be had alone or in the company of others. Love is an amazing glue that holds the most disparate elements together in an experience of connectedness that transcends separation. All 3 seem to be vitally nourishing to us humans, enriching our time here on this beautiful planet as it carries us through space and time.

Hope this image brings a smile to your face and joy to your heart.

Close to the Bone: 2008 Apprenticeship Opportunity

Sustenance, sustainable lifeways, restoration, re-creation, re-membering all weave through this engaging, transformative 8-month herbal apprenticeship! Join a community of learners nestled in a garden and learn to live close to the bone while soaring in the heavens.

This apprenticeship provides a unique opportunity to develop skills, wisdom and knowledge to cultivate personal, community and global health. You'll weave an emerald cloak of well-being using dooryard herbs, simple ritual & compassionate listening; all while singing, dancing and dining with the cycles of the season!

Includes six 1-day private classes, four public work/learn days, RavenCroft's three fabulous 2-day summer camps and a special Halloween overnight to wrap it all together!

March 29 + March 30 Work/Learn Day
April 19 + April 20 Work/Learn Day
May 17 + May 18 Work/Learn Day
June 21 - 22 Down-to-Earth Garden Camp
July 19 - 20 Herbal Medicine-Making Camp
August 16 - 17 EagleSong's Famous Food Camp
September 27+ September 28 Work/Learn Day
October 31 - Nov 1 Celebration of Life

Includes: Books, lunches, plant materials, camping & much more
Fee: $1500.
Remember to call Tuesday evenings 7-9pm for more information
206-694-2530