Happy June!

What a doozy May has been weather-wise here in upstate NY. Well the weather's not stopping some of the green ones from flowering! Go flowers!

How's the weather been your way?

Working in the soil, working with my hands to co-create and coax green plant life, teaches me daily who really runs the show and surprisingly, it’s not me (A lesson I learn over and over and over 😜).

This rainy & cold month of May has been a stark reminder that we have absolutely zero control over the bigger picture of “growing things”. For some of us, this can be a huge source of shall I say, discomfort?

The baby plants have been in a sort of stasis as they navigate the 40 degree nights in the greenhouse with daytime temps often not getting above 60. I can’t even get them out of the greenhouse to harden off because of the rain.

Well, we are never at a loss for learning adventures, let’s use this “zero control” concept to dig a little deeper.

Since we cannot (and I'll say, should not) control the weather (or a great many other bigger world changing events occurring presently) the question begging to be answered is “what can we control?”

Why ask this question? Because understanding & accepting what we can and cannot control is a HUGE factor in regulating our nervous system.

Onward with answering the question of what can we control?

Answer: Our internal environment; the internal & constantly running commentary, our interpretation of what we perceive and finally, our response to it all.

I know, you’ve heard it or read it before, “blah blah blah mindfulness”. The podcasts, the free or paid online classes, the books, the lectures, the entire section at a bookstore dedicated to it all, and of course, the talking heads on “the socials” and their memes. (oh hey! I did that!)

Guess what? For thousands of years this common & readily available information was hidden, guarded and only taught to a select number of men. I could end this commentary now and we could wander off to ponder THAT for a few weeks. But I will plod on.

My point is, just because the helpful information is at our fingertips, doesn’t mean we are utilizing these life-changing gifts. Hearing or reading it once or twice or ten times doesn’t mean we actually GET it. For example, I have pulled out my well loved & highlighted copy of The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron again and it feels brand new! Like the sacred spiral, we come back to a deeper layer of understanding every time we come round again.

Are there lessons you’re coming around to again?

How do you navigate them?

Speaking of navigating, I have always loved maps. Putting myself in an imaginary teeny tiny vehicle inside the world of the map as I orienteer a new wooded trail or city affords me the freedom to roam that my soul requires for nourishment. My teaching style is influenced by my love of maps. How can I offer something as a guide to students that they can visit over & over on their own?

Essential to orienteering (or teaching for that matter) is the ability to find true North. Don’t like the orienteering metaphor? Ok, then ask the question, “What’s the point?” Of this email? Of a class I’m teaching? And/or where I’m going in life?

What is your answer? What is your true North? How do you find it? Can you find it in any weather? Not just on an easy sunny day, but on a stressful, stormy, at-your-wits-end-kinda day.

The world right now is offering plenty of stormy days literally and figuratively.

How do you get to home?

The answer, when you find it, isn’t complex or lengthy.

Stormy stressful events in our lives afford us the opportunity to clear away the extraneous “things” and whittles us down to our true north, our true home.

What is yours?

At the end of the day, at the end of your life, what matters?

Our task is to find it. To live it.

For me the answer is finding my heart.

Kindness.

Some days it's a struggle.

That’s what it means to be human.

I can always find a baby goat video.

Or cards from friends.

Birds singing.

Flowers unfurling.

Kindness from others.

We are all struggling at some point.

How can we bring each other home?

Time for a break in our regularly scheduled email. Here's an episode from the Heartstone Garden Log 👩🏼‍🌾.

Virginia Creeper 1: Tammi:0

For all my sensitive readers, I want to start with saying I’m fine. 😊

This week while preparing the 100 gallon pots for my Cannabis plants I was “weeding” around the outside of the pots. In my flurry of pulling everything around the edges I discovered the “Virginia Creeper”. Not to be swayed from my task of ridding the area of this viney infiltrator, I gave the tenacious vine my strongest pull.

Cut the scene to me flat on my back (landed in the cleaver patch with no shirt on), breathing through the pain of a self-inflicted elbow to the soft spot on the front of my knee. I wanted to jump right up to get out of the itchy Cleavers, but was in too much pain and needed to assess my injury before moving. After a minute or two of deep breathing, with the extricated vine in hand, I slowly stood up to assess the situation. Knee was a little sore but fine and the Virginia Creeper is out of the area (for now).

😝😳

Parasympathetic Musings

For folks new to the newsletter you maybe wondering why I have this section? I am always looking for books, podcasts, classes, practices or memes that help me engage my "rest & digest" system. This allows me to keep my "true north" of kindness in the forefront. (Yes, I engage humor heavily!)

And, I love learning.

So, every month I share one or two things that I've found helpful over the last month.

I already mentioned pulling out Pema's, The Places That Scare You.

Yep, it's exactly what the title says. A Buddhist perspective of taking on fear in a straightforward and kind manner. And it's Pema. ❤️

A Poem

One of my favorite things is for Kris to read to me. I love this poem by Rosemary Wahtola Trommer. I can't get through reading it out loud without crying (definitely a good sign I'm in my heart). I combined two things I love and asked Kris to record herself reading it. 💃🏽❤️

Here's the link to hear it and here's the poem itself for you to download & read out loud. Let's see if you can get through it without your heart bursting open through your eyes.

​For When We Greet Each Other - Rosemary Wahtola Trommer.pdf

Noteworthy Happenings Elsewhere

​
🌿 I’ll be teaching Cannabis Materia Medica with Specific Conditions at the 17th International Herb Symposium (IHS) this September, and I’d love to see you there! 🌿

The IHS was founded more than 25 years ago with a powerful vision: to create a welcoming space where herbalists from across the globe could gather and share information about the healing power of plants. This beloved biennial event remains a place of connection, learning, and global herbal community.

This year it's in Cincinnati, Ohio!

If you’re interested in learning from esteemed herbalists and connecting with kindred plant people, now's the time to get your tickets…you can save $45 if you buy before June 15 with my special discount code: SAVE45

If you know you want to register, please visit here and enter code SAVE45 at checkout.

🎉 New Medicine Offerings 🎉

I love making medicine. The whole process from growing, harvesting, tincturing, packaging, creating labels and naming! Sooooo, I have two new offerings to our online store (and whenever you see me in at an event in person).

The Sample Pack

I put together the 6 green Cannabis tinctures I make into one cute little box! Each droppered bottle at 5 mls is enough for you to try the formula out to see if it's helpful. Who's in it? Angel Wings, Focus, Pema, Play, Respite & Sleep. Here's a pdf of the descriptions of each and dosing guidelines.

​tincture GREEN MEDICINE.pdf​

The whole cute package available here for $52.

The Lunch Box

My brother jokingly said to me that the Snack Pack was cute and all, but for people who regularly work with Cannabis as medicine, the 0.25 gram size is a bit small. 😜

Since I LOVE making new things, we have the Lunch Box! 7, 0.75 gram pre-rolls of my primo all-thc flower. I couldn't fit in 8, so it's 2 of 3 each of the following and only 1 of the fourth. I rotated them in the packages so it's the lottery as to which cultivar you only get one of.

The four different types of pre-rolls are; Blackberry Kush (aka Wonder Woman), Dogwalker OG, Pinkleberry and Trop Cookie.

All for $52 plus shipping here.

Ok friends, may this next month bring you moments of awe. Sending big love from the hill.

xx

tammi

P.S.