Join us for a wild medicinal herb workshop, find all-natural herbal products and learn about life in America’s Great Boreal Forest

Welcome to 2012!

Here we are in early 2012, in a snow-drought in the
North Country, after very little rain during the second
half of summer and all of autumn.

Very little snow cover for the animals: particularly, the
grouse must "burrow" into soft snow in bitter weather,
with only their beaks and "nostrils" sticking out. Luckily
for the grouse, we haven't had bitter cold spells yet.
But we do even need some of those, to beat back the
various predator larvae poised to break out of cocoons
in spring and eat away at the forest. 10 nights of bitter
cold begins to collapse the populations of such scourges.
So we must wish for more snows and some deep cold
too!

The birds are all at the feeders all day, and from time to
time we glimpse a brown-capped or boreal chickadee
among the black-capped. The boreals have softer
coloring, brown velvet instead of charcoal color, and
russet breasts too. This is the very farthest south of
their range, so it is a treat when, some years, we catch
sight of one. They only seem to eat the suet, never
come in closer to the seed feeders.

Last spring a fisher visited the suet feeder too - the suet being an unnatural encouragement for him/her. I was glad the tuxedo kitties happened to be indoors, and I
made them stay in for several days after the fisher's visit. Fishers are the largest of the Mustelidae family, except for wolverines, which we have seen only once in 40 years here. Fishers, mahogany brown and looking like small bears, are as expert in the trees as they are on the ground, and have been known to eat their cousins, the pine martens, so the kitties were indoors for several days while I wondered how large a circumference of territory fishers move in. Always and always, that tug between the wild animals and the tame...

So far we can walk anywhere in the woods without snowshoes, but of course that may change suddenly; we have snowshoes for everyone who comes in the winter. It is disconcerting to have so little snow at this time, and the perennial roots and tree roots, dry already, must be further embattled as the freeze goes deeper and deeper.

But as in ancient times, by whatever reckoning ancient people used, the year has again turned toward the light. My Finnish neighbor and friend of 40 years, Jennie, reminded me the other day that we had already the gift of 8 more minutes of daylight. The galaxy has done it again!!

Come visit us! Gleaning herbs in the winter is a very exotic pursuit; we do not jack-hammer through frozen ground to find frozen herbaceous roots. We have much to choose from in the "winter garden" of the woods and thickets, just waiting to be walked up to, or snowshoed up to, and harvested

See the 2012 Schedule

NEW ESSAYS:

Sometimes when the days are so short in January, I go and stand in front of the pantry shelves of canned jams, pickles, juices, and my medicinal tinctures. ... Read Gleaning Companions ...

It's not for everyone, this proverbial "piece of the rock." ... Read Owning

PIXS: See pictures of Giving Ground during our seasons. Click here

FUN RECIPES: Nettle Lentil Lasagna Corn/Potato Curry Soup

Giving Ground continues to accept applications for Herbal Apprentices:

Giving Ground still has openings for apprentices, (see below) and several people have expressed interest in beginning in the spring and going through the program into the autumn, finishing up at the first snow. I have several apprentices who, for various family reasons, have had to make a slower journey toward their herbal certification, not meeting here every month. That is an acceptable arrangement as well. Apprentices who are about halfway through by August would be welcome to caravan with several of us from the Northland to attend the 3rd Mid-America Herbal Symposium in southern Minnesota. I think if one is half-way through the apprenticeship curriculum, the workshops there would all have meaning and be pertinent and real enrichment material.

CHECK OUR 2012 WORKSHOP & RETREAT SCHEDULE

Giving Ground is open year round: Come join us for a day
or an overnight or for a weekend retreat/workshop. If you are
part of a garden club or herb society or study group, I offer
single-day workshops with an herb walk and an herb lunch-
eon. We do medicinal projects together that you take home
with you whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced
student. These are offered mainly in the spring, summer and
autumn and the dates and topic focus are negotiable.
Just telephone me to work out details at 1-218-848-2302.

The 2012 schedule of weekend and week-day programs
or wkshops/retreats is up now. Feel free to phone me if
there is a date or particular topic focus that you don't see
there. Often I can accommodate different days/different topic
focus in between the scheduled programs.

Gift certificates are always available. Half-day at $50,
full day at $85, weekend or equivalent time at $329. They
make wonderful gifts. I still have open dates so tell your friend
or family member that we can discuss the season, dates,
and topic focus that will work best.

Herbal consultations: Guests often ask me what I would suggest for this or that health challenge. I try to do my best in recommending herbal alternatives to common pharmaceutical applications with the caveat that everyone should speak first with his or her primary care physician. I also continue to present Continuing Education credit-hour classes at the University of Minnesota at Duluth Student Health Center for the doctors, nurses, and counseling staff there.

I hope you'll email me (info@givingground.com) with questions and your thoughts about the importance of herbal medicine in our lives.

HERBAL APPRENTICESHIPS CONTINUE AT GIVING GROUND: After a very successful year during which Giving Ground hosted several wonderful apprentices, I am extending an invitation to you to consider applying for a herbal apprenticeship in 2012. Read more ...

I continue to receive emails regarding medicinal herbs and the flu: I'd suggest boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) - this isn't the similar-sounding comfrey or "knit-bone." Boneset is a close relative of Joe Pyeweed or "Gravel Root"- both are eupatorium - NOTE: this is used only for healing a viral infection - not as a preventative - Boneset is hugely anti-viral and anti-bacterial and will also bring down a fever and check a cough, which (cough) seems to be a symptom on the news of H1N1. Read more ...

READ ABOUT GIVING GROUND'S VERY FAMOUS BOREAL FOREST TRIPLE ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT: Giving Ground's wild-herb Boreal Forest Triple Antibiotic Ointment (see my herbal store, this website), continues its journey to Africa and Central America. The University of Minnesota's Duluth health clinic has had …. Read more

VISIT OUR NEW HERBAL REMEDIES STORE: Giving Ground's Herbal Remedies

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE OUR OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER?

Send an email to info@givingground.com and we'll put you on our list. We'll be happy to send it to you as an email or by "snail" mail. Let us know how you want to receive it.

Have a Giving Ground Wild-Herb Adventure and learn to think
like an herbalist!

Giving Ground is an 80-acre forested herbal retreat in the Superior National Forest, 60 miles north of Duluth, Minnesota. At Giving Ground you'll learn to identify, choose and prepare medicinal plants for yourself, your family and friends.

You'll feel, taste and learn about the therapeutic properties of herbs that not only grow in America's great boreal forest but often in your own backyard.

For thousands of years, people the world over have used wild herbs as food, medicine and cosmetics. The native peoples of the boreal forest, and the immigrant homesteaders after them, had to learn what the stony, stubborn lands provided for food and medicine.

Our forests offer us a wealth of hardy plants and trees. Compounds from their roots, leaves, flowers and berries have been used for centuries to nourish, support, comfort and heal.

Today, knowing about wild herbs and how they can help us is especially important; we are all concerned about the safety of the drugs we take, the food we eat and the cosmetics we use. Every day at Giving Ground we field questions about which herbs can help promote healing, maintain wellness, improve the food we eat and enhance our skin as we mature.

Our website offers information about Giving Ground's year-round workshops, our all-natural herbal remedies and what we've been thinking lately about herbs and life. We hope you'll stop by often: