Welcome back to Ursula’s Garden! This is my place for sharing my love of the plants, happenings in my life, and other tid bits for navigating our modern world. I’m a mother and at home with my kids most of the time. They are 2, 7, and 8, and while I enjoy being their mom and providing for them, having this newsletter is such a breath of fresh air for me. Thank you for supporting me by subscribing! It gives me so much motivation knowing there are folks who are interested out there. Please feel free to leave comments and share my work with others.
Summer has been both eventful, and also filled with many quiet (and hot) days at home. Back in late June we took a trip to the Oregon coast, down south in Bandon and the surrounding areas. The kids played in the sand, we had our fill of fish and chips, and I stoked my interest in seaweeds. I was able to collect several different species, including bullwhip kelp. I nibbled and tasted the salty, yet palatable flavors. There are many edible seaweeds, and they are loaded with minerals and other beneficial nutrients. I’m excited to return to the beaches for more investigation and observation. I’ve been keeping my eye on a few seaweed educators and organizations that take folks out on coastal field days with the intent of educating on all things seaweed. If seaweed is not yet part of your diet, try some wakame or hajiki. There’s a wildness and salty goodness that emerges with each bite. Hoorah for seaweeds.
We also had a chance to visit the family farm (on my husband’s mother’s side) on Larson Inlet, outside North Bend, OR. We heard stories of clamming and crabbing, and life on the old dairy farm. When my husband’s grandmother was young, she had to take a boat to get to school. This ride had to be timed correctly with the tides that govern the height of the water within the inlet. She would make the trip twice a week, staying with relatives Monday through Friday so she could attend school. Now there is a mile long bridge that connects the folks from both sides. In about a week we plan to return to the Farm and the coast, so I am very excited to smell that salty air again and keep an eye out for the local seaweeds.
The second weekend in July was spent at the Oregon Country Fair. This year I was fortunate to join the Wild Edibles booth located within the area known as Community Village. For those of you unfamiliar with the “the Fair,” I recommend looking it up. Created in 1969 it’s an old hippy event that’s grown into a giant festival in the woods of Oregon. There’s plusses and minuses to the event. Some of the down sides are dust, crowds, and noise. But I keep going back for the sense of freedom, creativity, and general positivity and fun I find out there. Being at the Wild Edible booth was a treat. They have a display of about 150 local plant species, and many knowledgeable botanists, herbalists, and mycologists were present. I was right at home there. The Oregon Country Fair is located on land formerly inhabited by the Kalapuya people of the Willamette Valley. From my understanding, Kalapuya refers to multiple bands of indigenous people that were located in various parts of the Willamette Valley upon contact with Europeans. At the Fair there is an area dedicated to educating folks about this history and the Kalapuya way of life, through archeological evidence. One such site is a camas oven dated to 2,595 BC. The Kalapuya and their decedents, harvest camas bulbs and cook them in underground pits. The results are a tasty meal of the local tubers. I was able to see this site and it made an impact on me. Right here, on this spot at what is now the Oregon Country Fair, people who lived 5,000 years ago were cooking and living and raising their children.
Shortly after, I visited Museum of Natural History with my children located at the University of Oregon where there is a wonderful display featuring more detailed findings of the life of Oregon’s indigenous populations. I’m grateful that as a society we are acknowledging and giving more value to the lives of indigenous people and their full histories. And of course, there is more work to be done. A link to a story about the oven can be found here.
Late Summer Divination
And finally, another card reading. Many of you enjoyed my last post featuring the collage cards, so here’s a few more:
Breath
Inscription: The breath flowing within you is connected at all times to the universal love swirling and enfolding our entire existence. Breathe it in! Feel the weight lifted and freedom flowing through your being. Let go at any time! Let go! I am the one who takes that grey, solid mass, that hate and distrust. I come in with my wings, my air, and with one breath it is gone! As though it never existed. This thing you so believed in is now here in my love, transformed for ever more. Breathe! And be transformed.
La Chingona
Claim your life. Claim it fully. It is you that is living it, is it not? All your hard work is paying off. No longer a victim of your circumstances, you have grown. Grown into who you are meant to be. Fully alive, and present with the good, bad, and yes, sometimes ugly parts of life. Resource yourself. Fight for your freedom and liberation. The only one in your way is you. Never give up. Wisdom is on your side.
Insecure self
“I’m not good enough”. “I’ve messed it up”. “They are judging me.” Give up your quest for perfection. Know that you can chose joy. Chose to live in harmony with the moment. Slowness is a necessity. Adopt THIS as your lifestyle. Think of nothing else than to slow down. No jumping. No impulsiveness. Just slowness and silence. Feel the depths and live.
Thank you for joining me once again. If you’d like to connect with me, I can be found on Instagram @eroverstake. And remember, the plants want to know you!
NEW audio! Musings on Wild Carrot, Seaweeds, and Late Summer Divination