Each year for the last four, I have had a group of apprentices who come to me to learn herbs, gardening, and sustainable living skills. I put out no advertisement, they simply find me. They want to learn by doing. This apprenticeship is the old fashion sort. The apprentices help with whatever project is up for the day: vegetable gardening, cultivating medicinal herbs, building an herbal pharmacy, wildcrafting, putting food by, or digging out the composting toilet. There is no exchange of money. I interview each apprentice before our first meeting. I hear their stories and learn about their lives, their concerns for the planet. We talk about the understandings we have of strong changes happening now all over the world, and perhaps in the near future in our area. Changes, Earth changes. We agree our work is preparing us for times to come. We need to learn to wildcraft and grow our own food, use and collect heirloom seeds, make our own medicine using local plants, build our houses from local, non-toxic materials, care for ourselves and our communities, with awareness and connection with Spirit in all we do. We meet each Tuesday from April to November. We begin at 9am with a circle in the garden. We smudge and offer our prayers. We pass the talking stick and have our check in. Then we work and talk and sing and bask in the presence of the plant spirits all around us. We join at noon for a potluck lunch, rest and read herb books until we go back to our projects in the afternoon. Our day is over in a wink. The week passes and we're together again. Time is passing ever so quickly. Blessings, Annie   The Apprentice Journals are listed by Months April--May--June--July--August--Sept---October Apprentices April 1999 April 13, 1999 The apprentices are here for our first meeting. Jenn, Erin, Dania, Jessica, and Normandy. Our circle is immediately and clearly powerful. We begin with prayers of thanks, openness to learn from the plants, prayers for the refugees and for no more war. We pass the talking stick (a Johnny Jump Up, undeterred by the cold of April), and each apprentice speaks from the heart. We bond quickly, gladly. To the garden. We dig two beds for the Echinacea purpurea. Dandelion roots for coffee are carefully put aside in Adele's basket. Adele, a beloved herbalist of our region, since passed over, seems to approve. Normandy seeds in six flats of Echinacea purpurea seed in the greenhouse. Our first potluck is wildly successful, a wholesome gourmet delight. After lunch, Erin and Jessica dig Elecampane root, (Inula helenium), then wash, chop and set her to dry on a screen for the pharmacy. Some of the Nettle that has gone rampant in the perennial bed is potted up, as is some Elecampane. Tools are wiped down and replaced in the greenhouse. We are tired and exhilarated after our first day together. Blessings!   April 20, 1999 It's a cold, rainy day. We work on the beds in the garden for the morning, wearing insulated work gloves against the still cold April soil. After lunch, we stay inside, glad for the warmth of the wood fire, feeling the timelessness of women sharing space and chores. The Dandelion roots saved last week are dry and ready for roasting. Jenn cleaned the oven so we could roast the roots. Bless the apprentices! Erin and I sit in the living room, rubbing seeds off flower heads from last fall's harvest of Echinacea, preparing to make seed tincture. We find our company and our work most satisfying. Dandelion Root Coffee Collect Dandelion Roots, wash and chop well. Let sit on screen or cookie sheet until dry, (several days). Roast in oven at 250 for 15-20 minutes. Grind and place in filter, pour boiled water over. Lighten with milk or soy milk. April 27, 1999 Sign in the co-op: Free Manure. Normandy has volunteered her truck for manure runs, and we head to the nearby homestead. The homesteaders are busy in the woods, and we are greeted by one of their goats, who watches over our shoveling with great interest. Three trips. The pile of black gold grows by the edge of the garden.   Apprentices May 1999 May 4, 1999 We truck 20 minutes south to put in a root-crop garden at my friend's homestead. We haul sheep manure from a nearby farm, pausing long enough to soak in the idyllic scene - the old farmhouse, the old-fashioned perennial gardens, the apple orchard, the rolling hillsides, and the dirt roads. Close your eyes and go back in time. May 11, 1999 We have hard work in the morning - hand digging beds in the garden. Sod and rocks. More sod and rocks. We sing. Songs from Jamaica, jump-rope songs, camp songs, work songs. We want to remember our songs for the times to come, for the earth changes. Normandy and Erin dig Marshmallow Root and Dania digs Echinacea Root for the pharmacy. Dania and Jessica go the field behind the garden to collect Dandelion Greens to marinate and Dandelion Flowers for pancakes for lunch. Our potluck lunch overwhelms us with nutritious earthy abundance. We begin our new tradition - the healing circle. After lunch, one apprentice is chosen to lay in the center, surrounded by the prayers, songs, chants and touch of the rest of us. So simple and so powerful. Tears and laughter abound! Thank you for this day Grandmother, thank you for this day. Thank you for this day Grandfather, thank you for this day. This healin', this healin', this healin' day. This healin', this healin', this healin', day. Marinated Dandelion Greens Collect copious amounts of greens. Clean well and chop greens rather finely. Steam until soft. Marinate in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, tamari, maple syrup, with lots of chopped garlic and ginger. Serve immediately. Dandelion Flower Pancakes Collect Dandelion Flowers. Mix a pancake batter of whole wheat pastry flour, some baking powder and moisten with water or soy milk. Heat a skillet. Dip flowers in batter and cook in oil like pancakes, flipping over when crispy brown on one side. Serve with maple syrup, butter or jam. May 18, 1999 At our check in at morning circle, the consensus seems to be that we've had too much food at our potlucks. We want to give more space to honor our food from the wild, Nettle and Dandelion. Spread manure. More digging. Dania helps me rig the shadecloth over the Goldenseal beds in the field. We have timed it well. The leaves are just coming out on the trees in the woods, and the Goldenseal, a woodlands plant, welcomes the shade. Over lunch we talk about menopause. I am always pleased when women in their 20's address this time of a women's life. I share my stories of my passage into this power-place. May 25, 1999 A new apprentice, Kelly, joins us and we enfold her like a long lost sister. Dania has brought her friend Nicole to visit. The weather shifts- rain and sun, rain and sun throughout the day. At our circle, I listen to the amazing inner and outer work of each apprentice. I honor their strength, their spirit and their insight. The moment we"ve all been waiting for has arrived! The composting Toilet is full and needs digging. ( Normandy confided that it was my composting toilet that attracted her to the apprenticeship in the first place.) I remove the door to the large box in the basement, and behind it sits well composted matter. While the novelty wears off after the first 10 or so buckets are hauled up the stairs and out the door, the job is accomplished beautifully. Each apprentice takes a turn learning how to transplant Echinacea from the flats into large containers, gently removing each seedling with care, preserving her delicate roots. What a great way to get to know a plant! After lunch, manure gets shoveled into the beds, the apprentices take turns gleefully pushing my Dad's old (no motor) mower over the lawns around the garden. The year old Echinacea beds are half weeded. If you all keep this up, I quip, we'll have to spend the rest of the summer lounging by the pond for lack of work! Well, maybe not, but so much got accomplished today between the raindrops. Many hands do make light work. I notice a new energy to the garden, a quickening, I look at the garden again and again. It's a long day. Most of the apprentices stay for the class I'm teaching in the evening, Communing with Plant Spirits. Jessica pulls out the mother of all tea pots and makes Lemon Balm, Nettle and Red Clover tea for the class. Jenn graces the house with artful bouquets from the gardens. Blessings, Annie   Apprentices June 1999 June 1, 1999 We are blessed with an overcast day, a great contrast to the searing sun of Memorial Day weekend. Perfect for the transplants- kale, zucchini, winter squash, cosmos and sunflowers. After our marathon workday last week, we are ready for a slower, gentler pace today. We are maintaining balance in our little universe! And speaking of balance, lunch is bright splashes of color - beets, steamed beet greens and nettle,and yams. After the herb drying rack is assembled, we head to the pond- for me, the first dunk of the season. As we sit quietly on the dock, the chorus of frogs grows ever louder. June 8, 1999 Today our seventh apprentice joins us- another Jessica. It's hot already, so we hold our circle indoors to stay in the cool of the house as long as possible. Wearing hats and blessed by a constant breeze, we head to the Echinacea patch. The two year old plants are well established, but they still appreciate a good weeding. Jenn fills Adele's basket with lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) for lunch. We head across the stream with our basket. On the way, we notice a broken branch of white cedar (Thuja occidentalis). We are in need of replenishing our supply for smudge. Thanking the cedar, we accept this wonderful gift! We check out Goldthread, (Coptis groenlandica), growing in the woods. I want the apprentices to learn this little plant whose constituents are similar to Goldenseal's. We harvest a few handfuls of bracken fiddlehead ferns, which are growing in abundance on the hillside. We wildcraft some coltsfoot leaf (Tussilago farfara), noting it's lung-like leaf, reminding us of it's usefulness for clearing the lungs. Our basket full, we return to the house. The cedar is bundled with cotton thread for smudge sticks, bracken ferns are steamed for lunch, filling the kitchen with an almond-like bouquet, and the coltsfoot is placed on the rack to dry. June 15 Today I bring two tobacco plants to the circle. I received them at a pipe blessing ceremony that I attended last week. Abenaki Grandfather Philip led us in blessing the sacred pipe that will be taken to Costa Rica for a ceremony on the Solstice. The apprentices and I circle the plants and offer our prayers. We offer it a fertile home in the center of our meeting circle, and sing to it as we plant. Thank you for this day Grandfather Thank you for this day.... After several days in the high 80's and low 90's, we are blessed today with cool air and overcast sky - perfect transplanting weather. We plant some Echinacea purpurea but hold off on the basil, too tender for a potentially frosty June night in Vermont. Kelly scours the garden for lambsquarters, filling Adele's basket with the hardy greens - enough for the coming week. We have found a balance between cultivating vegetables and wildcrafting volunteers in the garden. Eat your weedies! As the apprentices weed and put their energy into each bed, the garden glows. Fertilizer is half manure, half prayer. See you in a wink! June 29, 1999 A White Clover serves as our talking stick in circle. By the time she's gone around, she's twisted into a pretzel shape and blessed with the tears that come with speaking one's truth, and being heard. We agree that women on their moontime will take over gentle work, in honor of the power of this time. Today it's clearing off the drying rack and rubbing down the herbs. It's too wet out to harvest Red Clover - she's hard enough to dry without beginning with dampness. Jenn suggests Red Raspberry Leaf instead, and before too long, the drying rack is filled once again. Jenn teaches us a song as we work. The power of the last lines stays with me - I see you in The Mountains, I see you in The Sun, I see you in The River, That flows to The Ocean of One.   Apprentices July 1999 July 6, 1999 Another in a string of hot, humid days. We hold circle indoors, where I've created a cool cave with a colorful patchwork of fabric over my normally curtainless windows. Our circle is full of the powerful support that women so capably and freely give each other. After a quick run under the hose, we pack up our baskets, hats and water bottles and drive north to pick St. John's Wort. Our destination, a high, idyllic field, is covered with wildflowers of all kinds. We circle a St. John's Wort cluster, and offer our thanks. Then we scatter, quiet and intent on our harvesting, apprentice fairies communing with plant fairies. Our baskets full, we head for a nearby lake and dunk. Our day is a success. We've harvested AND kept cool! We celebrate with strawberry shortcake - complete with whipped cream! July 13, 1999 The St. John's Wort is peaking. We continue our harvest, this week in a nearby secluded field, rich with the pale yellow of the St. John's Wort blossoms. Back home, we snack on watermelon and tend the gardens. The Goldenseal enjoys a weeding. The Lemon Balm is harvested and put on the racks to dry for tea, and the St. John's Wort is tinctured. Jenn fills the mother-of-all teapots with generous handsful of Nettle and Raspberry, and serves her brew to the others. These days of summer bare a particular quality of timelessness, an effortless flow. It's lay-by time for farmers. All planted, not yet time for the big harvest - lay-by. Lay-by the pond, perhaps. July 27 1999 No entry last week. No time to write. ( So much laying by the pond). I've been on call for my gardens- feeling like a mom with a sick child. Its been dry. Never seen the river so low. Acid rain comes in from the industrial west. Soils are inbalanced. The plants are stressed- and subject to various diseases. I've been up before sunrise for days to water. My friend Ruth has come by several times, blessing the gardens with the healing energy of Johrei. Today the apprentices pick out afflicted plant material, give my normally untamed gardens a thorough weeding, and make nettle tea to balance the soil. The healing of the gardens has deepened my connection to my plant friends 100 fold. The women on their moon-time tend the drying rack. Lemon balm, skullcap and comfrey are rubbed down, ready for winter tea. Its a cake- pot- lunch. Jennifer our guest brings a yogurt cake, Dania a poppyseed cake. Both women are celebrating birthdays, so we bring out the candles. And Normandy serves us her long-promised chocolate cake, topped with walnuts August August 10 No apprentice meeting last week. I was in Connecticut visiting family, it was hard to breathe in the polluted air. Today, Angela joins our circle. Welcome! By the time our circle is over, the garden has dried off enough to work in it. The goldenseal is weeded, perennial beds tended, and remaining afflicted plant material removed, and two 5-gallon buckets of nettle tea are made for a final application to the garden beds. I realize quickly that the garden the garden tasks will be accomplished in short order, leaving us time- time to make strawberry jam! I haul the strawberries out of the freezer- strawberries that Angela had picked for me in June- and soon the big stainless steel pot is bubbling away on the stove. Apples are added for their pectin. We use the recipe from Summer in a Jar by Andrea Chesman a reference book I highly recommend for interesting home-canning recipes. Its a productive day, yet when the apprentices leave I feel exhausted and unsettled. I realized my normal morning meditation time had been cut short by household circumstances. And I realize that during the day, there had been a lot of chatter about past events and future plans. So full of where we've been and where we think we're going- we miss the moment. It is in the moment that we can empty our selves, be present and listen to the plants who are our teachers. Perhaps its time to rededicate our intention. August 17 Apprentices Another Kelly joins us today, Welcome! In the circle, I speak about the energy, focus and Spirit underlying our work, learning and community in this apprenticeship. Our purpose here is to open to Spirit and Spirit in all aspects, including plants, all of Nature, the Earth Mother and each other. The more we empty ourselves, the more we can listen and work with intention and presence. My words are well received as the focused tone of the day well testifies! Five dozen ears of organic corn are transformed into 16 quarts of corn relish. In the garden, bush beans are pulled out, already gone tough. Fall Kale seedlings planted. At the end of the day, I'm tired but exhilarated, and delighted by the quality of our time together. Blessings Annie! August 24 Apprentices In the circle I share with my apprentices my process of searching for a new home for my herb and vegetable gardens, herb lab, myself, my housemate and my cat Jupiter. My new homestead is clear in my meditation: an old farmhouse, southern exposure, gravity feed water, wood heat. My prayer is that it manifest now. A cord and a half of wood is heartily stacked in my wood-shed. The process disturbs some wasps, and Normandy gets stung. I mix up enough baking soda paste not only for her bite but also for body painting, but no one seems interested. Jessica packs some books for me- pack and the new homestead will come! Our potluck is fantastic as usual, complete with zucchini pancakes by Jenn, and blessed by our own home-canned corn relish. Apprentices September Sept 14,1999 This week we visit my friend Bill to learn about Nature Farming. We gather first in the sacred circle in the field below his home, to do our prayers and check-in. The energy ofthe ceremonial place enfolds us, and we are reluctant to leave its embrace. Nature Farming--spiritual component of farming, no manure, no crop rotation, effective micro-organisms, prayerful planting. Our hearts and minds open as we take in what we are seeing and hearing. Bill is a good teacher and story-teller. For More information about Nature Farming Back home in the afternoon, Kelly D. makes pesto while I catch up on my phone messages and office work. Life is full these days. There are easily a half-dozen high-priority projects I could be attending to at any given moment. Thank God for the apprentices! Blessings Annie Apprentices Sept 21, 1999 Its a cool rainy September day. The gentle warmth of the cookstove in the kitchen is welcome. Normandy, Kelly F. and Dania hold the space, the others needing time off. It's a sleepy sort of day, and we contemplate a group nap at some point. But first the squash needs to be brought in before it frosts any harder than it has. We truck down to my other garden and collect the Boston Marrow winter squash. We'll save seed precious heirloom seed. Our day ends early. A cat nap starts to sound like a good idea again. Note-- for seed saving workshops and to purchase heirloom seed, contact: Tom Stearns High Mowing Organic Seed Farm 813 Brook Road Wolcott. Vt 05680 802-888-2480 Apprentices Sept. 28 Kim joins our circle, filling a spot vacated by Jessica M. who has moved out of the area. It's Kim's 29th birthday and she brings us zucchini bread with carob chips to celebrate. Our work day reflects the change of season. Stack some wood, care ful not to disturb the wasp nest hanging on the roof of the woodshed. Clean up the garden, the frost-blackened squash vines and sunflowers leveled by hurricane Floyd's fury. The herb drying rack is taken down, making room to store the squash. Kim scoops out the seeds from the baseball bat sized zucchini, left purposely to grow for seed. Seeds are washed and spread on newspaper to dry. Seed saving. So simple. So vital. New nettle shoots have appeared. Dandelions are in bloom again. Milkweed seeds dance across the grass like white spiders. Blessings Annie Apprentices October October 5, 1999 Fall. Root-digging time. Time to harvest the Goldenseal, (Hydrastis canadensis). In the circle, we honor and thank the healing spirit of Goldenseal. What a pleasure to have our hands in the cool soil, unearthing the caterpiller- like rhizomes, laden with golden threads. I had not expected much of a harvest after the trials of the growing season, but as we work I realize the beds had done quite well after all. Half the crop harvested, we wash, chop and tincture the Goldenseal. The medicinal properties of this powerful botanical quickly render themselves to the alcohol menstruum, turning the clear vodka golden-brown. Label shake and pray. Blessings, Annie! October 12, 1999 Our circle is full this week. At check in, the theme of the season emerges- busy busy busy. Harvest gardens, put up food, get in the wood. We return to the Goldenseal beds and complete the harvest. Next the carrots and rutabagas from my root garden. The carrots are small, the rutabagas are huge. No one goes home without a rutabaga. Blessings, Annie October 26 Apprentice Journal Each year when I harvest Echinacea roots, I tend to tincture up every root in sight. This year, I remembered to set some aside to dry for tea. The night before the apprentices came, I went out to the Echinacea beds and asked who wanted to be harvested for tea. The smallest plants at the very end of the row spoke up: We are puny, please us take. Not for tincture do we make. But for tea give us to try, Would that you would harvest and dry. We welcome another new apprentice today, Colleen. Our check-in is strong, full of affirmation and transformation. We harvest both Echinacea purpurea and E. pallida. The pallidas are large healthy tap roots, different from the crown that purpurea forms. The pallidas twist and turn around themselves, embracing as you sometimes see carrots entwine. The day warms up after its frosty start, making outdoor root washing fairly pleasant. Kim and Normandy hand water the entire garden and perennial beds with dilutions of the effective microorganisms that we got from Bill over a month ago. Dania pulls up the stakes that held the shadecloth over the goldenseal. The garden resumes the look it had in early spring, clean and quiet. Annie McCleary founded Purple Coneflower Herbals in 1989, featuring hand-crafted herbal extracts, from fresh botanicals, organically cultivated or consciously wildcrafted. She teaches herbal workshops focusing on local plants for food and medicine. Purple Coneflower Herbals 117 Riverside Farm Lane East Hardwick, Vermont 05836 802-472-8020