Announcement Shamanic Gardening

Shamanic Gardening

Timeless Techniques for the 

Modern Sustainable Garden

By Melinda Joy Miller

Integrating sustainable ancient and traditional gardening methods with shamanic principles and modern permaculture.  The myths, stories and historical facts about medicinal edibles and Native American culture, make it an incredible read. This book will enhance your relationship with self and the earth, it includes practical tips for sustaining health of the soil, detailed coverage of companion planting, is a delight to your senses and nourish your soul.

Just the list of herbs to use as a reference guide to make teas, homemade beauty masks, or what to take on a daily basis to keep yourself healthy is a reference guide you will have for a life time. It includes a cultural history of sustainable gardening techniques used by Cleopatra, the Japanese, the Pueblo People, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and many others.

Shamanic Gardening: Timeless Techniques for the Modern Sustainable    Garden • ISBN: 978-1-934170-36-6 • eISBN: 978-1-934170-38-0 • 322 pages

You can view the book’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ShamanicGardeningBook

Purchase it now on the  Shambhalla Institute home page.

 

What people are saying about the book 

“Melinda Joy Miller’s new book is chock full of everything you want to know about gardening.  There are the essential how to’s of creating a healthy and vibrant garden in alignment with the flow of one’s landscape.  There are tips on what to plant and the nutritional value of specific herbs.  Also, she shares how to be in relationship with your garden in a way that is deep and meaningful. I felt, after reading it, that I’d spent an afternoon with a wise friend who had brought me the secrets of nature.”

-Susie Arnett, Curriculum Developer, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, Rhinebeck, NY

“A Seminal work whose time has come… This book could not be more timely and Melinda Joy is the perfect conduit to share this ageless wisdom with the world.”

-Becky Gilbert, Life Coach and Founder of Quantum Consciousness Initiative.

 

“Shamanic Gardening is a treasure! Melinda Joy Miller has compiled a lifetimes worth of experience into a beautiful book.  A labor of love, Shamanic Gardening combines the practical with the spiritual reminding us that our gardens are alive on many levels.  Melinda’s passion for the healing power of plants and connection to the earth is infectious. I am looking forward to introducing Shamanic Gardening to our community garden!”

-Tara Radzinski, CEO, Sustainable Solutions Corporation

 

“I loved the book… I can pick this book up and turn to any page and find a passage that grounds me to the earth and makes me feel present… alive and grateful.”

-Dana Congdon, Screenwriter/feature film editor, Basketball Diaries, Godfather III Topanga, CA

 

“Lovely and wise, Shamanic Gardening is a practical, inspiring guide for creating a relationship with nature that doesn’t require anything but heart and intention.   Melinda Joy Miller explains how Spirit can be conjured from the tiniest seed in the most modest of garden spaces to become food, medicine, and wondrous beauty. What could be more soul satisfying?”

-Randi Ragan, Green Living and Holistic Beauty Expert, Founder/Owner GreenBliss EcoSpa

 

“It’s as if the author is having a personal conversation with the reader and spiritual insights are backed up by practical tips, about a wide range of garden choices and activities.”

-Graham Bell, Author The Permaculture Way, The Permaculture Garden

 

“Melinda Joy writes about her historied connection with Mother Earth and showcases her incredible talent and ideas for creating harmonic, healing gardens. I especially found the section on morphic resonance to be fascinating. Thank you Melinda for showing us how to create harmony in our lives in such a magical and beautiful way.”

-Deborah Lindquist, Sustainable fashion designer, Eco-Couture, Los Angeles CA

      

Notes on Winter Herbs

As we welcome everyone who visits Shamanic Gardener, we especially appreciate comments and questions. Our last post before the Autumn Equinox generated a lot of questions about finding Moringa (Moringa oleifera).

Moringa is not easy to find at American nurseries and seed companies; it’s up to all of us to ask for it at our favorite garden centers and seed companies. Although there are numerous online sources for moringa powder, I recommend purchasing seeds and growing your own. Every community garden, local food bank, church soup kitchen, health center, yoga center, etc., could be growing hedges of moringa trees to provide a free source of nutritional food.

Presently I buy my seeds from ECHO, http://www.echonet.org, in North Fort Myers, Florida. The moringa tree grows very quickly from seed. Because the long roots tend to grow straight just under the surface of the ground they can be carefully dug up and cut into shorter pieces for a substitute to horseradish – it’s commonly known as the ‘horseradish tree’. The tree will die back from freezing temperatures, but when the weather warms, the main trunk sprouts several more trees. People are having success saving the tree over the winter months by placing it in a container to place in a sunny, warm room of the house.

The photo of a moringa hedge is from: http://www.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=1169#

An Unlikely Container

Aloes are not hardy in the winter frost or snow. To get one ready for moving inside plant it in a container now but leave it outside until the weather changes. A strong economical container that can hold a tall aloe is an old paint can. The aloe’s architectural leaf shapes will add aesthetic drama to any sunny room in your home.

Consider various colors to paint the can: Deep chocolate-brown or a rust-orange offers a comfortable earthy feel; Cherry red promotes good luck and cheerfulness; Yellows support confidence and optimism; Pink can be romantic; Soft ocean blues or turquoise allow relaxation.

How to: Clean out any paint residue; Lightly sand the surface; First coat is a primer, then follow with paint.

Growing medium: Fill halfway with a pile of wet twigs and small leaves; Follow with wet green sand and pebble mixture; Surround the roots with a good potting soil; Water well; Cover the top with more pebbles or gravel. Aloes are very drought tolerant so water well, but infrequently.

Native Bees in America

Out of 4,000 native species of bees in America the Carpenter Bee (genus Xylocopa) is the largest. A solitary bee, it can be found in southern states from Florida to Arizona and along the eastern states up into New York. They have strong jaws that can actually chew into wood to make round chambers in which to lay its eggs and care for its young. We NEED to provide old limbs, tree trunks or an upright old log. They also need fresh water; a clean birdbath that’s given fresh water everyday is an easy solution. They like to pollinate eggplant and tomatoes with the pollen of salvias, penstemons and other tubular flowers.

The smallest bee, Perdita minima, is about 1/16th of an inch long; it’s rarely noticed by gardeners and is a finicky eater with very hairy legs that can carry ‘large’ loads of pollen. Another solitary bee who lives in southwestern states, nests in the soil and apparently only likes the pollen/nectar from the small white flowers of mat-forming Euphorbiaceae, (Whitemargin sandmat, Chamaescye albomarginata), that grows in sidewalk cracks and along dirt roadways.

The photo of a carpenter bee that is drinking nectar from the base of a penstemon flower was taken by Julian Cowles. The photo of a Perdita minima on a carpenter bee’s head was taken by Stephen Buchmann. Both are from an article in http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/pollinator-of-the-month/carpenter_bees.shtml