Arty Chokey Farm

Magick swirls around me as I walk through the forest of redwood, madrone, fir and oak trees. I seek out the redwoods to find the mama trees and just breathe. The nearness of nature makes me feel like a child. The way the garden is responding to Joey and I feels like making love to the earth.

Our friend Samantha says that we are practicing dry farming - a style in which you saturate plants and then leave them be for long stretches of time. It’s our practice because the hallows to the mountains is an eight hour drive and with “gas prices these days” we only go once a month. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Joey’s plan is to create Arty Chokey Farms, farm delivery of the finest artichokes. It’s the retirement plan from CalTrans to earth tender and artichoke friend.

Meanwhile I am tending to the medicinal herbs and flowers and getting to know them. I like to sprinkle yarrow, rose geranium, and chamomile flowers in one of my ceramic bowls for a delightful facial steam. My garden is small for now because my plan is to get to know my herbal allies intimately before I decide who gets a lot of room in the raised beds and what kind of sunshine they prefer. I want to have retreats for spiritual feral women to help me build solar cob hot tub, flower beds and an outhouse. Then we’ll luxuriate under the stars and share our wisdom with each other.

We water from the well that is 400 feet above the hollows that travels from the pump through pipes to our sweet home with its garden. There is so much to learn about working with the land. I’m dreaming of taking Starhawk’s permaculture course. For now, I’m launching my tenth book A Box of Magick and so turn to my herbal allies and tree buddies to sustain me through our friendship, whether I am in Willits, Crowley Lake or on the road.