Mushroom Hunting

We found my favorite mushrooms tucked into the redwood duff on our walk through the property this Winter Solstice. These bright yellow inedible mushies are called Witches Hat. Of course, they are my favorite. Although, I really like this brown guy growing in the middle of our dirt road.

Joey and I are new to mushroom hunting or picking so of course we consult the books and don’t eat anything that isn’t obviously safe to eat. We hiked overland, exploring parts of our 44 acres that I hadn’t seen before. I was totally lost in my own backyard. Forest bathing, breathing with trees and fog. Joey has been trekking all over the property, whereas I’ve stuck mostly to the pre-existing logging roads or a few game trails - meaning paths that bigger animals like deer, bear and cougar push through the tall grass or on the dirt that wends through the redwood, madrone, black oak and fir trees.

Today, we are deep in the forest and I lost my read on the cardinal points. I didn’t know where north was. Finally I surrender to being lost and that’s when the fun really starts and the forest spirit unveils its majesty. We mostly find fungi that intrigues us but haven’t dared to eat - except for the clearly obvious oyster mushrooms.

Just when I was getting a little freaked out about where we were and how far I was from resting, I recognized a fairy ring I had seen before. Even the Mendo loggers call the circle of redwood trees a fairy ring. You cannot deny the spirit of the redwood.
It’s just not a thing.

I gasped, “This is where the bear was denning.” In summer, we had found this fair ring old old growth redwood trees. I thought it could be a special meditation site for me until Joey noted the bear-sized impression in the duff of the hollowed-out redwood stump and the steaming pile of bear scat.

I had left the place alone until this moment.

Joey scurried up the redwood duff to the center of the ring where fifteen foot wide tree stumps gave evidence to the massive logging of of Mendocino redwood forests after the 1906 San Francisco fire. He looked around the stand of impressive trees and their remains and nodded nonchalantly, “Yup.” He waited out for my yelp and then added with a mountain man’s slow confidence, “The bear is gone.” He laughed as I audibly sighed. We both knew that bears roam and don’t always stay in the same den through the year. It had been six months since we had seen fresh bear scat.

I love getting to know this land and all of its inhabitants.

Making Gardens

I love to plunge my hands into the dirt - especially in summer. Every morning I wake in Willits, I drink a leisurely cup of coffee listening to the forest birds singing. I pour the water and leftover grounds onto the garden and greet each new leaf or flower with deep affection. Each trip to the Hollows brings a new adventure. This time we tried out a new battery storage, hung out with Kobe and created gardens.

On Father’s Day, it was sweet to watch Joey and Kobe tetra a burned-out redwood bark to create a terrace for the small garden that I salute every morning. Joey had cleared away a huge patch of poison oak so that we could grow lavender around the cottage to keep the ticks at bay. We’ll see if it works! So far we are growing rosemary, holly, lavender, calendula, chamomile, and rose geranium. I’ve asked Mama Earth to stay wet in this shaded spot while we are gone and made sure to welcome the multitude of elementals and faeries to this garden!

We removed irrigation and weeded sixty more grow pots. The soil is still in most of the pots because we need to terrace hill for the vegetable patch and herb garden. My menfolk gathered fallen trunks of Douglas fir, Madrone and Oak and made a raised bed. Oh how I ached to put in some plants but since our plan is to visit for a week every month, and this garden is in full sun, I decided to wait. The plan is to make five more boxes here from what the forest provides.

Our new power station is a game changer with two 110V plugs and two chargers. This Yeti by Goal Zero only lost 25% of its charging capacity in five days with three people using it. Loved it. Now we have energy for longer stays.

We froze water in a stock pot at home and transported in a cooler to keep the food cold in the icebox. Unfortunately, the water hadn’t frozen solid so we had to buy ice blocks again. But the road has to be fixed by winter so that’s where we will invest next - culverts and rocks before a propane refrigerator. Sigh. Homesteading requires such patience. I’m certain its good for me.

There is a beautiful spring on the property that I thought I would bless with crystals, statues and prayers. Then Joey put up a trail camera and we discovered that the bear, mountain lion, and deer visit this place daily. This water is already made sacred by Mother Earth’s children.

Kobe and I spent Summer Solstice in Fort Bragg - just 45 minute drive through the redwood forest. We have the best conversations, especially under the trees. We found connection, healing and laughter on the longest day of the year. I delivered signed copies of my books to eclectic shops and independent bookstores in Mendocino and the following day as we visited Ukiah. We hung out in the cannabis lounge at the Plant Shop where I will be teaching my Ritual Herbalism class for their Wellness Day on July 30. On the final night of our stay, Kobe stepped up to sing and play guitar for five original songs he wrote at open mike night at Shanachie Pub in Willits.

Happy Summer!

Homesteading the Hollows

It all starts with an idea… living off grid, happy and self-sufficient with my beloved.

My honey Joey and I starting looking for a community to invest in this January. We brought out the map of California. I still believe whole-heartedly in maps. As I drew my finger over highways that meandered the forests of Northern California, I asked the Universe for a town with an independent bookstore, brewery and coffeehouse. I imagined an old main street that would be close by where I could find a farmers’ markets, small movie theaters, festivals and pancake breakfasts. But I always saw myself tucked away, deep in the woods - yes, a Witch in the Woods with my man was my plan.

We had an agent’s number but didn’t know where to tell him to start looking, so we scoped out a swath of communities via Zillow from Potter’s Valley in Lake County to Boonville, home of Anderson Brewery and a place that had my vote, to a sweet craftsman house in downtown Willits but next door to a school and church. We drove through other neighborhoods and I felt boxed in. I worried that living in rural Eastern Sierra town of Crowley Lake, California (pop 980), had ruined me for such proximity of so many people.

Then, on what I thought was a whim, we drove to a 44-acre property on the Highway 20, just six miles from Willits and 25 miles to the coastal towns of Mendocino (wine) and Fort Bragg (sailors) along a rode that wove between towering redwood trees. It had been an old pot farm with four leveled out places where three brothers had grown cannabis in four huge hoop houses, plus another 200 plants in grow pots with irrigation in front of an 800 square-foot trim house. We had the well tested and the water came out clean. We went back and forth, but with Joey just over a year away from retiring, he needs a new hobby and I need more hippies. Plus every time we thought of this property, a smile of happiness reached across both of our faces. We can do this, we told ourselves. We can reach for our happiness. He will plant artichokes and arugula and sell his produce at a farmer’s market (behind the old Rex-All in Willits every Thursday.) I can write and be near so many of my Northern California Herbal Symposium gals and other friends I’ve known for years. And we can visit the coast.

So, we scrambled together a cash deal and on April 27, 2022, Joey and I (with a little help from sister Cindy) became the new owners of this amazing 44 acre off-grid property with about twenty-five century-old fruit trees of fig, pear, apple and olive. I’ve found red clover, poppies, nettles, plantain, and so much more. There are bay trees - good medicine for the poison oak that follows the waters next to berry patches. Young redwood trees that surround the cut down old growth trees that were harvested after the 1906 San Francisco fire. Sprawling oak trees look like pretty awesome places for tree forts. We are southeast facing a 18,000 privately owned timber forest that will not be cut because the trees have not yet come of age.

The land spirits and Fae folk are powerful here. A sweet fawn came by to say hello on first day, a very large bear has made several appearances leaving huge scat and paw prints behind. The wild Turkey that flew over my head was a symbol of my abundance. Although Joey says that’s dinner - but last week 444 copies sold of The Book of Spells and that’s a very Witchy number and really made me feel like the universe has got my back. In fact, all three businesses that I hoped to find in my new hometown are on the same city block - in the old school part of Willits-gateway to the redwoods in Mendocino County. The Book Juggler bought two copies of The Book of Spells (I carry them around) and put the book on the front page of their website. We went to Northspur Brewing Co. twice but the second time met up with Joey’s CalTrans’ buddies (who don’t known it yet but will help us get gravel and pipes to fix the roads on the property) and Brickhouse Coffee features local artwork that blows my mind and their breakfast sandwiches are calling my name for a long morning write.

As per request from my dear friend Helena Pasquarella I am starting this new blog about the adventures of learning how to be a homesteader making medicine, jams, magick, festivals and a home. We have spent two days on the property, cleaning the outside (only six bags of trash off to our new dump), and scrubbing and blessing inside our new little cottage. We’re making lists of what we need or want.. a cell phone booster, fruit tree expert, off grid solar system, fridge, cob benches on the best views, poppyseeds, solar pathway lights, new shower curtain, more seeds and trees. We need to fix the road, figure our most efficient energy system and what we’re going to plant in these hoop houses. For now there’s a sweet cottage for us to doll up. Eventually we’ll build a cob house and a bath house with a garden just for herbs to soak in.

The reason this blog is called Homesteading the Hollows is because the cottage where we are making a home is at the bottom of the property, two miles from the highway and 400 feet in elevation down into the woods. This land is filled with meadows and forests, but for now our heart and home will be in the hollows. Our next trip back to Willits will be after Mother’s Day, when we’re bringing in furniture and home décor - I am so excited!