#blueberry shrub

[placesyoucallhome]

Me: I can't do plant things, I have a black thumb

Also me: *adds a dwarf cherry tree to my cart*

[morethansalad]

Blueberry Apricot Lemon Verbena Shrub (Vegan-Adaptable)

opt for a vegan honey alternative

[zactakespictures]

Blueberry Lavender Shrub Syrup Drinking Vinegar

[wandaslittlepsycho]

Precious

pairing: 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢!𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊 ༝༝ 𝚏𝚎𝚖!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

summary: your bunny slips through the crack of your front door and you run after her in hopes of catching the pet again. You get lost but your time still ticks, nightfall inching closer and closer as you inevitably sink further into the woods. Luckily, your eyes spot a cabin, and you become acquaintances with the unusual redhead that resides there.

warnings: dubcon, filthy smutty smut smut, HEAVYYYY dacryphilia, groping, dry humping, praise kink, thigh riding (r receiving), mid writing, wanda is lowkey a sadist, slightly unhinged crazy yet loveable and sexy cabin wanda, age gap > r is 20 w is 32

A/N: first fic!!! hi… im very new to writing fics so please be nice ૮꒰ྀི >⸝⸝⸝<꒱ྀིა (i wrote this listening to a true crime documentary idk)

kind of a messy plot but I still hope my little freaks enjoy…… and I’m also sorry this took longer than expected I just kept contemplating if it was good or absolute shit </3

+

this is a dark fic. 18+. wlw. men & minors dni!

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It’s getting pretty late…

You think to yourself, hugging your shoulders as you look up at the overcast sky.

How did I end up here in the first place?

✦

You move a leaf to the side and pick the fresh strawberry that was stashed there, rinsing it in your small bucket of water and taking a mouthful of the delicious treat.

You hear a shuffle beside you. Turning your head, you see a white bunny hiding behind one of your sunflower pots. You smile and place another strawberry onto the ground before slowly walking away. Your eyes relish how cute the little animal is as they chomp away at your colourful fruit.

You stand in the corner of your garden and decide from then on, you’d feed the hungry bunnies that would stroll into your neighbourhood.

A few days pass and you quickly became friends with two specific bunnies who you named Clover and Daisy. You eventually took them in as your own, rottenly spoiling both of the creatures. You loved having them around because living alone in a small town that was an hour away from the city can definitely become lonely.

“This tastes like candy to you doesn’t it Daisy?” You say as you hold out your hand and watch her nibble it up. The fur around her mouth is stained purple, you laugh at the sight.

“Okay that’s enough blueberries for tonight! You’ll get sick if you keep eating those.” You click the plastic container shut, standing up and walking into your kitchen. You place the container in the side compartment of your fridge for tomorrow and stroll back into your living room.

Your brows furrow. Daisy is gone. Daisy and Clover are such good bunnies, they never leave your sight for more than a minute. You assume she ran to her sister Clover, but your eyes widen in horror when you see your front door slightly more cracked open than it was before you left.

You anxiously open your phone and dial your best friend Frankie. You ramble to her about how stupid you felt for leaving the door open, like you are an irresponsible parent who’s no smarter than a bag of rocks. She calmly tells you to go look for Daisy and that she’ll come over as soon as she can to watch Clover.

“Thank you so so much, Frankie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” You sigh in relief, a hand pressed over your chest. You feel your heart jump underneath your palm and your lips trembling with every breath.

“It’s no problem, Y/N/N. Now go look for that bunny, I’ll be over in 5.”

“Bye, thank you again..” You hang up the phone and dart out the door. You frantically look through your shrubs and call her name, but a bright white spot in your peripheral steals your attention.

There she is, bouncing her way into the open forest across the road from you. As soon as she hops out of your view you race towards her, carelessly running past two moving cars. You ignore the frustrated yelling and the beeping horns, continuing to boost into daisies direction.

“DAISY! WAIT!!”

You yell, but your shouting only seems to spur her on. You run after her and neither of you lose pace. You turn corners, run through mud and almost slip doing so at least two times. The animal suddenly picks up it’s speed, turning abruptly and disappearing into a thick bush. You get on your knees and practically rip this bush to shreds, but she was already long gone. Daisy is no more.

You feel tears sting your eyes, ears and cheeks becoming hot from your stress. You sniffle and wipe your tears with the sleeve of your jacket. You knew it was impossible to look for her now. That bunny became your life in just a couple of days, she felt like a childhood pet. The thought of never seeing her again made your heartstrings tie themselves into knots.

You lose the path you were on but you couldn’t care less. You lost your beloved bunny baby; life is no longer worth living. You wonder if Clover’s okay, and how exactly you’d break the news to her.

So lost and full of woe, mind not even switched on, you didn’t notice the thick tree root in front of you until you stub your foot against it and fall forward. You wince and slowly stand up again. Dusting the crunchy leaves off of your clothes, you use the back of your hand to wipe the dripping bead of blood from your cheekbone.

Great, a cut. I’ll have to clean that up when I get home..

You wonder aimlessly with your head hung low. A brisk breeze that brushes past you is what makes you finally look up.

You hug your shoulders as you stare at the gloomy airspace. The sun isn’t beaming, only a variation of different grey clouds flood the sky.

A person? This far out on in the woods?

Wanda thinks. She watches you with a deranged, curious look as you weave yourself through the webs and bushes, seemingly extra careful about tree roots.

You look up from the ground, scanning the area around you and pause when you see the warm glow of her cabin.

My god, she’s gorgeous.

She takes a swift step back so she’s not in the frame of the window anymore, her brows furrowing. She stares at the wall, she hasn’t seen an actual person in so long.

What is a girl like you doing traipsing in the woods?

She peeks again and now you’re making your way over, big wary eyes cautiously examining your surroundings. A shiver rocks through you as you cough into your elbow, then using that arm to place three firm knocks on the door.

You sigh while you wait for someone to answer the door. You switch from tippy toes to the heel of your feet in a nervous manner. The cabin looks great, almost pristine, there’s no way it’s abandoned.

You feel stupid for going into a cabin in the woods. It’s like some dumb movie; you’re just hoping you don’t end up dead. You expect to see an old, wrinkled man the size of a third grader, but your eyes widen when a tall red headed woman swings the door open. You stutter, stunned that a woman like her would live in a place so isolated.

Holy shit, she’s fine.

“Hi, um.. I know it’s a lot to ask but can I stay here for a little bit? I… got lost.” You fiddle with your fingers. She chuckles as she crosses her arms, biting her lip and letting her eyes run up and down your fidgety figure.

“No it’s not asking anything at all. It’s not like I get visitors very often.” She moves to the side and welcomes you in. You look up at her and mumble a small thank you, slowly stepping inside her warm homestead.

The smell of firewood burning and sweet lavender conquer your senses. The comforting atmosphere relaxes you despite how unfamiliar it is. You kick off your boots and grab them so you can neatly place them next to the door. She shuts the door and clicks it locked, quietly making her way over to what looks like her kitchen.

You drink in the sight around you. A tall, cobblestone fireplace lined up against the wall with wood already burning inside of it. A soft lounge suite with a fluffy mat sitting right underneath it. There’s a short hallway and two doors, one you assume leading into her bedroom and the other probably being her bathroom.

One thing you notice in particular is a painting, one with two women sitting on a red velvet couch. One is dressed in white, the other is dressed in black and they both have lace blindfolds wrapped around their heads.

Their Victorian dresses were detailed and long, their lips so close but afraid to touch and give in.

You look away and clench your fists. Your face is now hot, when you entered a remote cabin in the woods, a gay victorian painting was the last thing you expected.

“Take a seat, make yourself comfortable.” The woman’s hoarse voice echoes through the room. Your ears perk up when they catch a touch of an accent.

Is she some type of Russian? That’s hot.

Your anxious form shifts over to her couch to sit down. You sigh in relief, your aching bones melting into the man made cloud that was this woman’s sofa.

“So what’s your name, milaya?” The woman hands you a cup. Your cold fingers feel fuzzy against the hot mug, shuffling back further into her couch so you can sit up comfortably.

“Y/N. You?”

“Wanda.”

A small smile sits on her face that is on some level, disturbing. It’s such a beautiful smile but you can feel something is not right with her. Your intuition has never made itself more distinct, it was less noticeable when you were walking alone outside.

The room feels like it’s getting smaller, the claustrophobia whips the air right out of your lungs. Your eyes flicker between hers. The room starts to spin. Your ears start to ring. Before you could pass out cold, she cups your chin, the gentle gesture pulling you out of your panicked state.

“That’s a nasty cut isn’t it? Would you like me to take care of that?” She says, her tone coaxing. Your curious eyes linger on her,

Why is this stranger being so generous?

If someone entered your home and needed to stay the night, you’d tell them to get lost. She caresses your face softly while she stares at the wound.

“No it’s oka-“ She suddenly pushes a finger to the fresh cut, forcing you to wince and pull away from her. She looks at you in a way you can’t describe, your reaction seemingly piqueing her interest. Her pupils dilate but not enough for you to notice. You look at her with fearful eyes and think to yourself,

Who would do that?

“Actually, that would be nice. Thank you..”

~

Your eyes switch between the steaming drink in your hand and the obviously unhinged redhead sitting next to you. Her aura is intimidating, but you convince yourself it’s paranoia.

I’m in a remote cabin deep in the woods.

Who wouldn’t be unsettled? She’s nice and she helped you…stop being dumb Y/N!

“Thank you again for cleaning my cut, Wanda.” You try to strike up a conversation, but all you’re met with is painful silence. She watches your lips touch the ring of the porcelain teacup, then moving her eyes up to meet your own.

“You’re very observant aren’t you?” You refer to her endless stare, disguising your discomfort with a small chuckle. Her smile widens.

"Fascinuješ ma, miláčik.” “You fascinate me, darling.”

Your brows squeeze together. You wish you could understand what she said, but it felt rude asking her to repeat that in English. You result in shyly looking away and focus on your dangling feet.

Her hand occasionally runs down your back or strokes your arm. Her icy featherlight touches cause goosebumps to ride over your skin. She notices your eyes following her fingers, a mischief smirk hiking up her cheeks.

“You’re so lucky I’m here to help you, dear. What was a girl like you doing in the woods all alone?” Her hand lands on your knee, slowly climbing up closer to your heat and lightly massaging the flesh there. You squirm when she inches closer to your mound, but you’re in her home. She could do anything to you if you said something that upset her.

What if she’s just being nice? I don’t want to offend her…

“I- uh- I was hunting?” You try to paint yourself as tough but fail spectacularly; you can tell by the way she squints her eyes when she hears your answer.

“If that were true, you’d have hunting gear on you, sweetie.” She moves your hair to the other side of your neck to expose the milky skin there. She gawks at your neck like a predator creeping on her prey, ready to pounce on you at any given moment.

The thought of kissing and licking at your silky skin and the vivid image of you biting your plush pink lips made her tremble with desire.

You shrink, staring at the drink in your hands and feeling a strike of vulnerability as you quietly say the words, “I was chasing a bunny..”

“Aww aren’t you precious?” She praises. She toys with the soft threads of your hair, your cheeks glowing a rosy pink from her comment. Her hand squeezes your thigh more roughly, the unexpected act making you jump.

“Such a pretty thing.” She whispers to herself. You don’t catch her words, so you hum and tilt your head, showing your confusion in hopes she would repeat herself.

“Oh… nothing.” She quickly replaces her shock with a crooked grin. Your lips stretch into a small and nervous smile, slowly putting the cup to your mouth again.

A few more moments of silence are present. The crackling of burning wood and the crickets chirping in the distance gave you a chance to finally breathe, although you still struggle to ignore her invasive presence.

“Put the drink down.” You look at her in surprise. You stutter, taken aback by her orders but don’t dare ask any questions. You lick your lips and shuffle, leaning forward to sit the drink on her coffee table. You then move back against the couch and stare into the orange flames in front of you.

“Do you like when people are rough with you, angel?”

You freeze hearing her question. She tucks a stray strand of hair behind your ear ever so gently, grinning when she sees the sheer terror written on your face. There was something eerie about the way she had asked you, a corrupted little twinkle beaming from her eyes.

“Well, no.. N-Not really why?” Your voice is shaking. You know for sure now that this woman is not in her right mind. She could be capable of doing anything and you wouldn’t expect it. She flashes you a charming smile as she continues to twirl and play with your hair, leaning closer to you before whispering,

“Can I tell you a secret?” Your breath hitches softly and your body tenses at the close proximity. You refuse to look at her. You cement your eyes to the flickering fire in front of you. Her hand smoothly travels from your thigh to the zip of your corduroy jacket, slowly pulling down at the metal teeth to reveal your white v-neck shirt and ruby necklace. The sound of your zipper in the unsettling silence makes your skin crawl. You could almost hear the ominous, suspenseful background music. You don’t know what would happen if you deny her, so you hesitantly nod your head.

“I like hurting people… Especially pretty toys like you. I haven’t done it in a long time though.” Her eyes hungrily take in your chilled expression. You gulp when she pulls the jacket off of your shoulders and throws to the side.

“I love to see girls cry, tears running down their sweet little faces…” Her hands rub your upper arms soothingly as she rubbed her nose into the nape of your neck, inhaling your scent. You found yourself unable to move or respond, giving in to her game and listening to her sick train of thought.

“Can I make you cry, please, sweet girl?” She mumbles into your neck, gently nipping at the sensitive skin there. Your breathing becomes heavier, needing her so very badly you start to tune out the blaring alarms in your head.

“Wanda listen-” She moves on top of you. She situates herself between your legs giving you no chance to close them, running her hands up and down your thighs. It all happened so fast.

“Pretty please? You’d look so good..” She becomes breathless at the thought, lunging forward and forcefully pushing her lips onto yours. Her lips feel pillowy and soft against yours, she smells of sweet vanilla and a smoky but subtle cinnamon; the mix makes your brain go dizzy with want. She tangles her hands with yours so she can pin your frantic ones onto the couch. Butterflies dance in your stomach, adrenaline rushing through your veins. Her kiss is rough but somehow so soft at the same time, the conflicted feeling makes your heart flutter.

She puts all her body weight onto you, grinding her crotch into yours as she murmurs praises into your mouth. “You’re so fucking cute,” “It’s gonna feel so so good, just let me touch you..”

She slides her tongue across your lip, silently telling you to open your mouth. She angrily tightens her grip on your hands when you groan and clench your jaw shut, forbidding her access.

“Open your mouth, or I’ll find another way to make it stay open.” You whine quietly, slowly opening your mouth and letting her slide in. You whimper and squirm when her hands land on your hips, guiding you to grind against her knee.

“There you go, so so pretty grinding on me like that..” You grab handfuls of her sweater, the fabric of your cotton panties rubbing against you creating the perfect friction. You softly moan her name, back arching while hiding your face in her neck, ashamed how riled up you are from being taken advantage of. One of her hands move from your hip to your thigh, exploring the rest of your body before snaking up your stomach to grope at your breasts.

“Fuck,” She whimpers before biting down on your lip. She twists and teases your nipples between her fingers, feasting on the sight of your pathetic writhing.

“Wanda!” Your movements against her thigh become more frantic, so blissed out you couldn’t care about how needy and dumb you must look.

Your hands advance to her biceps, clutching onto her as you try reach the high you so deeply crave. Your heart thuds in your chest, sweat glistening on your forehead and gasping for air. Your tears soak her shirt, hating yourself for giving in to her but also not willing to stop.

“Cum, make a mess for me bunny..” Her hand grabs your chin and holds it still. You foolishly kept trying to turn your head, but your actions cease when her hand moves from your chin to wrap around your throat.

“Look at me when you cum.” She forces her face impossibly closer to yours, jutting out her jaw and admiring the sparkling tears falling from your eyes. Her breathing becomes ragged listening to your whines and sobs, the throb between her legs intensifying.

“I don’t want to..”

“I don’t care if you want to or not. I won’t let you move until you do.”

Your mouth falls open and your eyes roll to the back of your head, her cruel words somehow pushing you over the edge. Everything becomes white, your thighs shake and your body tenses. Waves of pleasure crash down on you, the euphoric feeling pulsing through you from head to toe.

She eagerly watches you fall apart from your first climax, knowing that she’s not even halfway done with you. Your chest rises and falls rapidly, eyes struggling to stay open and arms spread over the couch.

She carefully pushes her knee further into your pussy, your pleas and protests only making her more excited for what she plans next.

“I’m going to have so much fun with you, angel.”

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[davekendrick]

Are blueberries difficult to grow?

QUESTION: Are blueberries difficult to grow? I buy a lot at the grocery store and they’re expensive, so I love the thought of growing my own. I’m a pretty beginner-level gardener though. – Kelly C GARDENING CHANNEL REPLIES: No, blueberries are one of the easiest fruits you can grow. Notice I mentioned the word fruit. If you’ve ever tried your hand at growing fruit, you know they take a good amount of maintenance and patience. Blueberries require less maintenance than most fruits, but these plants do still require patience and for specific growing conditions to be met. If you’re ready to grow blueberries, start with the proper growing area. Select a growing location with full sunlight and loamy, acidic soil that drains adequately.   Test your soil to find out if this growing location is right for your blueberries. You’re looking for a pH between 4.5 and 5.5. If your soil doesn’t fall within these parameters, don’t stress. You can amend the soil, in most cases, to get it to where it should be for growing blueberries properly. I’ve grown blueberries for years, and I’m surrounded by clay soil. The soil was amended at the time of planting, and we’ve maintained it every year since. It’s wise to test your soil every three years to ensure everything is still where it needs to be since blueberries are perennials and should be with you for years. After your soil is adequate, dig a hole deep enough in the earth to comfortably sustain the root system of the plant. Then backfill the hole. When done, water the plant deeply. It’s a good idea to mulch around your blueberry plants each year. This helps keep the soil evenly moist and will compost to add further nutrients to your growing location. Plus, mulch serves as insulation for the roots of blueberry plants to protect them from freezing during the coldest portions of the year. You’ll only need to water your blueberry plants the first year and only when they aren’t supplied with an inch of water naturally throughout the week. After year one, the plants should be established enough to sustain themselves outside of times of severe drought. In many cases, cultivars of blueberries are self-pollinating, but you can still plant a variety around your landscape. This way you can stagger your harvest times. This is handy if an unexpected frost arises. It should only hinder one of your harvests and not the entire thing. The final thing blueberry plants require of you is to be pruned once a year after year four. Do this when the plant is dormant and only to remove dead, damaged, or tangled portions of the plant to keep the center open for receiving more light. You may also need to cover the plant in bird netting as birds are usually the biggest threat to your blueberries. They’ll munch on your harvest, so either protect the berries or plant enough to share. What you won’t need to do with blueberries is spray them for pests. Typically, these plants don’t face many issues with pests or diseases. However, you will have to wait at least three years to start receiving blueberries from your plants. They don’t start producing at full capacity until around years five and six. You now know what a blueberry plant needs from you. As long as you provide the right growing conditions and perform small amounts of maintenance, you shouldn’t have many problems with these plants. In my own experience, I can say that there’s no comparison between store-bought and homegrown blueberries. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy growing this plant as much as I do. Learn More About Growing Blueberries https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/blueberry/ https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-1422 https://extension.umn.edu/fruit/growing-blueberries-home-garden   * This article was originally published here Read the full article

[theimpishknight]

This is just the vibe these two gave me when I first saw their scene(s).

(Shadow milk design was inspired by turquasem52 & msrb)

Reblogs w tags are appreciated!

And as a ship name for those two, I suggest

PlantDuo (get it…cause he’s a shrub and a blueberry- I’ll see myself out)

[road-kill-eater]

i love seeing your mushroom adventures! as someone also up in the PNW, do you have any tips or resources to start mushroom hunting?

facebook groups are your best friend for becoming confident in your ID skills. having access to hundreds of people who have been hunting for years to the point where they can easily glance at a mushroom and tell whether or not its an edible species is priceless. whenever i find a new edible for the first time i always make a post to confirm it as such, though that doesnt really happen anymore since ive found nearly every commonly hunted mushroom on this side of the cascades.

all that the rain promises and more is a good book to have, the info is concise and tailored for this specific region. when in doubt eat a little bit of a mushroom then see how you feel the next day, certain species are prone to giving upset stomachs to certain people, make sure you cook everything thoroughly. most of this applies to any wild foraging so if youre familiar with that then fungi are nothing special, there are very few species that will outright kill you, most will just make you sick. stay away from gilled mushrooms to start unless youre very thorough in your identification.

if youre new to foraging in general then you have to learn plant identification. trees and shrubs are often indicator species, doug fir and salal is the go to for chants, but dont let chants be your primary target. get up above 3,000 feet and youll find porcini and hedgehogs and hericium abietis in the true fir and pines. yellowfoot chants are an often overlooked species that make up for their small size with how common and numerous they are. pay attention to your altitude, and go on trails with less traffic, especially since mushroom hunting is becoming sort of 'trendy'. hike out farther than those noobs and youll find plenty. even if you dont find mushrooms theres always something else. if it looks like a blueberry and tastes like a blueberry its probably a blueberry, or a huckleberry. fireweed can be gathered for tea. if you are up in the alpine lakes and its not too late in the season pick some glacier/avalanche lily leaves. bald faced hornets are worse than bears. 2 weeks after the first good fall rain is usually sufficient. i dont bother with morels they may as well be faeries to me. throw russulas at trees so they explode. sell any reishi you find to crystal girls

have fun! be safe!

[toadstoolgardens]

🌿Inviting Birds Into Your Garden🐦

Birds are essential to a healthy ecosystem, but not everyone takes kindly to them in their gardens. Birds love to eat berries, peck holes in fruits, and scratch up seedlings, but in the permaculture garden we strive to partner with nature to meet the needs of wildlife AND ourselves. Growing food for ourselves at the expense of wildlife has resulted, in part, in the current global food system that doesn't value the humans involved or the ecosystem.

"By attracting birds, small animals, and insects to our yards, we not only increase biodiversity but make our gardens more balanced, disease free, and productive as well." -Toby Hemenway, Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Small-Scale Permaculture

Benefits of a Bird-Friendly Garden

Birds are beautiful! Watching them enjoy your gardens and learning bird language is rewarding and entertaining

Birds keep insect problems in check

Birds loosen the soil as they forage and scratch

Birds provide natural fertilizer

The Combination that Works

"Creating a garden that your winged friends want to call home is easy. You'll need to provide food, water, and shelter. Any of these elements will bring birds to your garden for a visit. But providing all three will make them more inclined to take up residence." -Kris Bordessa, Attainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living

Keep in mind that birds have different needs! Not all birds eat the same things and their nesting habits vary. So the real key is diversity! Plant a variety of plant types, textures, heights, and seasons of value.

Food

Birds have a varied diet of fruit/berries, insects, and nuts/seeds. Some have more specific diets than others. Some forage for food on the ground and some hunt above ground.

Year-Round Bird Food Sources

Evergreen trees - Provide shelter, protection, and sap for food

Flowers, tall grasses, and herbs - Provide cover for ground feeders, seeds, nectar, and insects to forage

Fruits (late spring through summer) - Blueberries, brambles like blackberries or raspberries, cherries, elderberries, mulberries, serviceberries, and wild plum. Birds LOVE mulberries especially and having them available will help deter birds from your other crops

Fruits (fall) - Aronia berries, dogwood, sea buckthorn, buffaloberry. In fall birds need to build up fat reserves to survive winter, give them a fall buffet!

Fruits (winter) - These are fruits that cling to branches over winter. Crabapple, hardy kiwi, hawthorn, highbush cranberry, medlar, sumac

Nectar-producing plants for hummingbirds - Bee balm, lupine, sage, maple trees, black locust trees

Nuts - Butternut, chestnut, hazelnut, pickory, piñon, walnut. Offer protection, good nesting sites, and insects to forage

Choose plants native to your area!

2. Water

Birds love natural moving water like streams or ponds. Replicate this with a 2 inch deep bird bath with a fountain! Place your bird bath near a shrub so they have perches and an escape route nearby.

3. Shelter & Protection

Birds need shelter from the elements and protection from predators along with their food and water sources.

Tall grass, dense shrubs, tree canopy, and thorny plants act as a save haven. Birds also nest at different heights, so offer a variety of trees and shrubs for them to settle in.

More plant ideas that provide nesting sites, shelter, and protection:

Apple

Persimmon

Rose

Serviceberry

"Without animals, nature just limps along." -Toby Hemenway

Source

[path-of-grass-and-leaves]

Creating a Backyard Land Spirit Profile

Working with land spirits can help connect you with your local ecosystem, and for some practitioners is a crucial aspect of bioregional magic. Some folks, like myself, consider themselves to be initiated by one or more land spirits.

When I use the term land spirits, I am referring to a few different things. First are the collective spirits of various plants, animals, and insects present in a specific bioregion. An example of collective, in this context, means that if I'm petitioning help from the spirit of violets, I am working with the spirit of all violets present in that area rather than a singe flower that grows in my yard.

The next is the land guardian, which in my practice is a more powerful spirit with claim over a specific territory, like a forest, river, or neighborhood.

Sometimes these two concepts are separate and sometimes they're interchangeable. It all depends on personal practice, culture, local folklore, etc.

One thing that has been extremely beneficial to my practice has been creating a backyard land spirit profile. This method has been useful for spirit work and "green" magic, but more importantly, it's helped me immerse myself in my local ecosystem and I get to meet a lot of cool animals and plants.

Here is an over-simplfied example of my backyard land profile:

Ecosystem: Central Interior and Appalachian: Mixed woodlands, close to possible floodplains

Soil Type: Clay in garden bed, Loamy near/beneath shrubs, Sandy in sunny areas of the lawn

Flora:

Cultivated- Paradise Apple, Highbush Blueberry, Rose of Sharon, Dog Rose, Black-Eyed Susan, Sundial Lupine

Native - Bloodroot, Wild Strawberry, Common Violet, Wrinkle-Leaf Goldenrod, Blue Wood-Aster, Horseweed, Fireweed, Deer-Tongue Witchgrass, Common Milkweed

Invasive - Round-Leaved Bittersweet, Yellow Toadflax, Creeping Bellflower, Common Mugwort

Naturalized - Dandelion, Broad-Leaf Plantain, Deadly Nightshade

Notes - Various mosses, unidentified mushrooms growing on lawn and lichens found on some trees/shrubs.

Fauna:

Mammals - Raccoon, Opossum, Striped Skunk, Grey Squirrel, Chipmunk, Feral Cats, Deer mouse, House Mouse

Birds - Cardinals, Chickadees, Catbirds, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Crow

Reptiles and Amphibians - N/A

Fish - N/A

Invertebrates - Dotted Wolf Spider, Leopard Slug, Tiger Bee Fly, Monarch Caterpillars, Peach Root Weevile, Narrow-Winged Mantis, Fireflies

Ecoregion and Soil Type

The first thing I did was determine what type of ecosystem my yard used to be. In an urban/suburban area this was a bit challenging.

I started by identifying a few wild plants and finding out where they usually grow. Most of them seemed to prefer shady woodlands and rich soil. There were also a couple of pioneer species present in the sunnier and more disturbed areas of the yard.

Next, I took a look at surrounding wild areas. We are close to a mountain and a large river. There are woodlands near and within the city made up of mostly hardwood and conifer trees. I knew from memory that certain areas close to my home are likely floodlands.

After that, I found a bioregion map of my country which showed that my state fell under the category of Central Interior and Appalachian. I searched this region on landscope.org and was able to determine my specific ecoregion (not shared here for privacy reasons).

From there I started making educated guesses. I determined that my backyard was likely a mixed hardwood and conifer woodland sitting very close to what might have been a floodplain.

For my soil type, I took samples from different areas of my yard and used an online guide to determine what kind of soil I had. Most of it was sandy or loamy, but my flower beds seemed to have some clay.

Using all this information, I had a general idea of what kind of plants and wildlife would be present without human intervention. It also helped with deciding which native plants to start growing.

Plants

Throughout the year, I went out to the yard with a wildlife field guide and a couple identification apps and identified every plant and insect I found. I grouped the plants into four categories: native, invasive, naturalized, and cultivated. This isn't shown in the example, but I also grouped them by season and the time of year they appear.

Naturalized refers to plants that have integrated themselves into the environment without inflicting damage to the local ecosystem.

You'll notice that under the cultivated section I included a few native plants. This is because those plants were introduced by me and would not be present without my intervention and I wanted to make that distinction.

The importance of native and naturalized plants is obvious, but what about cultivated and invasive? Keeping a profile of invasive plants helped me keep a record of which noxious weeds I need to remove. From an ecological perspective, their removal is crucial to the survival of my native plants and garden crops. From a spiritual perspective, this can be an offering or act of service to the local land spirits. Some of these plants, like Common Mugwort, are both valuable for workings and fine to harvest in large quantities since they are invasive.

Cultivated plants are also important. Many of these plants, like my Blueberries, Apples, and Rose of Sharon, were here before me. The importance of plants introduced by humans is greater than you'd think. First, they are usually crops and flowering plants and provide food for both humans and the local wildlife. Secondly, I live in an urban area, and my land spirits are likely very closely associated with people.

I researched all of my plants and took note of growth patterns, toxicity, medicinal uses, ediblity, native region/habitat, ecological significance/impact, etc. Then I moved onto folklore and symbolism and started working with the spirits of a few plants, performing divination, leaving offerings, harvesting them and including them in rituals and spellwork. I did this in groups to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Please note that you should always properly identify plants and be aware of potential toxicity before harvesting, especially if you plan on burning or consuming said plant. Also steer clear of protected or threatened plants and keep harvest to a minimum even for abundant native species.

Wildlife

My next project was writing down every species of animal and insect that I had encountered in my yard. I grouped them into several categories: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. In real life my invertebrates section is separated into several subcategories (orb weavers, beetles, etc.).

Next, I used basically the same system I did for plants, researching their native range, preferred habitat, behavior, diet, ecological importance. Then I started looking into folklore.

Finally, I started integrating them into my practice and working with their collective spirits. This involved using animal symbolism in rituals, leaving offerings, and performing a lot of divination.

Remember to never interact with or directly feed wildlife. If I'm making offerings outdoors it is usually fresh water, scattered birdseed, and acts of service like creating habitats and growing plants that a specific species enjoys. If scattering birdseed, do so in the morning to keep too many animals, like raccoons, from entering your yard at night.

Side note: Keep a record of what appears in your yard each year! For example one year we had several chipmunks and one year I saw none. One year we had no fireflies and the next our backyard was covered in them.

Tying It All Together

Once I had my backyard profile completed, I started working with the collective spirits of select species. I have an offering schedule, perform communication, and petition these spirits regularly in spellwork. I use certain plants that I harvest for offerings and use for tinctures, infusions, cooking, and crafts. I use symbols of local animals in crafts and spellwork.

After working with the "smaller" spirits, you can start seeking out specific land guardians by using a combination of divination and research of local history and folklore.

On a mundane level, I am now able to cultivate an appropriate ecosystem for the local wildlife and start projects to support it. Examples of this are pollinator gardens, stick and brush piles for fireflies and small animals, growing seed-rich and fruiting plants for birds and mammals, winter shelters and TNR plans for feral cats, and more.

I also like to take notes on plants and wildlife that I encounter in my general area that don't usually make it into my backyard. For example there have been coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and black bears spotted in my neighborhood.

I want to stress that I live in a semi-urban and relatively populated neighborhood and I have a small yard. The brief example of of my land profile doesn't cover even a fraction of the wildlife I have encountered in my backyard. There is so much life in urban and suburban areas in need of our support.

[ahedderick]

July, Foraging, and Wind turbines

Last year my son found a fascinating site at the top of one of the larger mountains in the county. There is a well-known rocky outcropping with a gorgeous view that most locals know about, but a short distance away, down a winding and rocky trail, there is also a huge open expanse; probably an old strip mine site. The soil there is thin, acidic, and hostile to trees - so it is densely packed with shrubs and herbaceous plants that like those conditions (also thousands of birds that like things flat and open). Including (drumroll) millions of lowbush blueberry bushes.

We had a lovely time picking them last July, and promised each other we would go back this year and pick WAY more. Here's a link to last yr's post, if you're curious.

However.

Earlier in the summer my son took a ride up there and found that vast swathes of the open area and the surrounding forest had been bulldozed. A wind farm is going in. I'm certainly in favor of renewable energy, and an old strip mine site seems like quite a reasonable place to put one. This isn't wholly a bad thing. But it was a little heartbreaking to have the site changed so massively when we had just found it and gotten to enjoy it.

Last evening the kids, roommate, and I set out with buckets to see if the berry bushes still existed. They do, in a thin strip along one edge of the area. They were pretty scanty, because they had their main 'berry-time' earlier this year, like every other fruiting plant. Also, the extreme dryness left the remaining ones very small.

We had to park a fair distance away, as we did not want to drive the car by all the construction equipment and whatever security cameras were set up. The walk was hot, dusty, but interesting in its own way. Good company. You know. We picked as long as we felt like it, carefully examined some wildlife tracks in the dust, sat at the edge of the woods telling stories as long as we felt like it, and then sauntered back toward the car as the sun hit the top of the next mountain. Roommate was in a bluegrass mood, so we listened to bluegrass.

The harvest was scanty, but enough to make two of my mother-in-law's blueberry cake recipe. There is one sitting on the table right now, smelling amazing.

My daughter cooked dinner - she just called me to the table. <3

[estholden]

This time my work is dedicated to Vaccínium myrtíllus or European blueberry. The berries (fruits) grow on a shrub and have interesting features and facts:

In the past it was used as a dye for food and clothes

It has been used in Austria in traditional medicine as a tea or liqueur to treat various disorders

There is a Blueberry river in the Columbia Country in Canada

Is often used for cooking for e.g. in muffins

[changingplumbob]

From the kitchen there was the sound of loud popping followed by a heavy sigh.

Phoebus: Come in Glenn. I've disabled the barrier

Glenn: How did-

Miranda: You're not exactly quiet

Glenn swallowed nervously and walked in to the kitchen where the old spellcaster was sitting down at the table.

Glenn: Miranda said you didn't want to be disturbed

Phoebus: That was then, this is now

A bunch of comments ran through Glenn's mind. He wasn't sure which one to latch on to first.

Phoebus: You're back

Glenn: For now. Your offer to join the coven was nice but, I really don't know if it's for me. I know grandfather is happy enough here, and I really appreciate the offer-

Phoebus: Will you let me make a suggestion?

Glenn: Could I stop you

Phoebus: *chuckles* Probably not. But stay here a while, meet the others properly, grow your skills. You'll be safer out there on you own if you take some time to master your craft

Glenn: Sounds like you care

Phoebus: The reason I was against you going for that bachelor challenge was nothing to do with you. It's dangerous still for us to announce our presence and there you were wanting to broadcast your powers

Glenn: I never showed them on the show

Phoebus: But you talked about your spellcaster ancestry

Glenn: Well yeah, I'm proud of it

Phoebus: As you should be. I'm old and times are changing, a lot of the human youth are not against occults as much as they were in decades past. But the dangerous ones are still out there. I have some of the most unique magic talents under my charge, I want them safe

Glenn: I didn't out the coven Phoebus

Phoebus: I know, and I'm grateful for that. I want everyone safe, you included. So for the time being, stay.

Glenn: I'll give it a try. Oh, ah, me and grandfather made a blueberry pie for you

Phoebus: For me? Oh I'd never dream of eating alone in front of a glutton. Call in Miranda and Gillian and we'll dish up a slice

He did and Phoebus got them all a slice, heating it up slightly before serving. Glenn wanted to appear polite but with food right in front of him he couldn't resist digging in with fervor.

Phoebus: If you could check in with Henri, Drusilla and Harmony? I'm sure they'll have ideas of some specific tasks you could do to sharpen up

Glenn: Are they like, your deputies

Phoebus: No but they are the most experienced coven members with practical, mischief and untamed magic

Gillian: Glenn could you get some flowers to plant around the place? Pockets would love some shrubs to hide in

Miranda: Manners

Gillian: Oh, please?

Glenn: Since I get the feeling I'm going to get a lot of demands, what's one extra request. I'll add it to my list

Previous ... Next

[gardeningforfun0714]

Hi everyone I’m sorry I haven’t updated as much as I planned, but I thought I’d share pics of how everything’s going in my garden (6/23/24)

The tomatoes have exploded and there’s lots of flowers. I’m hoping it’s not too hot and we actually get fruit this year (last year got so hot our tomatoes didn’t even flower during the normal growing season).

Next is the corn, which are also doing really well. It’s the sweet corn variety. Funny story, I planted the corn seeds without knowing you kind of need a lot to get a good crop because it’s wind pollinated. However, we have about 10 mature stalks and I’m hoping to get at least a small harvest. A few of the stalks are taller than me (5’3”/160cm) and one of the ears growing already has silk growing out of the ear.

Next are the cucumbers. One of the plants has a few eggs on the bottoms of the leaves so I used some Sevin dust. I’m hesitant to use neem oil because I’ve noticed lots of ladybugs in the garden and don’t wanna kill them.

The carrots are doing well after being transplanted. Unfortunately I don’t remember when I started the seeds so I’m not sure if they should be farther along by now (I believe I planted around late April/early May—late for seeds I know but I’ve got a long growing season and few frosts).

The various fruit trees/bushes/shrubs are doing well. Pictured are a thorny blackberry vine, an olive tree, a papaya tree, and a babcock peach tree. Everything is doing amazing. The blackberry is producing, the 4 peaches are growing and changing color while the olive, fig and papaya have been putting in some major growth/establishing.

Last is the melon patch. It’s also exploded and there are so many watermelons throughout the whole patch of varying sizes from bb-sized to the one pictured with my hand. I didn’t see any cantaloupe yet, but there’s lots of flowers. I haven’t actually gone into the patch due to how crowded it is (I’m hoping if we do get some we’d be able to see them when they get big enough). I’m estimating we have between 12-15 watermelon at least so far.

However, not everything is doing so well. The rabbits have been so destructive, they killed my producing pole bean, the peppers I transplanted into the ground and most of the radishes, leaving 2 left for us (I did start new seeds though because radishes are some of the quickest vegetables you can grow from seed to harvest).

For things I didn’t cover like the grapes, blueberries, raspberries, guava trees, the apple tree, the lemon tree, various flowers, onions, potatoes, and pineapples, they are all doing good as well. I also wanna add that I did start new bush beans/pole beans as well as various kinds of peppers (jalapeños, hot salsa blend peppers, golden bell peppers) in containers to make up for the ones that got chewed. Hopefully those will make a nice fall harvest. The potatoes are almost ready to be harvested and the blueberries and raspberries have had berries ripen one at a time due to how small they are (this is the first year for berries).

As for other things I have planned, I have a few art pieces I’d like to post if that’s something y’all are interested in. I also would love to talk about my experience with gardening and mental health but any and all posts related to that will be labeled with appropriate trigger warnings.

Thanks for all the support with likes/reblogs. Feel free to come lurk, talk, vent, ask, whatever. I just wanna inspire others that think they cannot grow things that they can. If you’d like to talk I mostly would like to talk about gardening/plants/mental health and how it impacts us as humans.

Happy growing🌱🌿💙

[shingekinomyfeelings]

A new mushroom I've never seen before!

It's very small and tucked beneath a blueberry shrub. A lichen maybe?

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Saturday 17 December 2022

The Vaccinium glaucoalbum (bilberry, grey-white blueberry, Himalayan huckleberry) was covered with black berries covered in a white-bloomed, these are edible but with a tart flavour. This is a spreading evergreen shrub that is ideal for a woodland garden with an acidic soil.

Jill Raggett

[vinosities]

"My house was on the side of a hill, immediately on the edge of the larger wood, in the midst of a young forest of pitch pines and hickories, and half a dozen rods from the pond, to which a narrow footpath led down the hill. In my front yard grew the strawberry, blackberry, and life-everlasting, johnswort and goldenrod, shrub oaks and sand cherry, blueberry and groundnut. Near the end of May, the sand cherry adorned the sides of the path with its delicate flowers arranged in umbels cylindrically about its short stems, which last, in the fall, weighed down with good-sized and handsome cherries, fell over in wreaths like rays on every side. I tasted them out of compliment to Nature, though they were scarcely palatable. The sumach grew luxuriantly about the house, pushing up through the embankment which I had made, and growing five or six feet the first season. Its broad pinnate tropical leaf was pleasant though strange to look on. The large buds, suddenly pushing out late in the spring from dry sticks which had seemed to be dead, developed themselves as by magic into graceful green and tender boughs, an inch in diameter, and sometimes, as I sat at my window, so heedlessly did they grow and tax their weak joints, I heard a fresh and tender bough suddenly fall like a fan to the ground, when there was not a breath of air stirring, broken off by its own weight. In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue and by their weight again bent down and broke the tender limbs."

— Henry David Thoreau, Walden Pond