December by Lacey Walker
image by Annie Spratt
The garden is sleeping now and so too can you. Your muscles are still supple and strong from digging fall roots but you can lay them down for a moment. The nights have become long and the sky has become dark. Go to your herbal stores and bring together a mix of herbs that speak to the long year of harvests you have made. Blend these herbs together into a bath and soak in the knowing that another year is coming, but for now you can rest.
From the Spring pull Nettles. In the cold of winter Nettles does not sleep but lays in wait for the warmth of spring. Just below the debris of their standing stalks you’ll find the tiny leaves of Nettle in wait. Nettles is our first herb of the season bringing chlorophyll and vegetal salts and building the bones and blood for movement. Give your cares to Nettle in this bath, let them stand guard in your place.
From the Summer pull Bee Balm. Vibrant, fiery, flamboyant Bee Balm. Their medicine invigorates and excites, pungent spice stimulating tension in the instant. And then just as quickly as they excite they relax. Like a balloon filled with air that is allowed to release and crumple. Give your tensions to Bee Balm in this bath, let them hold taught while you decompress.
From the Fall pull Lemongrass. Lemongrass is the revealer, growing steadfast and unassuming, looking just like many other grasses in our region. Brush against them though and your senses are activated, try to harvest them and your muscles may be tested by their tenacious roots. Lemongrass bides their time in the heat of the day, growing just as long as they can before the first frosts. Give Lemongrass your steadfast toil in this bath, let them sweep clean the earth while you give thanks.
From the Winter pull White Pine. Evergreen, ever present. The thin needles increase in Vitamin C in the winter, a response and a defense to the cold. In vinegar we enjoy them as a mustardy addition to our salad dressing, moving the lymph gently. In water the subtle oils of Pine grace our skin with lubrication, helping us slip into winter slumber. Give your wild movement to the swinging branches of the White Pine, let them weather winter winds while you borrow their stability and strength.
To achieve this bath you can brew a strong pot on the stove and then strain into warm bath water or a foot soak, or you can collect your herbs in a muslin bag and let them soak alongside you. Upon exiting your bath spend a moment oiling the skin with a salve or infused oil.”
Lacey Gean Walker is the herbal garden steward and educator at Fox Haven Farm and Learning Center. I highly recommend the delightful and informative Winter Dried Herb CSA. I am supremely grateful that the universal streams carried me to Lacey Gean. She is an amazing human devoted to sharing the wisdom and magic of plants with all peoples. Lacey has introduced me to herbs I’d never met, and makes learning accessible and fun. More than anything though, Lacey reminds me that it is in giving we receive. She’s a badass with a generous heart.
