Season of the witch (s1e09)
It's the herb episode, and we're getting eerie with it. Discover why gathering herbs feels so witchy, what chants mom intones when harvesting lavender, and a recipe to one of my favorite potions.
Want to see pics from the garden? Instagram: @freshclippings
Show art by Alison McKenzie
Production guidance from Evan Roberts
Special thanks to Jeremy Bloom
Episode music from Blue Dot Sessions:
Our Son the Potter (Love and Weasel)
Pigpaddle Creek (Sour Mash)
Bossa Boa (High Horse)
Gamboler (Pglet)
Frank and Poet (Reflections)
Transcript
The sun has set.
Speaker:We've got about half an hour until dusk.
Speaker:The sky is glowing outside.
Speaker:I can see it out the window.
Speaker:It's the perfect time to get witchy.
Speaker:We're gonna be gathering herbs from my garden.
Speaker:I've got a big metal kitchen bowl.
Speaker:I'm gonna fill this up with all kinds of goodies.
Speaker:So Let's get outside.
Speaker:The moon is this wicked little Crescent up in the sky.
Speaker:The light is just so that everything seems to actually glow
Speaker:a little bit more than usual.
Speaker:even brighter than during daylight.
Speaker:It's one of my favorite times to be outside and the cats agree.
Speaker:They both came along.
Speaker:Let's get some tools and let's get into it.
Speaker:So what's this whole witchy thing.
Speaker:It's not just a vibe.
Speaker:I promise there's a reason.
Speaker:Waiting to gather your herbs until it gets darker or it's not in the full
Speaker:light of day is kind of important because when you harvest any herbs,
Speaker:you're just cutting a plant open.
Speaker:You're actually creating wounds in the plant long term.
Speaker:It's not bad for a plant.
Speaker:In fact, getting herbs harvested can help plants grow more fully and healthy.
Speaker:So harvesting herbs is great to do.
Speaker:, but if it's hot, like it is right now, and it has been
Speaker:pretty hot up here in Portland.
Speaker:You don't wanna do it during the middle of the day because, um, the
Speaker:sun can damage the plants more, or the plants might divert water
Speaker:to try and heal up the wounds.
Speaker:And so it puts a stress on their system.
Speaker:So it's just recommended for the health of the plant that you gather your herbs,
Speaker:not in the full light a day, therefore.
Speaker:it makes gathering herbs even just a little bit more witchy.
Speaker:I always feel like gathering herbs is kind of fun and sort of old school,
Speaker:black magic, like gathering your ingredients or your, for your potion.
Speaker:So I go on that trip myself.
Speaker:When I gather herbs, you don't have to, but it makes sense why folk lore would
Speaker:have, uh, women out there gathering under the light of a full moon.
Speaker:Maybe it's the rhythm of the full moon.
Speaker:Maybe it's just that it's super convenient that it's light or as
Speaker:bright as it can be at night when they're looking for herbs in the woods.
Speaker:Um, but either way, I think there's some wisdom in that folklore
Speaker:and I try and stick with that
Speaker:in keeping with our theme.
Speaker:I'm gonna be gathering some of my witchiest herbs.
Speaker:I have a little bit of a kitchen garden going on by our garage and in it, I
Speaker:have stuff that's fairly run to the mill and more savory I've got time Reno.
Speaker:Um, but I also have some stuff that I've started planting that
Speaker:I use in something I call patio.
Speaker:And patio T is a great way for me to brand for my husband and for guests.
Speaker:Something that sounds intentional, but is largely accidental.
Speaker:I just kind of gather together all the herbs that I think are gonna
Speaker:be cool to put in tea during the winter I grow 'em all together.
Speaker:I dry them.
Speaker:store them together in a bag.
Speaker:And then that sort of mishmash of whatever grew that season is what I call patio.
Speaker:it's a very romantic way to talk about something in the winter, especially when
Speaker:you don't have that much patio time.
Speaker:The main ingredients in my patio tea are obviously mint.
Speaker:I just love mint.
Speaker:It's great for digestion, but this year I've been playing
Speaker:with some additional things.
Speaker:I started growing borage and skull cap.
Speaker:I think they're really cool ingredients.
Speaker:I'm excited to put them into the tea.
Speaker:Let's get the borage plant first and I'll tell you more about it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So we're at this borage plant and it is kind of cool looking a little gnarly.
Speaker:It's got hairs all over.
Speaker:It's got these really droopy flowers and these kind of wrinkly leaves.
Speaker:Uh, it has a little bit of a Dr.
Speaker:Sues vibe to.
Speaker:um, but that's not the reason I chose it, although it does fit
Speaker:with my overall theme for the back.
Speaker:Um, it first off is a nitrogen fixer, which is great because that means
Speaker:that it's actually taking nitrogen out of the end, putting it into
Speaker:the soil who cares plants care.
Speaker:nitrogen is an element in most fertil.
Speaker:But when you have plans that are nitrogen fixers in the mix, that
Speaker:means that they're enriching the soil without you having to add chemicals
Speaker:in terms of its usage as an.
Speaker:borage is lovely because it helps with relaxation and helps with
Speaker:digestion and its sleeves and its flowers all have a really lovely
Speaker:kind of cucumbery taste to it.
Speaker:So once I dry them, I think they'll be a great ingredient along with mint in a,
Speaker:as with any pruning.
Speaker:When you're harvesting herbs, you wanna make sure that you're cutting just
Speaker:right above other growth on the plant.
Speaker:What that does is that gives the plant somewhere to grow
Speaker:from wherever you've cut it.
Speaker:This Boge plant is also prolific.
Speaker:It has been growing like crazy.
Speaker:So I really need to kind of cut it back a little.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I think we've got enough borage.
Speaker:That bowl is almost full and.
Speaker:As I was cutting, I ran into a cute little spider and I didn't want
Speaker:to destroy his home completely.
Speaker:So in the spirit of our episode, we'll leave him where he is onto the next herb.
Speaker:Next up we're harvesting skullcap.
Speaker:I actually, until this season thought skullcap was a mushroom
Speaker:and then I saw it in a nursery and was like, oh, that's cool.
Speaker:My experience with it had been with tea.
Speaker:It doesn't have much of a flavor, but it has very relaxing.
Speaker:Is it's really leafy it, honestly, if you were just gonna think of like
Speaker:a plant, that's what it looks like.
Speaker:It's got fairly normal shaped leaves.
Speaker:They branch out, they have tiny little flowers, but it's also good for digestion.
Speaker:It's not a coincidence that a lot of times when you're reading about
Speaker:verbs, That herbs that are good for digestion are also good for relaxation.
Speaker:I'm not an expert, but from what I understand,
Speaker:our digestion and our anxiety are actually very, very closely connected.
Speaker:your brain and your gut are deeply connected by a lot
Speaker:of nervous system stuff.
Speaker:And that's why, even if you think about things, sometimes
Speaker:people say you had a gut feeling.
Speaker:It's because there's so much nerve activity in your stomach, but some
Speaker:people call it the second brain.
Speaker:So when your mind is overactive, your stomach can be and vice.
Speaker:Yeah, it kind of has a little bit of a, a little bit of a minty smell to it.
Topher:Hey there.
Mom:Morning, can you hear me?
Topher:So I caught you in the middle of some plant chores.
Mom:Yes.
Mom:Yeah.
Mom:I, um, I give my plants a shower.
Topher:mm-hmm
Mom:yeah, I think it's, uh, really good.
Mom:I, I live in a dusty environment, so I like to.
Mom:Give them a shower so that I can clear all the dust off and they can
Mom:breathe better and they look prettier.
Mom:Yeah.
Topher:Exfoliate the pores a little bit.
Mom:I'm in a Neme again today.
Mom:Pour my plants.
Mom:Oh my Rosemary.
Mom:Which I decimated, well, the cats away, the mice will play it all.
Mom:Oh,
Topher:from your time out here.
Topher:Yeah.
Mom:I think all the spider mices in the entire, uh, Willow
Mom:bend said, Hey, she's gone.
Mom:Come on over.
Mom:You know, so.
Mom:anyway, what's our topic today for you going
Topher:a reveal?
Topher:No, it's, uh, it's interesting that we were talking about Rosemary.
Topher:This week.
Topher:We're actually talking about herbs.
Topher:Um, What are, what are some of your favorite herbs to
Mom:grow?
Mom:I'm an herb enjoyer, I guess I would have to say herb appreciator.
Mom:Herb appreciator.
Mom:Yeah.
Mom:Um, man, one of my favorites, of course, besides has to have
Mom:basil at least one type of.
Mom:And the bagels and the mint are always out there.
Mom:The parsley regenerate, you know, every couple of years have to renew.
Mom:Lavender is always growing and flourishing.
Mom:It's I'm now catching my fourth lavender flower harvest, um, of this summer.
Topher:Oh, that's awesome.
Topher:How do you keep your lavender?
Topher:Blooming.
Topher:Well,
Topher:, Mom: it's a little, it's one of
Topher:my cup of tea and I listen to music and I pull up a little chair.
Topher:So I'm at the right Heights to clip my lavender and I clip right above
Topher:where, um, you have the lavender blocks on and then the stem goes
Topher:down and then you have these.
Topher:Leads come out and new lavender is spreading from
Topher:there, new lavender flowers.
Topher:So I judiciously cut, um, above those new ones.
Topher:So I always have lavender flowers.
Topher:You've got quite a ritual going well,
Mom:I know it, but it's so enjoyable.
Topher:Um, is it, what are you, uh, what are you listening to?
Topher:Is it Fleetwood Mac?
Mom:I have been listening to, um, kind of pop, uh, it's a Spotify kind of thing.
Mom:And it's playing a lot of, uh, lady Gaga and Syrian, you know, stuff like that.
Topher:Oh yeah.
Topher:What, what lady Gaga do you listen to?
Mom:Well, it's whatever Spotify deems I should listen to
Mom:while I'm putting my lavender.
Mom:Um, so it's just been a, a mix of stuff.
Mom:And then I go to my road trip mix.
Mom:Then I made up of music from like this 70 and eighties, and, you know, a lot
Mom:of CCR and different things like that.
Mom:So I, I go between the.
Mom:. What do you do with your lavender?
Mom:Oh, the lavender I make sachet.
Mom:So, um, I'm always like right now on my calendar, I have a little basket of the.
Mom:Of the flowers that I picked a few days ago put them in bunches and hang
Mom:them upside down in a dark closet, you know, but then I put him in a
Mom:big bowl and then I just kind of.
Mom:Slap 'em, against the side of the bowl and all of those
Mom:beautiful little buds fall out.
Mom:And then I make SAS, or I put 'em in tiny, cute little jars and
Mom:give them to my friends to use.
Topher:Nice.
Topher:How often do you refresh your Sache is like, is that kind of like
Mom:yearly Finn
Topher:agrees.
Topher:Yeah.
Mom:he was like, totally do that.
Topher:I mean every year.
Topher:Yeah.
Topher:Every year.
Topher:Okay.
Topher:Last herb for the evening, completing the trifecta of our witchy herbs is catnip.
Topher:You gotta have some herbs for your cat familiars.
Topher:So I believe there are herbal uses for catnap, for humans.
Topher:I'll be honest.
Topher:I don't know them.
Topher:I grow this exclusively because Agnes absolutely loves it
Topher:weirdly enough.
Topher:Um, only about a third of cats actually respond to catnip.
Topher:One third of cats don't care about catnip.
Topher:One third of cats like it, but can do without it.
Topher:And then the other third freak out, an Agnes is a cat feed.
Topher:She can't get enough.
Topher:Catnip is a member of the mint family, thes family.
Topher:So like any mint, don't plant it next to anything delicate or small
Topher:that you don't want it to take over.
Topher:That little sneeze was Agnes putting her face in the catnip.
Topher:Now she has to wait about 30 seconds until it really kicks in.
Topher:And then she's gonna be wilding out
Topher:like any other mint.
Topher:You wanna chop it?
Topher:If you see it growing flowers, because that means it's not gonna
Topher:be putting energy into its leaves.
Topher:It's gonna be putting energy into making seeds
Topher:and you want it's leaves so that your cat can go on a hallucinatory trip.
Topher:Yeah.
Topher:Ane.
Topher:Yeah, it's starting to kick in.
Topher:Her eyes are looking wider.
Topher:That's her, that's her on the mic.
Topher:She starts to get really affectionate.
Topher:Yeah.
Topher:Hi.
Topher:Yeah.
Topher:We're all friends now.
Topher:Yeah.
Topher:This is the first stage.
Topher:. The second stage is her chasing imaginary prey.
Topher:And then kind of rolling around in the live cat net.
Topher:She really gives into the full experience.
Topher:Oh.
Topher:So I've got three full kitchen bowls with really vigorous looking herbs.
Topher:What do I need to do before I can put them into a potion?
Topher:Well, my go-to is just hanging drying.
Topher:It's really simple.
Topher:You can do it in a basement or a closet or anywhere that isn't with direct.
Topher:And you want it to be relatively dry.
Topher:An easy thing to do is just to make them into little bundles, put a rubber bound
Topher:around the end of the bundle loop, a twisty tie through there, and then you
Topher:can arrange the bundles on a hanger and put it in a closet, or you can put them.
Topher:Really anywhere that you can wrap a twisty tie around.
Topher:It's really simple.
Topher:Um, and around this time, every year, my closets and my basements start to look
Topher:kind of frontiery, but I really like it.
Topher:It also smells great as they dry.
Topher:So with the moon turning more yellow and the crickets chirping and an
Topher:eerie breeze beginning to blow through my neighbor's apple trees.
Topher:I think we can call this evening of Witchery a success.
Topher:If you're curious to.
Topher:What the little bundles of herbs look like as I hang dry them,
Topher:I'll post a few on Instagram.
Topher:We are fresh clippings.
Topher:Do you have a witchy friend who likes to play with potions or just make tea?
Topher:Send the show to them.
Topher:Thanks so much for joining us on plant time.
Topher:This is Topher for clippings and we'll see you in the garden.
