Happenings...

This is the time of year I like to start slowing down. This year, we have so much going on it has been a challenge! We are wrapping up a lot of things before taking down time for the last few weeks of the year. 
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I thought I would share some of the big things happening this fall and winter. 
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1. I recently spoke with Bevin Clare on the Mountain Rose Herbs Meet the Herbalist podcast and the podcast is now live. Take a listen here. 
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2. Speaking of Bevin, I am now transitioning to the Chair of the American Herbalists Guild as Bevin finishes her long tenure in that role and transitions to non-officer Board role. Bevin has been a wonderful mentor and supporter in this transition, and I wish her the best. I am so happy to serve the AHG in this role.   Read more about this here. 

3. I am also excited to say that I submitted my final presentation and video for my dual Permaculture and Advanced Social Systems Design Certificate (PDC) course, and will be transitioning now into more education, and teaching more on permaculture systems, social systems, and mutual aid work. Want to check out my final presentation video and PDF? It is live on the Permaculture Women's Guild page here. ​

4. We are having a full house solar system installed. The solar installation has been happening on cold autumn days over the past few weeks, and we are in the last stretch just awaiting 2 final panels being installed when the electrician connects us to the grid. We have 32 panels on both south and east facing rooflines. The system is an 11.85 Kilowatt system with battery storage and switch so that we utilize solar energy when it is sunny, draw from the grid when it is not, and can continue to operate even with power grid is down. This will average out over the course of the year to provide us with 100% of our power needs. ​We are so happy to reduce our reliance on the grid, produce our own energy, and have systems that will keep working if the power goes out. This is a part of our goal of reducing waste and reducing our reliance on the grid, that I outline in my permaculture plan, and I am so thrilled this is coming to fruition a few years before we thought we could do this. 

5. Just as I thought I would like to start teaching more about social systems design, community supported herbalism models, and accessible herbalism, a few opportunities have come up, so I am working on a class outline, which I am happy about. I will be doing a deeper dive into how I can best teach this over the holidays. This all aligns with my goals of teaching more moving forward, so things are all falling into place. 

​We have had a lot of big health needs happening around here, so we have been taking time to be outside, bake and make, have quiet evening time, and enjoy the season. Self-care is one of the hardest things for activists and people working in community models. There is always another person or community needing support, there is always another fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. There are always more people in need. With that, it is hard to not feel guilty or selfish about taking time for our own health needs and self care when there is so much need every single moment.  And, with climate change, all of this is happening back to back to back without a break or any reprieve. The saying you must put on your own oxygen mask first always seemed trite, but we must be strong and resilient to continue to do this work, and self-care is a part of that.

The point is that I am learning that it is important to take care of myself as well, because to do this community service work requires endurance and stamina  for the long haul. So, teaching, family time, and also modeling self care and life balance in this model is a part of my own goals for 2022! 

I can't wait to share more of the Lunar Hollow plans for 2022, including a lot of the outlines and work we have in our permaculture plan for 2022, our new water systems, plantings, outdoor classroom plans, and more! 

​In health and gratitude,
​~denise