We Have Put Down New Roots
Greetings, Friends
It's been a while, and since our last update we have left Texas and are rooting into our new home in Western North Carolina.
I am only now finding the perspective to share my experience of this big move, now that we've come through it.
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The last few months in Austin were bittersweet. I was swimming in nostalgia, deeply in love with the life we were living, all the while watching it dissolve around me. The stresses and details of the move weighed heavily in the unknown, and it took all we had to lead with trust. My daily mantra was: "Step by step, one day and one task at a time. I trust You to guide our way home."
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At the same time that our beautiful life in Austin was dissolving, the romanticized notion of what we were moving toward in Western North Carolina was dissolving into the reality of what we are living into. I recognized the emotions as a flavor of grief and have tried to move through them with tenderness.
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We made the leap in mid-June with the help of our dear friends—a whole lot of them—helping us pack up, taking things off our hands, and keeping us in good cheer with their company and support.
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One of my favorite details of this move is that a dear friend of Michael's bought our home. This is the home where Xander was born, and it holds many of our sweetest moments and memories of Austin. My children are especially happy that we will be able to return for visits, and we are all at ease knowing it will continue to be loved and stewarded beyond our time there.
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Coming Home​​
I can say with complete honesty that the reality of our home life here in North Carolina is better than we could have imagined. Phew.
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As I write this, I am looking out my window at the misty morning on Rebels Creek Road. The trees are respirating clouds that rise from the mountains across the street. We are living in a little 1940s house hugged by a giant mimosa tree, fully in bloom. There are four hummingbirds chasing each other around the blossoms, darting in and out with funny chirps and pushy whizzing sounds.
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There are little blue birds, yellow-winged ones, cardinals, wrens, and sparrows. Oh, and the tiniest woodpeckers I've ever seen—I know they must have a different name, but I don't know them yet.
Maybe eight cars drive by our home on any given day, and I'm turning into that lady on the porch who waves and calls all the neighbors by name as they come through. We see zero airplanes, and there is little to no cell service up here, so the level of static in the air is almost none.
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Instead, we hear the sounds of a million bees and bird songs. Seriously, y'all, the native bees up here are plentiful, and their hum carries us along through our tasks. At night, we trade bees humming for frog songs. There are tree frogs, creek frogs, and pond frogs, and at times it is legitimately loud.
The Plants Welcomed Me Home
Before moving to this home, I had only seen it during the winter months and had NO idea that we would arrive to prolific gardens teeming with medicine and beautiful soil ready to grow food.
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I arrived for the first time at 2 a.m. (I flew with our cat and got here first) and awoke the next morning to birdsong and a rainbow of blooms. I wept as I realized the plants were welcoming me home.
Thyme, lavender, echinacea, yarrow, spearmint, Monarda fistulosa, Monarda didyma, antique roses, lemon balm, flame acanthus, iris, these very flashy lilies and others smiling up at the morning sun.
On day two, I worked the soil and planted seeds of arugula, collards, and okra, along with tomato and basil starts. A friend brought me Tulsi starts from her garden, knowing it was my favorite. The rains came and they are coming along.
Cocoon Season
I have felt cocooned these past few months, taking in very little outside stimulus like social media and news. I have kept my focus on regulating my nervous system, supporting my children, going on long jaunts with the dogs, and soaking up the sweetness with Michael.
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We have dear friends here already and have even had visits from Austinites! I have joked that for the last two years I've been telling y'all to visit us and then we move—and apparently, you were listening.
The invitation still stands. Come take a jaunt through Green Song Farm and share tea and a meal if you find yourself in the area.
Green Song Farm
I've shared about our sweet home, but y'all... Green Song Farm is just across the street, and it is something to behold. We are eating our weight in blackberries daily and harvested peaches yesterday that I plan to turn into a cobbler.
Our project team is made up of seven adults and our two kiddos, and we are meeting and working on projects nearly every day. I just ordered bulk seeds to nourish the soil—Red Clover, Daikon Radish, and Oats—which we'll turn in over the next month as we begin looking toward Fall and the coming year.
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Other seeds headed our way include Echinacea, Wild Arugula, Cilantro, Calendula, Hopi Red Dye Amaranth, and Borage, to name a few.
I also came into some American Ginseng and Goldenseal seeds that I plan to cultivate on our north- and east-facing slopes, should they want to grow there. We can touch back on that seven years from now...
Upcoming Offerings & Gatherings
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I am excited to share that I will be facilitating a Permaculture Design Course this fall with Austin Permaculture Guild. Our project team will be participating in the course, and we will share our process during the design project portion. You can find more details here.
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Jacqui with Sacred Seed Botanicals is offering a Plant Ally Circle beginning in September. She will also be posting Community Herbalism Days soon, and I will absolutely let y'all know when those are announced.
It feels good to reach out and catch up with you all after these many months. Thank you for walking alongside our family and Mutable Earth Botanicals through the seasons of growth, change, and all of the unknowns in between. Your support, encouragement, and presence mean more than you know.
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Please stay in touch and keep up with us here. I will continue sharing our creative endeavors, the happenings at Green Song Farm, and opportunities to connect—in the food forest in ATX and out here in Western North Carolina.
Until next time, may we all be guided home, step by step.
With gratitude,
Caroline
