Thank you to everyone who came out and made this day so special! 🐇 We come together in community to celebrate the Divine, which is found within ourselves, throughout the world and within deity. Ritual and ceremony can help us to feel that connection, and help us to build spiritual bonds. These connections show us the Way. Singing while Brennah plays mandolin planting seeds merging of opposites ...
By Jean Cavanaugh(A Wild Plum from this past August) Another of the native shrubs we have planted at Crossing Hedgerows is the Wild Plum. At one time, native plums were one of the most established wild food crops of Native Americans. According to the book, Native Plant Agriculture, by Indigenous Plants, Native Plums are more energy dense than any domesticated fruit you'd find in the grocery store and is only rivaled by other wild fruits such as serviceberries, ...
Candlemas Brighid’s bright blessings were upon us yesterday during our celebration of Imbolc. The heartfelt participation by all who were present, made it a beautiful and memorable experience. As I have been taking a class on Song in Ritual from Danica Boyce, I look forward to continuing to add more singing to our rituals. Danica talks about how in the past, everyone sang all the time. Poetry would not have been spoken, ...
(Sumac Berries by Brennah Cavanaugh Photography LLC)It's been awhile since I have posted a native plant profile! All the plants I post about are ones that we have planted or are protecting on our land at Crossing Hedgerows.Most people are familiar with sumac, but don't realize how valuable it is. Because so many of our native thicket plants have disappeared to large swaths of farmland, it's another of the ones that we have encouraged on our land.The ...
These are some pictures taken early this morning just as the sun was coming up. It seems like winter is finally beginning to arrive at Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary and Farm. Yet we only have three weeks left until Imbolc which marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. But for now, the Cailleach is bringing her wisdom and beauty to the land and we stand in awe of her presence. ...
After the beautiful winter wonderland we had last week, everything melted all at once. So we’re once again left with lots and lots o’ water! 💦 It’s not as bad as the last flood though and I was able to get out for a nice slosh about this morning. Being snow melt, it feels much more cleansing this time, almost as if it is washing away the muck of the previous flood. I end at the bank ...
Walking around the stone circle, I show a close-up of the beautiful stones in the water. https://youtube.com/shorts/mEDFIsbfTVg
We had some beautiful sun today making the Swan Creek sparkle! And to update you on the bridge, a while back Dan went out to see what it would take to move it back in place and discovered one end of it had started to rot. (And it wasn’t even the end in the water!). So he and Brennah have come up with a design to build a new one, which they are planning on doing ...
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year from Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary! Photo by Jean: sunrise lighting up trees at Crossing Hedgerows Farm and Sanctuary - Taken on December 30th, 2023
We had a lovely ceremony last night, in which we entered the dreamtime with the Great Bear Spirit. There in the dark, we connected with our own dreams, before celebrating the return of the Light. Before the ceremony, each participant was given a juniper berry bundle, made from berries grown at Crossing Hedgerows. These were to help with the releasing of that which was ready to be released, to allow for new good things to enter our ...
Sunday, December 17th at 5pm Sunrise The Wheel of the Year is continuing to turn and we are quickly approaching the Winter Solstice. And with it come all the holidays which celebrate the renewal of the light that is found within and without during dark times. Though we know the sun will return in full strength, in the meantime, we remember that we are here in this world to experience both the darkness ...
Hi everyone, We are getting ready for you! Hope you can make it. 🎄 Sunday, December 17th at 5 pm I will be creating a Facebook event page soon, so if you’re on there, you can also keep an eye out for that. Happy December! Jean P. S. These are spruces we planted for a windbreak 8 years ago, with the intention of thinning them ...
As we come to the close of this year, I want to thank all who have supported our beautiful Sanctuary this year. Here are a few photos that Brennah took (and identified) recently at Crossing Hedgerows. Oftentimes the small and inconspicuous are overlooked and under appreciated, but what important roles they each play in the ecosystem. Wild geranium leaves Liverwort (probably fringed treewort) Bonfire moss Dandelion ...
Our hen, Peck, would like to show you a space that we’re in the process of preparing for gatherings. Go ahead and follow her down the path into the hoophouse. She’s waiting for you. Because the flood wiped out most everything we had planted in there, we decided it would be a good opportunity to reevaluate the best use of the space. So what we’ve decided is to use half of the hoophouse ...
As we begin the season of Samhain here at the Sanctuary, please enjoy a few photos of the land. We are so excited and grateful for all that is, and all that is to come. ✨
Moving forward with EGLEs requirements, yesterday we had a wetland specialist come out to do a survey, which will be part of what we will be submitting for the permit process. We are doing our best throughout this process to show EGLE that our intent is for land regeneration, as well as for giving opportunities for the public to experience and learn from the restored land. (EGLE is the State of Michigan's department of Environment, Great Lakes, ...
Now we have entered the season of the Yew tree - sentinel of death and the graveyard, rebirth and eternity. English Yew Tree This is likewise the Cailleach’s time. She brings us her wisdom as the old crone who presides over death. She is the storm, and the ancient creator of the land. She is the cold and the ice, the Queen of winter. The yew and the Cailleach are part ...
Recently I mentioned that we have been in the process of assessing where we're at with things at Crossing Hedgerows. This summer's flood was one of the reasons for that, with it putting us out of commission for quite some time. It is the worst flood we have had, and caused us to really look at the feasibility of our plans and the design we've been working towards for the land. Along with the flood, ...
Sunday, October 5th at 2:00 pm Hi all! Because we have had such a big disruption to our meet-ups, we decided to have an impromptu Chili and Bonfire Party instead! You are all invited to come out for a Sunday Social with your fellow CHS members! 🥳 Chili and dessert will be provided. You are welcome to bring any special drinks you would like. RSVP by the end of tomorrow with a comment here or ...
Though we have not used any of the nonprofit funds directly for this, I wanted to share with you that your support does indirectly provide assistance for the many cats that are regularly dropped off at the farm. We have a steady stream of them that we feed, and we find homes for as many as possible, because our local shelters are all full. Last night we found a mother cat and her kitten sheltering ...