Spring Foraging Recipes and an Equinox Offering
Spring equinox movement and meditation, my favourite spring ritual and some recipes encouraging us to eat more weeds!
The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the day of the spring equinox day and night are equal (just about), it’s a time that traditionally marks the beginning of spring. The natural world offerers us a reflection of our life cycles, and this balance of light and dark encourages us to find balance in other places in our lives be that our our inner and outer world, our logical versus intuitive mind or our yin and yang energies.
Celebrating Spring Equinox - Online Yoga and Meditation
Wednesday 20th March 8pm - 9pm
£10
Join me for an hour of movement and nature connection meditation as we find our inner and outer balance at this potent time of year. We’ll start with a explorative yang style balancing yoga practice followed by a slow and stead yin yoga sequence. We’ll bring the session to a close with a nature connection meditation.
My Favourite Spring Ritual
Yesterday I arrived home at twilight, as I meandered up the garden path to the cabin the soft enchanting light of that in between time brought to my attention a scattering of little yellow faces smiling up at me - primrose flowers. Every spring for the last four years or so, I have enjoyed a little ritual of picking and preserving a few of these bright yellow faces that whisper of spring sunshine to come. I crystallise them in a little egg white and sugar and use them to decorate cakes throughout the year. Once they’re dry, they last quite happily in an airtight container for months. (I even found some from a couple of years back that were still patiently waiting to adorn a cake).
As I write now, two plates of crystallised primroses are drying on my windowsill. Instead of faces, at the moment they look more like bejewelled pixie hats as they’re turned upside down to dry.
If you’d like to try some of your own, here’s how:
Adventure out and pick some primrose flowers, be mindful not to pick all the flowers from one plant, pick a couple and then move on to another.
Sort through your flowers and remove the green stem and the little green part that encases the base of the petals.
Crack an egg and separate the white from the yolk. Place the egg white in a little bowl. We won’t be needing the yolk, but you could use it to enrich a pasta sauce or your dog’s supper!
Partially fill another small bowl with some sugar (I’ve only every tried it with white caster sugar).
The more refined among us may use a paintbrush for this next part, but I find my fingers work just fine. Holding your primrose in one hand, dip your forefinger and thumb in the egg white. Gently spread the egg white over the petals (top and bottom). From here, place your flower in the sugar and gently shake the bowl to cover the petals in the sugar completely (I tend to put a few flowers in at once for this bit) - keep an eye out for any gaps and touch up as necessary.
Place your sugared flowers upside down on some baking paper and leave to dry completely before storing or decorating.
Eat Some Weeds - A Jar Full of Goodness
Spring tonic herbs (like (chickweed, dandelion, burdock, cleavers and nettle) are full of the enlivening goodness we crave after winter. Best of all wild garlic season is here! From spring tonic vinegar, flavoured butter, pesto, savoury scones, soup, homemade pasta, gnocchi, pickled wild garlic flower buds (my favourite - it’s a little early for this one, I’ll share the recipe in a couple of weeks) the list goes on! If you have a go to spring foraging recipe, share the love and leave a comment below.
Here are some of mine:
Wild Garlic, Cleaver and Nettle Pesto
Nettle Gnocchi with Crispy Sage Leaves
Wild Garlic and Smoked Cheddar Scones
Don’t Forget…
It’s not too late to sign up to our next Sunday Unwinding Club offering ‘Our Clay Nature’ which begins this Sunday 17th March 7:45pm.
It costs £35 which includes all sessions across the four week period.
What’s included:
(Please note there is no obligation to attend all the sessions offered. Our live Sunday and Wednesday session will be recorded for you to access in your own time.)
Four consecutive Sunday evenings over Zoom commencing 17th March from 7:45 pm - 8:30 pm plus a BONUS invitation to join our Radiating Heart sessions straight afterwards from 8:30pm - 8:45pm. A nourishing mix of yoga and self-inquiry delivered in four 45 minute sessions over four weeks. (Recording available)
Three consecutive Wednesday morning movement sessions on Zoom commencing 20th April from 06:30am - 7:15am. Enlivening yoga sessions to wake up your body so you can start your day off on the right foot. (Recording Available)
Daily live guided morning meditations Monday through Friday 07:15 am - 7: 30am via Free Conference Caller App. (I will send instructions on how to download and use this app, essentially all you’ll have to do is dial a number and input a passcode to enter the group call).
Online Sound Journey with Mia Macallister on our last Sunday session to integrate all of our learnings via Zoom.
You can find our more about it here.
Happy spring foraging to you all!
Love, Camille