The Golden Month

beginning another Year Of Small Changes

Photo by Isabella Fischer on Unsplash

I have a very witchy basket.

The basket is one I wove myself as a child in a homeschool co-op class, shaped vaguely like a figure-8, pale wood in color with a faded stripe of dark blue. With it over my arm I am not just a woman, I am a wildcrafter. A gatherer of good and beautiful things. Such is the power that this basket possesses.

In the basket is late summer.

With the basket over my arm I wade into the deepest and wildest areas of our yard, the ones left alone all year to grow as they please. The first patch is a tangle of grass and asters spiked through with now fading iron weed and Queen Anne’s lace. Here and there, clumps of goldenrod wave their airy heads above the rest, taller than anything else growing excepting the iron weed. Those feathery golden blooms are the reason I am here, breasting the waves of green and brown (literally—it’s that deep), ignoring the scratch of drying grass on my mosquito bite riddled legs and the whine of more pests circling my exposed skin. Kitchen scissors in hand I choose my blooms carefully, taking those that are only mostly flowered but still have some buds, that don’t have an insect nest in them or too many bugs feeding in them. Goldenrod relies solely on pollinators: it’s pollen is not airborne (which means it is not an allergen despite its reputation), so it is constantly buzzing with a wide variety of volunteer gardeners. I see bees, wasps, a caterpillar, and every size and color of flying beetles and bugs found in our area. Goldenrod spreads through root offshoots, which is why it grows in clumps and never alone. Like little families of flowers. I snip a bloom here, and another over there, never too many from any one clump, but steadily my basket fills with autumn sunshine.

This is a thing I have never done before. All my years learning the names of plants and flowers and trees, and I have seldom bothered to learn the use of them. My favorite fall flower is not only beautiful as sunlight through changing leaves, but also the perfect remedy for seasonal allergies and colds¹. It is also wonderfully healing for the skin, and dried and powdered goldenrod applied in a poultice can speed up the recovery of slow-healing wounds² (in fact, a folk name for goldenrod is wound weed, and the Latin name, solidago, means “to make whole”³). Goldenrod is also used for kidney and urinary tract health and to treat UTIs⁴. According to respected Wise Woman, Susun Weed, goldenrod vinegar can be used to prevent kidney stones, improve mineral balance, and increase immune function; while goldenrod tincture can treat prostate problems and frequent urination. In Germany, goldenrod has been officially approved for the treatment of urinary and bladder inflammations. Goldenrod is a particularly powerful antioxidant, is anti-inflammatory, and has been known in the past as Liberty Tea because the post-Boston Tea Party colonists turned to goldenrod as a replacement for British imported black tea as the popular drink. While all of the nearly 100 species of goldenrod found worldwide can be used medicinally, those with allergies to plants in the daisy family should use caution when trying it as they are related. And, of course, always be cautious when harvesting goldenrod, as some species of ragweed look very similar and are deadly poisonous⁵. Amazing. I look at the flowers in my basket like an old friend I am seeing for the first time.

Magically, goldenrod is associated with the sun and energy, prosperity, good fortune, protection, and can be used for divination. For me, right now, it is a way to get outside and reconnect. And remember. As I go from patch to patch, I am reminded that my Year Of Small Changes has already ended. Last month, actually. I should have written about it then. I probably should do some kind of recap of the year, the changes that I have made, the things I still need to work on. Instead, I am harvesting goldenrod. It is the first day back to our homeschool co-op, an intense day of classes for the girls and me, now over, and I am outside picking flowers. Not crashed on the couch, wondering how I’m going to summon the energy to reheat leftovers for dinner. I have so much more energy this year. I slept last night, slept soundly, even after an emotional conversation with my husband that resulted in a too-late night. I woke up an hour earlier than I did last year, checked on a sick cat, packed us lunches, drove nearly three hours round trip, assisted in three intense classes, helped clean, shopped for produce…and I’m still on my feet. I could not have done that last year. I could not have canned applesauce or tomatoes on my own last year. I would not have been able to grow herbs for tea and dry them, or research and harvest wild plants. I am less stressed, calmer, more flexible (thank you, yoga). And I don’t want to write about any of it because I feel like I failed. Apparently, living “my best life, now” really meant I just wanted to be thinner. Sigh. That’s so embarrassing to admit. I haven’t managed to do “at least 15 minutes of yoga every day.” My sleep schedule is not what I would like it to be, and I don’t often get time alone on the weekends. I still struggle with being enough, with loving myself as I was and as I am, with staying in the magic of the moment, with balance…One by one I reread the articles from the beginning of each month (they all sound so good…I wish I could write like that…). Those were good intentions, all of them. I so wanted to be healthier, happier, to feel more myself. And I failed.

Or, did I?

Last August, at the beginning of this challenge, I wrote:

I’ll do it because I can imagine myself, a year from now, living my best life no matter what circumstances I find myself in. I can imagine a freer, more vibrant version of me, someone who laughs and cries a whole lot more easily, with other people and alone. I can imagine myself moving through life with grace and purpose, like a goddamn cheetah.

And here I am, a year later, moving through a small meadow in the middle of our yard with grace and purpose (or, at least, purpose). I have made changes every month, day by day, even if those were not always the changes I meant to make. I have better tools than I did then, better coping strategies for the hard days, and, above all, I talk to myself more kindly. Also, I have learned how to turn herbs and wild plants into medicinal teas, like the Wise Woman I grew up pretending to be with my witchy basket on my arm. This weekend the goldenrod I harvested will become vinegar and tincture and tea, put by for the cold season coming soon. I have entered another Year Of Small Changes…and maybe some big ones, carrying with me the light of summer and all the lessons I have gleaned along the way. And here is my invention for the year: solidago, to make whole.

1. Blankespoor, Juliet. “Goldenrod Tincture:
A Sinus Formula for Allergies, Colds, and Flu.” Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. August 15, 2023. https://chestnutherbs.com/goldenrod-tincture-a-sinus-formula-for-allergies-colds-and-flu/ Accessed: September 6, 2023.

2. Weed, Susun. “Glorious Goldenrod.” Wise Woman Ezine with Susun Weed. February, 2008. http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/February08/healingwise.htm Accessed: September 6, 2023.

3. Onacki, Donna. “Health Benefits of Goldenrod (+Tea Recipe).” The Herbal Academy. September 3, 2013. https://theherbalacademy.com/health-benefits-of-goldenrod/ Accessed: September 6, 2023.

4. McCulloch, Marsha. “Goldenrod: Benefits, Dosage, and Precautions.” Healthline. April 4, 2019. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/goldenrod Accessed: September 6, 2023.

5. Blankespoor, Juliet. “Goldenrod Benefits: The Bee’s Knees for Allergies, Sinus Infections, and Urinary Tract Infections.” Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. August 18, 2023. https://chestnutherbs.com/goldenrod-flower/ Accessed: September 6, 2023.