To 'gather' is to connect

What do you use all my wee natural finds for?

Welcome to my wee corner of Substack. I am a seasonal artist living on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland. I am the custodian of approximately two acres of land that includes a woodland, a meadow and my wee garden. I offer a seasonal book arts project for paid subscribers if you are interested and you can read more about that HERE. Grab a cuppa and lets delve into our relationship with the shifting seasons…..

‘What do you use all my wee natural finds for?’ This is a very common question in my world as I gather from the natural world most days. You would be forgiven for thinking I am drowning under the weight of all my natural finds but not a bit of it. I use evertyhing I gather and, over the years, I have extended my wee creative projects to the point that I never run out of ideas.

For me, there is two types of gathering. The first is from my own garden and, mostly, from plants I have cultivated or, in some cases, protected. What others call weeds, such as dandelion and plantain, I call protected’ in my garden. The second type of gatherings happen on my walks. I walk alot and always come home with bulging pockets. Isn’t that what pockets were invented for? I home schooled my four children and they used to decorate paper carrier bags to take out on their gathering walks as we always had a wonderful nature table in our home.

To gather is to connect deeply with the natural world as it teaches you something each and every day. The first thing it should teach us all is to gather sensitively. I only take less than 10% of the flowers, for example, and we should never pull anything up by its root. Only gather when you know it to be common land for fear of upsetting a landowner. I live on the beautiful isle of Arran off the west coast of Scotland where gathering opportunities are plentiful. That said, nature has a way of weaving itself into each town and city and every crack in the pavements.

I could write about this subject forever but I thought I would just share some of my gathers and what I do with them. I do this regularly on Substack as there are so many projects to share. This time of year my gathered lavender is beautifully dried after hanging in small bunches out of direct sunlight. I make wee lavender pouches, dream pillows, room fragrancers and head and eye soothers to name just a few things…

My signature product is a range of dream pillows filled with my own herbal recipes and dried lavender is in almost every one of them. Lavender has the capcity to relax the mind, making sleep more achievable. I made wee pillows that can be placed under your bed pillow at night. As you move your head as you sleep the scent is released. Such a simple but effective idea. This time of year I use the following recipe as it is the season that colds and coughs surface.

• 1 tsp of dried lavender

• 1 tsp of dried peppermint

• 1 tsp of dried mugwort

Also at this time of year I am making herbal drying wreaths so that I have herbs for my cooking and crafts. One of my favourite herbs to dry is oregano.

This is obviously used in Italian recipes but the flower holds the colour when dried making it a wonderful addition to our Christmas wreaths and garlands. It is unseasonably warm this autumn so I am still gathering flowers from my garden.

I dry calendula flowers upside down on my drying rack and I press the rest for use in small gift cards that are first washed with homemade inks made from plants I grow.

Also, at this time of year I am gathering leaves with their fantastic colourways. I preserve these in a mix of glycerine and water before drying and gently pressing. I always have an autumn leaf bunting in my studio at this time of year.

I can’t legally sell seeds but I do gift them to folk, especially my very loyal Etsy customers. I love gathering drying and storing seeds because they are free! I love free… I always make time to decorate my wee seed envelopes just because I can.

I used to make soy candles before they became popular in an attempt to encourage folk away from paraffin wax which is so harmful to us and the environment. Now I only make for my family but I think I might start again so I have them to add to my gift boxes. Beyond the traditional candles I make pine cone fire starters which are super easy to make. You need a silicone cup case tray and some soy wax. You add to the wax essential oils such as pine or cinnamon and then pour into moulds to half full point. Add a wee bit of cotton wick and then some wee pine cones. This way of starting a fire is much nicer that the firestarters you get in the supermarket - how bad do they smell?

I also love to make hanging room fragrancers using soy wax in a silicone soap mould, soy wax inflused with essential oils and beautiful dried gifts from nature.

So, lots of ways to use what I gather and a book full of other idea roaming around my head constantly. You can not fail to notice seasonal shifts if you become a gatherer and you can’t fail to be connected with the natural world. I write in even more detail in this piece about creating autumn treasures. What I hope this piece communicates is the diversity of how we might use our gathered treasures. Autumn, into winter, are my favourite seasons to walk and, mostly, you will find me deep in forests squealing with delight at the pine cones I am stuffing in my pocket. Let’s go gathering…..

Until next time,

Fiona x