Along the Hedge - Homestead & Apothecary
Ever since I could remember I’ve wanted to live in the country and have a hobby farm. That life-long goal was achieved when we purchased our little 2.5 acres tucked back in the middle of nowhere. The banker tried to talk us out of it. It’s not close to anything he repeatedly stated. Uh, that’s the point we both thought. Little did we know how much we would grow together and as a family, how our neighbourhood would turn into the most supportive community, and how the land would provide for us in the most spectacular way.
We bought our property back in 2013, and boy am I glad we did. The price of housing in Canada today is absolutely astronomical and buying actual land seems to be reserved only for a few. I immediately started my first garden, a 4x4 raised bed and we purchased our first 6 laying hens.
In 2015 our first son was born quickly followed by 2 more, and then a surprise baby girl in 2023. Those early years with 3 boys under 5 didn’t see much growth for our homestead but I did build the foundation of what it would become while being knee deep in baby spit up and washing diapers.
It was during those long nights that my love for holistic living was born.
Something clicked while I was pregnant with our first. Suddenly I was paying attention to what I was actually eating, drinking, putting on our skin and cleaning our house with. I spent countless hours researching the safest products to use in our home. Back then the term “ crunchy “ was reserved for those who actually gave a shit about all the chemicals and processed junk we consumed everyday. I feel like people back then thought we were crazy hippies. I am sure the movement started much before then, but I got thrusted hard into it as a new mom looking to do all the “right things”. Then the guilt hit, and boy does it hit hard.
Motherhood is hard enough, Mom guilt is a whole ’nother dimension.
Should I be using all chemical free product, is this safe? Will this cause cancer? All legitimate questions that run through your mind constantly as a new mom. Insert homemade bath and body products and a love for plant medicine here….
Essential Oils were my gateway drug into holistic living. At the time (2015) 2 very popular MLM companies were pushing oils left, right and centre. I thank the woman who hosted that first party, not because it was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced, but because of her weird obsession with ingesting essential oils. It left me very confused and wanting more solid evidence of everything she was talking about. I did end up buying an introductory kit that night. I think it was 10 of the most popular oils and some creams or something. I tried to make a go of selling them while I was researching and learning more about them. But the more I learned, the more I wanted as far away from these companies as I could get. I never made a single dime from that company, but it was them that lead me to become a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist. I wanted to use essential oils, but I wanted to do it the right way, and I didn’t want to be affiliated with any MLM companies.
The Dornoch Patch was my first business quickly followed by a rebranding to Indigo Essentials. I made essential oil bath & body products, sold crystals and handmade jewelry. I also made custom blends for people who were suffering from things like headaches, or digestive & skin issues. But I wanted more. So I kept learning, growing and exploring holistic living, nutrition, herbalism, witchcraft and ended up rebranding again to The Grey Cauldron focusing more on the spiritual side of things alongside natural homemade products. I closed The Grey Cauldron in 2022 to focus more on our growing family. During the summer of 2023 I started this blog Marble & Mud as a way to give back and share all of the Holistic Wellness, Homesteading and Spiritual knowledge I have accumulated this far.
Lets back up a bit though. When I started my first big garden back in 2017 it was a 50‘ x 20’ space with room to grow. That first year was a disaster. The chickens roughed up my seeds and seedlings, the bunnies ate all my lettuce and carrot tops, the weeds… oh wow the weeds. It was a learning experience that’s for sure. The following year I surrounded the whole thing with fence and had a second go at things. It was a glorious year. I grew my own Calendula for the bum salve I made for the kids, I made jam and pickles and we ate endless amounts of zucchini. I slowly puttered away over the next couple years learning more valuable homesteading skills and continuing to make natural cleaning products and bath & body products like deodorant and bug sprays for family and friends. I also started making Kombucha and drying and storing whatever herbs I could get my hands on.
Then came 2020… we built a bigger chicken coop, had 35 laying hens and 3 roosters. We planted everything and anything I could get my hands on, including an orchard with 3 pear trees and 3 apple. Our homestead started to actually feel like a homestead as we focused more on our family's needs and what we could to do to become more regenerative and self reliable. We wanted to distance ourselves from society - and not because they told us to or because we were scared, but because we recognized the need to return to a more simple, self reliable, natural and slower way of living.
Our homestead now consists of a large veggie garden, 27 laying hens, 1 rooster, 6 ducks, 2 worm compost bins and an incredible amount of wild and cultivated medicinal herbs. This year we also raised 48 meat birds in 2 pastured chicken tractors that were moved daily, an experience that included the entire family and one we will continue to do for years to come. Knowing where your food comes from and how it is cared for is next level. It has created such a wonderful learning experience for us as well as our children.
Up until this year we had never named our homestead. I dabbled with the idea of it many times but nothing ever suck. One day in early spring this year, I was walking up the laneway that is lined with Arborvitae (White Cedar, Tree of Life) and I thought of the name Along the Hedge.
In the article What is a Hedge Witch on Mabon House it states “In early medieval Europe a hedge was a physical boundary between a village and a forest. A hedge in those times wasn’t what we think of today - a nicely manicured green shrub. It was a wild tangle of growth between the forest and the village. Those that lived along the hedge, closer to the wild than to the community, were often thought to possess magical powers and wisdom. They would be called upon for help by locals, but otherwise largely left alone….. Within the rise of the modern neo-pagan movement, the term hedge witch has been reclaimed by those seeking wisdom and a deeper understanding of the natural world. There are a couple of (very general) distinctions when it comes to the term hedge witch. The first refers to someone who practices rituals like tarot, divination, or has some psychic ability. This would be the more classical version of a wise woman living alone, whom people seek out for help through a reading, herbal remedies or spell work. The second popular image of hedge witch aligns more with the modern concept of a cottage witch or house witch. Arin Murphy-Hiscock describes this type of practice in her book The Way of the Hedge Witch, as someone who practices magic in the home as a way to ensure the spiritual well-being of herself and her family. This could include imbuing some magical thoughts into everyday life through cooking, cleaning or gardening.“
I have resonated with the term Hedge Witch for a long time. We live along a hedge, our property borders acres and acres of forest. I have worked to weave the spiritual with the mundane as a solo practitioner for years and today while I consider myself more of a Hedge Druid than a Hedge Witch, my goals are still the same. To live a life as close to nature as I possibly can. To know, understand and steward our tiny piece of land all while actively engaging in our community, and developing a deeper connection with the otherworld.
And so, Along the Hedge - Homestead and Apothecary was born.
Our homestead feels whole with a name somehow. I wouldn’t say complete as there will always be work to be done, but the name feels warm, like it’s bursting with energy, knowledge and offerings. It feels inviting, welcoming and thriving. It has taken 11 years to get to this point and within the last year I have connected to our land more than any other year previously. This spring/summer season alone I have seen tremendous growth in our homesteading journey and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.
~K
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