The Witch’s Garden
Witches garden a little differently; for us, the garden is sacred space, and gardening is magic at its most immediate and most raw.
We remember that our gardens don’t really belong to us and that we are only looking after them for all the plants and creatures that live there and for the spirits that were there before we came and will be there long after we have gone. No matter how small the garden is, we are caretakers of the land and have a duty to it.
We know that the garden is full of the power of the invisible. It has its own anima loci, or “soul of place.” We recognise this and the garden’s other spirits and try to work in cooperation with them. We honour them and make offerings to them, season by season.
We recognise that plants have spirits too. Each plant is recognised as a living teacher and approached as an individual, which may (or may not) become an ally.
Everything we do in the garden is done with magical intent. Seeds are planted with intent and cared for with love. We open ourselves to communicating with their spirits— a meeting of human and plant spirit that should benefit both.
We look on the garden as belonging as much to the wildlife as it does to us. The creatures who visit are our garden familiars. If we treat them properly, they aid us in our work and may be agents of the spirit world to us.
Gardening teaches us about the magic of hope, growth, and renewal. It requires patience and observation to be in tune with our plants, and there is nothing better to teach us about herb craft. And we remember that there is no garden without weeds! Sometimes they are the most useful plants of all.
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Moist Mother Earth
We recognise Mother Earth as the goddess who gives us life, who supports and nourishes us; without her we would not exist. This means recognising that the land beneath our feet is not merely dirt but sacred space, the body of the Goddess herself.
Mother Earth is known in every part of the world and has had many names. The Greeks called her Gaia, the Romans called her Terra; in Slavic mythology she has a beautifully descriptive name in Russian, Mati Syra Zemlya, which means “moist Mother Earth.”
She presides over the whole cycle of being: planting, growth, and harvest; birth, growth, decline, death, and rebirth.
Whatever name she is known by, she is the all-encompassing source of life, the spirit flowing throughout the great matrix of nature, a fountain of energy that sustains animals, plants, and people, connecting it into a unified, sacred whole. The old Pagan myths show us a world in which everything is alive and connected.
Offering to Mother Earth
It seems fitting to begin work in a garden with an offering to Mother Earth. You can do this as often as seems fit.
Sit or stand in the garden with a jug of wine. Open your senses to its sights, its smells, and its sounds. Take your time. Now go deeper. Sense the life there—the plants and animals—and how it interconnects. Go deeper. Feel the life stirring in the earth, the source of all things. Feel the energy of the Goddess moving through it. Say:
Mother Earth, you are life, you are abundance,
You produce all in nature;
You produced me, your child.
You are first in all things, you surround me;
You are beneath my feet.
You give me the food I eat, the water I drink.
From you comes all I see, all that breathes.
Pour the wine on the earth; this is called a libation. Say:
Mother Earth, I give thanks for this place,
For the sun and the wind, the rain and the land.
Mother Earth, I give thanks for all that lives here, The winged creatures, the crawling creatures, The flying creatures, and the four-legged creatures.
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Mother Earth, I give thanks for all that grows here. Blessed be.
Spend as long as you wish reflecting on this.
SMaintaining Balance
For the witch, the relationship between us and Mother Earth is a reciprocal one, a harmony that must be maintained. This was the sacred agreement the old Pagan religions recognised; when something is taken, something else must be given in return. It was both a practical and a ritual task, with goodness returned to the soil and ceremonies performed at certain times of year to honour the gods. This is a covenant that the modern world has broken, where Mother Earth is seen as a commodity, raped and pillaged for her gifts.
In 2019 the UN warned that because of modern agricultural practice and the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, soils around the world are heading for exhaustion and depletion, with an estimated sixty harvests left before they are too barren to feed the planet.1 The excessive use of pesticides has depleted the earth’s soil and contributed to a drastic decline in insect numbers that threatens “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems.”
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Furthermore, the nutritional quality of the food we eat has sharply declined, attributable in part to newer varieties of produce grown purely for yield and appearance, and partly to declining soil health. A study from the University of Texas, published in December 2004 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, showed that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago were far richer in vitamins and minerals than they are now.3 In Britain a comparable study published in the British Food Journal found that in twenty vegetables the average calcium content had declined 19 percent, iron 22 percent, and potassium 14 percent from
1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation -continues.
2 Francisco Sánchez-Bayo and Kris A. G. Wyckhuys, “Worldwide Decline of the Entomofauna: A Review of Its Drivers,” Biological Conservation 232 (2019): 8–27.
3 Donald R. Davis, et al., “Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999,” Journal of the American College of Nutrition 23, no. 6 (2004): 669–82, doi:10.1080/07315724.2004 .10719409.
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1930 to 1980.4 Another concluded that we would have to eat eight oranges today to derive the same amount of vitamin A as our grandparents would have had from one.5
All life on earth depends on a six-inch layer of topsoil. That’s a sobering thought.
Soil is not just dirt; it is a living thing, with a wide variety of microorganisms, insects, earthworms, and other creatures. Organic farmers and gardeners use composted manure and other organic matter to help improve soil fertility. This enhances the soil’s capacity to store and supply essential nutrients to plants and improves soil structure. Microorganisms, earthworms, and insects feed on plant residues and manures for energy and nutrition, and in the process they mix organic matter into the mineral soil and recycle plant nutrients.
We are slowly relearning the old lesson that the relationship between us and the gods, between us and Mother Earth, must be a mutual one. This touches on the core purpose of the witch: maintaining balance. Whenever conflict, disorder, and imbalance manifested in tribal and old village societies, the village wise woman, cunning man, or shaman would be consulted to discover how the pact with the gods/Mother Nature had been broken and what must be done to put it right. Witches are healers, not just of human bodies but of Earth itself.
While it is clear that farmers and big agri-business have to change their ways, we can play our parts on the patches of land we are responsible for (our gardens), and it is fitting that we begin right here, balancing the needs of all that lives in the garden, maintaining the land and its ecosystem in harmony.
SHow Your Garden Benefits the Environment
If you have been gardening for a couple of decades or more, you will have noticed that the climate is changing. Shifting weather patterns can bring increased rain or increasing levels of drought and higher or lower temperatures for the season. In the future we may not be able to grow the things we do now where we are. Soon many native plants may no longer be able to survive in their historic ranges, and the wildlife they support will be decimated. However, your garden—no matter how big or small—can have a big impact on your local environment and help protect local wildlife by doing the following:
4 A. Mayer, “Historical Changes in the Mineral Content of Fruits and Vegetables,” British Food Journal 99, no. 6 (1997): 207–211, https://doi.org/10.1108/00070709710181540.
5 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss.
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Improves Air Quality
Plants take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through their leaves and expel oxygen, as well as help remove toxins from the air. Your plants help the local atmosphere.
Detoxifies the Ground
Plants also absorb through their roots, including chemicals and heavy metals in the soil and groundwater, gradually converting it into healthier ground. Naturally, this is not good for the particular plant, but a sick plant can alert you to soil toxicity.
Carbon Captures
All plants capture and lock away carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the greenhouse gasses driving climate change, releasing it again when they die. A fully grown tree can absorb and store around 21 kilograms (46 pounds) of carbon dioxide a year6 and keep it sequestered for hundreds of years. A sapling will absorb significantly less, but every tree contributes. There are around 23 million gardens in the UK7 and 85 million in the USA8—think what a difference it would make if every one of those gardeners planted a tree, no matter how small, and imagine the effect if every gardener in the world took part.
Provides Natural Shade
Shade trees planted near your home can reduce energy used for cooling in the summer.
Reduces Your Carbon Footprint
Growing some of your own food will reduce your carbon footprint: fewer trips to the shops, no food-miles, less waste.
Prevents Soil Erosion
Plant roots bind soils together, making them less likely to wash away.
Replenishes Nutrients in the Soil
Topsoil is created by organic materials, such as leaves, that fall from plants. Decaying organic material provides nutrients, and some plants fix nutrients into the ground.
6 https://www.co2meter.com/blogs/news/could-global-co2-levels-be-reduced-by-planting-trees.
7 Wildlife Gardening Forum, http://www.wlgf.org/garden_resource.html.
8 https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Environmental-Threats/Climate-Change/Greenhouse-Gases /Gardening-for-Climate-Change.
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Helps to Reduce Noise Pollution
Vegetation absorbs sound, so hedges, trees, and shrubbery reduce noise pollution.
Helps Wildlife
The more plants and trees you have in the garden, the more you will be encouraging the local wildlife, especially if you include native plants. Birds, insects, and other animals need them to survive. If you live in a built-up area, providing natural spaces for insects, birds, and small mammals is vitally important.
While almost every garden helps the environment, you can do even more:
Plant Native Species
Including native plants in your garden helps maintain important pollinator connections and ensure food sources for wildlife. You can plant shrubs with berries for birds plus bee, insect, and butterfly friendly plants.
Rewild Part of Your Garden
This means giving part of your garden back to nature and letting nature do its thing— including letting the native “weeds” (I call them wildflowers) grow, which provide food for the local insects. Remove any non-native plants from this area. Increasingly, over time, it will become a complex established ecosystem.
If you can’t do this, avoid large paved areas and artificial grass.
Create a Wildlife Pond
A garden pond, whether large or small, can be a haven for wildlife, and the wildlife will find it pretty quickly. It is vital habitat for wetland creatures such as frogs and dragonflies and great for many species of insects, birds, and mammals. Remember to make one side shallow so that frogs and small mammals can climb out. Have some shade over part of the pond to reduce algae growth, but part should be in full sun. Fill it with rainwater if you can, but if tap water must be used, be sure to let it naturalise for at least a week before adding any forms of life, including plants.
Build Insect Hotels
Insects pollinate your plants, aerate the soil, and provide food for birds. The beneficial insects in your garden need somewhere to hibernate for the winter, so why not make them their own five-star bug hotel? It is best to do this in the early autumn, when there is plenty
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of suitable material available, such as dry leaves, twigs, hollow stems, dead grass, pinecones, and bits of bark, and it will give the insects time to settle into their new home before the cold comes. There are some great ideas online for making bug hotels, and kids will love to get involved. Otherwise, you can simply make a log pile in a shady area for centipedes, woodlice, and beetles; a pile of pinecones and leaves is good for ladybirds and lacewings.
Have Holes in Your Boundary Walls
It is important for wildlife to be able to move around from one place to another. A hedgehog, for example, can travel up to a mile in a single night, looking for food. One of the reasons for declining populations is the high, solid fences that some people have around their gardens. You can help by putting small holes in the bottom of your fences (as long as your neighbour agrees).
Reconsider Your Garden Lighting
The blue and white toned lighting often used in gardens is one of the major factors in biodiversity collapse as it confuses insects. Leave areas of your garden in darkness, and don’t use your lights all the time. You can buy red-tone lights that don’t affect insects as much. Try to use energy efficient products in your garden; replace energy hungry outdoor bulbs with LEDs or, better still, use solar lighting.
Reduce the Use of Power Tools
Avoid using power tools as much as you can. Using a gasoline-powered mower for an hour pollutes ten to twelve times more than the average car.9 If you can, switch to hand tools and push lawnmowers. The air from leaf blowers kills small creatures, and I would urge you not to use them at all.
Install a Rain Barrel
Install a rain barrel to collect free rainwater and your plants will like this much better than tap water. You can prevent water loss from your plants by mulching around them.
Make a Compost Heap
Building a compost heap (or using a purchased compost bin) is a wonderful way to reduce your impact on the environment and create a great free source of nutrients for your garden. You can add virtually all food waste and organic matter to your compost bin—fruit and
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/222039/straight-dope-how-much-pollution-do-gasoline -powered-lawn-mowers.
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vegetable peelings, leftovers, twigs, leaves, non-seeding weeds, eggshells, card egg boxes, cardboard, tea bags (if they don’t contain plastic), coffee grounds, and even your old wool jumpers, but don’t add cooked food or meat. To my compost I also add the sawdust bedding and poo cleaned out from my chickens. You will need to add something to “activate” your compost (i.e., get everything working), and for this you will need to add soft greens, manures, or urine (yes, you can use your own, though male urine is said to work better than female).
Don’t Rake Your Leaves
While you might need to remove slippery leaves from paths, in the rest of the garden fallen leaves provide a habitat for many overwintering wild creatures. Some beneficial insects lay their eggs in leaf litter, and by raking up the leaves you will be curtailing their life cycle and adding to population decline. If you do rake them up, put them on the compost heap or bag them and save them to use as mulch in the spring. Lay a mulch of fallen leaves around plants (about 3 inches deep) and allow it to rot down into the soil. The earthworms will love it, and you will be adding nutrients and organic matter into the ground. Leaf mulch maintains soil moisture and soil temperature and prevents weeds, soil erosion, and compaction.
No Autumn Cleanup
Abandon the big autumn cleanup of the garden. Leave the fallen wood, leaves, and seed heads where they are till spring, as birds, insects, and other wildlife need their shelter and food over the winter.
Ditch the Chemicals
In the twentieth century, chemicals were promoted as an easy technical solution to all cultivation problems. Synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and weedkillers became commonplace not only on farms, but also in domestic gardens. We now know that these products are having a disastrous effect on ecosystems, wildlife, and human health.10
Pesticides from treated plants and soil reach surface water through runoff. More than 90 percent of water and fish samples from all streams in the US contain one or more pesticides,11 and wild salmon are swimming around with dozens of synthetic chemicals in their systems.12 In the UK half of rivers and freshwaters exceed chronic pollution limits, and
10 https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/opinion/effects-pesticides-our-wildlife.
11 M. W. Aktar, D. Sengupta, and A. Chowdhury, “Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards,” Interdiscip Toxicol. 2, no. (2009): 1–12, doi:10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7.
12 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fertilizers-harm-earth.
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88 percent of samples showed pesticide contamination.13 We are now seeing the wholesale pollution of most of our streams, rivers, ponds, and coastal areas from agri-chemicals.
Chemical fertilisers are equally problematic. When the excess nutrients run off into our waterways, they can cause algae blooms that are sometimes big enough to make waterways impassable. When the algae die, they sink to the bottom and decompose in a process that removes oxygen from the water. Fish and other aquatic species can’t survive in these dead zones.
It’s time to dump the chemicals and look for natural solutions. If you care for your plants well, you won’t need them. Choose plants that are suited to the growing conditions you have; native plants will thrive better. Allow them plenty of space, and prune where you need to. Provide good drainage and mulch your plants to keep down weeds and reduce the need for watering. Regularly hand-weed and hoe. Wash off pests with the garden hose or try one of the aphid sprays listed below. Greenfly can be dusted with diatomaceous earth (available online). Investigate companion planting to reduce pest invasion. If you grow vegetables, rotate your crops on an annual basis. Be prepared to accept a low level of pest or disease damage on your organic plants.
Recipes for Garden Care
SGarlic Aphid Spray
1 tablespoon mineral oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons washing-up liquid (dish soap)
600 ml or 2½ cups water
Soak the cloves in the oil overnight. Strain off the oil and add it to the water and soap. Shake and spray on to aphid infestations.
13 https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/opinion/effects-pesticides-our-wildlife.
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