Summer is full effect right now and that means our gardens are overflowing with the season’s generous bounty of herbs, flowers, and early vegetables. Mint and lemon balm cascade over into the garden paths and our oregano patch has grown far beyond its designated borders. It’s time to harvest these wonderful herbs and enjoy their flavors and aromas in myriad culinary creations.

As an herbalist I’ve learned to lean into the changing seasons, embracing the ebb and flow of life, death, and rebirth that happens in the natural world all around us. Observing and celebrating these cycles has helped me to become a better medicine maker, knowing that as the plants around me change, I change as well. My body moves through these same seasonal cycles, from youthful exuberance, through powerful strength and eventually waning into my season of slumber. This is an accurate observance whether I consider this seasonal cycle as a daily occurrence, and annual one, or the changes I experience as I move through my lifetime. The seasons are all around us and the only constant is change.

The winter season is a time of rest and reflection for many of us. It’s also the perfect time of year to get cozy with a good book and a hot cup of herbal tea. For me, winter is the season of tea. Whether I’m in need of a nourishing brew to help keep my body healthy or am just looking for something to cut through the chill of winter’s air, a flavorful cup of tea is just what I need. Here are some of my favorite winter tea blends.

Tending an herb garden offers the herbalist a wealth of benefits. It offers a diverse selection of plants to work with and offers peace of mind of knowing our herbs are grown locally and with our love and attention. It also gives us the opportunity to explore and discover the life cycles of the plants in our care, which not only can deepen our relationship with our herbal allies, but also offers the opportunity to harvest and save their seeds.

Gardening is truly a year-round activity. Each season presents us with unique tasks, opportunities, and challenges. Just like the plants that we lovingly tend, every garden and its respective gardener has its own life cycle; in the spring we bloom, followed quickly by the abundant harvests of summer and autumn. In the winter, both garden and gardener retreat into the season of rest, the final stage of the cycle before we return to the beginning to do it all again.