SEASON OF RENEWAL

After a long, dark winter, I find myself ready to unfurl alongside the first green shoots of the season. There is something so restorative about this time of year; it’s a period of shedding the heavy layers of the past few months and finding an exciting, fresh rhythm.

As we move past the Spring Equinox, I’ve been reflecting on that quiet, potent energy of renewal—the way the earth wakes up slowly but surely, reminding us that growth can’t be rushed. This sense of beginning has me dreaming of summer, mapping out new projects, and setting goals for the places I want to visit in the next few months.

The weather here in Nova Scotia hasn't quite received the Spring memo yet, as we woke up to another blanket of snow this morning.

I still find deep beauty in the stillness of a snowy day—there is a specific kind of magic in seeing the trees draped in white—but when April is just around the corner, you can’t help but wonder exactly how much longer winter intends to stay with us.

This time of year encourages a mental spring cleaning and looking at the habits or thoughts that become heavy during the winter. We have a choice to decide if we want to carry them with us into the light or ditch them. What parts of ourselves do we want to discard? Our grief, trauma, mistakes?

The next 3 months are about expansion and we have to pay attention to what isn't working, where are we exhausting ourselves, what feelings are we forcing, what keeps us crashing and falling apart. Expansion isn't about adding more, it is about putting our energy into what is working and making room for growth.

Lets consider the mushroom: it draws its strength from decomposing matter, transforming what was once "waste" into life. In the same way our own personal evolution often requires us to descend into our "darkness" - the heavy, hidden parts of our experience- to transform those challenges into the fertile soil from which something new can grow. Mushrooms can teach us how to shed the emotional heaviness we have been carrying, allowing us to let go of what no longer serves us. They open us to new experiences with a lighter heart and much clearer vision on where we want to go.

I’ve spent these colder months immersed in a big and exciting project. It has been a true labour of love that took several months to finish phase one, and the second phase is set to take a few more. I’m not quite ready to reveal the details just yet, but I’m hoping that by the time my next newsletter reaches you, I’ll be able to share the news. Watch this space!

I have also been catching up on my studies. I’m down to my final two modules: Materia Medica I and II. The textbooks are so thick they could easily double as doorstops! Once those are done, I’ll be diving into my final project on Self-Heal herb (Prunella vulgaris).

I have developed a personal relationship with this herb that helped me with grief of loosing my grandmother and some health challenges I was facing last year.

Once the project is submitted, I plan to take a break from the books until next winter when I’ll begin the next stage of my path: Advanced Herbalism.

Studying keeps me grounded, especially when the world feels a bit chaotic. Whenever I feel anxious about the future, I simply open my books, and everything feels right again.

I am so excited for the return of the warmth and the light!

I’ve been busy mapping out my foraging projects, carefully documenting everything that needs to be gathered for my teas and herbal products so I don’t miss a single window of the growing season. This year, I’m also planning to expand my garden with even more medicinal herbs, which I’ll be incorporating into the herbal teas you all know and love.

As always, most of the ingredients in my blends are ethically wildcrafted by my own hands right here across Nova Scotia.

At the moment all herbal tea blends are on sale for $13 while stock lasts.

You can purchase them from myself directly or from Vegetorium Farm Market in Fall River.

All my herbal products and creams are also on sale.

We officially kicked off Terroir's 2026 foraging season on the Eastern Shore this past Saturday, bracing against heavy rains and salt streaked winds until our clothes clung like a second skin and our fingers grew numb with the cold.

Yet, we emerged with hearts full and spirits rinsed clean by the air.

Nature doesn't cancel for rain, neither do we!!

It was such a fun day, sponsored by Discover Halifax and collaboration with Saltwater Sean, all to shine a light on promoting tourism on Eastern Shore.

The shoreline was a living mosaic, like a treasure chest unlocked by the tide. The beach lay draped in a velvet tapestry of Atlantic Flora, covered with a vibrant red, brown, and green seaweeds- nature's own medicine cast upon the sand.

I have prepared a lunch for us and we were very grateful to Lawrencetown Beach Cafe for their grace in letting us spread our wild feast in the warmth of their space.

Two featured dishes were: seaweed balls with black trumpet mushrooms and lemon and wild rose coconut balls for dessert. We also had Ukrainian borscht with venison, home made rosemary and yoghurt bread and porcini, shiitake and oyster mushrooms with bacon, spinach and fresh herbs.

Our next tour is coming up on April 19th, we will be in Lawrencetown and I hope you can join us for this special day to unlock more secrets of our beautiful shorelines.

I will leave you with this lovely seaweed poem.

The Velvet ribbons, slick and deep

Where secrets of the ocean sleep

They sway in rhythm, green and gold,

Within the currents, dark and cold

Tied to the rocks by a stubborn grip,

Watching the silver mackerel dip

They rise with the tide in a tangled dance,

Caught in a wild, aquatic trance.

Salt-crusted treasures on the shore

A gift from the sandy, shifting floor.

Rich with the minerals of the sea,

As ancient as the earth can be

The seaweed season is here!

May the forest and mushrooms be with you my friends.

Till next time!

Jolanta