http://www.witchinghourfarm.com/

Witching Hour Farm & Folklore, Bethel, OH (2026)

01/18/2026

I remember standing in the middle of my little shop, trying to explain to a beloved staff member what I meant when I said that I loved what we had built with Queen City Alchemy, but I had to find a way to “rub a little dirt on it.”

I guess I should have known then that it was the beginning of the end. Everything was too light, too bright, too perfect, too clean. I had changed, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I needed more nuance. I needed a container for the complexity. I think I probably needed to scream.

I guess you can’t just rub a little dirt on something that needs to be finished.

You have to let it decompose.

You have to become the soil.

Resilience isn’t bouncing back.
It’s continuing after irreversible change.

New essay in the Ecology of Resilience series, Resilience Is Not Recovery.

Link in bio.

Stay tuned for next Sunday’s essay, Living Systems Don’t Optimize.

🖤

01/17/2026

Wellness culture has sold us a lie about resilience.

That if we just tried harder, optimized better, healed faster, smiled more (?), we could return to who we were before.

Ecology tells us a different story.

Resilient systems don’t recover.

They change.

They reorganize after disturbance.

They depend on redundancy, relationship, and care.

Chronic illness isn’t an exception to the system.
It’s an early warning signal.

The Ecology of Resilience is a refusal of bounce-back narratives, productivity morality, and individualistic healing myths.

It’s an attempt to think like an ecosystem instead of a machine.

This work is for anyone sensing that what we’re calling “normal” is already a collapse in slow motion.

I’m writing a series of essays on Substack beginning with this one exploring these concepts and more. If you feel so inclined, you can join me there 🖤

🔗 in BlO

01/01/2026

As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about an intention I shared back in January, written in the quiet stretch between my mother’s death and the first new moon of the year.

I chose a single word not as a goal or a resolution, but as a way to stay tethered to presence when everything felt unmanageable.

Noticing.

I tied it to the lunar cycle, like I often do with intentions, trusting that the moons would remind me to return to check in with how I was paying attention or if I had drifted.

What I didn’t know then was how much noticing would carry me.

This year asked me to notice joy and grief as it moved and changed. To notice my body’s limits and quiet capacities. To notice land, plants, seasons, and the small, living details that continue even when life feels paused. I noticed how often transformation arrived not in moments of complete clarity, but in subtler ways, through repetition, patience, and staying with what was already here.

And I noticed my mother everywhere.

In the way I slow down near a plant I don’t recognize. In the habit of watching birds longer than necessary. In remembering that attention itself is a form of love.

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, I’m super grateful I didn’t ask myself to become anything different in 2025.

I only wanted to see.

Happy New Year, sweet friends. Cheers to more opportunities to notice all the things together 🥂✨

12/22/2025

May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night,

That each day forward is blessed with more light.

That the cycle of nature, unbroken and true,

Brings faith to your soul, and well-being to you.

Rejoice in the darkness, in the silence find rest,

And may the days that follow be abundantly blessed.

Blessed Solstice 🖤

12/21/2025

As Sagittarius season comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the plants that help us seek truth. Not the loud, performative kind, but the slow, embodied wisdom that comes from lived experience.

Sage has long been a companion in this work. Salvia comes from salvere, to heal or to save, and carries a reputation for clearing mental fog and supporting memory. It is a plant of discernment and knowing what to keep and what to release.

Sagittarius is often framed as the traveler, the philosopher, the seeker of meaning beyond the horizon. Yet every journey toward truth requires moments of stillness. Inspired by a dear Sagittarius friend, these connections are where I am also finding myself returning to The Hermit card of the Tarot, who’s lantern is held high not to illuminate the entire path, but just enough for the next step.

Though The Hermit is traditionally linked to Virgo, their lantern feels deeply Sagittarian to me. A light carried in service of truth. Wisdom gathered through solitude. The humility of knowing we are always still learning.

Sage teaches this same lesson. It does not rush. It invites contemplation. It asks us to sit with our thoughts, our questions, our contradictions, and trust that clarity will come in its own time.

As Sagittarius gives way to Capricorn, the focus shifts from seeking wisdom to stewarding it. From questions to commitments. From vision to structure. What we have learned now asks to be rooted, practiced, and carried forward with intention.

12/19/2025

TW: Pet loss.

I absolutely did not want another cat, especially a kitten, but when Mylo showed up my dear aunt and kiddo made it almost immediately clear he wasn’t going anywhere.

In no time he had captured the hearts of everyone who lives on or visited the Compound, with his 6 toes and precocious nature. Even our old cat, Spud, who famously does not care for other people or animals.

Ever curious, Mylo unfortunately wandered out into our hilly, one lane street yesterday and was struck by a car and killed.

One year to the date of losing my mother.

Losing another member of our farm fam has been difficult in what seems like a continual season of loss, but today I am reflecting on the way Mylo carried such a special light that bonded us together in such a season, and for that I am very grateful.

RIP Mylo. You were a good boy.

11/29/2025

I’m a bit brutish in the way that I prefer working things out on my more difficult days through manual labor. For that, being out here stewarding this land has been extremely helpful.

And who doesn’t love a well-stacked wood pile?

11/13/2025

This Scorpio season I’ve been reflecting on the real, raw, deeply feminine badassery that is sitting in the dark.

I’m not afraid of the dark, but I’m still learning how to move through a world that often is. The descent has its own rhythm, its own language. It’s not about clawing your way toward the light; it’s about remembering how to breathe in the depths, to listen to what only silence can say.

One of the herbal allies I turn to in this season of darkness, grief, quiet, and stillness is Black Cohosh—a plant of the underworld and the feminine body. Said to guide rather than force, she teaches transformation through surrender, softness without collapse, and strength without rigidity.

I’m not trying to climb out of the inky dark right now. I’m in the belly of the earth, and I like it here. The soil is rich like velvet and the release is deep.

So, if you’re willing—pull up a seat and join me. Let’s honor the descent together.

11/08/2025

A quiet meditation on descent—the slow unlayering that happens when we travel inward.

Inspired by the myths of Persephone and Ereshkigal and Inanna, it reflects the thresholds we cross when we enter our own underworlds.

A descent can be sparked by many things: the turning of the seasons, the loss of a loved one, chronic illness or surgery, perimenopause or menopause, or any of life’s tower moments that ask us to release what once defined us.

Each gate asks for something to be surrendered, until all that remains is presence.

In that stillness, even grief, rage, and tenderness find a place at the table without judgment.

We simply sip the tea, and exist.

10/20/2025

As Libra season draws to a close, I often find myself gathering rosehips from the wild hedges after the first frosts. We may not be there just yet, but this morning felt pretty darn close!

Roses, ruled by Venus, mirror Libra’s beauty, grace, and love of harmony. But by this time in the year, their blossoms have faded, leaving behind bright red fruits, full of nourishment and strength. The rose teaches that beauty and boundaries can coexist: her thorns protect what is tender, her hips sustain what is fading.

Historically, rose bushes were planted as living boundaries, protecting gardens and marking sacred space. I like to think of them as guardians of balance, much like Libra itself, reminding us that true harmony isn’t about pleasing everyone but about honoring where we begin and where we end.

This season, as the air cools and the light softens, I’m reflecting on what boundaries allow me to thrive and what I can let fall away.

10/08/2025

Join me next Saturday, October 18, at the Magical Apothecary Festival from 3-7 p.m. where I’ll be slingin tea and tellin tales.

This FREE event is a whimsical celebration that brings together potion makers, herbalists, and enthusiasts of the mystical arts in a vibrant display of ancient wisdom and modern creativity.

Held in a charming farm setting, the festival invites visitors to explore a world where the boundaries between magic and nature blur. Attendees can wander through booths brimming with herbs, enchanted elixirs, mystical art, and handcrafted remedies, each promising to unlock a unique experience or healing benefit.

Workshops offer insights into the art of potion making, while storytelling sessions delve into the lore and legends of magic. Live demonstrations, and music add to the enchanting atmosphere, making the Magical Apothecary Festival a captivating event for anyone curious about the wonders of the natural and mystical
worlds.

Schedule
3-7pm Soup Station (bowls by donation)
5pm Folktales with Emily from Witching Hour Farm
6pm Make a Magical Elixir with Gracious Farm

October 18, 2025
3pm -7pm
Gracious Farm
6176 State Route 132
Goshen, OH 45122

09/21/2025

Your girl is really getting out and about this fall and I hope to see you at one (or more) of our upcoming events!!!

Next up is a day-long Silent Retreat hosted by on October 11 in Augusta, KY. With mindful movement, journaling, art, nature immersion, a nourishing meal, and restorative sound bath at the waters edge, it’s the perfect way to experience the wonder of this transitional and transformational time of year. I’ll be bringing along a special tea brew just for the occasion (plus this happens to mark a milestone birthday for me), so be sure to join us. Snag a ticket asap for this one!

On October 18 I’ll be at Gracious Farms for their Magical Apothecary Festival as a storyteller and vendor. The event runs from 3-7pm but I’ll be sharing some botanical folktales at 5pm, so be sure to time out your visit to hear them!

On October 25 I’ll be traveling to West Point, KY for the Kentucky Folklore Festival. The fun begins at noon, but I’ll be presenting “Where the Plants Still Speak: Herbal Lore from the Holler to the Hearth” at 1:15pm! for more details.

November 5 I’ll be back at for Witch’s Tea from 6:30-8! Join us for an enchanted evening filled with delightful tea, treats, and a few of my favorite witch stories. This one is a ticketed event, so be sure to snag one before they disappear!

Looking ahead—mark your calendars for a special Winter Solstice event here at Witching Hour on December 13, but more details on that to come.

Witching Hour Farm & Folklore

01/18/2026

01/17/2026

01/01/2026

12/22/2025

12/21/2025

12/19/2025

11/29/2025

11/13/2025

11/08/2025

10/20/2025

10/08/2025

09/21/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share

Category