The Thymekeeper

10/23/2026

The scarlet runner bean. Every bean is a seed folks, I'll share if anyone wants some

10/23/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DTnzH8SCE/

🍂🍃🍀🍁🌲🪾✨

10/20/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1A2UE5hNur/

10/04/2026

In the Woodland Park area!

09/27/2026

I have one more nettle harvest if anyone is interested.

09/25/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BvCSVoiHG/

A plant that seals itself shut all day to survive on almost nothing — and somehow uses that locked-in time to build something extraordinary. While most plants breathe through open pores during daylight, purslane runs its whole food-making process at night. Pores open after dark, carbon dioxide gets stored like a battery charge, and the plant runs on that supply all day without losing a drop of water. The survival trick and the nutrition are not separate stories. They share the same leaf. That thick, water-loaded tissue is exactly what makes the fat storage possible. Fleshy cells hold moisture and lipids together — and the omega-3 that builds up inside is the same essential fat found in cold-water fish, just assembled by a ground-hugging w**d growing through sidewalk cracks. Fifteen times the omega-3 of iceberg lettuce. Five to seven times the omega-3 of spinach. Built not in a greenhouse or a controlled field — but under full drought stress, on the edges of parking lots and garden beds most people spend weekends trying to clear. The most sophisticated leaf in the yard is the one getting pulled out by the root. Survival built something science is still catching up to. [X221Y]

09/22/2026

Celebrate the Autumn Equinox with a Skills Open House, Pine Needle Basket Weaving, & a Community Potluck!

When:
️📆 Saturday, September 26th
⏰ 3:30 pm — 8:00 pm

Where:
Red Crags at Smokebrush Farm
302 El Paso Boulevard, Manitou Springs, CO

Cost:
Donation: $20 - $40 (Cash or Venmo)

Itinerary:
3:30 - 4:30 Open House - Show & Tell
4:30 - 5:30 Pine Needle Basket Tutorial
5:30 - 6:30 Community Potluck
6:30 - 8:00 Pine Needle Basket Weaving Continues

How to sign up: https://forms.gle/44eEA8TTQwNBHPa66

What:
Join Our Wild Origin for an Autumn Equinox Celebration! Come learn about ancestral living skills at the Open House in the EarthSkills tent. During this Show & Tell jump into the magic of land based crafts like rope making, basketry, and hide tanning. Ask co-facilitators Austin and Iraiah about their experiences exploring the natural world and crafting with materials gathered from the land.

Feeling ambitious? Choose to start a pine needle basket! Looking for a quick and easy project? Craft a pendant to wear around your neck! To make our creations, we will utilize basic stitching techniques to shape bundled pine needles into a spiral form. Participants are welcome to start their project before or after the community potluck.

Honor the season’s change by communing over food with local lover’s of land! Please bring a labeled dish to share, these will be placed on the Red Crags kitchen counter.

Note: Basketry offering will likely happen inside and outside weather permitting.

Bio:
Our Wild Origin facilitates land based educational experiences that are designed to empower community resilience by rekindling participants' inherent knowledge of EarthSkills. Co-teachers Austin and Iraiah have been partnering with Smokebrush Foundation since 2022. In 2025, they were awarded the Greenest Educator in Manitou Springs through the Climate Action Working Group (CAWG). They specialize in introducing folks to original technologies such as wilderness living skills, basketry, chemical-free hide tanning, plant ID, bird language, and animal tracking. Their mission is to foster deep listening with the Natural World and help create interactions that are rooted in reciprocity with the planet. During each class, their goal is to help you remember that attuning to the cycles and rhythms of the land is within reach if we can reclaim our ability to listen.

Smokebrush Foundation Smokebrush Farm Red Crags Arts and Agriculture House

09/16/2026

The Harvest Center and Thymekeeper presentation: Edible and Medicinal Plants in the Garden
Did you know Hollyhock can be used as a medicinal remedy to soothe heartburn? Or that many of the wild plants called w**ds have more nutritional value than anything you can buy in the produce section; and can be an excellent source of protein?

Join us for this informative talk on the medicinal and nutritional benefits of the plants in your garden. Learn which plants can help with seasonal respiratory illness, which can provide the most nutritional benefit, how to put them into practical use and much more.
Saturday September 19th 1:00 Woodland Park Library

Send a message to learn more

09/06/2026

yet another of my favorite w**ds growing in abundance this year of the worst drought I've ever seen in Colorado, Mallow. Like purslane, mallow is everywhere and it's also chock full of omega 3 essential fatty acids along with its own list of nutrients and remedies.
Mallow is our version of marshmallow root and has the same herbal properties. It is considered a demulcent, making it soothing and cooling to mucous membranes. Some of my favorite uses are for dry mouth, scratchy dry sore throat, heartburn, stomach ulcers and irritated gut to name a few.
The round seed heads that we call cheese wheels are loaded with omega 3's helping to put the damper on inflammation of all sorts. As I mentioned with purslane, the omega 3's keep your mind sharp and your joints juicy.
All parts of the plant are edible and useful. Chew the leaves to moisten your palate and throat. Chew a leaf and swallow the juice or juice it in the blender to relieve heartburn. The leaves and cheese wheels would be a welcome addition to any salad.
Interesting fact: The hollyhock you may have growing in your garden is related to the wild mallow and the entire plant is edible as well. I popped a flower petal in my mouth this morning and it is definitely the slimiest thing I have ever tasted The leaves although slightly hairy, create a wet sponge-like feeling as it moistens your membranes on contact. It's worth pointing out that in the driest year ever, Nature has provided an abundance of moistening plants so get out there and eat a w**d!

For more edible and medicinal plant information join us Saturday September 19th for a Harvest Center/Thymekeeper presentation at the Woodland Park Library at 1:00

09/03/2026

Edible/not edible. The plant on the right is spotted spurge, the one on the left is purslane. One obvious way to tell the difference is purslane stems and leaves are plump and spurge is flat in comparison. Purslane is loaded with omega 3 essential fatty acids to help keep your mind sharp, your skin nice and your joints juicy. Purslane also provides vitamins and minerals which you would get the most benefit of if you eat it raw or juice it in your smoothie. It can also be prepared just like spinach, steam or saute. Don't eat that flat one right next to it as the milky sap can cause pretty bad skin irritation and would be considered toxic if ingested due to the fact that you are skin on the inside too! As you can see, they grow right next to each other so pay attention! Purslane is EVERYWHERE this year! Get out there and eat a w**d, but only in the places not potentially sprayed by man or beast.
For more edible and medicinal plant information join us Saturday September 19th for a Harvest Center/Thymekeeper presentation at the Woodland Park Library at 1:00