From November 2023 onwards the occasional blog post on the Medicinal Forest Garden Trust website will be moving to the new ‘Medicinal Tree Woman’ Substack newsletter. Find out why this could be better for readers!
Magnificent oak (Quercus robur) and branches
Why I am changing to Substack
I have had it in mind for a while to start a Substack newsletter on medicinal forest gardening. Having seen some fascinating posts on forest gardening, culinary delights and much more, I began to imagine the possibilities. Substack is basically an online software application for operating a newsletter. So each newsletter has a mailing list and posts can be sent out as they are produced or at a later date. The application allows for several levels of subscription, from free to paid or founder levels and this allows the creator to build support from the audience. It is really all about promoting original reading and writing, and not surprisingly there are plenty of authors turning out posts on a fantastic range of topics, from the processes involved in writing books to the spiritual dimensions of nature. And each newsletter has a home page where you can view details about the author, an archive of past posts and levels of subscription available.
What I like about this!
It is quite exciting to contemplate a new style of newsletter writing as the ‘Medicinal Tree Woman’. At present I have a number of outlets from the Blog page on the Medicinal Forest Garden Trust website to an occasional newsletter using MailChimp (about quarterly), plus some Instagram images with brief notes every couple of weeks. I also attempt to contribute to Mastodon (toots!) and Facebook (as ‘medicinal forest’) but fall miserably short on these online media spaces. Recently I have realised that my efforts have become increasingly rather compartmentalised and unimaginative. I believe I have a lot more ‘stuff’ to say, and Substack looks like it offers me a more open-ended space. This could include talking about my love of trees, successful foraging, planting designs, sustainability of herbal remedies, growing a herb business, herbal history, women and herbs, and much more. So, I really like to think that I am replacing a whole lot of small shoots and sprouts of text and images with a more strongly growing tree full of interesting branches with fruit! Being more creative is attractive though not without some trepidation.
Cramp bark (Viburnum opulus) berries
Things I could post about
I have been writing blogs about individual trees and shrubs every couple of months. I will continue to produce these and explain why selected trees or shrubs are great for healing, including some references when appropriate. I will also report back on great places to visit such as arboretums and botanical gardens I have discovered. There are plenty of additional topics that I want to explore more fully. My permaculture leanings give an incentive for looking at sustainability and design of medicinal forest gardens more closely - through the elemental ideas of air, earth, fire and water. And I am working towards a further book ‘Making healing remedies from the forest garden’ which will take people from harvesting through to diverse herbal preparations and how they can be produced. As a methodical person I have stacks of notebooks with accumulated hints and recipes over the years which I want to pass on!
Notebooks and cards full of herbal preparations!
Benefits for readers
A great thing about developing the ‘Medicinal Tree Woman’ newsletter on Substack is that there will still be public posts available for free. The previously occasional blog post will become more regular, at least once a month. The Substack setup offers a way to send short notes too, so this will be a way to notify everyone of special events or offers. The quarterly newsletter will change to brief email notes so should be more up to date. For previous blog and newsletter readers there will be not so much of a change, just more convenient email links. Recent blog posts from the Medicinal Forest Garden Trust website will still also be available. For readers who want to dive deeper and support medicinal forest gardening there will be a chance to subscribe on a paid monthly or yearly basis. These readers will be able to interact with others keen on growing, harvesting and making through comments and queries on posts. They will be the first to see the drafts in the making for the future book on ‘Making healing remedies from the forest garden’. Plus, the paid subscribers will have half price access to my online Medicinal Forest Garden Harvest Course. And they will be helping to support the Medicinal Forest Garden Trust. For founder subscriptions there will be an additional possibility of a personal session to discuss plans and proposals. I really am looking forward to a more reciprocal relationship with readers!
Readers are in control
When you sign up to Substack you have access to a Dashboard where you can control your settings and subscriptions. All of your subscriptions are listed as ‘Reads’ and you can cancel them at any time. You can sign up free to subscribe to the ‘Medicinal Tree Woman’ newsletter. As this ‘Medicinal Tree Woman’ newsletter evolves I hope you will enjoy it and look forward to hearing from you!