I write to you from my back garden, sitting between the patch of Yarrow that I grew this year from discarded turf of the golf course, and the bee-heavy flowering Peppermint in my raised bed. Just under the Redcurrant is where I usually make my offerings to the Land, and this morning I’ve lit a candle and made an altar for the people of Nepal who are losing and clinging onto life from the devastating mudslides. Something primal in me needed to sing, to keen, to pray and this is the way that I choose to do it. We will all have our own reactions and responses to things like this which occur in the wider world; I’m sharing mine as an inspiration only, not suggesting that you should do this but showing how I love and grieve.

Earth Altars and offerings are an important part of my spiritual practice, and my creative practice too. Sometimes they are heart-full of prayer or grief for a particular happening, other times just for the joy of gratitude of being alive where I am. I like to pick and use what is near to me rather than bring in plants that have been grown elsewhere, although sometimes I take a bunch of flowers from my garden and take them into the wild to give. But they haven’t travelled far. I like to sit a while before I start and feel into the space I am in, get in my heart space before I place flowers, leaves, pine cones, pebbles.

I sing as I create and when I am finished, I sit and breathe, often finding another song come to me for the purpose of the Altar, one that wants to be sung, a mantra or a tune.

Here on my Altar today I have Peppermint flowers, Yarrow leaves, Borage flowers and Herb Robert flowers, anointing with rainwater and sharing my space with children, Jackdaws and Greenflies.

I feel time start to slow again and find my place in the world, sitting here in the garden with my prayers. I send my love to each of you reading this, and intend that we hold each other in support and care.

Jo xxx

See my art for sale here

Hello dear Wild Ones,

I’ve recorded you a bit of a vlog (video-blog) this month to chat to you about herbs for first aid. In it I talk about Plantain (Ribwort Plantain and Greater Plantain), Yarrow and Comfrey. Upcoming will be a post to my paid membership all about Comfrey, so if you’re interested in that then upgrade to a paid membership, which can be annually or monthly.

Here is the vlog for you to watch, and below is a post from my archive about Ribwort Plantain, which I’ve made free for everyone to read. I’m off to view a new local exhibition space now, to start planning my first art exhibition which will be coming this Autumn/Winter.

Read more about Plantain here:

Check out the rest of the archive here.

Thankyou for being here!

Jo xx

Hello Wild Ones,

Two whole months have passed since I wrote you a Wild Note! What have you been doing in that time? I’ve been swimming in the sea once a week, watering my vegetable plants, endless endless parenting, and lots of walking and sitting in the sunshine.

Nature is a balm for my grief, for my anger, for my anxiety. And by that I mean the sight of the full moon from behind clouds through the window while I’m trying to coax my teens into bed. Or the feel of the sun on my skin as I lay back down on my bed after the boys have left for school at 8.30am to let my nervous system settle. Or the repeated sightings of Swifts flying and dipping just over my head as I walk home from the studio over the golf course. Or the first smell of the Elderflowers last week.

Nature comes into my awareness now with very little effort, but it wasn’t always like this. I used to feel so disconnected, wondering what those flowers were on my walk to work, hearing about full moons and meteor showers after they’ve happened and feeling disappointed, going to the beach for a swim and realising it’s low tide. But I don’t feel my journey was hard, it’s simply practice. It’s just choosing to step outside for 5 minutes. You don’t need to buy identification books or go on a course, change your job or move house, it really is in your perception and awareness.

It starts with being. And I urge you to be outside.

It doesn’t need to be a big move like taking a day off work and climbing a hill (although it could be!), it could be as small as opening the front door with your morning drink and looking at the sky.

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Join me on the Solstice?

On Sunday 21st June I’ll be doing a special event with my good friend Alex from Patchouli Yoga on Spittal Beach in Berwick. We will be moving our bodies with Alex and then sharing foraged tea in a ceremony led by me. We will be tapping into the Solstice energy with the help of Wild Rose, and I can’t wait! Find all the details on the events page below.

Solstice Event

Check out Alex from Patchouli Yoga on Instagram.

Other ways to engage with me

Coming up in September I’m working towards Berwick’s first Open Studios festival, and will be opening my Wild Studio doors for two weekends. I’m currently making new work with my wild plant inks, here are a few in-progress/in-process photos!

I’ll share with you closer to the time about Open Studios so you can write it in your diaries, and before that I will (probably. intending to.) have some work up for sale on my website shop.

If you’d like to book me for a group workshop in or around Berwick, do get in touch. I don’t have the capacity for creating a programme of events this year but I’m more than happy to run some foraging/creative/medicinal sessions with existing groups. Email me at woodland-jo@outlook.com or have a look at my website.

Wild Revival website

And of course, you can upgrade to a paid subscriber here in the Wild Revival substack community, to get more posts by me. Last week I shared an in-depth look at Garlic Mustard with a pdf download, and coming up is still a surprise as I haven’t decided which plant I will write about yet! But expect recipes, pictures, stories and how to identify eat and/or use plants of this season.

See you outside…possibly in a stream…

Jo xxx

Grab a seat or a spot on the grass, pull off your shoes, and let’s sit in the shade for a few minutes together; this is a membership post going into more detail with a plant ally. Thankyou for being part of the Wild Revival community!

In the last post I sent you a little video from my back garden where I was sitting with Garlic Mustard, A…

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Get more from Jo Thomas 🌿 in the Substack app

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I spoke to Claire’s question about identifying the Elm tree she eats seeds from. there are two types of Elm commonly found in the UK - Wych Elm and Common Elm (or English Elm). There are a few more but these are the most likely ones you’ll see. I’ll put some photos below and you can click on the names to read more about them from The Woodland Trust.

Here’s Claire’s photo of Elm.

The Wych Elm leaves below have a distinctive tapered point at the end of them.

I also spoke about Mugwort, which you can read more about in my membership:

And here are examples of Beach Roses I talked about (Rosa rugosa):

And Dog Roses (Rosa canina):

Would you like to learn more about foraging, wild plants, and connecting to the land around you? Join Wild Revival as a paid member and recieve soooooo many resources that I’ve made, access to lengthier writings and the ability to chat directly with me. I’d love to see you there and it’s only £5 a month!

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See you outside soon,

Jo xxx

Thankyou for being ever so patient with me and for staying through my season of grief, change and difficulty. Spring is here and the wild plants are easing me back into my creativity and I’d like to re-emerge into this space ready to inspire you all to go foraging, get outside, lie on the ground, and/or notice the Swifts flying overhead.

The greenest greens are delighting my senses at the moment - Wild Garlic, Elm samoras, new Beech leaves, Nettle. But the plants im nibbling on most right now are Dandelion and Jack-by-the-Hedge (otherwise known as Garlic Mustard). Last Spring I wrote a lot on Dandelion which I will link to at the bottom of this post, so today I will be sharing with you a video from my back garden where I chat inanely about these two plants, and - coming soon - a monograph on Garlic Mustard. That’s a sheet with all the facts, ID info and pictures on it.

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Mentioned in the video -

• Sketchbooks from Pith

• Handmade papers by Lucy @ Tidekettle

• This post from 2 years ago, the inspiration for a sketchbook piece.

See you soon,

Jo xx

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Spring is here! *does a little dance* Everything is warming up, and I’m throwing open the doors and windows - literally and metaphorically. This Tuesday 14th April I am hosting an Open Studio in my shared creative space in Berwick-upon-Tweed. If you are local I would love to warmly invite you to pop in and meet/see me, see the artworks I have been creating and chat to me about foraging, pigments, crafting, plants, everything.

So, if you are within reach of North Northumberland on Tuesday, please do pop by!

And for those of you that aren’t, I’ll do a little Substack Live video to show you around, so you can join that at some point on Tuesday (I don’t know what time - just when it’s quiet) or watch the replay later. You’ll get an email to join the Livestream if you want to look out for it, or you can download the Substack app if you like!

Read null in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

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Open Studio!

Date: Tuesday 14th April 2026

Time: any time between 11am and 3pm

Where: At the Barracks in Berwick-upon-Tweed - park nearby in the Parade car park and walk through the main gates of the Barracks, following the signs to find the artist studios. A short walk (less than 10 mins) from the train station if you’re coming from further afield, and there are lots of lovely cafes and galleries, beaches and walks too.

What to expect: Some works for sale (bank transfer), some in progress, a working creative studio and me on hand so you can ask about my processes. Disabled access, toilets and refreshments available.

See you there!

Jo xxx

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Hello my wild friends

I’ve been quiet again, and now we near the end of March, so this newsletter is more of a looking back (although we are always moving and looking forwards too, especially at this time of year if you are a forager or a gardener like me). So, I invite you to reflect alongside me, and I’ll pose some questions here for all of us. Whether you journal these, just answer them in your head, or share with me in the comments/an email reply, all is welcome.

• Which new plants have you noticed emerging this month/recently?

• What has delighted you, woken you up, or brought you back to your centre?

• What does your mind, heart, body and spirit need more of as we step into April?

A song for awakening - Ayla Schafer - Grandmother

Emergence

Where layers of grief, struggle and pain meet, on the surface of my body, on my soil, they rest and begin to decompose. Heavy at times, but nothing is static. The anxiety collects in the crooks of my inner elbows, the struggle lodges under my fingernails, fear, cold, in the cavity of my pelvic bowl; but also there are the gentle grey leaves from the Poplar trees, the bent and brittle, hollow stems of Hogweed, and the salty liquid from within and from the sea. All creating compost for emergence, substance and substrate from which growth can occur.

I’ve had a bit of a dance with productivity in the last few weeks. Some of you reading this recoil already at the mention of the word - me too - but you’ll no doubt find it familiar, this thought-pattern that gathers our self-worth from our output, sustained by the cultural norms. To be frank, I am adjusting to full-time single parenthood without the co-parent I used to rely on, struggling with depression and anxiety, coming to terms with my own neurospiciness even more as I try to get support for my son with the same issues, seeing to the well-being of my grieving boys, and above all just trying to stay afloat. It leaves me with a business I so dearly want to work on but don’t have the energy for, people requesting foraging and crafting workshops that I would adore to teach but am scared to commit to, and so many ideas that must sit while my brain is overwhelmed with social, emotional, financial and mental anxiety. There is emergence in this, there are new beginnings here, even here. Even here.

The Nettles have long been a close ally to me, and they are looking so lush right now on my walks. Cleavers pop up near to them under the hedges and in the woodland edges, the buds of Wych Elm have burst open and the Alder catkins are flowering, sending tiny pollen clouds on the wind. I’ve seen a lot of bees waking up, and the little Wren that frequents my back garden makes me smile so much.

Waking up

I’ve been in the sea again, and she has welcomed me back with open arms, over and over. I crave the cold that wakes up my whole body, my heart, my being. On sunny days I can’t wait for high tide and I wade out early so I don’t miss the chance for sun on the water and my skin. Yes, it’s cold. Of course it’s cold. And it’s lovely. As my friend Eleanor says as we pull on our recalcitrant clothing over damp, sandy feet ‘both can coexist’. And it’s true for my feelings, as it’s true for everything. Both can be there with us - absolute joy amongst friends in the sea, and a heart full of grief; exciting creative ideas and overwhelming social anxiety; the need to rest and the desire to run; decomposing, dead plants turning to soil and fresh new Nettle leaves.

What do we need more of?

I’ll leave this one in my head to ponder today, and perhaps you will too. I often find that Nature presents me with exactly what I need even when I don’t know myself what I need more of. My head will be full of anxious thoughts, spinning with worry, and the sun will come out on a walk and shine just so on the Alder catkins. Or I’ll be crying, feeling lonely and hopeless as I put more laundry on the line, and the young male Blackbird will land close to me in the garden and start throwing leaves around with abandon, making me laugh and come out of my head for a moment. Whatever it is you need more of, I will be holding you all in my thoughts and considering it done, it’s already on it’s way.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of what I’ve been painting in the studio, with my natural plant inks. I feel like opening up my studio for a day and inviting you all in for a conversation - would you enjoy that?

Thankyou for being here, and listening to me, and I’ll be in touch with paid members shortly about a q&a session just for the Wild Revival membership - a chance to get your foraging questions discussed and answered, be encouraged to engage with Nature a little more and connect to our community here. If you’d like to join that, do upgrade to annual or monthly payment.

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Speak soon,

Jo xxx

Hello Wild Ones,

How are you faring this very wet February? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve put a still-soggy coast on, and swapped between pairs of boots when the insides are damp. The weather hasn’t kept me inside much more than usual, but it has brought me down. And I haven’t talked to anyone else in this country who isn’t saying the same thing - this month is hard. But today there is a break in the weather, the sky is clear and blue, and thankfully a close friend managed to prod me out of bed, burnout and avoidance and into the fresh air for a solo walk.

I feel like I’ve had my headphones in all month. Probably because I have. Music is an escape and a distraction, soothing and regulating at a time when my dark thoughts are loud or my kids are yelling. Or when it’s windy and cold and I need to walk somewhere. So today I took off my hat, left my headphones at home and immersed my senses in the sun-bathed (but still freezing) meadows.

Calling them meadows is half determined intention (if I call them meadows does that make them meadows?) and half wishful thinking; the unmowed swathes on the golf course between neat lawns that undulate with grassy hummocks and muddy ditches aren’t filled to the brim with rare wildflowers, but they are biodiverse and beautiful. In a square metre I can easily count 20+ plant species, and when it’s warmer certainly a handful of animal life too. Because I am well practiced, I can identify these wild weeds even in their dormant state in Winter, and if you fancy a challenge you could too.

How to identify plants out of season (when they are dormant or dying back)

• Look at what’s there now. If flowers, fruits or seeds aren’t available, what is there that you can use to descibe the plant? Bark? Stems? Leaf buds?

• Look at what isn’t there. Is there a big space around the base of a plant? That probably means it gets big in the Summer and out-competes the other wild plants.

• Look for dead leaves or flowers. This works really well for trees that you’re trying to identify, as it gives you more information than what you can currently see (bark texture, tree shape, bud shape). If there are loads and loads of lobed leaves all around the base of a tree, chances are they come from that one. On plants there might be green, growing leaves but also dead and dry flower stalks or seedheads. This won’t tell you what colour the flowers were or necessarily what it is, but it could help you rule things out when you are narrowing it down between options in a wildflower book.

• Use your eyes, not your phone. This one is just because I’m in a bad mood, and I prefer the excitement and slow process of learning a plant over the seasons by meeting it several times, rather than using an app and getting a definite (but possibly wrong) answer. You choose!

#beautiful dead crap

I used to love that hashtag on instagram - funny, provocative and creative photos, usually of dried flowers but anything dead or decaying goes. I wonder if anyone still uses it? I rambled over the meadows in a criss-cross fashion, following my nose and sometimes what looked like like animal tracks, until they ran out and I changed direction. Not long after I started this (and I did it primarily to avoid the sucking mud of the cut lawns, but pretty soon found myself thinking ‘yeah, who needs paths?!’) I started noticing the familiar-to-me golden brown, dead flower stalks of Yarrow.

One of my favourite wild plants that grows all over the world and has dozens of medicinal uses, also looks absolutely lovely as a cut dried flower. And these had surprisingly not been completely battered by the recent storms. As I started to pick them, thanking each plant as I went and jumping giddily over each hummock like a child, I realised it’s Valentine’s Day. Flowers for me, from me. Well, from Mother Earth. She loves me, and she loves you, too.

Which outdoor place are you most looking forward to visiting when the weather warms up? Let me know in the comments, I love our little community conversations.

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See you outside, getting muddy

Jo xxx

Today has been one of those days. Parenting a neurodivergent child through trauma on top of crisis; too many difficult things at once and everything falls apart. Then, at my wit’s end, I find the trees and they sing me back home. Let me tell you the story, in the hopes that it inspires your connection to something larger than yourself, and lends you the courage of Mother Earth when yours is failing.

In need of medicine

My morning starts at 7am when, as soon as my eyes open and my mind registers consciousness, I hear my younger son calling for my help. He wants to change the plaster on his finger, and needs my handmade First Aid Salve; ‘I’ve taken the old plaster off and I’ve washed it, Mum. It stings. I need the balm.’ I’ve been making this medicine for a few years, but we are down to our last personal jar and I haven’t been able to restock it for selling in 3 seasons, as there hasn’t been the abundance of Pine Sap to harvest that there has been in previous years. I don’t know whether this is due to drought, to changing climate, or if it is just the way of things. Perhaps the medicine hasn’t been as needed, but today it is needed, not just for the antibacterial sap and blood-staunching Yarrow, but for the simple fact that it is made by his Mum and therefore has magical properties.

Challenges that face us

He and I, we are getting to grips with it all still. Though I have suspected neurodivergent traits in him and we’ve struggled with his behaviour/emotions/reactions for 4 years, it’s only been in the last year that we have talked about it, named it, learned things (alone and together as a family), made changes, and talked some more. We have no diagnosis, very little practical support, but this won’t be a surprise for you to hear, it’s happening all over. And now we are thrown into a new phase of life; he lost his other parent and we find ourselves, him and I, alone, in a way. On top of each other and each of us struggling to make sense of the world and the expectations put upon us. The day-to-day struggles of PDA were tested even further today as we navigated the impact of a cycling accident and I try to bring him to minor injuries to get an x-ray, something way out of routine and challenging for him. The extreme weather this week hasn’t helped, as we both fought to close the front door and walked through sideways rain to get there, and all of our interactions and conversations are peppered with him grappling with the situation, the grief, the change.

It takes it’s toll on me, the impact to my mental health being perhaps even greater than even I credit and notice, but I am very aware of my capacity and those moments before I trip over the edge and am overwhelmed. The constant narrative, questions, requests, complaints and criticisms are more than I can take and my head feels too full, the room too loud and the house too much like a prison. Desperately, after calling close friends, trying my meditation, breathing deeper, I relent and stomp out for a brisk walk around the golf course – something that seems like a last resort but might perhaps be the exact medicine required.

Medicine revealed

Apparently 47mph winds and hail in your face is actually a nice stroll outside compared to parenting in a crisis...of course my manic dark humour comes to the surface in the face of these stresses, but I’ve always genuinely enjoyed the rain and wind and being outdoors in all weathers. I often laugh out loud when I’m walking in the ‘worst’ weathers. Do you? Freezing rain isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I suppose I do swim in the North Sea, so perhaps I’m more acclimatised (read: masochistic).

I felt lighter just standing at the top of the rise, just before the path curves down between golf….areas….the wind pushing strongly up from the East and the ocean. I turned my back and leant into it, feeling something so stabilising and yet alive and moving. I breathed deeper still, before returning to the path and wading through standing water on the grass. When my feet are wet anyway, I give up all notion of sensible pathways and take the child’s route – right through the middle. There is huge joy in it, and I recommend it. But the true medicine is still awaiting me, and calling me forward still. I move instinctively away from my habitual walk through the trees, knowing that Ash and Poplar are more prone than other trees to lose their branches in high winds, and not particularly inclined to set foot in the Infirmary again soon unless necessary. I squelch instead across the lawns and mowed areas, up and over the little contours until I see a group of older trees, and a very welcoming, friendly presence.

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A friend waits

I walk to the Pine tree, a large specimen, not tall but broad and with lower branches like arms ready to embrace me and all of my troubles. I lean my wet forehead on her rain-soaked trunk and breathe in her scent mixed with petrichor; phytoncides are the airborne compounds of the Pine tree, the breathable particles of volatile oils released through the trees’ sap, needles and bark, and they are known to have so many healing qualities. Inhaling these phytoncides increases the number of special white blood cells in the body called T K cells, which fight cancer and viruses, and boost the immune system. These compounds also reduce cortisol, the stress hormone, improve respiratory function and open your airways to breathe easier. Perhaps this is why Pines are also said to help improve sleep and promote calm, as we know that breathing slower and deeper helps us soothe our nervous systems and induce relaxation.

I move my hands to her bark and internally thank this being for holding me, leaning more of my weight to her, physically and emotionally. Trees are wiser than even we have words for, I am sure of it. There is something otherwordly and mystical about them, inspiring us humans with awe and spiritual wonder whilst also providing for our physical needs for fire, shelter and food. taught me a beautiful lesson of sitting with trees, sharing her daily practice in 2024 of spending time of quiet listening for an hour each day with a tree. Her reflections on it are beautiful…watch this video to be inspired!

I lean against the Pine and remember the song that travelled to me a few years ago, that I have been singing and sharing since, in circles both physical and symbolic, online and around campfires, in woodlands in different counties and to friends who don’t know each other, yet we are all joined by song, my me, by mycelium and soil and wind. I sing to the tree and feel the strong winds move her, move me. The whole trunk sways and twists in the gusts and I feel as if I am held by living, moving arms (which of course I am). The movement of life, the pulsing of the Earth Mother, being rocked and soothed, and the loud wind making it safe for me to sing aloud without fear.

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

Singing through the hard times

I adore the notion of singing through strife, but it isn’t an easy thing to come to, especially alone. When we do most of our parenting, working, creativity, life, separately. When we live through a lot of our emotions and inner challenges without other relatable human beings, we don’t have that community mind or that ease of sharing, the support of a village helping us process the good and the bad. But song is a vessel, an ancient and undeniable channel for emotion and story, for connection and communication, for energy transfer and transmutation. When we sing we turn our pain into something else, at least that’s how it feels to me. I won’t claim to be an expert or try to explain how or why, but I invite your thoughts on it and your curiosity in.

Bringing it back home

As I leave my guardian to tread a sodden path back to home and dry, I walk past another stand of younger, smaller Pine trees, and notice that the greenskeepers have pruned their lower branches all off. Some pretty unnecessary human intervention, probably for ease of mowing or just to make it look ‘tidy’, but it has a welcome side effect for me. I pray to the trees as I pass and tell them not to worry, I will keep an eye on their wounds, and in return may they create me some extra sap, to collect at some later date in the season? I’ll be able to make that batch of First Aid Salve that’s been on my mind for long months.

Sap is coming. Healing is coming. The medicine that we need is provided, in it’s right timing. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

If you’d like to learn more about Pine medicine, upgrade to my Wild Revival membership for £5 a month and read my last post, including a pdf download of Foraging Evergreens.

I’ll leave you with some lyrics from one of my favourite Olivia Fern songs. She’s a beautifully gifted folk singer from the Lake District, and you can find the song ‘Remember why you came’ on her website here.

‘Sing, even if your voice shakes. Dance, until your heart breaks open. What wants to come through you, call it in, remember why you came.’

Do join me in the comments to tell me if you’re a tree-leaner too.

Jo xxx

Hello Wild Ones,

January has hit my family home like a tonne of bricks, with a big unexpected life change and I’m clinging on with tired arms as we find our way together. So, my Wild Notes are a little late, my workshop plans have been put on pause, but really life does go on.

Where do you turn when life throws you curveballs?

I turn to my friends, my family, my yoga practice, my online and real life communities…but I also turn to Nature. Even when it doesn’t seem like I am. I’m in bed for the second full day, having managed a piece of toast and a banana, in what I think of as emotional burnout. There is no quick fix for it; there’s no medication or treatment other than rest, there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with me, there’s nothing to do. But my limbs are heavy and I feel tired going downstairs to the kettle, let alone outside, and yet still Nature holds me. My good friend gave me some potted forced Narcissi which are now flowering on my windowsill, the Blue Tits are feeding off the fat ball I made and hung in the Elder tree, and when I do have enough energy for a walk around the golf course the colours and shapes of frosted wild plants will make me smile.

Read Previous Wild Notes

The other day, before this burnout hit, I was on a lovely walk to see a friend and was so captivated by the frost that had clung stubbornly to the grasses, trees and paths all day, that I recorded a voicenote to turn into writing later, but I’m going to pop it right in here, so you can hear my thoughts in real-time, and the birds and crunchy frosted grass in the background.

Walk with me in the frost:

How is the start to your year? How are you faring this January? What birds are you seeing from your window? Let’s meet up in the comments and chat.

If you’re in the Wild Revival membership (i.e you pay for monthly membership) then January’s offering will be either late or not forthcoming. If you would like to ‘pause’ your membership you are welcome to do so, just reach out to me with a message! Otherwise make sure you read December’s post on Evergreens, and I’ll be back to normal scheduling soon…

Membership Posts

See you outside, wrapped up warm

Jo xxx

Happy Solstice to you all;

Winter here in wild Northumberland, where the Gulls have been coasting all day on the mild gusts over my house by the sea, and the fog has hung over the branches of the Ash trees, bare but for the clusters of ragged, sodden keys (seeds) that they cling on to. I went for a stomp in the last hour of daylight, to put to bed the past in my mind and my heart, and to enter the liminal season with fresh blood moving around my system. I passed a thousand Crows (or Rooks?) perched in the tree tops, watching me pass, and a field of friendly but silent Sheep. I nodded to the largest Willow tree that I’ve often sat with, and said hello to the fast-moving stream, the Hawthorn guardians that line the lane, and a solitary Swan on the Tweed at full tide. All grey, all dampened in sound and moisture! But all wonderfully vigilant.

How have you spent your shortest day of light? Or longest, if you are over the globe?

A couple of gifts…

Two gifts for you, my followers and supporters, because I cherish you!

• This post from last year I have taken from out behind the paywall for a month, so that you can enjoy learning about Ivy and how to weave a decoration. Suitable also for kids and grandkids to join in with, and all levels of creativity - it’s easy!

• A special coupon for you to get 30 days membership to Wild Revival free - I’d love to see you in there, whether you stay or not afterwards, you’re entirely welcome! You’ll get access to the entire Wild Revival archive of members-only posts (and downloads)! And you’ll get an email to remind you when the 30 days is coming to an end, so you can confidently choose to either keep on, or go back to free.

If you’re already a Wild Revival paid member, head to the Membership tab to see the latest post - Foraging Evergreens with an e-book to download.

Did you miss Wild Notes this month? it’s here:

Enjoy your Winter holidays, I hope you get deep lungfuls of cold air and some muddy walks in!

Jo xxx

Hello Wild Ones,

With December accelerating ahead, it’s well past due to bring you this last Wild Note of 2025, and invite you to reflect with me how Nature has held you this year. You might keep a journal, sketchbook or a nature diary, or like me you might take photos on your walks with your phone. I invite you over this Winter break to have a scroll/flick back through and jog your memory of a full turn of the wheel of the year outside.

I thought it would be nice to remind you that you can read each month’s Wild Notes here, so if you fancy some Spring- or Summer-themed escapism, I’ve got you. Each letter I write mentions what’s in my foraging basket or what has been catching my eye in the current season. It puts me in mind of the Japanese micro-seasons described in the book ‘Light Rains Sometimes Fall’ by Lev Parikian, a book that I haven’t read but has long been on my wishlist! The wheel of the year in this ancient Japanese calendar is split into 72 ‘micro-seasons’, each with a poetic name that describes the state of Nature in that handful of days, and it occurred to me as I write this that I have been similarly naming each of my monthly letters to you with two things that have been taking my attention. I’ll name them below - perhaps this could become a lovely annual ritual, like a poem for the year - and you can click the link below to go and read each month’s Note.

2025 - A Wild Year

geese skeins and meteors
catkins and snowdrops
primroses and strong winds
violets and dandelions
the first swallow and rowan blooms
elderflowers and rainshowers
yarrow fronds and cherry treasures
4-leaf clover and getting closer
sea buckthorn and morning sun
storms and elderberries
yellow leaves and muddy paths
red berries and bare branches

Read Previous Wild Notes

What has interestingly caught my eye, is that June’s ‘elderflowers and rainshowers’ is mirrored wonderfully by the ‘storms and elderberries’ of October; how curious that we had such wet and stormy weather in Northumberland both when Elder was blooming, and fruiting! We can make our own oracles from this, a divination practice or a reflective practice, a way of looking outside of ourselves and also a way of looking deeply within.

What phrase would you use to describe December? Can you identify the two natural phenomena that spark your curiosity the most this month; two plants, animals or weathers that captivate your attention? Write your poetic micro-season in the comments, I would love to read them.

Holiday Shop Closure

My Wild Revival Shop will be closing on Friday 19th December as I wind down for a holiday, so if you were thinking of a purchase now is the time. I have some original artworks painted with my handmade plant inks and pigments, and a few bottled remedies in stock, all for UK postage.

Visit the Shop

Thinking of upgrading?

If you love what I write in these Wild Notes, I’d love for you to join us in the Wild Revival Membership. For the holidays, I’d like to offer you all a 30-day FREE trial, after which you can either continue for £5 per month, or at a reduced cost annually, or cancel with absolutely no pressure to stay! If you join us for 30 days, you’ll get access to my entire library of membership posts including foraging guides and plant monographs (fancy ID sheets) to download. December’s members-only post and download was all about Foraging for Evergreens in the Winter.

Join Wild Revival for 30 days FREE

Don’t worry - you’ll get an email notification near the end of the 30 day trial to either cancel or continue, and you can spend some lovely rest time this Winter learning about wild edible and medicinal plants to forage!

I’ll pop into your inbox again when I’ve finalised some January plans!

See you outside (shoes off optional but recommended)

Jo xxx

Hello Wild Ones, and welcome to your Wild Revival members’ space.
This is your exclusive monthly offering; a deeper, more personal dive into the wild plants, the seasons, and quiet wisdom of the land. I hope you feel held here. May this post bring you inspiration, companionship, and a steadying reminder of your own belonging with the wild world.

You can …

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I’ll stick some photos below so you can see the inks and sketchbook pages more clearly, and now that I’ve reduced the ink to it’s final shade of beautiful dove grey I’ll show you the painted samples.

Inspired by this week:

Oak leaves - almost all dropped from the trees now, but as we’ve had so much rain lately, I’m always looking down at my feet as I’m walking anyway, so seeing them all on the woodland floor as I traverse the puddles and mud has been catching my eye.

November Skies - gosh, they have been moody, subtle, overt, quick-changing, often grey but also often brilliantly lit up in the mornings. Inspired by the sun always seen through haze.

Hawthorn Ketchup - just finishing off my jar of Hawthorn Ketchup from last year and using it in creative ways in the kitchen! It’s wonderful with chips or wedges, but this week I also used to to make a stir-fry sauce of my mushrooms and veggies with rice noodles - a big spoon of the ketchup, a spoon of miso paste (you could use soy sauce) and a little bit of agave syrup (you could use honey or any kind of syrup) and a little chilli paste. It was really hitting the sweet/salty/sour cravings of early Winter for me! It’s not too late to try making a jar or 2 of this; there are still lots of Hawthorn berries to pick out there!

I’d love to know what you’ve been inspired by or noticing this month, do comment below or reply to chat! Coming up in the membership is some Winter foraging guidance; we will learn more about evergreens and their edible and medicinal uses.

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Sarah specialises in both Family Portraits and Business Branding, and I’d heard from several of my friends and other local business owners that they ‘had never liked a single photo of themselves until Sarah had shot them’! And I have to say, I can understand their response! Not only have I utterly fallen in love with these photos of me, but I enjoyed the entire process - booking and organising with Sarah was easy, she loved my scrawling email brief describing how I wanted my audience to feel when I use these photos on my website, and my requests for stills, headshots, hands and bare feet, lots of walking and movement, videos, close-ups. And together we created some absolute magic.

We went to 2 of my favourite outdoor locations (of which there are plenty in Berwick!) to interact with as much Nature as possible. I was keen to get my handmade foraging basket in, get my shoes off, and generally get stuck in, like I do in work and in life.

A walk isn’t just a walk for me - it’s picking up leaves, taking photos, sketching, leaving gifts for the trees, touching moss, getting muddy feet and really getting into the elements.

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The Shots!

You’re desperate to see by now, I know! Sarah processed these so promptly for me, here are some of my favourites!

I’d 1000% recommend Sarah for a Family or Branding shoot, if you’ve been wondering or putting it off, do it now. You won’t regret it. Find Sarah on the Pictorial Photography website, shooting across Northumberland and the Borders.

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Stay tuned for my website launch coming soon…

And meanwhile, you can read Sarah’s lovely blog post about the shoot!

See you outside, barefoot!

Jo xxx

Hello Wild Ones! Happy November; I can’t believe we are already well into this month.

How are you feeling?

Let’s take a minute to drop in. If it feels good, take a listen to this audio to settle into your body, and settle into the season for a pause.

So, noticing is always a bit of a theme of mine, but this month it has been really deepening into my being; this life-mirror, this self-reflection of Nature, the inner and outer cycles spiralling around. As the season shifts toward Winter, where am I wintering?

I’ve put down a lot of things recently and I am really in the liminal space between things. I used to find this in-between phase uncomfortable and in many ways I still do (hello, money) but I am also learning to lean in to what I now intuitively feel is a growth edge. An energetic, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual pause before something big happens. Just in that way that our bodies know, our spirits know, what we need before our conscious mind catches up.

For me, it’s this practice of coming back to my creativity, this returning to call myself an artist (a practicing artist) while also knowing that I never really left this behind. That this claiming a studio space, a sketchbook, a website (coming soon!) has meant that things internally need to shift in me. And I believe my system needed a reset and a reboot for that.

And now, as I sit everyday in meditation, as I embody my word of the year, DEVOTION, and reflect on what has grown, shed, blossomed, moved in my life so far, I find myself feeling and hearing the beginnings of the call again. For community, for sharing my gifts, for inspiration and encouragement and outside!

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So, here is a look inside my sketchbook of natural Autumn flatlays - Nature-created, perfectly layered collections of leaves, in natural inks and pigments that I have made.

I will be announcing some invitations soon; to join me live on Substack, to come along to a fresh new Wild Hygge group, and to launch my website (with maybe an open studio thrown in!)

For now, I’ll see you outside in the mud and rain,

Jo xxx

Elderberry Tincture - I’ve got preorders open on this year’s batch of magical Elderberry Tincture! They are £25 a bottle and will see you through the Winter’s lurgys; I wouldn’t be without mine. Read more below:

Wild Geese | Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through th…

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Can you feel it? We are truly now entering the next seasons here in Northumberland, leaving behind the lushness and bounty of late Summer and heading towards colder, crisper and shorter days. We’ve had some amazingly warm and bright sunshine for October so far, but the chill is settling in, the Geese are travelling and the insects are quieter. On my morning walks to the studio and evening strolls to shake off the day’s stresses, I become habituated to the downward curl of the colouring Bramble leaves on their tangles, the multitude of spiderwebs anchored to russet towering Dock seeds and faded Hogweed seedheads, and more and more tree leaves spinning down to land on the path at my feet.

And internally we mirror this shift, whether we notice it consciously or not, our animal bodies more in-tune than we assume in our modern lives. Of course it’s true that we are more disconnected than ever from the seasons as we are sold imported fruits and spend our working lives (most of us) on screens indoors, but there is an inherent connection there, a relationship that survives the overlays of modern culture and takes just a little conscious effort to recognise. It can be subtle, like feeling a drawing inwards or tendency to reflect, or more obvious like noticing your cravings for hot soups and comforting meals; these are the messages of the body, your wild self, pulling you back towards Nature.

I’ve been feeling it in my immune system, and my nervous system, this need for slower days, earlier nights and allowing my energy to fluctuate. In Autumn we are spanning two worlds, bridging two major seasons and it can feel like we oscillate between them. Some days are bright sun and plans, ideas and energy. Other days are grey, cold, and I feel like reflecting and not starting new things. And it’s ok to be in either of these, it is a normal reaction to the shift of the seasons.

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Wildcrafted Seasonal Support

This is the moment I always turn to Elder - a potent, powerful ally for the changing season, helping the body stay strong through Autumn colds and Winter viruses. Herbal medicines, especially those used in their fruiting, leafing or flowering season, are such powerful intuitive support for our bodies, supporting our own systems to do what they naturally want to do - heal. Lots of illness symptoms are side effects from the body dealing with bacteria, viruses or pathogens; a runny nose is clearing out the germs, a sore throat encourages us to drink fluids to flush out the body, and pain and tiredness forces us to rest and sleep. The body is doing what it knows how to do, and with Elderberry we can support it and bolster it further.

I’ve just finished making this year’s batch of wildcrafted Elderberry tincture, sustainably foraged from local hedgerows and steeped slowly to draw out every drop of dark, immune-loving medicine. It’s still resting, deepening in potency and I’m opening up a small number of pre-orders before I bottle and label it in the next couple of weeks. The tincture combines wild fresh Elderberries with Ginger, Echinacea and Cinnamon and works both as a preventative supplement and as relief when you are ill. It’s alcohol-based so it will keep, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll use it regularly!

I only make this medicine once a year, so this is very small-batch and special, imbued with love and intention for mental and emotional wellness as well as physical support, with a call for Elder to ally to us. If you have kids or grandkids, are around a lot of pathogens on public transport or at work, or have a sluggish immune system this tincture is for you!

A bundle of support! Tincture and PDF

When you order, you’ll also receive my Elder Medicine PDF - a beautifully written guide to meeting the Elder plant, understanding her folklore, and learning how to work with her safely and respectfully. You’ll get the digital guide straight to your inbox, so you can begin exploring this wild ally right away, while your tincture finishes infusing and makes its way to you in a few weeks’ time.

This bundle costs £25 and includes:

• Elderberries 2-page illustrated PDF

• 50ml Elderberry Tincture

• Free UK postage

• A hand-written wellness note in wild berry ink 🪶

I only make this medicine once a year, and I’ll have just 15 bottles available. Once they’re gone, that’s it until next autumn’s berries return. Overseas customers send me a message for a postage upgrade estimate!

If you’d like to reserve your bottle of this year’s potent, wildcrafted Elder medicine, you can pre-order now and receive your Elder PDF straight away by replying to this email!

Just hit reply and I’ll send you the payment details and arrange your delivery!

More about Elder…

Incase you missed my last email, you can read it here, and listen to my audio about Elderberries and Wild Medicine:

Here is a page on identifying Elder from The Woodland Trust, which is easy-to-follow!

If you’re Northumberland-accessible then have a look at these creative workshops coming up at Gallery 45 in Felton (near Alnwick), including an Elderberry Shibori Scarf Dyeing Workshop run by my good friend .

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Reply to this email/message me to secure your Elderberry Bundle asap.

See you outside

Jo xxx