Authenticity

The first is a reflection on authenticity by Darren Cools, a regular at our gatherings, who recently wrote about exploring the vulnerability of being authentic. Earlier this year, when I was meeting with Deb & Richard of Tantre farms to discuss what was in season each moon, I had picked Authenticity for this moon’s theme as we discussed all the fruits and tomatoes that would be coming into season. Many of the names for this moon (Sturgeon moon, ricing moon, corn moon, etc) refer to things maturing into their fullest expression for harvest, and authenticity seemed like the perfect theme for this time, as we explore what is our own truest expressions. Darren didn’t know this was the theme I picked, so when his lovely post landed in my inbox a few days ago I knew his reflection was the one I should share for this month.

Mission: We would love to read your own reflections on your own on what authenticity means to you, you can leave it in our #stories channel on Slack or in the comments below.

Tomato Time

Among the many other fruits coming into season, tomatoes are in full swing, and Greta and I have harvested a hundred pounds from our garden already!

Mission: You may enjoy taking yourself on a tomato tasting adventure to find your favorite type of tomato at the farmer’s market or farm stop. My personal favorite from the market last year was a particular orange one that was at the far corner of the Ann Arbor market, which I wish I knew the name of. This year, I’m loving the Fred Tie Dye heirloom’s Greta planted in our garden, sliced with sea salt on toast. Leave your favorite type or preparation in the comments or in the #food channel on slack.

Creating Rituals

In these busy days, scheduling can be hard to find a time that works to get together with people, and I’ve learned since I moved back to the midwest that many people here tend to plan weeks in advance! Our chef Parisa wrote a lovely reflection on how creating rituals with small groups can be a way of creating consistency for yourself and others around you. While I’ve enjoyed the Open Spoon, I’ve found that small weekly groups like this provide me with a lot of joy - what are some of your rituals?

Looking Forward

While our summer break was set to end with a harvest celebration in September, work obligations have come up and so I have to postpone our next Open Spoon gathering to the full moon on October 25. With that being said, I also think it’s the perfect time to gather and discuss how this gathering could be less dependent on one person. It’s been absolutely magical to see how our gathering has evolved to include all the wonderful contributions of the community, and in reflecting on what feels authentic to me, I’ve realized the thing I am most passionate about is the thing these gatherings all started with - the storytelling circles I host.

The other components, like the potluck, have all been magical additions, but setting up and breaking down from that adds an additional burden to my plate that just isn’t feasible on days when volunteers aren’t available to come early and assist. So, I have decided that I can commit to hosting the post-dinner storytelling component for October 25, but I want to open it up to others to see who might be interested in helping with the other parts for October, if any. If you have availability or interest in leading or assisting with The Open Spoon in October, be it continuing the potluck or adding another idea, send me an email to rootcampcollective@gmail.com. I’ll host a planning meeting on the new moon on Thursday September 10th to discuss some of the guiding values of our experience, and experiment with how others being a part of creating this might look like, so if you email me your interest I’ll send you details.

Thank you for being here, for being part of this community, and exploring new ways to connect to each other and the places around us.

Cheers,

Liz

Hello Root Campers! We put together a Full Moon Kit for July. Whether it is a solo trip to the Farmer’s Market, a tea party with a friend, or picking flowers with neighbors - we hope this guide will inspire your own celebrations this moon. If you enjoy our content, you can now support our work by upgrading to a paid subscription:

Subscribe now

(download the pdf here)

Share The Love

Please share photos of your own celebrations, observations, and moon photos in our slack channel, or email to rootcampcollective@gmail.com and let’s celebrate together.

Thanks to our contributors to this month’s guide:

Liz Barney

Parisa Soraya

Morgan Burgard

Trenton Von Klingler

In June, our theme was Joy, and we celebrated with a multitude of berries. Our featured farm was Jacob’s Fresh Farms, who shared his theory on cultivating joy:

It was one of the shortest strawberry seasons in 40 years due to a late frost, so Parisa and I had a little jam session and combined Jacob’s strawberries with Tantre Farm rhubarb to create a fresh jam that would last until the full moon:

On the night of the full moon, we brought our jam and a selection of native plants from Trenton, and participants made arrangements for the table as they arrived:

The community brought in their own renditions of the theme through local food, and a few shared the stories behind them:

Richard shared memories of picking mulberries, and following a flock of white chickens with temporary purple bottoms tainted from their own enjoyment of the harvest. Chris shared the inspiration for a pesto he made from leftover carrot tops, Chuck and Brenda shared a risotto with basil from their garden.

Then, we shared stories about a time we had experienced joy.

• Brenda shared how she had spent the month looking for times she felt joy, and for her it came from exploring improv and pushing herself out of her comfort zone.

• Vinny shared a rap song he wrote, inspired by the open spoon! Here are a few of his lines on the joy of community:

• Emefah shared experiencing the joy of childhood through her niece’s eyes.

• Stephanie shared about the joy of giving and receiving in community.

• Chuck shared a reflection on how watching animals in his backyard led to learning their favorite foods, and giving them names to the point where they worry about them like a family member when on vacation.

• Anna shared how a moment where her daughter was frightened by a possum turned into a positive moment when they decided to name it Clarence, and then Clarence started bringing his wife around.

• I shared a story of how taking time to explore what brought me joy has created space to explore new opportunities in my own life.

• Chris shared how mishaps on a trip to Spain with his mother and brother tested the limits of his anxiety, but then opened up new ways to connect and build trust with his mother, creating deeper joy in the long run.

• Greg shared how a moment of guilt after hitting the leg of a deer turned into a long term journey of respect as the deer continued to reappear in his life and he watched the deer heal through the years.

Then, we spent a few minutes philosophizing from the gut up as we shared what we had noticed throughout the different stories:

• Many times joy was transformed from moments of anxiety, much like the Thích Nhất Hạnh quote - turn your trash into flowers.

• Deeper depth of joy seemed to arise when preceded by difficulty.

• There were recurring themes of contraction and expansion - closing, and then the relief of opening. Perhaps you don’t fully appreciate or even notice something until you have experienced the opposite.

• Contraction is a large part of the birthing process.

• Being in a place of safety created parameters to open up and experience joy.

Moon Rituals Are For Everyone

As mentioned, I decided to take a summer break from hosting the Open Spoon for the months of July and August, but there is another full moon coming up next week, July 29. For this moon, I had selected the theme of Harmony, inspired by a quote by my friend Danny Akaka: Unity is diversity in harmony.

As a musician, Danny likened harmony in the real world to the notes in a chord - many different things, that come together to create something richer. Danny has been hosting full moon gatherings every month for decades, and during my time in Hawaii I had the pleasure of helping him host and tell the stories of these gatherings. As a result, observing the moon became a habit for me, and I carried this with me when I moved back to Michigan. Sometimes it was a midnight stroll to howl at the moon, or taking my camp stove down by the river to make some moon tea. Sometimes, a friend would join, sometimes I would go by myself. Last fall, I started inviting other people to join me on a more formal basis, and over the last several moons it evolved into everything we have been doing. I noticed that after our last spoon, Stephanie shared a new ritual of enjoying a popsicle under the moon on Instagram.

Recently, I shared about The Open Spoon with somebody, who asked if I was consulting with Indigenous people. I shared that while we have attendees from many different cultures, I don’t have a specific culture consulting on my gatherings, but I thought it was an interesting question. While I began formally observing the full moons in Hawaii, I have found it really interesting to learn about the ways many different cultures have observed the moon, including the ways Native Americans used the turtle as a calendar. And the one thing that has been most remarkable to discover, is that no matter where you come from, every region historically had traditions of celebrating and recognizing the moon. I have yet to find a single ethnicity where I can’t find stories about their ancestors living in harmony with nature and creating rituals to follow their cadence. Most of my ancestors are from Europe, and while early farmers followed the moon for planting, even earlier communities ritualized the observance of the moon for hunting strategies, which made me realize:

You don’t have to belong to a specific culture to observe the moon, because it’s a tradition that all of our ancestors have observed across the world. Celebrating the moon is for all cultures and ethnicities. And while we all share the same moon, each ritual was influenced by the specific location, and what was happening in nature and their local food systems at that time.

With that in mind, I’ll be sharing some inspiration in a few days of what’s in season and happening in nature in Washtenaw County to inspire your own full moon celebrations next week, whether it is solo, with a friend, or inviting a neighbor over. I’ll also be looking into some of the ways my Italian ancestors celebrated the moon, and if you learn about the ways your ancestors used to celebrate the moon, or have a memory of your own around the moon, please share with us in the comments!

A few other fun opportunities to experience joy this month:

• Pick your own strawberries at Honeybee U-pick

• Explore West Side Art Hop June 13/14 - is a neighborhood tradition started by our friends Larry & Lucie Nisson, and a fun low-pressure way to meet your creative neighbors while wandering through their houses and booths (pictured below):

The second full moon of May was a delightful exploration of the theme of Discovery. Our featured farmers were Dog Star Farm, who were knee (and sometimes waist!) deep in asparagus season. I joined them for a morning harvest and we chatted about getting started farming and what makes asparagus awesome.

Their own moment of discovery started when covid inspired Zach to re-evaluate his values, and he quit his job to learn how to farm. Separately, Magda was also having a covid contemplation, quit her job, and landed on the same farm as Zach, where they met. Five years later, they are still enthusiastically following their delight in farming, and they spoke candidly about both the joys and challenges young people who want to get into farming face today. You can watch the short video here:

Discovery with Dog Star Farm

It was our first Open Spoon with living plants, and Trenton came through with a stunning selection of native plants you may be able to find in your own backyard:

• Ostrich Fern is a shade plant native to Michigan

• Spiderwort has soft blue / purple flowers that open up during the daytime

• Golden Alexanders are a yellow flower also known as a compound flower, meaning each umbrella is held by one main umbrella

• Joe Pye Weed has little bits of purple pigment (called anthocyanins) that acts as the plant’s sunscreen when young leaves are not ready for the full sun

• Alumroot is a shade plant with a cool red purple color

I made an asparagus pesto with the fresh stems we picked at Dog Star. One of my favorite things is eating fresh stalks straight from the ground, so to keep that sweet taste, I chopped up the tender stalks and marinated them in lemon, olive oil, and pesto overnight instead of cooking them. Then, I tossed in a few tomatoes and some mozerella for good measure.

Some of the our dishes folks brought included:

• Mushroom paté by Zach and Magda

• Gus, a middle eastern shredded meat with saffron rice by Vinny

• Tuna casserole, a comfort food Brenda associates with summer

• A special hummus Chris prepared with miso and fermented garlic

• A homemade Kombucha by Liz

• A lasagna with sauce made from Mari’s vegetable garden

• Several delicious salads

• A savory mushroom grits with sorrel and fennel

Then, we shared stories about times we had experienced DISCOVERY:

• Vinny shared how he had been captivated by the story of Edward Fitzgerald and how the discoveries made later on helped save other lives.

• I shared how meeting my Aunt later in life helped me learn more about myself.

• Finn shared how stand-up comedy helped them explore a more confident side of their personality they didn’t know they had

• Mari shared how an impromptu camping trip led to the discovery of a campsite that became the foundation for many summer memories and a new tradition.

• Zach shared how their new beehive (featured in the video!) has brought unexpected delight to their life

• Jon shared how playing the flute helped him reconnect with old parts of him that had hardened with life, and give water to that side of him.

We didn’t get a chance to comment on the threads we noticed throughout the stories this month, but it was lovely to hear everyone’s personal experiences and we will be sure to make time for that on the next moon.

Everyone helped clean up after - from putting away the chairs to washing the dishes. A few people mentioned they would love to have more conversations outside of the full moon to organize food ideas, and others are interested in helping more with the event itself. Other plant lovers were interested in getting other people together to forage plants or asking question. I agreed that I could definitely use more minds helping me organize details for the event, and I know several people were looking for an easier way to swap recipes, so I created a Slack channel as something we could start exploring as a way of building out and continuing these conversations. For example - perhaps we all want to organize a group trip to Art Hop, or pick strawberries together? Slack is a great place to connect.

If you would like to be one of the first people to join and help me shape this virtual community, please fill out the form below:

Join The Slack Community

Regardless, for the first of this two-month moon, our May 1 moon theme was COMMUNITY, and there were a lot of cool things that emerged. First, I joined Richard Andres for a tour of Tantré Farm to forage mushrooms, ramps, and nettles, and learn about mycelium, nature's reminder that everything is connected and differences are not a bad thing. Then, I joined Parisa Soraya as she demonstrated some delicious ways to transform the foraged goods into delightful dishes.

watch here

A few highlights from my nature walk with Richard:

“The bigger and the older the tree, the more developed the communication network is, so the mother tree has maintained a huge network that other trees can tap into.”

“When you have diversity, its hard for one destructive disease or bacteria to takeover because it can’t get very far.”`

Speaking of diversity, I learned that each type of mushroom prefers to grow in different kinds of weather and on different kinds of trees - resulting in an array of edible delights. While wandering the forest, I was also able to forage some ramps (a highly nutritious allium that emerges in the spring), and nettles (a spring superfood).

We took the nettles and boiled them into a delightful tea. Then, Parisa made a simple yet delightful preparation for The Open Spoon.

For the ramps, a quick pickle using vinegar, salt, sugar, lemon, hibiscus leaves.

For the mushrooms, I learned that washing them under the faucet was not the correct way as they are a sponge and absorb water. Instead, clean with a makeup brush or wipe with a moist paper towel. For this preparation, Parisa waited until the pan was very hot, then added ghee (clarified butter) and toasted them until they were crispy on both sides. She finished it with a little cooking wine to bring out the umami and sea salt, and paired with the pickled ramps — which didn’t last long at the potluck!

A few highlights of other dishes inspired by the theme:

• Greta roasted Hakurei turnips and topped them with the blanched turnip greens plus garlic and oil and sesame seeds

• Anna made gluten free cookies made with garbanzo beans

• Chris and Kristen brought a salad with preserved goodness from their garden

• Rachel shared a bottle aged pineapple ginger kombucha (email her about her growler club at rachelakanaan@gmail.com)

• Miranda roasts vegetables early in the morning for eating throughout the day

And then, we had stories inspired by the theme of Community:

• Lisa has had many experiences in many extreme communities, from strict religion, to Alcoholics Anonymous, to the tech startup world. But her definition of community changed when her brother died. She noticed all the different people across substrates that showed up and were there for her, as opposed to the people she thought were her community. In that moment, she redefined community as something that is part of a greater soul connection that doesn’t require defining which group you’re a part of or not.

• I (Liz) shared a story about how Root Camp was inspired by the chaos that ensued after starting an Ann Arbor chapter of Creative Mornings in search of a creative community, and how the people and community who emerged from that experience were not the ones prescribed by a framework, but the ones who actually showed up for me with no agenda, and helped me discover a similar soul connection that was inexplicable - almost some sort of mycelium of the air.

• Aria shared a story about how entering 8th grade this year was particularly challenging because all her friends had left the school, so she didn’t want to join her class canoe trip with strangers. But when things got really hard and she was struggling and having the worst time, those strangers stepped in, had her back, and created stronger bonds and a deeper sense of belonging.

• Chris shared how he met a photographer in a virtual meetup during covid, and they formed a lasting bond over a shared love for stories. Later, that photographer passed away, and when Chris looked back at his last text, it was just a simple “I love you,” a message also captured in one of this photographer’s prints that hangs on Chris’s wall. In that moment, he realized that love is community, and love is something that never dies.

• Anna shared the isolating childhood experience of her family’s search for community in other families who shared the same religious beliefs. Now, in her adult life, she has found that by putting aside ideology and opening her hearts to everyone, she built a vibrant community of people from every walk of life.

• Darren shared a story about his own childhood finding relief from the isolation of his life by speaking to trees and rocks. When he moved away from the PNW during covid, it almost felt like he had left behind his community in the landscape, but then found new friendships at the local community pool and realized that community is all around you and often in the places you least expect.

• Emma recalled her life as a young child, going for early morning walks barefoot before school, and then organizing a group called “Children Against Bad Parents.” As she contemplated on her adult life, being surrounded by communities where everything is pigeonholed to religion or a specific shared identity, she realized that her whole life she has rebelled against strict and authoritarian structures of identity, whether it was challenging a professor or encouraging others to question things around them.

• Greg shared how his Grandmother served as an anchor of community and bringing their family together, and how things became a little more isolated after she passed away. From there, he started to learn how he could take on her role in building new community for himself, and embraced the practice of cleaning off his Grandmother’s grave to continue to nurture kinship with her in spirit as he carried on her legacy.

• Barry shared how his early days driving trucks for the local organic farms created a special sense of community for him. As he reflected on decades of visiting various communities, he realized he feels repetitions of the same individual energies in every community and will often talk to strangers wherever he goes as if he’s known them his whole life. For him, the universe is a singularity and the ultimate synchronicity of everything, and there are no accidents.

Afterwards, we shared various connections and synchronicities we noticed:

• You don’t have to have all your community in one basket and all that weight on one group but have openness to community everywhere, like at Kroger or the pool! You don’t have to live in the same area or all like the same thing - community is not “that one thing”, because that one thing will let you down.

• We all love talking to trees and rocks.

• We noticed that when communities crumble, people will always turn to seek something else out, and we wondered how can we create good things for them to connect to?

• We noticed a lot of dislocation and relocation in the stories, and getting away from a group and reconvening somewhere else. Perhaps everything is cyclical in life, and perhaps each change is just part of the next wave.

It was cool to see the way that diversity and interconnectedness showed up in both the farm, and the stories. Where community is sometimes defined by shared commonalities, many of the stories showed diversity creating a more sustainable and long term bond.

I recently attended my friend Lindsay’s Third Space Sunday - another cool initiative exploring ways to bring people together in the area. One person at my table shared how they had moved to the area during covid, then had a child, and when they had space to socialize again, somebody suggested they join a mom’s group. So much of my life is centered around being a mom, they protested, I want to connect around other parts of my identity. It made sense, but begged the question, what other things do you connect around? So much of small talk is politely navigating to find a common point of interest where you can both enjoy going deeper together - and perhaps a shared point of connection serves as a starting point for any group over a general gathering.

As I reflected on this with a friend, I realized The Open Spoon is an event specifically designed to create a welcoming place for different religions and political backgrounds and brain types - but we still do have one point of common connection we all share, and that is a love for nature: the thing that connects us all, below ground and above.

See you next moon,

Liz Barney

Upcoming:

May 17th: Washtenaw Food Hub Spring Fling - I will be representing Root Camp with a bake sale of gluten free sourdough goods and a nature print making activity.

May 31: Next full moon, exploring the theme of DISCOVERY.

Gratitude to these wonderful collaborators not mentioned earlier:

Larry & Lucie Nisson, ardent supporters of community connection through expression and founders of the Westside Art Hop.

Washtenaw Food Hub, home to The Open Spoon and the Sunflower Farm Market, which provides all our delicious local produce.

Destination Ann Arbor, our supportive cheerleaders in using The Open Spoon to tell stories that connect people through the places we share.

In our tour, he touched on reciprocal networks, the strength of mother trees to support smaller ones, the benefits of diverse ecosystems where we can flourish together, and the societal solutions of connectivity embedded in our soil. I learned a lot from our chat, I hope you enjoy it as well. Don’t forget to kindly RSVP if you are coming tomorrow - we’ll see you there!

• May 1 focuses on Community as we celebrate the relationships that allow us to flourish, with a dish highlighting mushrooms, nature’s reminder of connectivity.

• May 31 focuses on Discovery, as we notice emergence as the earth awakens, and will have some dishes highlighting the spring surprises of asparagus and rhubarb.
  Bonus: If you want to discover some delights for yourself, Dog Star Farms (at Slow Farms next to the Food Hub) needs volunteers to pick asparagus.

• May 17: Root Camp will be at the Washtenaw Food Hub’s Spring Fling on May 17 with a bake sale to raise money to support our work. Come say hi and buy some baked goods, and send us a message if you want to donate baked goods!

In April, our theme was growth, and as the earth thawed the Ann Arbor farmer’s market was exploding with microgreens and fresh growth. Rob McKercher from GardenWorks farm donated a flat of pea shoots to the event, and we learned that shoots are very different from sprouts, as they are grown in soil (as opposed to sprouts, that are grown in just water). Soil provides certain minerals and other things that you don’t get from just water, creating a more nutrient dense end product. We heard Rob was a poet, which inspired us to create a poem for him while we were creating the featured pea shoot tarts for this month’s open spoon. You can watch Parisa’s process for creating this dish (and our poem creation) on youtube here.

At the event, Richard of Tantre Farms also shared a little more about Amaranth, a microgreen which prefers the hot and dry weather, making it an ideal crop for the hot months of the summer, unlike spinach and kale which prefer the cooler months.

Chloe brought some of her family’s Samanu - a Persian New Year tradition over 1,800 years old, representing growth, rebirth, strength, and transformation. To make this, her family took sprouted wheatgrass juice and slowly cooked it with flour. This process involved over 30 individuals from other local Iranian families and friends, taking turns stirring it with a large spoon while sharing stories, dancing, and laughter.

A few signs of life were also sprouting in Trenton’s selection of native plants this month, all gathered from one habitat, a special type of wetland called a fen:

• Pussy willow and hybrid willow

• Sensitive fern

• Mountain mint

• Swamp goldenrod

• Shrubby cinquefoil

While most wetlands are fed by rainwater, a fen wetland is fed by groundwater that comes up through the limestone bedrock, bringing rich minerals with it. Similar to our pea shoots, it seems that the gifts from below add a little something special.

Then, we shared stories about times we had experienced growth in our lives.

• Chloe shared about the process of learning her husband’s family traditions as they stayed up all night making Samanu, and the memories they shared together.

• Mitch shared about learning how to run a mile - listen here:

• Lisa shared a humorous anecdote of how a tea leaf reader in Costa Rica and a washing machine of crystals helped her work through generational trauma.

• Priscilla shared the progress she saw from a year of showing up and having conversations with her city council members around data center concerns.

• Hillary shared how moments around her taught her to find exuberance in life.

• Vinnie shared how a scar from a bike accident as a child became a reminder for him throughout his life.

• Laura was inspired by his story to share her own story of how perspective helped her view an accident of her own in a new light - listen here:

• I shared how a conversation with a writer I admired help me reflect and let go of perfection and create my first fictional short film, just for fun (starring Laura!).

Then, I asked people to share their own observations and reflections on what stood out to them from the stories:

• A lot of growth was the result of pain, paired with bravery and resilience

• Sometimes the goal was initially just getting through something and surviving, but then you discover everything else that has changed and there was a lot of unexpected growth from not quitting after its all said and done

• We all find our own unique way to grow wherever we’re planted

• Human connection often facilitated growth, it didn’t come in a bubble

• Sometimes it only comes when you take time to sit back and reflect, observe purposefully, and find perspective in new realizations

• Sometimes growth only came with acceptance

We had put slices of pea shoots growing in soil on the table, and Parisa pointed out the similarities between the stories and the visual of the “earth cake.” While you can see the beautiful growth on top, you can also see what they had to go through, and the community and resources they had to get there.

We look forward to seeing you all next month. If you enjoy these newsletters and events, you can always support Root Camp by donating here, and support our venue by purchasing your local food from the Sunflower Farm Market.

April brings glimmers of new GROWTH, our theme for this month’s next full moon gathering April 1 at 6pm. The first sprouts are emerging from winter’s compost, along with early favorites like nettles.

Sprouts are integral to the Persian new year, and Parisa will be incorporating them into a savory pea shoot dish. Bring a dish or story of your own inspired by the theme, or volunteer on our sign up sheet to help out with set up and break down. To keep things intimate, we’re capping attendance at 30 people, so be sure to RSVP here:

RSVP For April 1

Extracting Sweetness From Bitterness

One of the coolest things I learned last month was how spinach is sweeter in the cold because the plant converts starches to sugars. As I learned more about this concept, I mentioned it would be cool to show a little more of of the story behind this. Fifteen minutes later, my friends at Destination Ann Arbor sent me an email asking if I had any ideas for videos to show agriculture in Washtenaw County? Add to that, a few people had asked me how they could host something similar in their own city, so making a video seemed like a good place to address both questions.

Taking it as a sign from the universe, I grabbed my camera and met up with Hannah Weber at Green Things Farm Collective to dig a little deeper into the magic of overwintered greens. Then, I followed Zoe Arvantis as she created our featured spinach pie with overwintered greens. It was a fun process capturing a little more Behind The Scenes of the food and plants and setting up for the theme, and you can watch the video here:

WATCH: The Open Spoon

For our native plant selection, Trenton suggested the following to embody hope:

white cedar aka “tree of life”

this tree grows in boggy areas and transforms wet earth into nutrients for those around it. White-tailed deer flock to this tree in the winter for its high protein, fat, carbs, and calcium content. It’s also high in vitamin C and other nutrients, and many make a tea from its leaves to treat a number of ailments. In the winter of 1535 Native Americans saved Jacques Cartier’s crew from scurvy by preparing a white cedar tea.

red maple

the red maple is one of the first to bud and flower, bringing vibrant signs of hope, but must be tapped earlier than sugar maple.

dune grass & switchgrass

Marram grass and switch grass thrive in harsh conditions and hold things together to protect from erosion in turbulent times.

At the beginning of the event, Deb Lentz, owner of The Washtenaw Food Hub and Sunflower Farm Market shared a little more about overwintered greens, Zoe introduced her dish, and then others shared the dishes they had brought, including the stories and inspirations behind them. This event came together more like a potluck dinner, with salads, stews, and other dishes emerging as people took on broader interpretations of the theme. It came together so well, we are keeping the theme broad for April to allow for a diverse spread of dishes representing growth.

Then, people shared a variety of stories around the theme of hope:

• Anna recalled her childhood rituals of retrieving the last of fall’s harvest from the creepy basement every March, while preparing flats of plants for the next season.

• Christine told how she roots herself in the cycles of nature as she follows the beautiful transformations of the Great Lakes throughout each season.

• Darren shared how words of encouragement from people in his life became seeds of hope to achieve his lifelong dream of publishing a book (stay tuned for that).

• Priscilla (who captured these beautiful images from the evening) was given Hope as her middle name, inspired by challenging times surrounding her birth, but it came to have its own meaning for her as she realized the power of choice.

• Mitch found inspiration discovering a new hobby with his brother-in-law as they forged muddy streams in search of the perfect pair of discarded deer antlers.

• Hilary wore a T-Shirt with the word hope while capturing photos of a new construction, only to learn it was called Sanctuary at Hope Farms, and the synchronicity evolved into a series of dinner parties around creating hope.

• Liz (that’s me) shared how missing campfire songs with old friends led to learning banjo. Then, a few new friends helped me play a song on my new banjo to wrap up the evening.

After sharing our experiences, we reflected on what we noticed from the stories, or what came up for us, which I call philosophizing from the gut up:

• One woman shared it reminded her of a Chinese proverb that says hell is a place where they give you a foot long spoon and you can never reach your mouth to feed yourself, and heaven is a place where they give you a foot long spoon and you feed each other. The lesson being, when we’re all in a place that’s hard, we get together, take our spoons, and feed each other.

• Another noticed that in the many of the stories, hope was not something we give to ourself but rather in experiences and other people offering moments, and our response to that moment becomes hope as opposed to pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps.

Inspired by my attempt to play banjo, Jon and Priscilla offered a spare ticket for me to see a banjo player they admired. On the way, Jon shared how missing playing music with friends had inspired him to also pick up a new instrument - which he began sharing online. As people began to share how his flute music brought them comfort, he realized he could still connect with others through music, just in a new way.

Watching the banjo player shred, I realized I was a long ways from mastery, but could keep trying new things, however imperfect it is. So, I’m learning “This Little Light Of Mine” for the next Open Spoon, and if you feel inspired to bring your own instruments you are welcome to play along, or to bring your own song that inspires you.

Recently, I tried to park on the streets of downtown Ann Arbor, which can be a complete game of tetris trying to navigate all the cars and specific signage for where you can and can’t park. This particular day, I didn’t need to check the signs, as a man quickly popped out from his house and began yelling hat I couldn’t park where I was. I looked around, scanning for signs to figure out where I could park, and this caused him to completely lose it — it was clear he just wanted me to leave. In front of me, a young mother unpacking her mini-van with two young children saw my plight, and immediately offered to pull farther forward so I could try and fit in behind her. I pointed out this would put her in a position where the disgruntled neighbor could then call enforcement on her for being too close to the next driveway, but she didn’t care. I was touched by the fact that his extreme anger provoked her to respond with extreme kindness. While I declined her offer and left to find a different street, I was touched by the sweet that emerged from the bitter.

Later, Priscilla shared a final reflection: maybe hope is a gift you give others, by reminding them that they have it already within themselves.

RSVP for April 1

In the spirit of spring, our story theme is hope, and our food theme is sweetness, as embodied in overwintered greens that convert their starches into sugar. We’ll have spinach pie, and invite you to bring other greens or spring sweetness inspired dishes.

-Thank you to Bree for highlighting us in this month’s Ann Arbor Observer.

SHARE YOUR STORY: If you have a story, recipe, or art inspired by the themes over this past quarter, we are compiling these and invite you to share yours here.

February’s moon theme was around trust - trusting yourself, trusting others, trusting the process. We also had a secondary theme of seeds, which inspired the plants and food that we brought. From seed crackers to chia seed pudding - we shared stories and food and plants about the ways the themes inspired us. Trenton captured audio from this month’s event, so I decided to include some of the audio in this blog. I explained the inspiration behind the theme of trust, Parisa explained about the theme of seeds, and Trenton explained more about the different native plants he gathered for people to make arrangements with. Then, we had a menagerie of stories inspired by those themes.

Half our stories were prepared, half impromptu - sparked by somebody else sharing something. I asked who was comfortable sharing their audio, and then contemplated if I should trim the audio down further. But a conversation with an attendee after the event inspired me to leave the recording as is.

When I talked to this attendee, she shared the most healing part of the event for her was being in a space that was candid. Something about the energy of the space felt different than more polished events.

I often feel frustrated by systems where a few people in positions of power get to decide whose stories matter - whether they are news outlets, politicians, or the algorithm managing our feed. I recently learned that the intiatives to use bots to published memes to spark hate equally provoked both sides of political views. The goal was not persuasion, but division, and it’s working. I sometimes struggle with understanding people who don’t see things the same way as I do, but I am so grateful they are in my life to help me look at life in different ways - and that was a theme that came up in many of the stories this month.

As I thought on that conversation, I reflected on how that felt like the exact kind of energy I wanted to cultivate. And so, I decided to share the unpolished, candid audio - ums and all:

I was at a dinner recently, organized by another dear human Hilary, who has been making soup for people to gather and talk about creating the world we want to see. At one point, somebody mentioned we should create a group chat - maybe facebook?

But not all are on Facebook. We need something different, he said, if we lost the internet, we would lose each other. That statement stuck with me.

In a world where the internet has become our primary point of connection, it really brought home for me the importance of rituals to reconnect us to the places we share. And the importance of not just how we gather, but where we gather. I love how a place can become an anchor and set the tone of how we come together - every space has different energies and intentions. I am grateful to the Washtenaw Food Hub for being our space to root ourselves in the nature we share, the plants that surround us, the food that nourishes us, and the stories that connect us. If you haven’t had a chance to join yet, new faces are always welcome - we’ll see you there:

RSVP for March 4

tldr: our next full moon gathering is February 1 @ 2pm here: https://luma.com/3tg4rxf4

Thank you to everybody who came out for our very first full moon gathering of 2026. It was wonderful to see how the concept of gathering around nature’s cadence resonated with people after our last newsletter. Omeid told me Persian cultures followed the moon calendar, and the more I began to research, I realized many of the oldest belief systems structured themselves around the natural world. When I lived in Hawaii, my friend Pi’i taught me that ancient Hawaiians believed there were two worlds - the spiritual world, and the physical world, and that nature was the connector between the two. Another Hawaiian saying says: He aliʻi ka ʻāina; he kauwā ke kanaka - the land is chief, man is it’s servant. Which makes sense - we rely on the earth, it doesn’t rely on us, but sometimes we get it switched up. The cool thing about a culture that follows the cadence of nature is that it places nature back at the top as our leader, replacing a pastor with a pasture.

I also learned that Antoine has a new moon dinner to set intentions, and so inspired by that, I set intentions on this past new moon with a few of the people who have been helping bring together the pieces to make this event happen, and we brainstormed new ideas for February. No two Open Spoons have been the same, thanks to the unique contributions of the people who show up and offer their gifts, stories, food, and help, and I can’t wait to see what the next month brings.

Nature

For January, Trenton foraged a selection of Brown Eyed Susans, Bergamot (bee balm), Hazelnut, White Avens, Woodland Sunflower, and Switchgrass. In December, arrangements had been awkwardly placed at people’s seats to take home - so this month, I put large wide mouth mason jars on all the tables, and people’s assignment when they came in the door was to make an arrangement, tape it, and then put it in a jar to help decorate the tables. In this way, we not only had an easy place to store the arrangements until they took them home, but everyone got to be a florist and help decorate the tables for the event. We liked how this worked, and several people shared photos of where they had placed their arrangement in their home until they made the next one - so we’ve decided to do this same thing again in February.

Food

One of the most delightful parts of turning the event into a potluck is seeing all the different treats people bring to the table. In January, we had a table full of deserts and treats from the attendees. January is a great month for root crops because they can be easily stored in cellars. This month, a crowd favorites was a carrot cake by Jo Keeling, made from locally grown tantre farm carrots.

In reflection, we loved the idea of having a theme not just for stories, but for food, inspired by gatherings like Produce Parties.​ Our thought was what if we could gather a year’s worth of seasonal recipe ideas for full moon gatherings. The February full moon falls on the weekend of Imbolc, an ancient celebration marking the halfway point between winter solstice and spring solstice. This was often celebrated by planning the seeds you were going to plant, so so we picked a food theme of SEEDS. We’ll have popcorn and Parisa is going to be making some special seed crackers. Feel free to bring your own seed related treat or popcorn topping - or just a favorite snack.

Stories

Last month’s theme was connection, and we had so many rich stories of times people had felt connection:

• Hilary forged deeper connections by traveling solo in her world travels

• Dolan has a group where men can talk about their lives (and feelings) that moonlights as a fantasy football league

• Greg is a music enthusiast who advocated for his musically inclined friends to start sharing their own music at North Star Lounge

• Cat met her husband when her bike broke down on the side of the road and a stranger drove past with the same bike - and then helped her repair hers!

• Darren is a car enthusiast who was craving community and decided to start a club to drive cars together

• Chris is a musician who became a mentor to musicians after learning the history of mentorship among Detroit musicians he admired

• Priscilla discovered how being naked in saunas with strangers opens up a new level of vulnerability in conversation (update - she just texted me to share that she invited a woman who she just met at the sauna to the next open spoon)

• Paige found that learning the backstory of a stranger she met while traveling helped her see not only the stranger, but her own life, in a new light.

After the stories, I invited people to share their observations, and people found patterns that tied the seemingly separate stories together - the way asking a question opened doors, the way a shared interest became less of the focus and more of a portal for connection. They also shared how rare it is to share stories in person these days without screens, and how they wanted more.

This month’s theme for our February Open Spoon is TRUST. Many of the moons names from this time refer to what is happening during the peak of the long winter - a bear cub’s breath rising from the cave, hard crust forming on the snow, food shortages. Challenging times require us to to trust ourselves, trust the people around us, and trust in the coming of spring and that the earth will provide.

In the spirit of Imbolc and looking forward towards warmer times, we invite you to bring a story about a time you experienced the feeling of TRUST, or a SEED themed snack. Hope you can join us February 1 @ 2pm.

RSVP

An Ask

• I’m bringing my storytelling workshops to classrooms, and I need your help. If you know a professor at a university or grade school classroom who might be open to hosting a storytelling workshop, I’d love to chat - just reply to this!

• If you have an idea for The Open Spoon, or want to get more involved, send a message or leave a comment. We’ve committed to celebrating all 13 full moons in 2026 but it is always richer with your contributions.

  ---

Keep howling, friends!

Our next Open Spoon Story Circle is happening on the next full moon January 3rd, at 6:30pm with stories starting at 7pm. Admission is free, with the option to donate.

Register

On Lunatics

I’ve heard a lot of people saying we need a replacement for the rituals of church. One easy hack I’ve found is following the rituals already established by nature - a friend calls it “Nature-ch.” I began by starting my Saturday morning grocery shopping at the farmers market to gather what is fresh and in season, planning my recipes around that, and then going to the grocery store to supplement these offerings. In this way, my pantry became descriptive of what is happening around me, rather than prescriptive.

I’ve also been leaning into the cadence of nature for gatherings, and started hosting a small gathering every full moon. In December, I decided to combine this with The Open Spoon and host our storytelling event on the weekend near the full moon. Fun fact, the word lunatic means “Moonstruck,” referencing the belief the moon could influence human behavior, but following the moon’s cadence isn’t just for loopy folks. Several indigenous cultures used a “Turtle Calendar,” as the markings on the back of a turtle marked the 13 moons and guided planting, harvesting, and spiritual practices.

On Legacy

This moon is known for being a time of reflection, and so our theme for December’s Open Spoon was “Legacy.” Our native plant selection foraged by Trenton featured purple coneflower, big blue stem prairie grass, indian grass, black eyed susan, red osier dogwood, willow grass, switchgrass, white pine, and red cedar. This time, we put the plants in different jars on a table with tape and as participants wandered in, they created their own arrangements to take home a little gift from nature.

I shared a story how I was inspired by a storytelling ritual in Hawaii, Parker shared the history of Rackham auditorium, Greg shared how his Zen community built continuity, Lisa shared her adventure with her cousins to track down family ties to the Salem trials, Zoe led the group in a song about belonging, Priscilla told us about the time she met the Good Grey Witch of the Woods, and Kat shared how she recreated family traditions with her daughter.

Last, here’s a story Dolan, of Treeswing Studios, shared on the legacy his Grandfather left, including the surprising origins of Art 634 in Jackson, Michigan. Listen Here:

Shout out to Dolan for letting me share this story. I wanted to do so because it’s a great example of a simple way to craft a story around a time you experienced a feeling.

• First, This: he sets the stage with the unsavory legacy his grandfather came from

• Then, This: he transitions into what happened later in life to change things.

• Now, This: he shares his takeaway and the gifts he took from the experience.

If you are thinking of bringing a story next month, here’s an easy way you could use a similar format to share a personal anecdote about a time you felt connection:

• First: Think back to a time you didn’t feel connection. What was happening in your life at that time.

• Then: What happened to change things? How did you respond?

• Now: What was your takeaway? How has this impacted you moving forward?

After our storytelling circle, some of us headed outside for a full moon fire and more story sharing, and Cowboy Flutebob thanked the moon with a serenade.

Thank you to nature for inspiring us with her cadence, and to everyone who continues to show up for these events and share their energy and stories.

* save the date *

Register here for the next Open Spoon January 3rd. Doors at 6:30pm, stories at 7pm.

*thank you*

Big thanks to Washtenaw Food Hub for sponsoring our event. Check out their Sunflower Farm Market Wed/Fri. 4-7pm and Sat/Sun 9am-5pm and mention Root Camp to get 10% of your first purchase!

If you enjoy our events, you can donate to our supporting non-profit, New Fern Collective at the link for our events, even if you can’t attend.

A heartfelt thank-you to our very first donors Lucie & Larry Nisson, whose support will help us continue hosting events and telling stories in 2026. I am so touched and grateful for their belief in our mission. Stay tuned for updates on 2026!

Give Feedback

This month’s The Open Spoon was a celebration of local food, nature, and stories. Parisa transformed local produce from Tantre Farms and Kapnick Orchards into breakfast treats, and Megha arranged a selection of native plants that Trenton had foraged into arrangements that transformed the space. It was beautiful to see these gifts from local farmers and nature being transformed into new gifts for the community. As people arrived, I watched as participants shared their own gifts. Greg arrived early, with cat bookmarks he had 3D printed as gifts for the hosts. Shortly after, Larry arrived with a few pieces of his glass art that he felt inspired to bring as gifts for a few participants.

For this event, the idea was to philosophize as a group from the gut-up instead of the head down, by sharing stories about a time we had experienced a feeling. In the spirit of harvest, this month’s theme was Gratitude, and as people arrived, they dropped their names into a jar if they were willing to share a story in front of the group. After we settled into our seats with our treats, I started to pull names. Josephine shared a piece of art with a teacup that reminded her of how small moments with her sister-in-law had transformed their bond into something deeper. Monica shared how the surprise gift of a cookbook had inspired her to gift her loved ones with a dinner party. Alexis shared how her journey to self employment had gifted her the present of presence for more in-person events. Brooke shared how a difficult section of her cross-country bike ride was transformed into a playground by playing a game of gratitude.

Listening to stories of gratitude reminded me of my own experience recently reading that the most successful fur traders arriving in Michigan were those who married into tribes, because they became beneficiaries of kinship and the gift economy. What is the gift economy, you may ask? In the gift economy, things were exchanged as part of a reciprocal ecosystem of care. Even nature itself was a gift, and not something to be owned and traded. Needless to say, in a world where nothing was owned, the capitalistic mindset of European fur traders didn’t translate well. One economy was relational, the other transactional. For those who married into this system, however, they inherited kinship ties, and trades were translated into reciprocal expressions of gratitude, which made all the difference.

A week after this event, another attendee Corinne gave me a book that Brooke had written, and gifted to her at the event. Brooke had instructed her to give it to somebody else after she finished it, and it made its way back to me. After reading her book, I felt inspired to introduce Brooke to another friend Darren, who was also working on a book. This morning, the three of us met for coffee at Hyperion. As I got ready to head to coffee, I placed two gifts in my bag. One was a glass flower, that Larry had felt inspired to gift Brooke after hearing her story, but she had misplaced at the event. The other was Brooke’s book, which I gifted to Darren.

Packing those two pieces of art in my bag, I couldn’t help but reflect on how beautiful the world feels when everything is a gift. Nature is a gift. Food is a gift. Stories are a gift. Creativity is a gift. Art is a gift.

With that in mind, I’m thrilled to invite each and every one of you to join us for the next Open Spoon, December 7th at 7pm to share post-dinner deserts, drinks, and more stories around the theme of legacy. If you’re feeling shy, you’re more than welcome to just come and listen. Bring your grandparents, bring your children - everyone is welcome to this community potluck of stories.

It’s a beautiful thing to watch people share things that make them feel alive, and gift the community with the gifts that have been given to them.

This event will include:

• Local produce transformed into breakfast treats by Parisa’s Plates

• Native plants, foraged by Trenton and arranged by Megha of Wave Floral

• Local stories brought by you, the community, and curated by Liz

This event is a fun way to enjoy and learn more about the local food, farms, plants, and stories from your community. Space is limited, so please follow the link below to register, and RSVP by 11/11 so we can get an accurate count for baked goods.

Learn More

Our November event is inspired by the events we hosted in October:

Storytelling Circle

Our October storytelling circle featured a theme of belonging, and we shared stories of times that we felt like we belonged, and other times that we didn’t, which led to both laughter and tears alike. Afterwards, we went around and shared what we noticed about the stories, as a way of philosophizing from our feelings up rather than our head down. As we reflected on the stories, we noticed many of the times of belonging and not belonging were both were times we felt seen. The difference was if that recognition came in the form of shame, or celebration.

Down To Earth Dinner

We are still reliving the wonderful memories from our Down To Earth dinner this past month. Attendees wore colors of the earth, farmers donated food which Liz and Parisa transformed into dishes, Trenton set up the space and foraged native plants, Megha transformed the space with her plant arrangements, and Priscilla took photos. During dinner, Liz interviewed Richard and Deb of Tantre Farm on the story behind the Food Hub, and why local food is important. Richard told a story about attending a talk that inspired him, but when he remarked on it, his friend replied, “yes, but after he gave the talk he left, and we get to stay and stack up the chairs.”

After dinner, everybody helped us clean up the space, and many stayed late to help wash dishes, including our guests of honor Deb and Richard. As we reflected on the night, we agreed that the best part of the whole event was doing it with other people - the people who were there, stacking chairs with us.

Stacking Chairs

When I started telling people about the idea for this dinner, I was blown away by how many people started offering help and goods to the cause. At the end of the day, we were exhausted, but happy and content from the joy of doing something with our community, and our friends. There’s something to be said for shopping the farmers market and eating food that was grown by your neighbors, and cooked by your friends. In these times of growing disconnect and uncertainty, it feels like building a new kind of social security - the security of being connected to a community of people that support and look out for each other.

With that, we decided to combine our farm to table event and storytelling event into one morning event in November, The Open Spoon, with a harvest theme of gratitude. The idea is to create ways for everybody to contribute - whether it is through their stories, their art, their listening, or even just donating to our fundraiser for Food Gatherers.

Special thanks to our community that our Down To Earth dinner possible:

Head Chef: Parisa’s Plates: Substack + Instagram

Chef/Organizer: Liz Barney: Substack + Instagram

Decor: Megha / Wave Florals: Substack + Instagram

Trenton Von Klingler of Plantwise (setup + native plant decor)

Priscilla Creswell (photography)

Washtenaw Food Hub (location)

Tantre Farm (produce)

The Brinery (Pickled Goods & Kvass)

Homestead Bread (sourdough bread)

Fluffy Bottom Farms (cheese + yogurt)

Whitney Farmstead (brisket)

Green Things Collective (salad)

Ginger Deli (dipping bread)

It Kicks (avocado sauce)

Zagoda (olive oil)

Rachel Kanaan (kombucha)

Zac Freeman (Pawpaw + kiwi berry fruit)

We are so grateful for the generosity of all these amazing people in our community.

That’s all for now, but feel free to follow us on instagram for more photos, and we hope to see you at The Open Spoon. If you want to volunteer or donate something for the event, leave a comment or email us at rootcampcollective@gmail.com.

As a community organizer, I have been to a lot of what I like to call “Level 1” community events - larger networking events that are a great place to make initial connections and expand your network. I’ve also participated in a number of events that I would call “Level 3” events - closed circle, tightly knit dinner parties and invite-only gatherings between people who know each other well. Root Camp was designed to cultivate more “Level 2” opportunities for people to collaborate and build on initial connections and go deeper.

Whether you are on a first date, or at a networking event, everyone always leads with the same question: “So…. what do you do?” And while it’s a great place to start, we don’t always have a good way to transition from the initial, more transactional connection of what you do into the deeper level who you are.

With that in mind, I’m kicking off the first month of Root Camp with a few intimate events to experiment with ways to invite attendees to be a participant, not just a recipient. Consider this a social lab, of sorts, and you are all invited to join as fellow social scientists in exploring and reporting your observations as we openly chat about how we can create the community we want to see. Because whether you are sharing your energy, your talent, your stories, your food, or your inspiration, everyone has something to bring to the table.

October Events:

10.10 The Open Spoon | Friday | 11:30am-1pm | (free)

A lunchtime potluck of stories and food in a collaborative storytelling circle.

RSVP here

10.19 Down To Earth Dinner | Sunday | 5:30-9:30pm | (donation-based)

An tastemakers table of locally grown ingredients and the stories behind them.

Fill Out Our Interest Form

10.22 Brew’d | Wednesday | 5-6PM | (free)

A casual gut-happy hour to chat and sample Kombucha brews.

RSVP here

Can’t make anything this month? Have thoughts or stories to share of your own? Leave a comment below, and subscribe to our newsletter to follow along to stay up to date and join the conversation! Thank you for being here. <3

Membership is free and open to all, and we gather around shared stories and experiences that nurture curiosity, creativity, and connection. By subscribing here, you’ll get updates about upcoming gatherings and ways to participate.

Think of this space as your invitation to slow down, share, and grow with a community that values meaningful connections between people and place.