In the Witch’s Garden with Sarah Gustafson
“For me, connecting with plants and trees, and the wind and the water makes me feel more at home than anything else ever has.”
Sarah Gustafson and I met through Instagram. It was during COVID and she posted mouth-watering photos of the delicious meals - often Ottolenghi inspired - that she cooked up in her inner-city Calgary kitchen. I became enamoured with her.
Sarah is an avid gardener, talented cook and baker, herbalist, and witch.
We finally met each other in person earlier this year and discovered that we had so much to share and learn from each other.
We’ve collaborated on the creation of Witch’s Garden Balm - a nourishing hand & body balm which is infused with plant allies Calendula, Yarrow, Broadleaf Plantain & Marshmallow grown sustainably in our Calgary gardens.
I sat down with her recently to talk about being a witch, her garden, and the Witch’s Garden Balm.
To learn more about Sarah, visit her website Made with Moonlight.
Shelagh: I’d like to start by asking what collaboration means to you?
Sarah: I like working in collaboration with people, when everyone is free to bring their gifts and their knowledge. Collaboration isn’t just about making the work easier. It's about learning. We learn from each other, we support each other. I have my own life experience, my own lens. But other people have more to bring.
Shelagh: Oh yes! The sharing of knowledge and different perspectives…it enriches the whole experience. It was exciting for me to collaborate with you on the Witch’s Garden Balm and to learn more about the plants that you are sustainably growing in your urban garden.
I’d love to talk with you more about being a witch. I think there’s a lot of folks who might identify with the Witch archetype but are definitely in the broom closet, so to speak, and don’t feel comfortable claiming that identity. What does being a witch mean to you?
Sarah: To me, being a witch means really being at home, in the being that I am on this planet, and maybe beyond. It's so easy for some of us to be intellectual, and hone in on those skills, because those skills are what have traditionally been taught, how we make money, how we thrive as adults in our society. And that's fine. But it's not the whole truth. There's more than what you see. For me, connecting with plants and trees, and the wind and the water makes me feel more at home than anything else ever has. What I like about being a witch is that you don't need tools, you don't need a cathedral. This is your cathedral - the natural world. And realizing that you're just a being on this earth, just like everything else is. I think that brings more connection and respect.
What I like about being a witch is that you don't need tools, you don't need a cathedral. This is your cathedral - the natural world.
Shelagh: Yes! That’s so beautiful Sarah.
Our Witch’s Garden Balm was made with infused oils from four plants grown in our gardens - Calendula, Marshmallow Leaf, Mugwort, and Broadleaf Plantain. I’d love to know more about what your garden means to you.
Sarah: My garden is like my personally cultivated connection to the Earth, but it's also like my solace. You know, I really love thinking about next year's garden already, and then starting the seeds and nurturing them. When I see my garden, which has become quite wild, I notice all the bees and the squirrels and the birds that live within it. It makes me feel like I've created a place - in my little 25 foot urban lot - where I really am connected. You know, it's not the countryside. Like it's not bucolic in any way. Maybe it's my church, you know. It's my personal way to connect. When I go outside and look at my lemon balm or deadhead some flowers, I feel really connected,
Shelagh: How does this relationship with your garden impact the botanical products that you create, for example our Witch’s Garden Balm?
Sarah: It’s lovely to grow your own food and eat it or just appreciate beautiful flowers for what they are. But you could of course, get to know your plants a bit better. We use the term plant ally. And when I say ally, it’s not just because those plants have always been there with their medicine to help heal us and nourish us, but it almost begins to feel like they have a personality, you know, like they want to share with you what they know. They’re there to support you.
I'm not the type of witch that's going to make like a love spell. If you want love, maybe try getting to know that friendly lemon balm because I feel like it's friendly.
Shelagh: I feel like the Witch’s Garden Balm, while being a nourishing balm for dry skin, is also infused with so much more.
“Yes, the Witch’s Garden Balm nourishes and helps heal your skin. But what if it also connects you in a deeper way to plants, to gardening, and to the Earth. That’s magic.”
-Sarah Gustafson
Sarah: Yeah, there’s all this intention behind the creation of it.
Shelagh: It was created by two women growing these plants in their gardens, cultivating a deeper relationship with these plants. We are tending to and nurturing the plants and the plants in turn are giving us their medicine. I imagine when someone is using our Witch’s Garden balm that this nourishment is felt deeply. Like the roots of this balm are all about nurturing and nourishment.
Sarah: Yes, the Witch’s Garden Balm nourishes and helps heal your skin. But what if it also connects you in a deeper way to plants, to gardening, and to the Earth. That’s magic. Recognizing these connections in yourself to nature and honoring that.
Witch's Garden Balm
CA$25.00
A deeply nourishing botanical blend to soothe and soften dry skin. Protects your working hands & relieves chapped, rough skin due to dryness.
Infused with plant allies Calendula, Yarrow, Broadleaf Plantain & Marshmallow grown sustainably in our Calgary gardens. Witch’s Garden is made in collaboration with Made with Moonlight.
