🫐Bilberries and Brimstones💛

plus some musings on the upcoming Capricorn Full Moon

A bowl of wild cherries

Hello, I’m Charly, a botanist and lunar lover based in Sheffield. I’m on a mission to adopt a slower pace of life which is more in sync with the energies of the seasons here in the Northern hemisphere. Subscribers enjoy full access to my bi-monthly newsletters. I also offer online courses centred around the Wheel of the Year which you can find out more about here.

Dear friend,

Here we are - officially over halfway through the Gregorian calendar year with another full moon about to rise. I’ve spent the first week of July, writing ‘June’ by mistake when mentioning upcoming dates - despite physically arriving in the month of July and rejoicing at the berry abundance, my brain hasn’t quite caught up! The other weekend I took myself on an intentional foraging walk - one which was long overdue. Over the past 4 years of becoming a committed wild foodie, I’ve found that as we reach July, social calendars and holidays somewhat get in the way of being in nature with enough attention to notice the gifts she has to offer. This led me to almost missing the elderflowers this year (I just about found enough to make 2 litres - a fraction of my usual hoard!).

Bilberry and Cherry abundance

We’re now into the month where berries are abound - wild raspberries and bilberries (a wild variety of blueberry) are thriving wherever there’s acidic soil - often upland environments such as moors are the perfect place to find them. Down in areas on the edge of allotments and along hedgerows, nettles are growing ever-higher, offering us foragers a rich source of protein and antioxidants, as well as vitamins A, C, K, several B vitamins; AND calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. Wow - what powerhouses of nourishment! Later I’ll dig into how to identify the seeds so you don’t mistakenly pick the flowers!

But first, here’s what’s coming up in the weeks ahead:

• All of July: Plastic free July

• 8 July: Holly Moon (Celtic Tree Calendar)

• 10 July: Full Mead moon in Capricorn 21:36 BST

• 10 July: Don’t step on a bee day

• 22 July: Sun moves into Leo

• ✨23 July: New Grain Moon Women’s Circle (online) - sign up here for an hour of intention setting.✨

🍯Full Mead Moon in Capricorn

At the beginning of the calendar year I was writing to you about all the