[Sacred Succulents] Nursery News and Spring Schedule
Sacred Succulents
sacredsucculents at hushmail.com
Wed Mar 29 13:32:07 PDT 2023
Dear Sacred Succulents supporter,
It has been a_ very_ wet year so far in northern California. Last
week we had a short sunlit respite from the rain... now we're back
to torrential downpours and sleet! Those few sunny days
and spring was flaunting her fecundity with abundant blossoms of
almond, cherry, plum and narcissus. In the greenhouse, the
neotropical Ericaceae are beginning to unabashedly burst with
big bouquets of libidinous blossoms -- some of these
hummingbird-beguilers actually spurt nectar from their tubular
tips and puffs of pollen when the stigma is caressed!
We greatly appreciate the patience of all of you who placed
retail orders during our hiatus these past several months.
In a couple weeks, we will_ temporarily_ resume shipping
retail orders. _Please read below for details._ You must mail
your payment by April 10 for an order to ship this spring.
This winter has been difficult. Since the new year, we've
been repeatedly battered by large storms -- high winds,
torrential rain, sleet & hail, even freak snow, along with
numerous power outages lasting from 1 to 5 days. The storms
damaged several nursery structures, the deluge repeatedly
washed out segments of our driveway and parts of the nursery.
For a couple days in mid-March, half of our lower garden and
the adjacent portion of the nursery had a few inches of water_
flowing_ through. In-between the storms we've had unseasonal
warm & sunny days, with temperatures in the 60s &
70s (° F), and frequent freezing nights as cold as 18° F.
Such capricious weather has caused a great deal of damage to
our plants -- the high humidity in the greenhouses resulted in
mold & rot issues with some succulents, while we lost assorted
leafy plants due to the drying heat of unseasonable sun
unexpectedly warming the greenhouses to over 80° F!
Outside, the _Trichocereus_ cacti have taken an irregular
amount of damage from the erratic climatic extremes.
Inexplicably, species which have historically been the hardiest
for us (_T. terscheckii, pasacana_, & the clumping species
and hybrids) have been among the hardest hit. Injuries are
still showing up on plants and we likely won't know the full
extent of the damage until late spring. In addition to all this,
it has been the worst cold & flu season we have _ever_
experienced -- since autumn, my daughters have brought some malady
home from school to share with the family _at least_ once
or twice a month.
The absurd vicissitudes these past months have frustrated my
attempts to update the website & catalog and have
severely interrupted my usual winter propagation work, seed
cleaning and sowing. Efforts to finally complete the nursery
renovations have also been greatly effected -- in fact the
storms have necessitated _additional_ renovations. With the
heroic help of my colleague, Matt Magee, we were able to
accomplish _some_ work: in the big greenhouse we removed the
last significant 30' section of decrepit wooden benches and
rebuilt a metal one in their place, complete with a new 8'
propagation chamber on one end. We also constructed a new 25'
shade structure to replace one that was blown down in January.
We are truly grateful for all the rain, the aquifers and
creeks are fully replenished for the first time in years! But
we hope that the last of the extreme seasonal weather will
soon be behind us so we can clean up from the storms,
recommence renovations, and finally get back to plant
propagation.
All of these intractable events have had a real impact on our
plans for the year and the availability of many plants.
We had planned to fully resume retail operations this spring...
but alas, circumstances demand that we once again limit retail
sales and shipping. Therefore, if you want an order to ship this
spring, then payment must be _postmarked_ by April 10. On
April 15 we will _commence_ shipping the orders placed between
last autumn and April 10, starting with the oldest orders
first and working chronologically forward. There is already a
significant backlog of orders for us to work through, so
please understand that an order placed between now and April
10 is not likely to ship until mid-May, _at the earliest_.
Retail orders placed after April 10 will not ship until this
summer.
2023 Shipping Schedule* for Retail Catalog Orders (see
the top of our homepage for catalog PDFs)
Winter & Spring: All retail orders _postmarked_ _by_
April 10 will _commence_ shipping April 15 _in the order
they are received_.
Spring & Summer: Retail orders postmarked _after_
April 10 will _begin_ shipping in the order received around
June 19. The full summer schedule to be announced.
Autumn & Winter: Schedule to be announced.
*The exception to this limited shipping schedule for
the year is: _books, Specimen List Plants_, and _Auction
Plants_—these orders we will continue to ship throughout the
year as they are received.
Our Specimen Plant List is finally updated, this
is posted halfway down the homepage:
http://www.sacredsucculents.com Our plans for an Plant Auction in
March were delayed by the turbulent weather and
plant casualties. With a little luck, we'll
organize a small auction in April -- stay tuned.
I greatly appreciate your understanding, patience and support
through these latest challenges!
Other news:
For several years I've been contributing plants to Steve White
and Jill Pflugheber's_ _fascinating scientific art project,
_Microcosms_ -- wondrous images of American sacred plants
produced through confocal microscopy. They recently asked 50
artists and researchers to share their thoughts on the project,
you can read the short piece I wrote for them:
https://www.microcosmssacredplants.org/commentary/ben-kamm/
Peruse the comments of other colleagues such as Neil Logan,
Manolo Torres, Dennis McKenna, Luis Eduardo Luna, etc.:
https://www.microcosmssacredplants.org/commentaries/
___
We have been saddened by the ongoing political turmoil and violence
in Peru. It's hard to envision a propitious path forward for the
afflicted nation, though one can yearn to see a country with
such sumptuous bio-cultural diversity _someday_ reclaim its
heritage and become a beacon for the world. One small ray of light
was recently shared with us by venerable anthropologist Doug Sharon:
San Pedro cactus knowledge and northern Peruvian
curanderismo has been declared a "Cultural Heritage of the
Nation" and given full legal protection in Peru!
Upcoming Event:
Our close compadre, Matt Magee, is teaching a one-day workshop at
The Alembic in Berkeley, CA, May 14:
https://www.livingtheceremony.com/ancestral-conversations
About the workshop:
_For most of history, human beings lived immersed in the
elements. Our senses were stretched out in a vast open
landscape; every plant, animal, and insect served to link us
more directly to this spacious animated field. Living this way
produced qualities of alertness and awareness that unfortunately
do not easily translate into our lives today. Without these
ancient forms of awareness, we lose access to many of the
essential resources of guidance and connection that have
shaped our health, spirit, and well-being for millennia. __This
day-long intensive is an invitation to rejoin these
ancient conversations. Participants will learn simple__
techniques to __cultivate their senses and
reclaim ancestral forms of heightened awareness,
__connection, and nourishment. _
Matt has devoted his life to studying curanderismo, the
immanent wisdom of the natural world and the ecology of the
sacred. Author of the seminal book _Peruvian Shamanism: The
Pachakuti Mesa,_ Matt has been a key member of our Andean
expeditions and co-teacher of our ethnobiology field courses.
One of his many gifts as a teacher is his capacity to share
‘spiritual’ concepts in an accessible and practical manner;
building cultural bridges and facilitating the integration of
traditional knowledge and practices into modern life.
Matt has created a series of fascinating and useful online
courses: https://www.livingtheceremony.com/courses He is also
available for private sessions (in-person & online) to
personally offer his uniquely diverse knowledge, mentorship, and
guidance: https://www.livingtheceremony.com/private-sessions
____ New book available for order: GROWING PLANT
MEDICINE: Volume 1
by Richo Cech illustrations by Sena Cech
Brand new book from master plantsman Richo Cech, a
much-expanded version of the his classic _The Medicinal
Herb Grower_. Draws on the author’s lifetime of
cultivating and living with an amazing diversity of medicinal
plants. Pretty much everything you need to know about natural
organic gardening techniques, from seed to harvest, for a
great majority of healing herbs. Newly augmented with
bioregional medicinal plant recommendations, garden plans and
materia medica. Arranged by plant families, alphabetically by
kinship and common name—covers families A through H. Volume 2,
which is in production, will cover the rest of the alphabet.
This is hands down the best reference for medicinal plant
cultivation there is. Delightfully illustrated by Richo’s
daughter Sena, full of personal anecdotes and life stories—not
only useful, this book is a joy to read!
Softcover, 354 pages $29.95 (2 lbs)
Even though our catalog offering of books is
greatly reduced these days, we still have a few excellent
titles available, and we remain the US
distributor for Jonathan Ott's work (we are currently working
with Jonathan to publish reprints and new titles in the coming
years.)
Regards,
Ben Kamm and family,
Sacred Succulents
PO Box 781
Sebastopol, CA 95473 USA
http://www.sacredsucculents.com
Shipping for Books To determine shipping
costs, add up the number of lbs in parentheses ( ) that
is listed after the price. Priority Mail- add
$8.50 for the first lb, $2.25 for each additional lb. When
ordered with plants just add $2.25 for each lb
Books only sent Media Mail – add $4 for the first lb,
$0.75 for each additional lb Please email us for international
shipping costs
We do not take Paypal or other online payments. Still just
cash, check or money order to our PO box.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/sacredsucculents/attachments/20230329/fa7e8978/attachment-0001.htm>
More information about the SacredSucculents
mailing list