juliewardwell

Of all the wild nuts of the North Atlantic, the hazelnut is the one that is both truly native and ready to eat straight from the shell, with no leaching, curing, or special preparation. Its timing matters for our health. Hazelnuts are rich in exactly the nutrients that help us build strength and support immunity before winter.

If you are sensory-sensitive, then you know the overwhelm that comes from a world that is too much. Too loud, too bright, too smelly, and either too hot or too cold. And with it, often, a low and constant anxiety that never quite settles.

Lughnasa, the Celtic festival of the first harvest, begins on the first of August, and it opens the harvest season across the whole arc of the North Atlantic. This is not a single day so much as a doorway. From now through September, the sun that has poured its light over the land all summer finishes its work, and the wild berries come ripe in the hedgerows, on the mountain slopes, along the barrens, and out among the coastal dunes.