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Carol Sharp

@carolsharp.artist

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* growing alongside plants
* creating intimate relationship with place
* practising deep ecology
* inspiring connectivity

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As we came to the end of the longest day I sat watching the moon appear and the swifts screeching around the house. Zoom in and and you'll see them, a bit blurred, they fly so fast the phone cant manage to freeze them.

We were lucky it wasn't so hot in Norfolk and I've been in the garden pretty much all day, my happy place.

Happy Solstice to all...x by @carolsharp.artist

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4 months ago

Amelanchier in flower is a beautiful sight. Its common name is the Service Berry, also known as Saskatoons, Juneberrry, Shadbush, Shadblow, Sugarplum and Sarvis, names that come from its native lands, mostly North America.
It was introduced to Europe in the 17th century and there are several different varieties – this is Alemanchier lamarckii, the variety most seen in UK garden centres, which graces my garden.

It's much loved by garden designers for the bronze tinged new leaves appearing before and during the profusion of delicate flowers in spring, as well as for the orange red tinged autumn leaves. And of course the graceful berries.

Alemanchier is apomictic, which means self fertilising. It needs no insects or wind to pollinate the flowers. And it will come true from seed, so you could save seed and grow an exact genetic clone of the mother plant. Or you may find seedlings grown from poo of birds eating the berries!

The berries are ripening round about now, if you can get them before the pigeons and blackbirds take them all. Who knew they tasted of blueberry crossed with apple, a touch of rosewater and almond…

In her book ‘The Service Berry’ Robin Wall Kimmerer says ‘Berry picking is the first step in a lifelong companionship with the living world.”

Rather than ‘natural resources’ she asks us to look at nature’s produce as gifts. When we receive a gift we often feel we want to give back in some way. This giving and receiving is how nature works, species are continually exchanging goods or services.

Instead of the scarcity that our economic system relies on, abundance is fueled by constantly circulating materials, not wasting them.
‘The currency of a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude and ongoing reciprocity’

Participating in this is a small act of resistance to the capitalist system.

Seeing everything as commodity leaves us bereft of what we really want, a sense of belonging and relationship and beauty and purpose.

“Subversive and delicious, this gift economy is in the reach of everyone, sharing the gifts of the earth, following our oldest teachers, the plants…”

#robinwallkimmerer #gifteconomy by @carolsharp.artist

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4 months ago

There’s a graceful small tree/shrub called Alemanchier, that I’ve been growing in my garden for a while now. The Service Berry is one of its many common names. I only discovered the berries were edible after I read this inspiring little book by Robin Wall Kimmerer (who wrote Braiding Sweetgrass).

She explores her relationship with it to illustrate how we could become ‘An Economy of Gifts and Abundance’.

The way fruit trees and shrubs create an abundance of food, year after year, asking for nothing in return is a wonderful service. But in the natural ecosystem there is a reciprocal act the animals that eat them perform – they spread their seeds.

She goes on to talk about how the currency of a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude and ongoing reciprocity. The economic unit is ‘we’ rather than ‘I’, as all flourishing is mutual.

‘To name the world as a gift is to feel your membership in the web of reciprocity’

I’m going to write more over the next few posts, but I highly recommend this little book, it’s been called a work of profound optimism, and though its message is radical, it’s easy reading.

It makes a wonderful gift. Send it to a friend and see what happens.
Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.

#robinwallkimmerer #thegifteconomy by @carolsharp.artist

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4 months ago

Depending on which calendar you go with, the Celtic festival of Imbolc falls around now. Its roughly the halfway point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.

The modern, fixed date most people recognise is 1st February 2026

Coligny Calendar
This is based on the ancient Celtic lunar and solar calendar found in Gaul, which shows festivals aligned with lunar cycles rather than fixed dates. Each turn of the moon marked times for sowing and harvest, for ritual observance and renewal. If a similar system was used across Britain (which is entirely possible), Imbolc would fall on the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice.
17th February 2026

Astrological Date
Imbolc may have been marked when the Sun reached 15 degrees in Aquarius. Given the astronomical sophistication of ancient peoples, this is another very real contender.
3rd February 2026

Imbolc loosely means “in the belly” - a time when life is still hidden, waiting beneath the surface. Buds are pregnant with promise and only the brave snowdrops reassure us that Spring will inevitably come.

Maybe there is no fixed date for this one, you've got to learn to listen to the land where you live. Place-based knowledge means learning to read your place.
Small acts of attention accumulate. Slowly its patterns, what thrives and why, build its history and you deepen your part in it.

But there is also joy in co-creating. It’s been so rewarding to see how the patches of snowdrops I have divided and moved around the woodland have lit up the walk as I meander through, and the little bright yellow aconites.

This is what it means to belong to place, and to be present in the living field of relationships of which we are an inextricable part.

#carolsharpartist #imbloc #snowdropsofinstagram by @carolsharp.artist

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8 months ago

Happy Winter Solstice!

In the northern hemisphere we have just quietly slipped past the turning point when the earth is furthest away from the light and warmth of the sun.

In these long liminal spaces of twilight, the delight of knowing that the light is coming back is now planted. Like the bulbs waiting in the dark, who will soon begin sprouting through the cold soil.

I walk through the woodland, vainly looking for their little spears of hope.

The trees are majestic in their structures and I can’t resist a hug or two. I run my fingers along the shiny or velvety new buds on the twigs, already formed, little nubs of hope.

I love the way the winter sun is slung low in the sky, glancing and twinkling around droplets on the seedheads still standing, and the knowledge that there are tiny insects tucked up inside them, waiting to emerge when the sun and the earth draw closer together again.

The garden offers these simple encounters, helping us learn the language of nature and appreciating the wonder of life. When we tune into the rhythm of the seasons, we become more connected to the web of life and feel more alive ourselves.

I welcome the return of the light and the beginning of the great unfurling.

#wintersolstice2025 #meaninginnature #visualpoetry #naturalmagic #ofquietmoments #ethereal_moods #the_mirror_of_our_souls #earthmagic #soulful_moments #trusttheprocess #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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10 months ago

Tonight we welcome Samhain, when it is thought that the veil between worlds is at its thinnest. While some mark the time partaking in spooky fun, others enter a sacred time of mystery when we connect with spirits, gather wisdom from the shadows, and prepare our souls for the dark season ahead.

Ancient peoples believed everything began in the dark — the child in the dark of the womb, the seed in the dark of the Earth. So for them, Samhain, a time of growing darkness, marked the beginning of a new year.

As I walk through the woodland I feel a different atmosphere at this time. The lush, green vibrancy of life and summer warmth is giving way to bare, lifeless branches and feeling of loss as the trees succumb to the cold.

But from death springs new life and I’m always amazed as the leaves fall away to see the new buds already formed on the bare twigs.

Every falling leaf is not an ending, but a profound act of transformation.

Nature is forever cyclical.

#samhain #woodlandmystery #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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a year ago

On the sundrenched morning of the Autumn Equinox I performed the wonderful ritual of collecting the bright red Haws from the same Hawthorn bushes that I collected the flowers from back in May.

I remarked then that there were a lot of flowers and they certainly have resulted in a bumper crop of berries. The haws were larger than usual and look fantastic glowing in the sun. In fact everything seems to be in abundance this year. Both apple trees have been loaded and with apples bigger than they’ve ever been. The quince tree is weighed down with huge fruits, there are masses of blackberries and the damsons that grow wild along the field edges are dripping from the bushes and are also bigger than ever. There are more sloes than I’ve ever seen.

When collecting I’m mindful of the principles of the ‘Honourable Harvest’ in Robin Wall Kimmerer’s wonderful book Braiding Sweetgrass :
Know the ones who take care of you, introduce yourself, ask permission and abide by the answer. Take the first, never the last, only what you need. Harvest with the least harm. Use it respectfully and share what you have taken.
Give thanks.

I respect the sovereignty of all the food plants living here, treating them as generous beings rather than mere resources. I’m actually completely in awe of the way they keep giving and ask for nothing in return, I tend them as best I can and scatter grass cuttings beneath the trees and bushes for nutrition.
But apart from that, all I can give is love and gratitude. 🧡

#hawthorn #haws #autumnfruits #autumnlove #autumnequinox #robinwallkimmerer #honourableharvest #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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a year ago

This beautiful David Austin rambler rose is called Malvern Hills. It's a 'fully double' (dense overlapping petals), with soft yellow blooms and a musky fragrance.

I happened upon this particular personality as I was asked to photograph it growing at my friend Jo’s house which she is soon to leave. She was given the rose by her friend, the late guitarist Jeff Beck who grew it in his amazing garden.

I gifted her a memory of this connection.
She gifted me some cuttings and hopefully another one will emerge, which will connect me to the web of connections that plants and humans make… an act of reciprocity #RobinWallKimmerer calls 'the gift economy'

#thegifteconomy #ramblingrose #connectionthroughplants #loveroses #floralstories #botanicalphotography #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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a year ago

Happy Solstice everyone! Enjoy the longest day...x

#scabiosa #hoverfly #summer #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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5

a year ago

'May’ is the old name for Hawthorn, one of the trees in the woodland I planted 27 years ago, here on the land that I am now so deeply connected with. As well as growing food I use the plants here medicinally, grateful for the gifts they offer.

I’ve been collecting the bright red berries known as ‘haws’ from the hawthorn trees, to make a herbal tincture. A few years ago I was diagnosed with a slow heartbeat and although this can be normal and not life threatening, I did feel a little breathless on exertion.

A number of studies conclude that hawthorn regulates and strengthens the heart contractions and after taking the tincture for a few months I improved and a further health check detected a normal heartbeat speed. Hawthorn's gentle tonic action and safety record make it an ideal for an aging heart when it is taken over long periods of time.

Modern medicine is now using Hawthorn to help treat heart failure, high cholesterol and coronary heart disease. It is included in the ‘Commission E’ list of medicinally useful plants.

According to neurocardiologists, 60-65% of heart cells are neuron cells, not muscle cells. A complex and sophisticated nervous system intrinsic to the heart consists of around 40,000 neurons that allow the heart to learn, feel, sense, remember, and even make functional decisions without the full consent of the brain. The human heart has an electromagnetic field that can be measured 10ft away. Its 5000 times stronger than that of the brain.

My herbalist friend @paula.stone.18488 mentioned the flowering tops and young leaves contain medicinally active compounds different from the haws, so I have collected some. Just as with the haws they are simply covered with a spirit - I use vodka (but it can be done without alcohol) and strained, after being left to steep for several weeks.

Many people remarked on how many flowers there were this year on all the Hawthorn trees, which hopefully will result in heaps of bright red haws. Maybe the reason for this abundance is that all our hearts need some healing…

#hawthorn #hawthornberries #mayblossom #herbaltinctures #hawthornflowers #healingherbs #gardenmedicine #herbalwisdom #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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6

a year ago

Beltane Greetings! What a wonderful day to be welcoming the summer to come!

I actually had a bit of down time for a change today and I wandered around taking in all the gorgeous blossom. Blossom on the apple trees, on the pear, the cherries, masses of tiny blossoms on the hawthorn, petals falling like snow on the breeze.
I photographed a few but settled on this beautiful quince. The tree is covered with flowers, so I hope it will be fruitful.

As I sat having my lunch and feeling lucky to be surrounded by so much beauty, I wondered what it must have felt like for ancient people when as the cold finally subsided and all this incredible bright green burst forth. What happiness to see the beautiful flowers return with the promise of the fruit they would bear. No wonder they had so much gratitude, and ritual to celebrate this time.

Fruit trees are so incredibly giving and need virtually no maintenance. This time of year.for us its just sheer joy of their flowers For the insects the pollen and nectar is important food as they inadvertently go about pollinating the flowers, enabling them to make the fruit. The garden was buzzing with insects today. All taking advantage of the return of warmer days.

#beltaneblessings #quinceblossom #blossom #floweringtreesofspring #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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7

a year ago

Happy Spring Equinox!

What a gorgeous day it was today for the start of spring in the astronomical calendar, when the day and night are approximately 12 hours each everywhere on Earth. From today the sun will go above the equator, moving from south to north and bringing spring and summer to the Northern Hemisphere.

Heralding spring, a carpet of cheerful sunshine-yellow lesser celandine flowers is a joy to see, and I'm lucky this year they are drifting along the high banks of the ditches right outside my house. They like the damp, so ditches and alongside streams are favoured spots.

They are low growing with heart shaped leaves and glossy star shaped flowers which only open when the sun is out.

One of the first native wildflowers to appear after winter, they provide an important nectar source for queen bumblebees and other early insects pollinators emerging from hibernation.

Yellow, being associated with the sun, is an optimistic, energetic and joyful colour that lifts our hearts. And they certainly make me smile...

#happyspringequinox #lessercelandine #springequinox #springwildflowers #carolsharpartist by @carolsharp.artist

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3

2 years ago