Nature Connection

We have been hard at work recreating our offerings for Teens at Through the Trees. After holding a brainstorming session with several teens who have been active in our TTT community, we have come up with some awesome new programs for the 13-16 age group:

• Oak Outing Club - weekly explorations including ocean dips and beach campfires, ropes courses, hiking, community service and more!
• Wilderness Trips - multi-day trips to different parts of Maine for white water rafting, wilderness survival sk…

We have been having a blast in our Youth Nature Immersion Programs (both Homeschool and After School), playing in the snow and the  mud, skating and sliding on the pond and exploring the magical Frost Gully Brook. We've been making bird feeders; sailing across the pond using a tarp for a sail and sled for a vessel; making pine needle tea; practicing fire building; cooking over the campfire (have you ever roasted an orange?!), working on whittling and carving skills; and ending our days with a ci…

Today we are offering a Dandelion Sun Salutation in the video below. All of us at Through the Trees love to get outside as much as possible, and Yoga is no exception. If you are able, try this outdoors, taking in the grass, sun, fresh air, and if you can find them, the dandelions! Dandelion's energy is all about cheerful perseverance. Connecting with this flower during your sun salutation can be a beautiful way to start your day.

Practicing Sun Salutation for a few minutes each day helps to bri…

This Thursday, April 22nd, is Earth Day. At Through the Trees, we encourage connecting with and caring for the Earth every day, but finding special ways to do this on Earth Day serves as a celebration for our beautiful planet. This week we would like to share several ways to care for and honor Mother Earth. 

1. Practice Sit Spot. We talk about and practice Sit Spot quite a bit, because it gives us the opportunity to slow down and be mindful in nature. Finding a place to sit or lie down outdoors …

"All the buried seeds crack open in the dark the instant they surrender to a process they can’t see."

- Mark Nepo -

Nature is such a powerful teacher. Spring, especially, is such a gift in this way, a reminder to wake up. All winter we are in a sort of hibernation, tucked away just waiting to burst back to life. All around us, everything small and buried surrenders to a process that none of the buried parts can see. 

It is almost certain that all of us are working on something within ourse…

Today's blog post was written by Through the Trees board member, Corie Washow. Visit Corie's own blog here.

Are you one of the many people who has developed an extra deep appreciation for Maine’s abundance of beautiful outdoor spaces this past year?  What a refuge our public parks and trails (and backyards) have been over this tremendously challenging time.  As a Through the Trees community member, I know you don’t need me to tell you that! But I do want to take a few minutes together to reflec…

If you enjoy foraging wild plants to use as food or medicine, you will love knowing how to make an oxymel. An oxymel is a sweet and tangy extraction made with apple cider vinegar and honey. Honey is know for having anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties and the apple cider vinegar is good for the gut and does a wonderful job of extracting nutrients from the plant material. This extraction also stores well and keeps for indefinitely. An oxymel can be taken straight by the spoonful …

Whenever my kids and I take a walk in the woods, especially in the winter, we almost always want to collect some evergreen needles to bring home for tea. Eastern White Pine is our favorite and makes a fragrant, woodsy tea that is full of vitamin C, so it's wonderful to have during illness or to support overall health anytime.

The white pine (pinus strobus) is easy to recognize with it's long (approximately 3 to 5 inch) needles in clusters, or fascicles, of five. Young trees have smooth, greenis…

Nature Connection Challenge - Day 100 - Spend 100 Minutes Outside OR Find 100 Nature Items

Today is our 100th day of nature connection challenges! After today we are moving on to a new daily blog post to share - stay tuned!

There are two challenges today - choose one or do both! Challenge #1 is to spend 100 minutes outside doing whatever you like. If this challenge seems to easy for you (maybe you spend hours outdoors anyway), then try the Challenge #2: Find 100 nature items. 100 birds. 100 wi…

Nature Connection Challenge - Day 99 - Make Clover Blossom Flour

Today’s challenge involves red and/or white clover blossoms - they are edible and they can be used in baking as a flour! Because clover blossom flour won’t hold up the same way grain flours do, you should only substitute up to 1/4 or 1/3 cup of the flour in your recipe with clover flour. The clover flour adds a different flavor as well as plenty of nutrients.

To make clover flour: gather 2 or more cups of red and/or white clover …