Cultivate - Community Garden Center

04/26/2023

Thank You for a Great Spring!

Even though it has been a different kind of season with less plants and shorter hours - We have had a great one none the less! Our tables are just about empty and we feel ready to slip into food forest care and herbal remedy making mode so the shop is closing starting May 1st.

We are enjoying being a small seasonal plant nursery focusing on herbs and perennials plus community events. Thank you all for showing up and supporting this growing community and we look forward to a bumping Fall planting season. Mutable Earth Botanicals has some opportunities to gather and learn - see below for details.

May dates are posted! Follow link to RSVP and for more details.

Join us for a day of herbal alchemy. This is the 3rd round of this workshop, each are different. This round we will look at the alchemical elemental correspondences between plants and planets, taste spagyric tinctures and take a tincture through the calcination process. Sound mysterious and intriguing? Join us. Follow link for more details and registration and see y'all soon!

Click here for an update from Cultivate Holistic Supply!

04/06/2023

April 16th

Food Forest Tour + Plant Sale

And a Few Other Spring Updates

Y'all - The food forest is gorgeous and I imagine that after these rains and sun to follow that next weekend will be AMAZING!

We also have a great variety of herbs and native plants ready for forever homes - so we are opening up for a beautiful day of plants and community connection Next Sunday April 16th 11-3pm. We will offer herbal spritzers and are looking forward to a good old fashion garden party. Fun Fun!

Mark Your Calendars!

Come hang out, enjoy the gardens, shop and make new permie and herbie friends. We will offer freshly pressed Spring Forth Oxymel spritzers and good vibes. I'll offer a food forest tour focusing on cultivating resilience and observations from the last couple of years of record breaking cold and heat. We will have ample time to stop and smell the roses.

Looking forward to hanging with you all.

Bring your friends and family.
Please don't bring your fur family unless they are leashed and 100% kiddo and other dog friendly. . . super chill fur friends welcome.

Spagyrics Workshop

I've had more requests for this and so let's do it! It will be a beautiful day full of plants and remedies and hands on spagyric preparations.

This workshop will focus on plants by planetary correspondence looking at physical appearance, taste and herbal action. We will taste many spagyric tinctures and look to the food forest for insight.

The Daily Flow:

~Alchemy and Spagyrics - It’s a process

~Plants and Planets - Timing is Key

~Experience a part of the process - Calcination, Dissolution, Filtration, Evaporation, Crystallization & Recombining to create a spagyric tincture.

Cultivate Updates

I have really enjoyed connecting with all of you who have visited he last couple of weeks. There have been so many vibrant conversations, it has felt great to reconnect and come back to our roots

Some of y'all have been curious about the developments at the new place seeing the outward remodeling and an obvious shift in appearance over there. It looks great right? For those who missed the correspondence last Fall, this will not be a new site for Cultivate plus a cafe. The permit process with the city/county plus the reality of financial and time commitment to get it to a good starting point was a big reality check for me. The state of things has changed so much in the last couple of years, I feel clear that I am committed to working less and working smart. We are also enjoying family flow as much as we can while the cubs are in their younger years. Time flies! We could have pushed ourselves but I really love working with the plants - not being worked by the business of selling plants. For us it is all about cultivating community. So after taking a big hibernation to sit with things and look at all perspectives we decided after careful consideration to grow our middle school program at Whole Life Learning Center into this site allowing our younger grades to stretch more fully into the original site. This is very exciting for our school community and the reality of transforming this sweet space into farm school 3.0. More on the details as they emerge but I want to keep y'all up to date on the apps around here.

What does that mean for Cultivate? With the apothecary back in the yurt we are propagating herbs, hosting workshops and seasonal plants sales in our original little slice. I have things set up in a relaxed way and it feels like home. Small, slow solutions and organic, good vibes, South Austin community is what we do best. It feels really good y'all. There are new aspects emerging so thank you for sticking with us and joining in the journey.
With Gratitude,
~ Caroline

03/23/2023

Happy Spring Friends

Exciting News! I am opening the yurt shop and gardens to in person shopping for the month of April. Hours are Monday - Friday 11-3pm Stay tuned for weekend hours.

We have plant babies ready for new homes - most medicinal and culinary herbs along with some tropicals and natives. The plant list is changing daily as folks flow through. This season we are not offering standard veggie starts, seeds or soils. The yurt shop is stocked with Mutable Earth Botanicals and I'm also available to formulate a custom blend tincture or tea.

We have an excess of beautifully dried herbs from the gardens and are harvesting and drying more daily. I'm offering a sale on selected dried herbs. I've also restocked some of your favorite seasonal botanicals in the shop. Although I'd love to see you in person, we also offer shipping in the US and local pick up at your convenience.

Extra fun option: come buy fresh herbs from the garden starting with Mugwort, Motherwort, Plantain and Yarrow. . . availability changes daily with the plants.
Spring is here - Yahoo!

Reach out with any questions. Thank you always for joining in this unique community endeavor.
~~~ Caroline

Please join us for an unforgettable event in our food forest. We will start with a plant walk to meet the medicinals growing in the forest garden. Then you will choose 3-5 herbs to harvest, process and start a seasonal tincture or oxymel (using organic alcohol or honey and apple cider vinegar) of your own inspired and informed formulation to support you through the coming seasons. Cost: sliding scale starting at $65 and I'll supply everything we need.

There yurt has transformed back into it's apothecary form and really quite cozy. We have a new batch of oxygens freshly out on the shelf ready for spring spritzers! Fun Fun!

Click here for an update from Cultivate Holistic Supply!

12/14/2022

Solstice Market & Celebration

This Sunday December 18th 11-4pm is our final market of the year. Along with 20 local vendors we will have a live fire, music and hands on Solstice activities. We will be making delicious veggie soup over the fire that we are giving out for free and will have juniper and pine for herb bundles. Lexi with Buzz in the Hills is bringing a big pot of wax and everything needed to make your own bees wax candle. We will have Joaihu Chocolate offering warm cacao - YUM!

This day is an opportunity to gather around the fire, support local makers, celebrate the season, love on some sweet goats, wander the forest garden and appreciate our community. Bring your friends and family. Fur family is welcome if they are kiddo friendly and on a leash.

Vendors include all sorts of art and hand made wares, jewelry, crystals, essential oil blends, herbal wellness, many types of candles, body care goodies, tarot reading, and all things giftable for the season.

Are you ready to dig in? I have been facilitating these courses for over a decade now and we are looking forward to this year's format. Participants will have opportunities to order plants, seeds and amendments through us also at a discount. And you are sure to meet new friends.

Check out the link below for the details of this PDC, as we've completely switched up the format from the '6 weekends' course we have previously offered. This course is online during the week, on Wednesday and Friday evenings, with hands-on time on Saturday late morning. We are hoping we can reach an audience that was previously unable to attend. All lectures will be recorded for you to watch when it fits into your schedule.

We are also providing an online-only option for those of you that are not local to Central Texas! So you can share with your friends and family that don't live nearby. This is definitely a special opportunity and we hope to reach out to as many people as possible.

Click here for an update from Cultivate Holistic Supply!

11/14/2022

It's our last week in the yurt shop 🥲💕! We're closed today (Monday, 11/14) but are open our regular hours Tues-Thurs. The shop's last open day is Thursday, 11/17.

We are SO incredibly grateful for all of the community support we have been receiving as we close the season powerfully, especially during the Fall Market yesterday 🍁. We couldn't do this without y'all. There are still herbs, veggies, native plants, fruit trees, organic fertilizer, seeds, and locally made medicines and gifts that need to find their forever homes - all 20% off or more. Spread the word and help us finish out this week strong!

See you at our throwdown Solstice Market, Sunday, December 18th from 12pm-4pm. There will be fire, cider, music, and more! ❄️

11/10/2022

Vendor highlight for this Sunday's market! So excited to host , .nature, , .house.astro, .sister, , , and Old Soul Gems!

Hope to see you this Sunday, Nov. 13th from 11am to 4pm! Don't forget to bring seeds and plants for the swap!

11/09/2022

Vendor highlight for this Sunday's market! So excited to host , , , , , , and !

Hope to see you this Sunday, Nov. 13th from 11am to 4pm! Don't forget to bring seeds and plants for the swap!

11/09/2022

20% off Everything - Market This Sunday

This Sunday November 13, 11-3pm, we have our Fall Market with 16- 20 amazing local makers and creatives, live music and a seed and plant swap. We have our seeds organized and ready and will be potting baby Motherwort, Heart Leafed Skullcap and Yarrow from the forest garden to share with community. Put it on your calendar and share with your friends y’all!

Thank you all so very much for your support in closing this season powerfully. In the last week I have had the opportunity to connect with many of you as you’ve come through the shop. I know that us closing our retail shop and not reopening at the new site come Spring is BIG news. Sharing stories from the last two years with you all has made this bitter transition feel pretty sweet and special. We have loved this chapter and trust the the transformation of Cultivate - Community Garden Center will be a great new season for all of us. Expect seasonal plant sales, workshops and community garden center inspired events in the seasons to come.

Thanks to you our plant babies are flying off the tables going to amazing forever homes and we sure love connecting with y’all in person before we close. Please let your friends and neighbors know that we still have a sweet selection of Native small trees, multiple varieties of Pears, Mulberry, Loquat, Vitex, and a some native perennials and cold season veggies, seeds, organic soil amendments and tools looking for homes.

The last few years when our Plums and Peaches didn’t offer fruit, we have had epic Pear harvests come late Summer/Fall. Pear trees are beautiful and the varieties we have will thrive in our changing climate here in Central Texas. Also every year like clock work, the Mulberry trees offer an abundance delicious fruit - enough for all the creatures in the forest garden. These trees grow fast, creating shade and limbs that the children here perch in year around. 20% off will continue through our final day open which is next Thursday, November 17th. We will reopen of our extra special Winter Solstice Market on December 18th.. . and yes, I’ll be reminding y’all of this again here soon.

Ok you all, thank you always for your support. This project is all about community and we sure appreciate you all.
See you soon!
~Caroline

Click here for an update from Cultivate Holistic Supply!

11/07/2022

Vendor highlight for this Sunday's market! So excited to host , , , , , , and .earth.botanicals!

11/06/2022

Our 🍂FALL MARKET 🍂 is next Sunday, November 13th from 11am-4pm (updated hours). We will have local makers, live music, and a seed and plant swap! Some of our wonderful vendors include: .earth.botanicals, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .nature, , , , and .sister!

We can't wait to gather together! 🍁

11/02/2022

Big News - Big Sale - Epic Markets

When Michael and I opened WLLC in 2011 we chose our location because of a few reasons. It was a large blank canvas of a space for us to spread out and grow. Also, the moment I saw the soil I knew we could grow an epic community garden - I instantly saw the potential to grow a campus full of food and medicinal plants with people of all ages weaving together in community. Through the years we have cultivated the soil and community alongside each other, and this mission will hopefully continue long after we are gone.

Cultivate came into being as a response to the pandemic. The idea came when we weren’t sure if the school was going to be able to reopen in the Fall of 2020. The idea stuck and the rest is history but it became clear early on that sharing a retail space with the school is not sustainable. Acquiring the property two doors down, changing the zoning and moving over with plenty of room to stretch out and have an adult-centric space felt like a dream. As most of y’all know I have been working to get the new place (two doors down) permitted to move Cultivate into a larger home for more than a year. Even with the help of a great team of engineers and permit expediters it has become clear that the doors will not open by March at the new space. The city simply doesn't speak “small business” these days, only development. The plan was to close in December for winter break and reopen in March at the new place with room to stretch and grow but plans have changed.

I have decided to close the retail side of Cultivate and not reopen come Spring. It feels clear that now is not the time to double down on a retail model of business - Cultivate Community Garden Center is undergoing a transformation. We will continue to host workshops on all things Permaculture and Herbalism, CommUnity Herbalism Days and seasonal plant sales. Mutable Earth Botanicals (our onsite herbal apothecary) will continue to transform medicinal plants from the forest garden into remedies to support the community. I foresee a membership model of sorts, but we will not have a retail shop that is open to the public with standing shop hours.

We need your support NOW to close our season powerfully.
Fall has officially arrived. . . better late than never right? I know that these overcast days with bits of rain have me in the garden working with the soil, carving out new beds and planting as much as I can before the rains come this weekend. Now is the perfect time to amend stressed soils, plant trees, perennials, and another flush of cool season veggies.

Small businesses like ours feel a big impact with every purchase. Please help us clear our tables - give our beautiful native, perennial and edible plants forever homes. We have a yurt shop full of tools, amendments, seeds plus beautiful wares that make great seasonal gifts for yourself, friends and family.
We are offering 20% Off Everything to show our gratitude.
We are open Monday - Friday 9-3pm Saturday 9-5pm Sunday 10-4pm

We have two markets left for the season each with 16 - 20 vendors. Please put these markets on your calendars, share them with your community and COME support local makers and creatives! Our Fall Market is next Sunday, November 13th from 11- 4pm. The final market is our extra special Winter Solstice Market Sunday, December 18th from 11- 4pm.

Thank you all for supporting this small business. We have loved getting to know you all and look forward to sharing the next chapter of Cultivate - Community Garden Center.

With gratitude,

~Caroline Riley & The Cultivate Team

Click here for an update from Cultivate Holistic Supply!

11/01/2022

We've EXTENDED our Tree Guild Sale through the rest of the season 🌳! Buy one tree, get all supporting plants 15% off. We've got pears (one of our most reliable fruiters), loquats, Texas mayhaw, mission figs, and many others. Fall is a great time to get these friends in the ground and helps them get more established for our harsh summers to come.