JUNE
June opens the season with a full calendar — walks in the garden, words by the river, meditation in the morning light, and the longest day of the year celebrated together under the stars. Something for every kind of wild soul.
Wild & Weedy: Plant ID and Nature Walk
with Colleen O'Bryant, Wild Roots Apothecary
Come walk with Colleen through the apothecary garden and along the Thornton River, meeting the plants growing right here — the humble weeds, the riverside natives, the ones you've walked past a hundred times without knowing their names or their gifts. Every season brings something new, and June is generous. Journals and cameras welcome. Complimentary tea in the shop after.
Wild Ink: A Monthly Writing Circle
with Jiamie & Gomer Pyles · 1st Sundays, 11am–2pm
Words have always been a form of resistance — a way to bear witness, refuse forgetting, imagine something different. Wild Ink is a monthly gathering for writers of all kinds: essayists, poets, journalers, storytellers, dreamers with a notebook. Led by Jiamie and Gomer Pyles, longtime writers and community organizers, this is an open, unstructured session dedicated to the simple radical act of showing up and writing together. Come with a project, a fragment, or a blank page. Two and a half hours of open writing followed by optional sharing — no pressure, no critique, no agenda.
Jiamie and Gomer Pyles are longtime writers and community organizers who believe that the act of writing together is its own kind of medicine. They hold Wild Ink as an open, unhurried container — a space where words find their way out, and writers of every kind are welcome exactly as they are.
Metta & Mandala: A Monthly Nature Mindfulness Gathering
with Melissa Mello · Monthly
Some things are better experienced than explained. Once a month, Melissa Mello leads an intimate two-hour gathering that moves through three simple practices: a Metta (loving kindness) meditation, a silent mindfulness walk along the river, and mandala-making with found objects and flowers from the land. Together they form something greater than the sum of their parts — a moving, grounding experience of self-compassion, presence, and connection. You don't need to be a meditator. You don't need to be an artist. You just need to show up and reset. Limited to 20 guests.
Melissa Mello brings ten years of experience as a yoga and mindfulness teacher for children and adults, a background in sustainability and wellness education, and a coaching practice rooted in transformation. She holds this space with gentleness and intention — and it shows. Sliding scale or work exchange available if needed.
Summer Solstice Gathering:
A Midsummer Celebration of Joy
Hosted by love, wild gardens & Wild Roots Apothecary · featuring Emily Dyson, Lauren Hershey, Mason Flink & more
On the longest day of the year, come into the garden for plant magic, river ritual, shared food, and a Midsummer Revel under the stars. Sun tea ritual, botanical arts, a community river clearing, wishing tree ceremony, potluck feast, and as night falls — aerial performance, live song, poetry, and dance. Dress enchanted. Bring something to share.
Summer Spritzers: Herbal Drinks for Everyday Summer Wellness
with Colleen O'Bryant · Thursday June 26th · 6–8pm · via Zoom
Summer is here and the garden is bursting with everything we need to make it delicious. Lemon balm, mint, lavender, rose, elderflower, hibiscus — all turned into botanical syrups and shrubs that transform a glass of sparkling water into something genuinely special. Together we'll make a botanical simple syrup, an herbal shrub (a drinking vinegar that doubles as a daily digestive tonic), and two signature Wild Roots-inspired spritzer recipes to riff on all summer long.
Making Linocut Patterns: Creating Repeating Art for Textiles
with Sam, artist & educator
Discover the joy of creating handmade prints and repeating patterns in this beginner-friendly linocut workshop. You'll master the fundamentals of relief printmaking, design and carve your own unique printing block using soft erasers and beginner-friendly materials, and leave with your own hand-carved block and a printed bandana or tea towel. All materials provided — just bring your creativity. No prior experience necessary. Minimum 5 participants required.
Sam is an artist and educator with a passion for making traditional craft accessible and joyful. She brings deep knowledge and a warm teaching style to every workshop — creating a supportive, step-by-step space where everyone leaves with something they made themselves and the confidence to keep going. No prior experience ever necessary.
The Wild Pulse: A Seasonal Journey of Presence & Movement
with Shanon Colbath, Primal Architect
A somatic laboratory for anyone ready to stop surviving and start occupying their own life. Through a curated sequence of breath, rhythm, and integration, each session dismantles the hypervigilance we carry in our bodies and returns us to something more grounded, more present, more real. June's session: The Solstice Portal — collapse the trance, reclaim the fire, move through numbness and overwhelm into the ability to connect without disappearing. Limited to 12 participants.
With 15+ years of coaching and leadership experience, Shanon is a playful guide and transformative alchemist rooted in modern neurobiology, desire-based coaching, and embodied practices. She guides her clients to sustained vitality and presence. @ecstatic_mountain_girl
JULY
July brings the heat and the blooms — garden tours at peak color, movement and somatic work in the garden, and the craft of turning indigo into wearable art. Slow down. Get your hands in something beautiful.
Wild Ink: A Monthly Writing Circle
with Jiamie & Gomer Pyles · 1st Sundays, 11am–2pm
Words have always been a form of resistance — a way to bear witness, refuse forgetting, imagine something different. An open, unstructured session for writers of all kinds: essayists, poets, journalers, storytellers, dreamers with a notebook. Come with a project, a fragment, or a blank page. Two and a half hours of open writing followed by optional sharing — no pressure, no critique, no agenda.
Jiamie and Gomer Pyles are longtime writers and community organizers who believe that the act of writing together is its own kind of medicine. They hold Wild Ink as an open, unhurried container — a space where words find their way out, and writers of every kind are welcome exactly as they are.
Metta & Mandala: A Monthly Nature Mindfulness Gathering
with Melissa Mello · Monthly
Once a month, Melissa Mello leads an intimate two-hour gathering that moves through three simple practices: a Metta (loving kindness) meditation, a silent mindfulness walk along the river, and mandala-making with found objects and flowers from the land. Together they form something greater than the sum of their parts. You don't need to be a meditator. You don't need to be an artist. You just need to show up and reset. Limited to 20 guests.
Melissa Mello brings ten years of experience as a yoga and mindfulness teacher for children and adults, a background in sustainability and wellness education, and a coaching practice rooted in transformation. She holds this space with gentleness and intention — and it shows. Sliding scale or work exchange available if needed.
July Market Garden Tour with Man of the Flower
with Mason Flink
Come enjoy an afternoon in the hollow with a tour of Mason Flink's market garden at Hoots Hollow. Explore gardens full of colorful summer blooms, learn the ins and outs of small-scale cut flower production, and snip your own bundle of freshly picked flowers to take home. Address provided after purchase — the farm is in Sperryville, less than 10 minutes from Wild Roots. Ages 18 and up.
Mason Flink is a writer, farmer florist, and community organizer living in Sperryville. Before the Blue Ridge, Mason spent 15 years in Los Angeles as a television writer/producer and immersive performance artist, with deep roots in arts activism, urban agriculture, and public green space. WEBSITESUBSTACK
Shades of Blue: Indigo Dyeing & Shibori Techniques
with Sam, artist & educator
Transform ordinary fabric into wearable art through the ancient technique of shibori indigo dyeing. Dive into the mesmerizing world of this traditional Japanese resist-dyeing method — folding, binding, and compressing fabric before immersion in indigo dye. You'll dye one small natural-fiber item from home, work a test patch, and leave with a beautiful handcrafted indigo bandana. All materials provided. Minimum 5 participants required.
Sam is an artist and educator with a passion for making traditional craft accessible and joyful. She brings deep knowledge and a warm teaching style to every workshop — creating a supportive, step-by-step space where everyone leaves with something they made themselves and the confidence to keep going. No prior experience ever necessary.
Herbal Body Care: Infused Oils, Salves & Cooling Sprays
with Colleen O'Bryant · Thursday July 30th · 6–8pm · via Zoom
July is the fullness of summer and the garden is at peak abundance. This month we take all of that plant vitality and put it on our skin. Calendula, lavender, plantain, and comfrey — infused oils, easy salves, and herbal sprays that smell like the garden and work like medicine. You don't need a lab or special equipment, just good herbs, good oil, and a little patience.
AUGUST
August closes the summer with writing circles, mindfulness in the garden, a late-season flower tour, and basket weaving to carry something handmade into fall. More events being added — check back soon.
Wild Ink: A Monthly Writing Circle
with Jiamie & Gomer Pyles · 1st Sundays, 11am–2pm
Words have always been a form of resistance — a way to bear witness, refuse forgetting, imagine something different. An open, unstructured session for writers of all kinds: essayists, poets, journalers, storytellers, dreamers with a notebook. Come with a project, a fragment, or a blank page. Two and a half hours of open writing followed by optional sharing — no pressure, no critique, no agenda.
Jiamie and Gomer Pyles are longtime writers and community organizers who believe that the act of writing together is its own kind of medicine. They hold Wild Ink as an open, unhurried container — a space where words find their way out, and writers of every kind are welcome exactly as they are.
Metta & Mandala: A Monthly Nature Mindfulness Gathering
with Melissa Mello · Monthly
Once a month, Melissa Mello leads an intimate two-hour gathering that moves through three simple practices: a Metta (loving kindness) meditation, a silent mindfulness walk along the river, and mandala-making with found objects and flowers from the land. Together they form something greater than the sum of their parts. You don't need to be a meditator. You don't need to be an artist. You just need to show up and reset. Limited to 20 guests.
Melissa Mello brings ten years of experience as a yoga and mindfulness teacher for children and adults, a background in sustainability and wellness education, and a coaching practice rooted in transformation. She holds this space with gentleness and intention — and it shows. Sliding scale or work exchange available if needed.
August Market Garden Tour with Man of the Flower
with Mason Flink
Return to Hoots Hollow for a late-summer garden tour with Mason Flink. August brings a completely different bloom palette — dahlias, sunflowers, zinnias — as the garden hits its peak. Learn how a small-scale market garden sustains color through the season and snip your own bundle of midsummer blooms to take home.
Herb & Fruit Bitters: Seasonal Summer Sipping
with Colleen O'Bryant · Thursday August 28th · 6–8pm · via Zoom
Late summer is peak season for the fruits and herbs that make bitters genuinely special. We'll work with whatever is ripe and ready — stone fruits, berries, citrus, and the bitter and aromatic herbs of the season — to craft bitters that are as beautiful in a glass of sparkling water as they are in a cocktail. Practical, creative, and deeply satisfying.
Coil and Create: Basket Weaving for Anyone
with Sam, artist & educator
Learn the traditional art of coiled basket weaving in this hands-on, beginner-friendly class. Using simple techniques and natural materials, you'll create your own functional basket to take home — from selecting materials and creating patterns to finishing your project. Leave with a connection to an incredible artistic tradition and something genuinely useful. All materials provided. Minimum 5 participants required.
Sam is an artist and educator with a passion for making traditional craft accessible and joyful. She brings deep knowledge and a warm teaching style to every workshop — creating a supportive, step-by-step space where everyone leaves with something they made themselves and the confidence to keep going. No prior experience ever necessary.
RECURRING GATHERINGS
ONLINE WORKSHOPS
Wild Kitchen Rituals is Colleen's monthly online herbal workshop — gathering in the kitchen every 4th Thursday to build your apothecary season by season. Available wherever you are.
Summer Spritzers: Herbal Drinks for Everyday Summer Wellness
with Colleen O'Bryant · Thursday June 26th · 6–8pm · via Zoom
Summer is here and the garden is bursting with everything we need to make it delicious. This month we lean into the season with herbal spritzers — mostly non-alcoholic, genuinely refreshing, and surprisingly medicinal. Lemon balm, mint, lavender, rose, elderflower, hibiscus — all turned into botanical syrups and shrubs that transform a glass of sparkling water into something genuinely special. Together we'll make a botanical simple syrup, an herbal shrub (a drinking vinegar that doubles as a daily digestive tonic), and two signature Wild Roots-inspired spritzer recipes to riff on all summer long.
Herbal Body Care: Infused Oils, Salves & Cooling Sprays
with Colleen O'Bryant · Thursday July 30th · 6–8pm · via Zoom
July is the fullness of summer and the garden is at peak abundance. This month we take all of that plant vitality and put it on our skin. Infused oils, easy salves, and herbal sprays that smell like the garden and work like medicine. We're working with calendula, lavender, plantain, and comfrey — you don't need a lab or special equipment, just good herbs, good oil, and a little patience. Together we'll make an herbal infused oil, a simple everyday salve, and a cooling herbal body spray for the long hot days ahead.
Herb & Fruit Bitters: Seasonal Summer Sipping
with Colleen O'Bryant · Thursday August 28th · 6–8pm · via Zoom
Late summer is peak season for the fruits and herbs that make bitters genuinely special — and this month we're leaning all the way in. We'll work with whatever is ripe and ready: stone fruits, berries, citrus, and the bitter and aromatic herbs of the season to craft bitters that are as beautiful in a glass of sparkling water as they are in a cocktail. Practical, creative, and deeply satisfying — this is kitchen witching at its most delicious.
