How to Make Heart Medicine from the Hawthorn Tree

Hello!

A warm welcome to this week’s newsletter.

Iris and I have had a fun week in the sun. There’s been days of play with friends, cycling skills training, a trampoline lesson, swimming class and beach school.

We’ve been making a set of flashcards of words that Iris can read. She creates the cards, a couple a day and we put them inside a treasure chest that she’s decorated. We’re building up to enough words that she can craft sentences from them.

A favourite book this week is Choose Your Own Evolution by Jules Howard and Gordy Wright. It’s a clever pick-your-own-path adventure that leads you through the story of life on Earth.

Here's What We've Been Up To

Putting the Finishing Touches to Issue 125!

The latest issue of The Green Parent magazine will be released next week. It’s our Joy special and its bursting with uplifting inspiration, focusing on the small but powerful ways you can embrace joy in daily life.

From peaceful bedtime routines to wild teenage adventures, this issue is packed with articles designed to help you find balance, connection, and delight at every stage of family life.

Inside, learn the nine vital things to know before starting out in home education, discover how to reframe children’s big emotions as signs of inner strength, read how to get a better night’s sleep starting tonight and get instructions on making your own nature fairy notebooks.

Those of you navigating tricky questions will appreciate expert advice in our feature - How Much Screen Time is OK for My Child?

For those craving adventure, the wild teen energy guide shares 10 epic summer activities to keep older kids engaged, while in our 2025 Family Festival Guide we round up the best camps, festivals and parties to help you plan your summer!

Of course there’s heaps more too – easy first recipes, yoga in pregnancy, helping spicy kids navigate life and seasonal celebrations.

Click here to get your copy delivered.

Loving the Hawthorn

I’ve been such a lover of hawthorn leaves and berries that I’ve overlooked the idea of using the flowers. I've always just loved them from afar as a wonderful, blousy show of early summer. They grow so prolifically round where I live, lining the downs with their delicate white flowers and sweet almond scent. This year I’ve decided to spend some time with them and make some medicine. They have a long history of culinary, medicinal, and cultural use.

Oh, and while you're reading, check out Anna Richardson's beautiful Hawthorn song for Children's Forest.