I have never been a witch that worked with plants. I have been doing this witchy thing for almost 17 years, and I was never a witch that gardened or grew herbs. It just wasn’t my thing.

But one of the fun things about being a witch is this:  over time, your practices, interests, and magic shift and change. And, if you are an animist, the natural world reaches out to work with you.

Last Samhain, I left our pumpkins out in the yard over the winter. They rotted and spilled their seeds to the ground, and I ended up with a tiny front yard bursting with pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) vines. I got a kick out of this turn of events and decided to leave them be, curious if they would produce pumpkins. I ended up getting five pumpkins out of the deal:

Four are pictured here – I didn’t…