Last week I finished the third installment of Goldthread Apothecary’s farm to pharmacy program at their farm in Conway, MA. Empowering people to maintain and boost their health through plant-based medicine is an inspired call to action. While the focus of the program was on the healing properties of 30+/- plants and how to make teas, tinctures, salves and oils from them, the implications of taking the time to grow, nurture and harvest these plants reach beyond physical health.
I think a lot about these words from Georgia O’Keefe –
Nobody sees a flower really,
It is too small. We haven’t time,
And to see takes time,
Like to have a friend takes time.
As a landscape designer, I am familiar with the plants I encountered at Farm to Pharmacy for their habitat value, what they tell me about the soils and bedrock, and the beauty of their forms – globes, umbrellas, spikes and sprays. Learning about their healing properties and how they have nourished communities deepened my already profound wonder and respect for plants and their critical role in our lives and ecology we all share. Like O’Keefe observes, seeing involves more than the eyes. It involves intention, and moving past facile connections to experience the reality of what is there, where only then, in that moment, might you see.
There is already a tremendous movement to interweave the rewards of agriculture into people’s lives – through edible landscapes, permaculture and urban gardens and farming. The next progression is the re-introduction of simple folk medicine. I am inspired to incorporate my experiences from Farm to Pharmacy into my design practice. In addition to creating systems to support landscape ecological function, I hope to also nurture people’s health through providing edible plants and herbs as well as opportunities for gardening, meditation or running around playing tag. I am grateful to have had the chance to participate in the program and to have shared in the experience with so many inspired and courageous people.
