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Plants are medicine, food is medicine...

This is week 27 of the yearlong #freepermaculture course
Disclaimer: nothing on this website is presented as any sort of medical advice, and if you’re bleeding, in intense pain, or otherwise concerned about an undiagnosed set of symptoms, for cryin’ out loud, go to a doctor! The internet is a place to learn and interact, not to replace the help of a qualified professional. Same goes for herbalism. You can learn a lot of basic skills on your own, but to truly unveil the magic of plants, you’ll do well to find qualified experts to work with, who will help you make informed choices about your own healing and/or teaching journeys.
Medicinal plants and their uses
Artwork by Kt Shepherd

All plants are medicinal!

Welcome back! Watch this quick video to get started:

This is a pharmacy, an apothecary:

A pharmacy
AND SO IS THIS:
bulk herbs
AND SO IS THIS:
bulk food isle
BUT ALSO THIS:
supermarket shelves
AND THIS IS ONE TOO:
food forest

​All plants are medicine, all food is medicine. Your food is either healing you, or it’s making you sick. There is no neutral. That being said, some plants are more medicinal than others, especially when it comes to establishing your own herbal apothecary for home remedies, nourishing teas, and first aid. Here are my own “Top 10” medicinal plants I ALWAYS grow, no matter where I am living.
medicinal plants
And, for now and future reference, here’s an excellent guide to common medicinal plants.
echinacea flowers

Harvesting and processing medicinal plants

Crystal Stevens
Crystal Stevens is an herbalist, a teacherm a farmer and homesteading mama, author of Grow, Create, Inspire, and a member of the PWG faculty. She writes about a wide range of topics associated with using plants and food as medicine. ​
Here are some of the articles she’s published on our blog, about how to process your medicinal herb harvest:
  • Make Your Own Herbal Oil Infusions
  • Herbal Infusions and Elixirs
  • DIY Herbal Body Care Products
  • Tincture Making
  • Botanical Tea Blends

As a PWG faculty member, Crystal mentors students in our Permaculture Certification program, which teaches the content in this course, with added emphasis on your personal design project AND dedicated 1:1 time with one of our expert teachers. Learn more about that course here. (It isn't free, but we have a sliding scale and do our best to work with people with lower incomes).

Every village needs a witch...

Sarah Wu, also on our faculty, runs the Village Witch Project, which offers teachings in deep ecology, herbalism, and permaculture, from a radically ecofeminist perspective.

VICE did a recent feature about Sarah and her projects, and in this podcast, she discusses her work with herbs, community, and the Envision festival she organizes at her permaculture center in Costa Rica.
Sarah Wu

By way of review...

So many of the classes in our yearlong #freepermaculture adventure have crossover with this topic! Here’s a quick reference list of links you can use to circle back around:
  • Paradise gardening and food forests
  • Integrated pest management
  • Hedges and hedgerows
  • Eat the weeds
  • Trees and tree crops
  • Biodiversity

Hands-on

  • Research the medicinal uses of your 3 favorite flowers.
  • Research the medicinal uses of your 10 favorite foods.
  • Attend a local herb walk and/or herbal medicine workshop.
  • Create a plant press to document and learn about the plants around you.

Relevant Links and Resources​


Check out this Fascinating Tedx talk about flavor, bitterness, medicine, and poison:
For folks who have a harder time getting outside, for whatever reason, here's a piece about Bringing Nature Inside
Sprouts
Here's a lovely article, focused on providing useful information all about Herbs and Flowers for the Aging
herbs and flowers

See you next week!

Want to share this yearlong permaculture adventure with your friends and family? Share this page and/or send them to www.freepermaculture.com
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This resource is brought to you by Permaculture Women's Guild,
​Food Not Lawns, ​and Heather Jo Flores.

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A note on authorship: all content on this website has been designed and created by Heather Jo Flores, with content and collaboration from many other teachers, whose sections are indicated accordingly. In general, if it isn't credited to somebody else, and you have a question about the content, Heather is the one to ask.
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  • Home
  • Tools
  • Free Resources
  • Publications
    • Free Permaculture blog
    • Wild Women Writers
    • Food Not Lawns
  • Community
    • Trading Post
  • About Us
    • 404
    • Praise
    • Coloring Book
    • Contact
    • Online Courses >
      • Write LIvelihood online freelance writing training for women writers
      • Emotional Permaculture
    • Online permaculture course features 72-hour permaculture design certificate plus advanced permaculture certificate in social systems design >
      • Advanced Social Permaculture Design Certification Course Online