Medicinal Herb Garden

This week on the farm we had the opportunity to learn about the herb garden. There are so many wonderful uses for these herbs including medicinal, culinary, and fragrance. Before this class I had not realized how many of the herbs found in the Gill Tract could be used as medicine so that you can attempt to heal yourself without using pharmaceuticals. Below are some of the herbs found in the garden.

We were also given time to meditate and connect with a specific herb or plant found in the garden. The herb I was drawn to was Golden Lemon Thyme, which is used for cooking and fragrance purposes. I was drawn to this herb out of curiosity because I use lemon and thyme often, however I had never heard of this herb. It had small green leaves with yellow borders so it is appealing to the eye. Meditating while sitting with the plant was relaxing and calming and was a great way to connect with the earth and with nature.

Haiku

Golden Lemon Thyme

Fragrant, edible, divine

You are just so fine

The reading on the Medicinal Herb Garden at Gill Tract Farm states that the benefits of the herb garden include bodily health, cultural honoring, medicinal sovereignty, community education, and vision of a compassionate peace. I believe that I achieved bodily health within the herb garden because after our meditation I felt far more grounded and had felt the energy of the plants and earth. As a college undergrad, you succumb to the stress of student life and many, including myself, tend to forget to listen to our “bodily literacy”. The herb garden and the activities that we completed during our class at the garden helped to remind me to listen to my body and to channel compassionate and positive energies towards my body. During our class and in the mission statement, I learned that there is a cultural aspect to herbs with its use in medicinal traditions in certain cultures. The many medicinal properties to herbs are astounding and I wish to learn more about the uses of herbs to treat common medical issues. From our short lesson on the Gill Tract Medicinal Herb Garden and from the mission statement, I learned much about the objectives of the garden and the many important properties of herbs. It was an educative and relaxing experience and it sparked my curiosity about herbs and their many uses.