Adventuring Into Herbalism

Gardening is a journey that offers intriguing detours

- By Mary Purpura

Growing things is a multidimensional activity. When you start to take your garden seriously, you learn about soil and the microorganisms that live in it; about bugs, both beneficent and those less kind to your plants; about the wide world of pollinators. You may learn about plant breeding, seed saving and propagating.

And, like me and many gardeners I know, you may find yourself branching out in surprising but adjacent directions. You may learn about the many facets of food preservation. You may end up a birder as you notice avian visitors to your plants. You may find yourself learning to make percussion instruments or birdhouses from your gourds. And you may become a curious and adventurous cook, inspired and spurred on by the bounty that you grow.

One adjacent interest that some of us venture into is herbalism. If you have ever brewed mint tea for an upset tummy or used the gel from a leaf of your aloe to soothe a burn, you’ve practiced herbalism. Of course, like anything botanical, it’s a vast area of study—another of those ventures, like gardening itself, that offers much more than you could possibly learn in a single lifetime.