Well, as the title of the post may imply, I (Chris) am a huge plant nerd. In Oregon, I owned and ran a medicinal plant nursery, after years of personal study in herbalism and botany. Nothing quite gives me the same type of joy of wandering around a botanical garden, or identifying herbaceous plants on the trailside. In particular, I am fascinated with working with plants for medicine and for tonic nutrition and food. Using herbs right out of the garden for teas, salves, potions, cough syrups, vinegars, meads, are all things I just can’t get enough of doing. When I left Oregon to move to Mexico I had to brace myself for departing an ecosystem I had spent the majority of my adult life developing a relationship with. Learning to take lessons from and listen to the silence of the forests and mountains in the Pacific Northwest was a huge influence in my life. Developing ongoing relationships with specific stands of plants that I visited year after year after year, and eventually harvested from year after year after year. Recognizing the cycles and changes, the ins and outs of why things were the way they were exactly where they were.
Moving to a new part of the world is a departure from this type of connection. Though, I will say, its exhilarating and mesmerizing to start from scratch and learn about a dramatically different ecosystem. Though, also very warming to find friends I already know, and close relatives (different species) to plants I know (from the same genus). As I develop an understanding of what’s happening in the wilderness, what I can grow here, and what has historically been used by folks in this area, I will become more and more excited to share that info.
Hopefully in the not too distant future, our tours will thus include some plant tours and some stories about medicine and mythology and relationships old and new.