Archive for February, 2012

Ten Herbs for Transition, Jeff Carpenter of Zack Woods Herb Farm, part 1

Posted February 23rd, 2012 by Ann Armbrecht

Jeff Carpenter is a farmer, consultant, educator and researcher focusing on the cultivation and propagation of medicinal herbs.

I first met Jeff and Melanie Carpenter, founders of Zack Woods Herb Farm, years ago when I was an apprentice at Sage Mountain and came to know them much better when we visited their farm to get footage for Numen (that’s their root washing machine and Jeff is the one at the end of the film harvesting Echinacea). I love their farm, their vision, and especially love their dried herbs! I’m thrilled to include Jeff’s comments here from a talk he recently gave in Montpelier, VT organized by Transition Town Montpelier.

 

What are your ten herbs for transition?

Posted February 10th, 2012 by Ann Armbrecht

Elderberries

We’ll be posting Jeff Carpenter of Zackwood Farm’s list soon!

In the meantime, we’d love to know what herbs you recommend we all grow for keeping ourselves, our families and our communities well as we transition beyond fossil fuels …

Community Supported Medicine: A Conversation with William Siff, Goldthread Herbal Apothecary

Posted February 9th, 2012 by Ann Armbrecht

Goldthread Herbal Apothecary is a fantastic example of grassroots, community based medicine. Like many herb schools, they offer classes, apprentice programs, and herbal medicines for sale. But to me their community supported medicine program (CSM) is the most exciting – and revolutionary – work they are doing. I was thrilled to be able to speak with William Siff about his vision behind this model. Lots more information is available on their website!

Ann: I love the model of herbal CSAs on so many different levels and wondered if you could talk some about how you came to create an herbal CSA. What is your vision is with your CSA? And why do you think it is important?