It all started with a single sage...

The sage that started it all (2012)

Nearly twelve years ago; I planted my first white sage in our home garden. It was a small surrender to the ground beneath my feet. I had always wanted a home garden, but after several moves around town in my early twenties; I never quite felt ready to fully commit.

Sure, I had carted a large terracotta pot full of lavender around with me through numerous moves; always had a window sill of tiny egg carton seedlings, and lovingly tried to nurture a few plant propagations in brightly colored glass jars; but I had never let go of that little voice in the back of my head that told me I couldn't start until I knew I couldn't fail.

As a recovering perfectionist and someone with intense anxiety; the thought of purchasing plants and committing them to the ground or garden box felt like this immense undertaking that for some unknown reason was terrifying.

But, there was something about that sweet little mother sage that whispered to me "Just try." She knew better than I did at the time, that the growing of plants is part knowledge, part trust, and a large part failure. Failure is built into the garden, not because the endeavor itself is fruitless; but rather because the balance of thriving and failure allows for the garden (or ecosystem) as a whole to exist.

Every season that passes now is a practice in surrendering and releasing my attachments to perfection. It is through countless failures, I have learned to grow a vast, diverse, and beautiful garden in our backyard.

I am pleased to say that mama Sage knew better than I did, and at now thirteen years old, she has a long lineage of progeny, living in gardens across the entire valley.

It was in early 2020 that I began incorporating more and more herbs into my garden; bolstered by the excitement of having started a formal herbalist program. However, while I knew that the herbs would be a beautiful hands-on addition to my herbal studies; I did not anticipate the deep nourishment they would also provide to my garden. Often, the chemical makeup of herbs helps to repel pesky garden pests that love to munch on your more tender vegetables; and flowers like lavender, chamomile, and calendula are delightful providers for your local pollinator population.

Many medicinal herbs also have beneficial soil properties (that include things like soil cleansing and nutrient restoration). For example red clover is a nitrogen fixing plant that also has a myriad of health benefits for the human body.

From my own personal experience, many herbs are also incredibly easy to grow! Some grow equally well in the ground or just in a small pot on the front porch. Some herbs can be tucked into random back corners of the garden and left to their own devices until you're ready to harvest. Some herbs can even be grown indoors in a sunny window or under grow lights on a shelf. Herbs tend to be less finicky than our common vegetable garden plants and so many require less overall maintenance.

Also from personal experience, there is just nothing quite like fresh picked herbs when compared to bulk dried store bought herbs. I was a tepid enjoyer of chamomile tea (at best) until I started growing my own; and now I drink it almost every day!

When people come spend time in my garden, a frequent refrain I often hear is "I wish I could have a garden like this." And while, I won't sugar coat it and say that my mixed food forest of a yardscape is an easy task to manage; but growing medicinal herbs and native medicinals is by far some of the easiest gardening I do. And, adding those particular plants into my garden actually made overall plant management easier as well; due to many of the beneficial properties I shared earlier.

If you're intrigued about starting your own medicinal herb garden, incorporating medicinal herbs into your existing garden, or just have a curiosity about what it might be like to grow and herb or two; I have a workshop coming up this month, in collaboration with Meiners Oaks Community Garden! When: Sunday March 30th Time: 1:00-3:00pm Where: Meiners Oaks Community Garden If you're local, come check it out! You can register below:

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