If you’ve read my story or previous blog post about the journey I’ve taken to arrive here at Herb & Vine, you know the path that led me here. But why choose healing herbs and plants as my focus? I hope to enlighten you a bit as to why here and why now (without getting too political).

Garden of Eden was full of medicinal plants, but Adam and Eve didn’t realize it because they didn’t to use the plants for health and wellness. They were created as eternal creatures. God created vegetation (Gen. 1:12): plants and trees yielding seeds and fruit to propagate their species. We might call these native plants… originals. God gave us and the animals “every plant” yielding seed and every tree with seed in its fruit, for food (Gen: 1:29-30) – except one of course.

Because Adam and Eve knew no sickness, no illness or injury, no pain, no blood spilled until after the fall, they would not have known the plants around them had uses they’d not dreamed of…yet. But God had provided everything we would ever need to feed and to keep our bodies healthy.

Fast forward to the 21st century, where modern medicine has the “answers”, where pharmaceuticals are more common in American homes than Bibles, and where we’ve strayed so far from the originals that you have to double check whether a plant or seed is an heirloom or hybrid, genetically modified, or organic.

The American Dream?

We’ve created an American dream that includes a house with a lawn – grass that requires so many resources plus a series of chemical treatments just to “keep up” appearances. We spray the “weeds” like ground violets and dandelion with known carcinogens including Round-Up. Besides polluting the ground water, we’re unknowingly killing the bees who need these early spring flowers for their first foods, and poisoning the very valuable healthful plants we could be using for our bodies (instead of relying on lab-made chemicals and drugs). But it’s not all doom and gloom! There’s definitely some good news! And that is that people are waking up. The political and economical conditions in the United States in 2023 have lead many of us to pause and take a look back to see how their grandparents survived two World Wars and the Great Depression. I have as well, and this is why education is one of the top reasons Herb & Vine was born.

What if…

Can you imagine a future where you don’t have the ability to jump in your car, head to Kroger or Walgreens and pick up food, medicine, and other everyday needs? It used to be that if you didn’t grow it or make it, you went without it. We experienced a small taste of this future on many levels during the COVID lockdowns of 2020, so is it terribly farfetched for our future (or our children or grandchildren’s future)?

According to a study by Scotts Miracle-Gro and Wakefield, 55% of American households are engaged in gardening, or 71.5 million households. Of that, 18.3 million (25%) started in 2021 (after the pandemic). However, flower gardens were the most popular form of gardening activity (72.9%) according to the survey, just over half (51.4%) were growing vegetables, and only 18.8% grow fruit. We can do better than that. Herbs, by the way, were not specified in their own category, so it’s unclear as to whether respondents put them in the flower, vegetable or ornamental category (which 38.2% said they are growing).

Herbalism Statistics

According to the WHO, 60% of the worlds’ population relies on herbal medicine (80% of that is in developing countries). Here in the U.S. the NIH says that 20% of Americans are using herbal products. Of course we need to acknowledge that in the States, that 20% is largely made up of commercially manufactured products, whereas in other parts of the world, the remedies are homemade or locally sourced. We can do better.

Fortune Business predicts the herbal medicine market to grow from 165.66 billion in 2022 to 347.50 billion by 2029 (11.6% growth). But again, this is based largely on mass manufacturing and commercial sales, not by home gardeners growing, harvesting and producing their own remedies.

Doing More for Ourselves

Reality survival shows like Alone, Naked and Afraid, and others, have lead to a surge of people interested in foraging and wild edibles. Mushroom clubs, homesteading YouTube channels, online herbalism courses and the like are popping up everywhere, and there are countless special interest groups on Facebook to join and connect with like-minded people all over the planet.

The Internet is packed with information, there are tons of books on the subject, and there are hands-on workshops to be found locally. With a little time, and focus, anyone can learn about wild food and medicine sources waiting to be discovered, often in your own backyard.

We can do more for ourselves – all it takes is to get started! Maybe pick just one area of herbalism, or just one plant, or even a single ailment, and then get researching, reaching out and experiencing the amazing capabilities of plants. If you’re in the city, and don’t have access to a yard or forest, find a natural or organic nursery. Pick a common herb to grow in a pot on a sunny windowsill, then, go at it! I promise, once you create your first herbal tea, tincture, salve or lotion, and use it to your advantage, you will be hooked… I was!

If you need encouragement or have questions, please reach out on our IG or FB page. I will be looking for you along this new and exciting path to self sufficiency.