Many of the common plants beneath our feet are full of wonder and healing, and several of these plant friends can be used as medicines to help our bodies heal themselves. 

Note: Due to the corona virus outbreak, we’re changing our focus to 5 common medicinal trees and plants you can find right in your neighborhood or backyard, and we’ll also discuss a few common kitchen herbs that have anti-viral and respiratory system health values.

 Learn the ways we can use these powerful friends in our every day lives, or just on occasion when needed. Some species we’ll encounter are plentiful and non-native in our ecosystem, so collecting is easy and sustainable, while other plant friends may be uncommon natives. Ethical wildcrafting will be discussed, along with the importance of preserving plant knowledge and using it wisely.

Susan has been interested in plants and their myriad of uses since growing up exploring the Great Plains ecosystems in Oklahoma as a young girl, where her classroom was nature. Playing in the meadow edge and creeks, she was “always mixing various plants with the water and mud and making various concoctions.” After moving to Georgia while still in school, she was able to immerse herself in the eastern Piedmont region and explore the wilds of the Southeast U.S. In high school she had the opportunity to learn from naturalists in several fields at Fernbank Science Center. In college she expanded her knowledge base, and through a period of 10yrs of international travel experience furthered her study of medicinal plants all over the world. She says:  “It was always out there, the voice on the edge of my work and experiences, always calling to me in a consistent yet whispering way. And finally as an adult I’ve been fortunate enough to truly be able to dive even deeper into the traditional knowings of plants, the healing world of them and beyond. That has felt like my calling all along.”

Susan continues to learn from regional herbalists in Georgia and the Southeast, gathering new knowledge and experiences with plant uses and the natural world and our deep connection to it. She is teaching at some regional herb conferences this year such as the Midsouth Women’s Herb Conference at Lookout Mountain. “It’s a passion and a life long journey for me — I love sharing it with others so much.” Most recently Susan and Dan started their own program called Sound of Nature School, www.soundofnatureschool.org, which offers hands-on homeschool classes in areas such as Nature Exploration, Herbs & Body Systems, History of the 20th century through Art & Music, as well as Music studio classes in their home studio, creative writing and even interactive physics classes. She is thrilled to work with Eco-A again this year and loves learning together with the broader community on engaging walks “that help connect us all to the nature that is within us and all around us.”