the neighborhood herbal, episode 3: FREE MEDICINE BOX
free herbal medicine for our durham community.
first off, much love to the handful of you who sent texts with your cleavers’ finds and asked about best practices for harvesting. your messages fill me + are the precise reason i wanted to offer the NH series as a resource on how herbs can love up on us right meow.
which brings me to the next NH offering: A FREE MEDICINE BOX. this week, i graciously have the week off work at 18 Million Rising, to tend to all things close to home. recently, during an 18MR healing practice space led by acupuncturist and somatic teacher + coach, Spenta Kandawalla, she asked us (paraphrasing) : 'A year from now, what do you want to say about who you were and how you were in this historical moment?’
i scribbled in my journal: “took care of <3 ones. slowed down. prioritized health and connection. created offerings for my community. took care of self and focused on nourishment. deepened and grew myself. risked caring.”
THE FREE MEDICINE BOX, circa my parents’ cooler from the 90s.
with time off, i feel like i actually have the spaciousness to share something tactile and herbaceous with you. to practice love and mutual aid, neighborhood herbal style. that’s why this week (May 13-17, 2020), for my local durham + surrounding community, i’m bottling up as much herbal medicine from my apothecary as i possibly can to give away for freeee!
some of the tinctures found in the free medicine box.
there is a full list of the free herbal tinctures + extracts below. lengthier descriptions of how these herbs support our healing can be found on my apothecary page here. if you are new to tinctures and extracts (and how they’re made), this is a good guide. feel free to ask me questions regarding dosage in the form below, but here’s a general guide for that too. if you are pregnant and / or currently taking medication and unsure about how it may harmfully interact with the herbs, you will need to consult your practitioner first before taking these herbs. many herbs are not recommended for use during pregnancy.
a full list of the tinctures + extracts inside the free medicine box.
how do i get to the NH free medicine box?
fill out the form (below) to receive instructions for scooping your herbs from me this week. i’ll have a safe + no human contact pick up sitch for you. you’ll need to wear a face covering / mask + preferably gloves (i know the latter is harder to find these days) when you pick up your medicine of choice. it’s a free box so i can’t promise that the tincture you want will be in the box by the time you come. i’m not putting a limit on how many bottles per person because (1) y’all are grown, (2) i expect you be community-oriented in your actions and (3) trust is a verb and we are not an amazon ring doorbell household. the medicine box is available from wednesday, may 13 through sunday, may 17 from 9AM - 7PM daily for pick ups.
for my long distance community readers (i’m looking at you, jo ann! that’s bex’s aunt y’all), i didn’t want to leave you hanging without some herbal resilience this week. have you seen the honeysuckle eberrrrywhere, making our walks all floral scented and dreamy? you could try making a honeysuckle simple syrup (shout to jess who gave me this idea) and add it as a sweetener to coffee, cocktails, teas, or even use as a pancake syrup.
my honeysuckle amongst the honeysuckles.
as always, don’t forget to subscribe (below) to receive the neighborhood herbal in your inbox!
xo sumi
