If there were a thread woven through my life, it would be plants. And the thread that weaves a flowing fabric with my love of plants is pattern. Ecological patterns at scales large and small have always fascinated me. These two, plants and pattern, create a broad tapestry of interest. I pull them together into a practice I call Ecological Herbalism, where I design gardens with my clients to support optimal health for body and soul.

“Eco” means house and “Ecology” is the study of relationships between life and the environment.  “Logic” is about thinking and validating, and “Herbalism” is the practice of using plants. Where we live and how we think about our behavior and interactions is key.

I see it like this: the place where you live is a canvas for thinking through and acting upon relationships. I feel deeply that the more we understand our co-existence with plants and realize that they aren’t just a green backdrop, the more rooted, aware, and broad-thinking we become. Our validation system becomes rooted in experience, our knowledge of our place becomes entwined with stewardship, and our children grow up with the knowledge that these relationships are the canvas for their lives.

In a simply stated linear progression, gardening heals the soil, building nutrients which are taken into your food and then absorbed into your body.  Growing your own food in a garden that you tend and connect with your neighbors over, helps mitigate the stress, fear and imbalance so prevalent in our lives. Gardening is a simple, singular way to be fully alive. I see gardening as a must, we can not achieve health globally any other way.  With low to no transportation time, higher nutrition is available and small-scale, community-based food saves on fossil fuels.

This site is meant as a resource for you. It is a place to check how to use new plants, brush up on principles in simplified diagrammatic formats, find recipes and harvest techniques to try out, and use as a pre-design tool to help see what plants look like and what they can do.