Walden FARMacy

01/09/2023

Walden Farmacy on TikTok

Our first Wild School Wednesday is 1/11, and if you enroll in all 5 sessions you can save some $$$! One of our top reasons for living the lifestyle we do is so our children grow up connected to their best teacher- their natural environment. More info in linktree in bio!

Our first Wild School Wednesday is 1/11, and if you enroll in all 5 sessions you can save some $$$! One of our top reasons for living the lifestyle we do is so our children grow up connected to their best teacher- their natural environment. More info in linktree in bio! ...

01/08/2023

We have rotationally grazed duck eggs again! Normally $12/dozen. Grab them for $10/dozen all January long.

12/07/2022

I think so many of us are catching on to wanting to reduce waste through the holiday season. How often does that new "thing" end up just collecting dust and then sitting in a landfill? And if you are a mom like me, the last thing you want is one more toy to have to pickup out of the floor?

We prefer experiential gifts in my family! And we have a wide array of upcoming classes at the farmacy that would make wonderful experiential gifts.

Here is a summary of what we have going on in 2023 so far:

Our wild school Wednesday classes are targeted at home school families, but are great for enthusiastic learners of any age who would like to get some hands on time learning herbalism and permaculture skills! The schedule is as follows:

January 11, 9-11AM
Intro to Permaculture and Winter Farm TourOur intro to permaculture will begin with a presentation introducing the framework of permaculture including the ethics, principals, elements of design, and management techniques. We will then tour the farm in the dormant season so that the structure of the land is easily observed before being filled in by lush vegetation. $35

February 8, 9-11:30AM
Tincture making!We will discuss the basics of tincturing before making a tincture using the scientific method. Each family will go home with a 1oz tincture of $15 value! $50

March 8, 9-11AM
Herb walk and Violet lemonade pH experimentWe will begin with an herb walk focusing on the first plants up in the spring! Following the walk, we will wild forage violet blossoms so that we may conduct a pH experiment in making violet lemonade. Then, of course, we all get to enjoy a glass as pay off for our effort! $35

April 12, 9-11:30AM
Salve making!An easy, safe, effective way to introduce children to herbalism is a “boo boo” salve. We will gather on farm to demonstrate how to forage and/or grow the ingredients for our healing salve. We will make the salve together, and everyone gets to go home with a 2oz salve! We have noticed engaging kids in this process gets them excited about using herbs, and ready to learn more! $50

May 10, 9-11:30AM
Spring farm tour, herb walk, and tea party!Now that the plants are filling in on the farm we will do a spring tour focusing on how the landscape has shifted! We will do a second herb walk focusing on different plants. We will finish our program with a tea party and fresh, organic snacks! $50 with tea party or $35 without.

We a have Intro to Permaculture classes scheduled for 1/7 and 2/12/23!
At Walden Farms we engage in a type of regenerative farming known as permaculture in which we believe in the intelligence of natural systems and thus try to mimic the way in which ecosystems grow. We see ourselves as the conductor, choosing which plants will come together to create the symphony of our land. Permaculture farms don’t look like what one may expect a farm to look like, but we love to share what we do with the public in hopes it will inspire!
Join us for an indoor presentation on the basics of permaculture followed by a tour explaining how we implement these practices on our farm, after which we will have catering available from our friends at Sorelle along with drinks from Walden Farmacy available for purchase.

After the 1/7 Intro to Permaculture, we will be hosting a Farm To Medicine Chest: Mushroom Dual Extraction Tincture Making class. Where we will discuss medicinal benefits, ID tips, and sourcing info for medicinal mushrooms common in our area while we demonstrate the full process of making your own Mushroom tincture. A second offering of this will occur on 2/9/23.

After the 2/12 Permaculture class we are hosting a Valentine's class on yummy herbal aphrodisiacs. We will go over herbal actions for aphrodisiac herbs, sample our concoctions including a ceremonial grade cacao drink with added aphrodisiacs and herbal aphrodisiac bon bons, and you will go home with recipes and a tincture or tea!

If you aren't close to the farm, we are also planning some off the farm herb walks in 2023! So far we have one scheduled in Pinson at Cosby Lake on 3/16 and in Hoover at Moss Rock on 3/3. We are looking to add several more to this soon, including walks in Huntsville and Heflin.

So you are more easily able to give the gift of knowledge we are offering 10% off any regularly priced class for the next week! Use code KNOWLEDGE at checkout.

https://waldenfarmacy.com/product-category/events/

12/07/2022

Sweet gum toothbrush!

11/28/2022

Every little order makes our small business do a happy dance! One more day to save 22% on website orders with code “GRATEFUL22”!

11/27/2022

🚨🚨Small Business Saturday!!🚨🚨

Wilder is warming up the car for yall, let's go shopping!!

Bham has some cool businesses, slinging the good stuff you won't find on Amazon. I already know where I'm spending my money this year, and it isn't on the billionaires 😘

Here's a few of my favorites around town:

Cheap Chick Trading Co. for environmentally-friendly threads, funky coffee mugs, and all kinds of gifts and accessories. Let owner Shannon Amity build you the perfect outfit for your next holiday party, and spend next to nothing on it in the process!

Walden FARMacy for the best herbal medicines, teas, and related education. Trevor and Joanna Mann and their crew operate within a permaculture paradise in Bessemer, growing all kinds of beautiful medicines in ways that heal both bodies and planet. Grab a tea or tincture to add to a gift bag, or check out the classes they have on their calendar and give an experiential gift instead 😍

While we're on the topic of experiential gifts, if you're planning a family trip for the future, take the stress out and book through Travelmation - Chris Barnes, Specializing in Ocean Cruises & All-Inclusive. Did you know that it costs approximately ZERO DOLLARS to book with a travel agent?? I did not until this year 😂 No reason to plan it yourself when Chris already knows the best spots and can get you the best deals.

So let's hear it, where will you do your holiday shopping this month? What's at the top of YOUR list??

11/24/2022

Even if we don’t believe in Thanksgiving as it was taught in school, we will always take a day to be grateful! And this year we have so much to be grateful for- we’ve expanded to new markets, new retailers, added new members to our team, and even had the chance to meet some of our idols at conferences! So thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting us in living the life we love!

11/23/2022

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🦃Gratitude Week: Community Edition🦃

Herbalists, regenerative farmers, and environmental protection groups might not be the first thing people think about when Birmingham, Alabama comes to mind, but for me, this community is a critical component of the city's mosaic.

I got my first taste of the green life with Jones Valley Teaching Farm around 2005 as a student and later a summer intern, helping to grow both produce and the farm itself as they moved from a tiny Southside lot to an expansive block to the North. Since then, JVTF has evolved, expanded, and held thousands of students in the nurturing embrace of sustainable agriculture. I am ever in awe of the growth they bring to the city.

Through the years, my own love for gardening stretched toward complexity. I learned what I could through research, home practice, and the Alabama Extension Master Gardener program (housed at the BEAUTIFUL Birmingham Botanical Gardens), but the best education came through my friendship with Trevor and Joanna Mann of Walden FARMacy and Cameron Strouss of The Deep Roots School of Foraging & Herbal Medicine. SO grateful for these people and the community they continue to build here for herbalists and permaculture-enthusiasts.

The community of green-minded people is vast, and the diversity of Birmingham's environmental nonprofits gives me hope for our future! From the sustainable agriculture focused network of to the conservation work of and the clean air/environmental justice activism of , there is something green for everyone in Birmingham.

Infinite gratitude for the people doing this work.
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11/23/2022

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11/19/2022

Working on the 2023 events for Walden FARMacy! So far we have herb walks in various parks around central Al (Moss Rock and Cosby lake- where else would you like an herb walk?), mushroom tincture making, Intro to permaculture classes with farm tours, and a special Valentine’s herbal chocolates and aphrodisiacs! I will also continue wheel of the year herbs and rituals. What else would you like to see as far as herbs, medicine making, homesteading, permaculture, and energy healing classes this year?

11/17/2022

Hey, Bham! No excuse to not shop local this Holiday season! Lots of great upcoming markets all around the state plus some in Atlanta!

11/17/2022

🙌

11/17/2022

While giving shout outs to the amazing group of human being that bring you Walden FARMacy we couldn’t miss the spectacularly amazing, the groovy, the tech wiz- Merry Bee Cornell!

For two years we did markets and would get asked every single market if we had a website. And we would say “no.” 😆 because technology wasn’t our thing. But we finally realized we were missing out and Merry Bee stepped in and did a wonderful job putting our website together. We are so grateful to have her as our technological phone a friend. 😂 because we are farmers. Not computer people.

But each order we get off the website makes us do a little happy dance! And it’s soooooo much easier than the back and forth texts it took to mail an order out back in the Stone Age of Walden Farmacy.

We really are lucky to have THE MOST AMAZING team. And Merry Bee adds some extra love, joy, kindness, and lots of grooviness to it. We are forever indebted to you for doing all of the work we can’t figure out! We love you, Merry Bee! ✌️🐝🍄

11/16/2022

This week while we are giving shout outs to our amazing team, we definitely didn’t want to miss paying thanks to the universe aloud for the presence was on the farm this summer! Ginger swooped in right when we needed them, and they quickly became part of the fam. We can’t say enough about how amazing Ginger is as a human being and how grateful we were not only for the work they offered, but the chats, laughs, dinners, ice cream runs, and time reading to the kids they shared with us over the summer.

Ginger is now working with farm school, but we know they will continue to be present in our lives as a friend. The kids haven’t quit asking when they will be back. 😂 we love you, Ginger!

We really have been blessed with true earth angels when we need help on the farm.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve visited the farm, come check out how the mosaic has shifted over the past few months thanks to the amazing team members we’ve had the fortune of working with- we have one final herb walk and farm tour this Sunday. Link in bio!

11/16/2022

While introducing our team this week, we couldn’t miss the amazing Charles Thompson! Charles is a humble, quiet, behind the scenes kind of guy who doesn’t demand much recognition but steadily shows up day after day and week after week to do the unglamorous tasks that keep the farm functioning. And he shows up with the kindest spirit and most generous heart.

Charles actually showed up at the farm for the first time over 7 years ago to pitch in and help us out in a farm work day. And for a couple of years he was our only paid help! He’s helped us keep this whole operation afloat through lockdown and the kids being home from school for two years.

This past summer when Trevor and I got Covid we called on Charles to come help tend to the animals- and of course he showed up ready to help. After a few days, Trevor decided he’d push through in the morning and do the chores himself. So he didn’t call Charles. He woke up a little later and slower than usual that morning, finally got himself out the door- and there Charles was half way done with the chores already and telling Trevor to go back inside and rest. Charles has become more than a coworker here at the farm. He’s family.

11/16/2022

At our farm, we like to push the limits on what herbs we can bring to our customers from our zone 8 farm. We are subtropical here, and with the high tunnel greenhouse we installed, we are able to grow many more tropical plants with longer growing seasons.

This year in the greenhouse we grew peppers, turmeric, and ginger for fire cider. And the extra heat of the greenhouse actually boosts medicinal compounds in the plants! We were also able to grow ashwagandha, andrographis, lemongrass, and more.

We are experimenting with a tropical forest garden in here, too, seeing what fruits we may be able to get in our zone. We’ve planted bananas experimentally, but if we don’t get bananas we will get loads of biomass- this tree has reached the top of the high tunnel in one year! We also have loquat and lime as tree species in our tropical forage garden. These trees are helping to create microclimate that plants can more easily establish in.

If you want to learn more about how we utilize these herbs and how we push the boundaries on farming in many ways, we have one final farm tour and herb walk of the year this Sunday!

11/15/2022

We are taking the time to introduce our team this week, and as of September we’ve been lucky to have Avery here with us bringing a little more light to our farm and medicine! Avery has been interested in herbal medicine since high school so she came into this with some knowledge of her own, which was a huge bonus for us!

Avery will be farming, making medicine with us, and even doing some markets so tell her “welcome” and treat her with all the love you show Trevor and I!

If you want to see more of what’s happening at Walden FARMacy we have a final farm tour and herb walk of the season this Sunday 11/20!

11/14/2022

A couple of exciting announcements I’d love to share with you and this picture of me and Britney Doe Knox at the Midsouth Herbal Conference is a great segue into both…

First of all, do you see the joy on our faces here?! At least half of that is because of the amazing time we are having joining in sisterhood with like minded women at Midsouth Women's Herbal Conference! And guess what else?! Registration is live for the 2023 gathering. Only 100 spots left, so grab yours while you can.

Second, the rest of that joy is because of the quality time with my bestie, and I’m excited to be getting a lot more of that now! We want to more formally announce Britney as part of the team here at Walden FARMacy! She’s been helping from time to time at markets and conferences for at least the past four years, but you’ll probably see her at market more. She couldn’t be more kind and open hearted so we hope you will all receive her at markets with the love and support Trevor Mann and I have felt! Goodness knows the two of us need more support on the farm. 😂

https://www.midsouthwomensherbalconference.com/2023?fbclid=IwAR1Nlnoi-iJ3iM18LLgoyREBDkma0e365ZAd59shEQ1EYaCweyh7kjwinZY

11/12/2022

Photos from Piedmont Park Holiday Market's post

11/05/2022

Come see me this weekend! So many great vendors to start some Christmas shopping with! And help me send vibes for any rain to part and move around us. I’ve done it before! 🤷🏻‍♀️

11/05/2022

Excuse the recording off my dad’s laptop, but I was on Good Day Alabama this morning promoting the Moss Rock Festival @ the Hoover Met (November 5-6, 2022)! This is one of my favorite events to start grabbing Christmas presents at. See you there!

11/01/2022

Photos from The Farmers Market at Pepper Place's post

10/23/2022

When I was a kid a wise witch taught me, "just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down," and as an adult herbalist I'll have to say she wasn't wrong. In the coming few days, we will move through Samhain (entering of the dark), eclipse season begins with a Scorpio solar eclipse (hello deep shadow work!) and Mars moves retrograde (outward progress may seem slow or even backwards- this is surely to be frustrating to a culture bent on production and results).

In many ways in life, both metaphorically and literally, a spoon full of sugar can help us swallow some bitter medicine. Astrologically speaking, we may have to do a bit of swallowing of some bitter medicine these next few weeks. But we can soften it with open hearts and a higher perspective. We can welcome this as a time for deep inner work and reflection. We can maintain the knowledge that darkness, decay, and struggle provide fertile ground to plant in this coming spring. We can look our shadow aspects in the eye, alchemize them, and become better people.

In our Samhain herbs and rituals we will be taking reishi (a very bitter medicine and a plant that thrives on decay) that i have cooked down into maple syrup to balance the bitter and sweet. I've then made it into truffles utilizing the heart medicine of cacao and rolled them in our mushroom cacao with a little cayenne (another circulatory stimulant). We will also be utilizing essence of poison plants balanced in a sweet rose glycerine. We will hold the difficult inner work within the sweet container of sisterhood as we move through the darkest parts of the year. There are a few spots left if you'd like to join us!

10/17/2022

When tapping into the energies of Samhain, two categories of plants come to mind. The first is the mushroom beings, who actually have more in common with us than plants genetically speaking. They thrive on death and decay. In the darkness, they alchemize death into fertile soil for new beginnings. And they are the perfect symbol for the connection of all things. Above ground, they seem to be individuals, but we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Underground, mushrooms are connected by a vast network that is the true “body” of the plant. The mushrooms we see are only the fruit. This mycorrhizal network allows for trees to communicate and take care of each other, transferring water, carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients. The largest organism on earth is actually a mushroom. The “humongous fungus” found in Oregon’s Malheur National Forest covers about 3.5 square miles, is estimated to weigh more than 6 tons, and is said to be about 10,000 years old. How could an organism like that not contain an immense amount of knowledge and power for us to connect to? Mycelium also literally connects our passed ancestors back into the web of the earth (when we embrace natural burial), breaking down their physical and plugging them back into the energetic web of mother earth.

The second category of herbs that comes to mind when I think of Samhain is plants of the poison path. These plants contain strong medicine that become poison at fairly low doses and should be worked with with the highest respect and caution. I encourage you to work with them in spirit or essence as you slowly get to know them. They can assist you in shadow work, show you what needs to die, point out where toxicity has crept into your life, and help you free yourself from repeating the loops of past traumas. But shadow work isn’t always the most fun or comfortable work to move through. Getting to the other side is amazing, though, and tapping into and working with your shadow will open up new heights of power in your life. Our poisonous friends such as belladonna, datura, and amanita shine here.

For our Samhain herbs and rituals we will utilize reishi elixir in a ritual to break down the dead and stagnant parts of our energy bodies before we journey into a cave in a guided meditation using our flying essence of belladonna, datura, ghost pipe, amanita, and morning glory in rose glycerine and brandy. There are still some spots left if you'd like to tap into these powerful medicines!