When I was diagnosed with FND, I thought I’d never see this dream come into fruition. Luckily for me, my partner, D, has jumped right into this dream with me. Together, we are working hard to make it come true. This year, our sole focus is establishing a large medicine garden and our education program.

A medicine garden, to me anyway, is a medicinal herbal garden that provides ourselves and our loved one’s nourishment for the body, mind, and spirit. In the past, I’ve primarily focused on War Gardens and still intend on growing as much food as possible, but now it’s more important to me that the garden is a place of rest, labors of unconditional (and forgiving) love, and deep connection. Connection to the land is important when asking plants for their medicine.

Because

we are Nature,

too.

This series, Medicine Gardens, will record the process of cultivating a medicine garden here in Northern Appalachia.

Subscribe now

The Perils of Japanese Knotweed

Japanese Knotweed has overgrown the hillside that The Medicine House sits on. I have spent years ripping up the roots and stems of this invasive plant and injecting vinegar into its root systems. Previously, I worked with the roots for pain and inflammation in the joints. This year, however, I started roasting the baby spring shoots with salt and pepper. They taste like a soft asparagus with lots of (maybe a bit too much) lemon zest, which went great with my nettles-pesto chicken wings!

Alas, we have FINALLY cleared out a large patch of the knotweed on the side of the house, giving us an extra 15x15 space in addition to our 3,400 square feet of yard that’s already primed for serious gardening. (Are we an urban herbal farm yet?)

Picture of Japanese knotweed spring shoots in colander and its roots on cutting board.

Greenhouse Sharing

I was grateful to hear about Cutting Root Apothecary’s greenhouse share here in Southwest Pennsylvania. We planted 144 seeds in trays that Cutting Root has graciously taken into their hands until May 14th. They will water and care for our seeds until they’re seedlings. In addition, we have 5 more flats (at least!) of medicinal herbs that we will also pick up from the farm.

Preparing the Garden

There are so many things to do it’s hard to know where to start! Last week I fixed the fence and will install deer fencing (old wire fencing I found and a staple gun) around the backyard next weekend.

Next are the garden beds and buckets! We have a pile of pallets that will be repurposed into at least 10 large, raised beds. The buckets will be turned into planters that will hang from the fence. My husband and I are both disabled making this a mighty task for us. If you’d like to help, check out our needs below.

We are currently looking for donations of:

• volunteers to help with labor

• 5-gallon buckets

• compost

• earthworm castings

• topsoil

If you are interested in donating materials or your time, please reach out at sarah@medicinehousepgh.com

Photo of small stack of large pallets in grass.

Updates from the Author

I have been awarded the 2026 Deep Ecology Artist Fellowship! This fellowship is given to artists of all mediums to spend time at the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary “. . .to explore their artistic perspective in regard to the role of native medicinal plants in the ecosystem. . .”

Next month I will be heading to Pomeroy, Ohio to stay at the Brickhouse Apothecary and trek their 10-mile-long trail of medicinal plant forest to inspire my next manuscript. If you would like to support my fellowship, please share this post or purchase a tea from my shop.

Share

An excerpt from my upcoming book was published in the nonprofit newsroom, Public Source. Read it here.

One of The Medicine House’s medicinal teas was published in Nourishing Our Bodies, Nourishing Our Movements Community Cookbook, which was put together by Abortion Care Tennessee to fundraise abortion access in northern Tennessee. To get your copy today, check out Abortion Care Tennessee.

Ways to Help

Donate to this sweet cat, Salem, for his surgery and adoption.

Consider supporting the ACLU who are fighting to keep families together.