A mediation on human dignity.
A short documentary on the daily life of a botanist in the mountains of Tajikistan.
Not a whole lot of specific plant information, but insight into the soul of a plant lover and a look at the rich plant life in an environment you don’t expect to find much.
It’s also a portrait and reminder of what human life is like away from our overdone … Read more
Ken McCarthy interviews Klaus Ferlow, master herbalist and leading North American advocate of sturdy, fast-growing, versatile Neem tree.
Called “arista” in Sanskrit, it means “perfect, complete, imperishable.” It’s also known in India as the “village pharmacy.”
The neem tree grows rapidly, even under challenging desert conditions, anywhere where there is no frost.
The leaves, flower, twigs, bark, roots, oil, and oil cake are all useful.
Uses include: non-toxic pesticide, soil … Read more
A while back, I wrote about the “commercially inspired over-enthusiasm” for essential oils.
In response, I received a flood of vociferous hate mail.
Hate mail to PlantWisdom.org? Yup. That’s part of the word we live in.
Unfortunately, most of what appears online and elsewhere about essential oils comes from people who manufacture and sell them.
That said if you dig even a little – Google: “essential oil dangers” – you’ll … Read more
Eliot Cowan, author of “Plant Spirit Medicine”, shares the story of how he discovered his calling to become a medicine person in the Huichol shamanic tradition.
Click here for an in depth interview with Eliot Cowan
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
… Read more
In the 1980s, NASA spent millions of dollars on how to deal with unhealthy indoor environments.
They were interested in the big challenge of purifying air on space stations and long space flights.
Here’s what they came up with…
Houseplants.
The simplest plant to take care of:
Sansevieria laurentii, also known as “mother-in-law’s tongue” and “snake plant.”
The original NASA paper is here:
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf
– … Read more
This is one of the most fascinating and promising local sustainable food projects I’ve ever seen. Please help take it to the next level.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
… Read more
Ever Growing Family Farm is engaged in a radically innovative act…
They’re successfully growing rice in the Hudson Valley of New York on otherwise marginal land using traditional methods perfected over centuries by farmers from the Senegambia region of West Africa.
After two successful harvests, it’s time for them to get their own rice milling equipment.
They’re halfway there. Let’s … Read more
The ideal introduction to plants, herbs and “weeds” would be to have a grandmother (or grandfather) take us by the hand through the fields and woods from an early age.
In these “modern” times, few of us have that experience. Our guest on this installment of PlantWisdom.org, Dina Falcone, certainly didn’t.
Dina grew up in New York City’s East Village in the 1970s, an urban … Read more
What are plants?
Dumb bundles of cellulose that exist merely to do our bidding?
Sophisticated bio-chemical factories that are the source of countless medicines – and medicines to come?
How about this?
“Plants know us and love us as grandchildren.”
What is a grandparent?
Someone older than you…someone related to you…someone who cares about your well-being…someone in a position to help you in profound ways.
Carlos Castaneda (1925-1998) in his … Read more
It was one of our most popular programs, so I thought you might like to see her TED talk.
If you’d like to help our publishing efforts here at Plant Wisdom—and we can certainly use the help—consider contributing to our parent company, The Real Food Channel, that makes this programming possible.
– Ken McCarthy
PlantWisdom.org
