The You-Pick Medicinal Herbs Garden is not a for-profit venture. But neither is it a for-loss venture. If you would like to collect medicinal herbs, please consider a freewill donation to help cover the costs of seeds and supplies, keeping in mind both the quality and quantity of the herbs you pick.  If money is an issue, no worries — I love a good barter, too!  

To pick medicinal herbs, contact me (LuAnn) to set up a time.  Because this garden plot is on the site of an operating organic farm/CSA, it is important to schedule in advance so that I can meet you there, show you around, and stay on site to help as needed.  Erin and Ben, the farmers who own the CSA, are busy with the farm itself; thus all details to do with the You-Pick Medicinal Herbs Garden need to go through me.  I look forward to meeting and making new herbal friends — maybe you!

Knowing the right time and technique for harvesting medicinal plants is important — and not as hard as you might think.

Herbs should be gathered when they are at their peak in terms of vitality and phytochemical profile.  Although many leafy plants can be picked throughout the growing season, they are at their best in spring and early summer when they are still young, fresh and vibrant.  Flowers are best picked when they are just coming into full bloom, as half are open and half are in bud.  Autumn is the best time to harvest roots, as the arial parts of a plant die back, it sends its energy underground into root storage for overwinter.  My list of plants that are ready for gathering will be updated regularly, and I am happy to advise on the best techniques for collecting them. 

There are literally thousands of plants that people have been using as medicine for thousands of years.

Every medicinal garden should include calendula, chamomile, yarrow, lemon balm, and mint.  These five basics are safe and effective for the vast majority of people when used as simple teas, tinctures, or salves.  My personal list of essential herbs would be expanded to include tulsi, anise hyssop, skullcap, sage, spilanthes, boneset, Solomon's seal, and goldenrod.  It could be said that I go a bit overboard, having cultivated over 120 varieties of herbs in this garden.  And that doesn’t include the medicinal plants growing wild around the garden.  My lists of what is growing at the garden includes some new varieties added this year!

I can be your herbalist helper

Short on time for making your own herbal tinctures or oils?  Limited space for drying plants?

Difficulty finding quality medicinal herbs at their peak gathering time?  I can help!

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Contact me about making tinctures or oils for you with plants from the medicinal herbs garden or wild-gathered, all organic and harvested at their peak.  You can supply the jars and solvent for making your products, or reimburse me for supplies that I purchase according to your product request.  In exchange for my services, I would ask $25 for the first hour of my time and $5 for every 15-minutes thereafter.  Payment is due at time of pick up or delivery.

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Submit the form below, so I can create your herbal product just the way you would!

Along with your herbal product, you will receive the following information:

• Plant Name

• Plant Photo

• Date and Time Gathered

• Weather Conditions (two days prior and when harvesting, including temperature and humidity level)

• Comments on the Process

• Accounting of the Time Required

I am zealous about quality, and commit to ethical gathering while in a positive mood!

From humble beginnings in 2019, this you-pick medicinal herbs garden has grown to become a valuable resource for amateur and professional herbalists alike.

Once upon a time... For more than a decade, LuAnn had cultivated well over one hundred medicinal plants in her yard.  When the time came to move from that location, she took some of those plants with her. Sadly, her new yard did not present ideal growing conditions.

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Then one day... Erin, who with her husband Ben own an organic farm on the north edge of Northfield, contacted LuAnn about growing medicinal herbs on a plot of their land.  

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And she fell in love... When LuAnn saw the 36’ x 45’ full-sun garden plot of soil that had never been touched by chemicals she knew it was perfectly suited for growing her precious healing plants.  In addition, there were natural prairie and wooded areas available for wild gathering. It was a Zone 4 herb growing and gathering paradise!

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Happy ever after... After discussing with Erin what the medicinal herb garden might contain, LuAnn began compiling lists of possibilities and consulted with other herbalists. Seeds were ordered and prepared, and Erin offered the use of their greenhouse for starting the seeds which would eventually be transplanted into the garden plot. As soon as Ben plowed up the soil, LuAnn set about planting the transplants and seeds.

The End?   No, just the beginning.