Thanks to all for your support!
]]>Schedule of Events
10 am Opening Ceremony at Herbiary
Come make some noise as we start our day in Reading Terminal Market! Many traditional cultures use sounds and symbols to draw energy to new endeavors. Our day will begin with an opening ceremony created by Katryn Lavanture.
10:30 am Medicine Making Demonstration at the Center Court
Our staff herbalist, teacher, and owner of the shop, Maia Toll, will kick off our Center Court activities with a bit of fun! Come watch Maia as she makes a salve from scratch and doles out samples to the lucky folks in the front row. Maia will be available to chat through the remainder of the day.
11:00 am - 2:30 pm Center Court Celebration!
* The Sweet Nectars of Mother Earth: Flower Essences and Essential Oils. Meet our flower essence specialist, Lunaria Lewis and learn the secrets of using plant essences and oils. Don't know the difference between an essence and an oil? Come learn with Luna!
* From the Farm to your Face! Come meet local herbalist and teacher Susan Hess as she showcases her skills as both a product maker and an herbalist. See the full process as Susan grows herbs at Chester County's Farm at Coventry and turns them into beautiful products the whole family can use.
* A Little Taste of Africa at the Reading Terminal Market. Learn the difference between East African and West African shea butter. Not only are these products great for your skin, you can feel good about purchasing them and helping the Suhuyini Women's Co-Operative in Ghana.
* Explore the Best of Bucks County with Sharon Moncrief of Greenbrier Herbalist. Sharon is committed to bringing the simple, old-fashioned medicines to modern America. Stop by and let Sharon be your guide to using the plant world to better your health.
* Love herbs? Take some home from our friends at Market Blooms who will have a special medicinal herb section set up in Center Court.
* Pot it Up! Want to start from scratch? Stop by our potting table with horticulturalist Dawn Pritchard and learn how to start from seed. You'll bring home a seed start as well as instructions for repeating the process on your own.
Music at Center Court
The haunting sounds of the Native American Flute will accompany us throughout the festivities. We are honored to welcome Jan Seiden to Reading Terminal Market. Jan and her flute have played everywhere from hospitals to concert halls, captivating and inspiring her audiences. We are thrilled to welcome this two-time nominee for the Indian Summer Music Awards, nominated for the 2009 Native American Music Awards (NAMA) and First Place winner in the 2002 Musical Echoes Native American Cultural Gathering's national flute players' competition to Reading Terminal Market. For those who are curious about the Native American flute, Jan will bring extra instruments to introduce you to this wonderful woodwind.
2 pm Closing Ceremony at Center Court
We will end our day with storyteller extraordinaire Dan Johnson as he helps put our place on the earth into a bit of perspective. Dan will entertain us with tales including Strawberries in Winter and The Broken Pot.
As with any big undertaking, it really does take a village. We are so grateful to our families who have provided everything from their professional services to lugging and late night painting. Our extended shop family came through in a huge way, with everyone pulling late nights and overtime. And friends walked Bandit, brought food, and kept us sane in a million little ways. A heartfelt thanks to all of you.
This is a cell phone pic, but it will give you the gist!
See you at the Market!
]]>Unfortunately the State of Pennsylvania believes that the word "Apothecary" conjures images of sterile pills in orange plastic containers. The belief is that by using the word Apothecary we will some how lure you, the consumer, into the belief that we have been trained in allopathic pharmaceutical practices. How we wish this little detail had been mentioned when we registered our name with the state or the city! Instead we found out when Bethany visited a downtown bar that used to be called The Apothecary Bar but now must be APO due to this silly law. Yes, I'm a little bitter. Loss of language, whether through attrition or regulation, is maddening to me. But energy is not an endless commodity and fighting this is not a good place to spend mine.
Luckily our language is living and flexible. It allows for the invention of new words such as "Herbiary." What is an Herbiary, you ask? It is like a Beastiary, but for medicinal plants. It has the whimsey of topiary and the happy buzz of apiary. As an added benefit, the website was available. And for a final bit of happiness, I got to work with our fabulous designer, Suzanne Guelli, to create a new logo. Isn't it lovely?
So come by and visit us, at the original location in Chestnut Hill or the new shop in Reading Terminal Market. Nothings changed but our name!
]]>Admittedly this photo was taken about ten days back! : )
with Marie Noel Groves, Sunday March 14 from 4-7 pm, registration: $85 includes all materials, handouts, and samples. Call 215 247 2110 to register.
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We’ve been hearing a lot about healthcare recently. For many of us, health insurance is really an emergency plan that has little to do with the way we choose to live our daily lives. We need guidance, not only in a moment of crisis, but in a myriad of small daily ways.
When I first opened the Apothecary Garden in Chestnut Hill, my goal was to become the neighborhood herbalist. To get to know the families in the community, watch the kids grow, and help to instill a love of the earth and the plant world. My hope was to form lasting relationships with those who desire to walk this path for both health and spiritual enrichment.
It is my belief that healing, in its true sense, mind, body and soul, takes a village. It takes a sense of belonging and connection. It takes knowing that when you reach out for help, you won’t be asked to wait three weeks for an appointment. It takes relationships based on mutual support, care, and respect.
With this in mind, I am thrilled to announce some big changes in my work as an herbalist. I am starting a program called Earthwise Ways, a healing community where we can come together to support each other as a village.
Your membership in Earthwise Ways will include an appointment with me each month. “Appointment” can mean so many things -- time to talk about health issues, work with essential oils or flower essences, time in the kitchen learning to make products, walking in the garden to learn about different herbs,a phone conversation, a labyrinth walk, garden designing, working on nutrition or cooking, planning a celebration or ritual… the possibilities are many!
In addition, you will be able to phone and email me directly, post questions to the rest of the community online, and will receive 10% off medicinal products at The Apothecary Garden in Chestnut Hill and at our new store, the Herbiary at the Reading Terminal Market. Your monthly membership fee will be set on a sliding scale. We can work together to find comfortable payment options for both individuals and families.
A village is a living breathing entity... so many possibilities exist as we evolve and grow together!
If you are interested in joining Earthwise Ways, please click on the Earthise Ways tab at the top of this page to get more information then call The Apothecary at 215 247 2110 to set-up an initial conversation with me.
Blessings,
Maia
I am writing regarding HR-759/The 2009 FDA Globalization Act. As both a consumer of hand-made cosmetic products and the owner of a small business that specializes in these products, I am very concerned about the current language of the above mentioned bill. As it stands, the bill will drive many small companies out of business. This is a concern not only for our economy, but also for our creativity. Small companies are the fertile ground from which larger companies grow. Making cosmetic production cost prohibitive will cut off growth at the grass-roots level.
Small product makers are closer to their consumer base then larger companies. Often the owner of a small business will personally know the people for whom she is preparing products. This close relationship creates a situation in which the product is truly regulated on a local level. If a small cosmetic producer sells a bad product, she'll hear about it when she goes to the hairdresser or stops by the grocery store.
The idea of this bill is to protect the consumer, but harsh regulations on small companies will not achieve this goal. The literature available on complaints about cosmetic products supports the idea that it is the largest companies, who are often importing large amounts of material and using various man-made chemicals, that have the bulk of the complaints. It is wrong to treat the small producer in the same way that one treats these large corporations.
If we make production of cosmetics prohibitively expensive, only the wealthy corporations will be able to compete. This will steal yet another bit of local culture from us. Can you imagine not being able to buy anything handmade on a trip to Lancaster? If this bill passes, it will become near impossible for a local producer to make a bar of handmade soap or hand cream. This bill has cultural implications as well as economic implications. Please do not pass this legislation in its current form.
]]>Watching this little flower work has been a lovely reminder for me to cherish our common cures. Its easy to become fascinated with the herbs that are rare, or very potent, or grown far away. But often it is our common garden friend who answer our every day needs.
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