By Linda Gabriel,
I recently sat down with Bella LeNestour, Roxanne Malcolm, Melanie Lutz, Tamara Pullman, and Jessica Perez, the women behind the BirdHouse Community Apothecary. I asked them about their vision for this project.
Linda: For those new to the idea, what exactly is a Community Apothecary?
Roxanne: Traditionally, an apothecary is an old-fashioned pharmacy, but the implication is that you go to an apothecary to get natural, whole-plant extract remedies. Also, we’re looking at the whole person and not just their symptom or their ailment in an apothecary setting.
Linda: What do you mean by “remedy”?
Roxanne: Remedies can take many forms. A remedy can be a supplement, or a tincture, or a tea, or a flower essence, or homeopathic, which is vibrational medicine. You could even describe food as a remedy. So it’s really a food, or a substance that promotes healing—a substance that helps facilitate relief. You really can go far and wide when you ask a question, like, ‘what is a remedy?’
Mel: An apothecary is part of a wisdom tradition of working to heal folks with their relationship to the Earth. Since we’re in the 21st century, the apothecary has expanded, from my perspective, to include healing of the beloved community. So for me, an apothecary is our interconnection with “All That Is”, offering the community a natural relationship to the Earth’s herbal medicines.
Jessica: Bella and I met through an herbal apprenticeship, so we have a connection to plant medicine. We thought about introducing the idea of an apothecary, where the community would be able to access what’s grown at the BirdHouse in unique ways. Our Intentional Tea Circles are one way that we’ve been able to do it. So far we’ve held our teas on Zoom because of Covid 19, but local participants have been able to stop by to pick up their tea from the garden.
Roxanne: A big part of our community apothecary is our Intentional Tea Circles, which offer a unique opportunity to connect minds and hearts through love of nature, medicinal plants, and the power of L O V E. Taking our lead from Mel, we sip on a tea, freshly harvested from the BirdHouse Community Garden and Annex, as we tune our senses with a group meditation and afterward, share the insights we receive.
I think that also speaks to the relevance of what we’re doing. Feeling a part of a community that is nourishing in ways that are more than just the social aspect of being together is something that we’re all craving. By holding space for a Community Apothecary and through hosting our Tea Circles, we acknowledge that deep connection, which is deeply fulfilling. We do that by acknowledging Nature, and deepening our connection with Nature. And if you’re looking for that support for yourself, then we want to connect with you. And the plants want to connect with you!
Jessica: Our Community Apothecary is a unique way of accessing whatever we’re currently growing in the BirdHouse Garden, but also a way of creating a volunteer program where the BirdHouse community is growing, harvesting, and producing plant medicines and making them available to their neighbors.
Linda: When you talk about other people growing and producing plant medicines, will you be creating a model for other communities, or would they actually be annexed in some way to the BirdHouse garden?
Jessica: In order to really support this Community Apothecary, we realized we are going to need additional parcels of land where we can grow more medicinal plants because as it is, the BirdHouse focuses mostly on fruits and vegetables. As an example, Tamara Pullman has allowed us access to a portion of her family’s backyard to grow Mullein. The Mullein plant is something we all came around and really felt touched by, and we recently worked with Mullein in our Autumn Tea Circle.
Bella: It’s really amazing how good the Mullein is for us, particularly nowadays, when we need to take care of our respiratory system. And Mullein asks us, who do we want to be in this life as we are forging ahead, with all the uncertainty, what kind of light will we carry with us? Mullein is really like a torch for that. So Mullein will continue being an essential plant in the apothecary.
Tamara: I already had a plan to create a medicinal plant bed in my backyard when I learned of The Birdhouse Community Apothecary idea. The concept of the ‘annex’ was born! The BirdHouse could use the extra space and I’d get a chance to learn about BirdHouse gardening technique, on top of all the other good benefits of learning about the plants themselves— and becoming part of the Community Apothecary.
I was extremely interested because I had been craving to learn more about the growing and use of medicinal plants and herbs. So this idea of becoming a part of a group of women (so far!) in the neighborhood whose purpose was to do exactly that—within this overarching embrace of community healing—has turned out to be a much broader and ultimately more nourishing endeavor than I had imagined.
Jessica: We are currently looking for other property owners to expand our area of medicinal plants within the Beachwood Canyon area to harvest from.
Linda: How much space would you need? Just a little corner of someone’s backyard, or something more?
Jessica: We’re still trying to figure out the best model. No yard is too big or too small. At this point, we just want participation from the community because, right now, it’s the only way we get to really interface— and that’s been wonderful!
Linda: What kinds of medicinal plants are you currently growing in the Birdhouse Garden and what would you like to grow in the annexed gardens?
Bella: Well, there are the plants we’ve already been working with this year like Lemon Balm, Holy Basil, Pineapple Sage and other kinds of sages. We’ve been really, really happy with the Holy Basil.
Tamara: Some of the other plants we have planted in The Annex, are Echinacea, Vervain, Calendula, Borage, Poppy, Comfrey and St John’s Wort.
Bella: We have been talking with Roxanne, and with Mel about plants that will be good for the nervous system. Definitely.
Linda: Besides teas, what other ways do you plan to use the plants?
Jessica: This is where Roxanne has been a real guiding light for this program. She’s a certified herbalist, and has been teaching us how particular plants might reflect each season and have a real conversation around. That’s where Mel helps us, too.
Roxanne: Our aim is twofold, one to nurture the inspiration and delight that springs from our mutual exploration into magnificent medicinal plants, and two, to serve, love, and guide each individual to plants that will unearth their own self-healing ability. If I had to put what we’re doing into a mission statement, even though that’s kind of a complicated sentence, that would probably be it.
It’s basically about helping us all to open up to the profound amount of love and support that exists on our planet, right before our eyes. We just can’t see it—but we always eventually can. It just starts with having the imagination, or the desire to have a childlike wonder about the world around you, and to connect with other people who are interested in doing that. People who are interested in elevating each other, and lifting each other up, no matter when it is—but especially now, because our world continues to be very activated, and at times very polarizing. And so how can we continue to see us all as a unified expanding entity, together, in a positive way?
Bella: I also would like to add that not only have we been choosing which plants to use for the Tea Circles, we have also been thinking about a prompt for every Tea Circle. We have asked everybody to be intentional when they are getting together. Mel has been really good at engaging people to share what has come up for them.
Mel: I honestly think it’s a deep attuning to the natural rhythms of the Earth. When you bring a sensory experience and a connection, which used to be naturally available—the infusion of that steady rhythm of Mother Earth into relationship with us, is easiest.
Everything’s a tea! We add water, which is our natural flow. We have a boiling fire element. And then we are literally ingesting, infusing, surrounding ourselves in this luscious, natural ecstatic energy, as close to its aliveness as possible. It’s an optimal health and wellness and balance relationship.
And the tea doesn’t just instantly appear as a brew. It has a magic. It has an elemental, cellular experience that naturally brings us into symbiosis as we go through this literal ceremony. To say to myself, “I am going to hear the wisdom and actualize myself in relationship to all that is, which is represented with this plant that’s in front of me, that’s going to heal me, that’s going to inform me, and that’s going to guide me in all of these timelines that are only present in this moment, now.” I mean, that’s my tea ceremony. It’s the now-ness of the plant, in community.
Bella: And this is the right time. The world is changing and we have the chance to be more introspective. We have less distractions calling us out. And that means that we have the opportunity to get more in touch with the subtle nuances.This subtlety is allowing us to realize how good it feels to be actually connected with people. And connected with a plant. So, in an odd way, while we are physically at a distance, in some other way we are also more available to each other.
Linda: How can people find out more?
Jessica: They can sign up HERE to be on our mailing list!
Roxanne is a Health & Wellness Guide specializing in well-woman care and the childbearing year. She is a Holistic Herbalist certified by The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism.
Bella LeNestour is the co-founder of the BirdHouse, a catalyst for change, cultivating biophilia and reflecting on what planet Earth now demands.
Jessica D. Perez is the Director of Educational Development for At the BirdHouse. As a graduate of the Gaia School of Healing in California, Jessica now enjoys a more magical relationship with nature.
Melanie Lutz is a writer, producer, and Love Activist. She is the creator of the docu-series, Mels Love Land. She invites you to consider the possiblity: What if all our thoughts were loving thoughts? melsloveland.com
Tamara Pullman is a dancer, performer and mother. Her family are longtime residents of Beachwood Canyon and generous supporters of the BirdHouse.
