Family Farmacy: Harriet’s Herbs & Plants of the Great Dismal Swamp Maroons

Join us as we learn about Harriet Tubman, the underground railroad, the maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp, and the way freedom fighters used herbs and gardens as a pathway to freedom from enslavement!

Together, we’ll learn about the plants that Harriet Tubman, one of the leading conductors on the underground railroad worked with to ensure the health and safety of all those she helped escape slavery. We’ll also learn about the plants that The Great Dismal Swamp maroons, built emancipated communities through working with the land and each other in vast, dense, and secluded wetlands.

We’ll take the lessons these freedom fighters teach us in working with the land to heal and care for one another while moving towards freedom to make our herbal remedies: a dream pillow for finding rest and giving space to imagine new futures, a tea blend for honoring the herbalism of Harriet, and a scent blend that will help ground us in moments of remembrance of the abolitionists who paved pathways of freedom.

Growing family wellness through plants and play.

Food is medicine—and the garden is our classroom! Through hands-on exploration across the Greenhouse & Education Center’s learning garden, greenhouse, and teaching kitchen, Family Farmacy invites families to learn together about how plants support healthy bodies, curious minds, and open hearts. Each week, families will engage in joyful, drop-in workshops where they can grow, make, and taste their way through seasonal lessons in gardening, herbalism, cooking, and plant-based arts. From crafting home remedies and harvesting herbs, to cooking garden-fresh meals and making nature-inspired art, children and caregivers alike will discover how to care for themselves, each other, and the earth.

Note: We very generously interpret family here at the greenhouse. We know that welcoming everyone of all ages makes us storng and vibrant. Elders, children, youth, young adults–everyone is welcome and appreciated. We know that caregivers come in many forms–chosen family, birth family, those who need the love of family are all welcome.

Workshops are rain or shine.

Accessibility: Our kitchen/classroom space is wheelchair accessible. With prior planning, we can add a few small mats onto the pebbled ground of greenhouse to make a small wheel-chair accessible path. Our learning garden has grass paths, and the entrance is through a gate with a small, raised entrance. Our tables can be lowered/raised, and we have several backless benches or stools. Our kitchen is in regular use, and while we try to cook without peanuts, much of our cookware is shared and we cannot guarantee a nut-free environment. We have a first aid kit, and the closest AED is in another building several yards away. Drinking water is made available in refillable pitchers.

When inside the greenhouse and kitchen we will open our double-doors and windows to vent the space and encourage masking and social distancing when in more closed-in spaces.

Our closest bathrooms are a building away, about a one-minute walk. A gender neutral bathroom is also available, and this is accessible by key which you can request from staff. We are not a scent-free zone, and because herbalism classes take place here, cannot guarantee that the site will be clear of any essential oil smells. If you have needs not addressed here, please reach out to Mallory Craig at mcraig@thehort.org.