43. Wild Medicinal Plants and Hemp Farming with Daphne Valentine
Do you communicate with the plants on your local landscape? Because they are always trying their hardest to reach you, whether or not you’re able to hear them.
My guest for this installment of the Good Life Revival Podcast — no. 43 — is Daphne Valentine, a professional forager, farmer and pickle-maker from Murphreesboro, Tennessee. When it comes to communicating with plants, Daphne speaks with authority, drawing from a deep reservoir of lifelong experiences.
“Plants have a frequency. If you’re in tune with it, if you’re listening, you’ll hear it. […] Medicine plants give off a pretty strong frequency, and we hear that as foragers.”
In addition to working with wild foods and crafting artisanal pickles, she and her husband grow medicinal hemp on their farm through Tennessee’s Hemp Research Pilot Program, which she says is a very profound experience.
“Having grown hemp from seed to big bushy plants that are speaking, very loudly, I understand the connection. I understand the language that it is speaking.”
Each of Daphne’s primary interests are united, I think, by a core passion for the physical and emotional healing power of medicine plants, and of food as medicine itself. I hope this conversation encourages you to venture out on to the land to cultivate intimate relationships with all of the plant allies that you find there.
Stream and download above, or listen through iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play.
Related Links and Further Resources:
GLRP #23: Feral Homesteading - Interview with Alexander Meander of Ardea Homestead Sanctuary
GLRP #30: Sacred Land Use and the Intuitive Path - Interview with Steven Martyn, the Sacred Gardener
Interested in learning how to gather wild foods, but feeling intimidated and unsure where to begin?
Check out my Introduction to Foraging: A Beginner’s Guide to Gathering Wild Foods with Confidence.
I’ll explain, in plain English, everything you need to know to begin foraging safely, confidently and responsibly. I’ll also introduce you to some of the most common and easy-to-identify wild plants found all across North America, describing how, when, where, and why to gather each one alongside vivid original photography.
