Melanated Medicinals
Accessible vegan, organic herbal care products made with love! Sun (she/they) offers majik, limpias,
26/06/2024
Yet another day in paradise…Eggplants have cometh! As well as other veggie friends. 🙏🏾
24/06/2024
Just another day in paradise. Seasonal salve or massage oil coming soon. Not sure yet. I’ll let the herbs decide. 🌿
11/05/2024
Got a fox problem. 5+ chickens killed. I tried all the passive approaches. Time to take care of business with my .308. Test fired her after a year and half. Whoooo boy is she still zeroed and boy I have not lost it. Went for the center of the pole. I think I got it. 🤣 Ready for you fox. I’ll be waiting morning and evening to protect my coop this week. 💪🏾👌🏾
11/05/2024
We’ve already harvested over a pound of Calendula this spring! ❤️🙏🏾🥲😎
22/04/2024
Happy Earth Day! 🌍
21/04/2024
🫦🫦🫦
21/04/2024
😊
20/04/2024
❤️
17/04/2024
Happy Rhubarb ☀️
17/04/2024
🫦
15/04/2024
Mullein & Calendula harvest ❤️🙏🏾
10/09/2023
10lb Lion’s Mane block covered in beautiful fungal growth. Get em’ at the Farmville Farmers market this coming weekend!
30/08/2023
Holla! 🙌🏾🙏🏾🧚🏾♀️✊🏾💅🏾
28/08/2023
The shiitake cometh… There will be lion’s mane, oyster, and shiitake coming to the farmers market soon. And expect even more varieties of 🍄 as the farm grows. 🧚🏾♀️❤️
25/08/2023
“Making good pwogwess.” -Mike
01/07/2023
☀️ Good morning! Just a quick reminder that we will be at the 100 Mile Market today. Not our usual Saturday spot. We will be located at Good Times Vintage Boutique in the village of Prospect, VA. Address is 301 Catalpa Ln, Prospect, VA 23960 until 4pm. Come get some veggies and many other fun goods! We would love to see you. ❤️✊🏾🙏🏾
24/05/2023
🧚🏾♀️ Well…the photos kind of speak for themselves. It’s been a lot of fun, it’s been busy. So wonderful to make an impact and become family with so many people. We are not only feeding our neighbors; but we are collaborating and creating garden spaces in their own yards. The other beautiful part is that we are learning so much history. Growing on this land is an act of rebellion. Our ancestors were told this land would never grow anything worthwhile. Well shiiiiiiit. Look at it now. 👀 Woooooo just want to keep building this lil Wakanda. Bliss… 🐝
16/05/2023
☀️ We hope everyone had a great end of the week/weekend and are starting this week with some happiness. Here’s our first Calendula bloom of the season. We interplant Calendula for pest control, botanical making, and because of its beauty and abundance. Calendula is a perennial, but it’s very easy to seed save Calendula and it often seeds itself for the next year. Everyone should grow some Calendula! 🧚🏾♀️
16/05/2023
🥹 First Calendula bloom about to pop! We interplant our Calendula all over. They are great pest protection, a great botanical herb, and they are freaking beautiful! So excited to see these in their full expression. 🧚🏾♀️
20/04/2023
I stay quiet a lot about s**t. Well because honestly if I spoke my truth constantly, I don’t know how long it would be before I disappear. Thinking about all the blood spilled 🩸 - the broken, beaten and dead black and indigenous bodies that make up the soil of this country. So much happening under the skin; within these bones. Deep in the marrow. So much happening behind these brown eyes; behind this smile; thoughts you don’t want to know. Stress these days has turned into physical pain. Trying to wake up- again. And again. Nightly dreams of running. Who are these people that keep trying to speak to me? Frozen, quiet places. What? Anyway… back to the farm. Back to the seeds. Back to the conversation with my ancestors. If my body is born to be broken, let it fall to pieces and rot here on this land.
Real talk if we ain’t talking pain then we ain’t talking reality. Real talk if you didn’t know this is me; then you never knew me (and that’s ok). S**t is fu**ed right now but let’s keep living till these devils drop the bombs. Actually, veto, f**k that. You know what, let’s keep on living beyond that. Black Power. ✊🏾 Take it however you want. It ain’t hate, it’s hope. 🧚🏾♀️❤️
18/04/2023
☺️🦋 A few of my faves. Comfrey, Horsetail and Yarrow. We grow a huge variety of herbs along with everything else we grow here. That’s right, we feed AND heal our community. 💃🏾 Both of equal importance. Each herb is grown in an effort to make all of our botanicals from plants on the farm. All about sustainability and mindfulness about where things are being sourced. Literally everything from the compost we grow in, to the bottles we use to sell our goods. Soon the gears will shift more into botanical making. For now, gotta make sure the land is feeling loved and our plants aren’t devoured by our big neighbors. Catch us at the Farmville, VA farmers market in a few weeks! We will be there all year.❤️🧚🏾♀️
15/04/2023
🧚🏾♀️ Love your plants; love your life. Gorgeous day for planting. Getting these African Marigolds in. They are a part of our pests defense. 🙏🏾
13/04/2023
Good morning! ☀️
Waking up to some cold brew, a bowl, and nine wonderful, white sage plants that have traveled far to be here. It’s really important to me that we grow white sage on the farm because it is harvested and misused constantly. It is a sacred burial plant from what I know from those of ancestry that use it in ritual historically. I’m all for creativity; but let’s be creative alongside knowledge of people and cultures before us. Let’s use these gifts of wisdom with thoughtfulness. 🧚🏾♀️ (Of course I know we do the best we can. So I say this with love) ❤️
The more experienced I become with growing, the more I learn to have other people propagate certain plants for me. White sage is notorious for being a difficult plant to start. Although I’ve done it successfully, it’s not something I have patience for every year. Aka self care. 🪴
12/04/2023
✊🏾 Ya I took the last few days to rest and collect myself. I’d like to thank for making these moments of rest even more special. The Farm Beer is so smooth, so excellent. It like a PBR or Natty Boh that is actually delicious. 😋
The most important tool on the farm is the farmer. Take care of the self and everything will fall in the right place. I’m realizing just how much I’m loving it here in Farmville, VA.🧚🏾♀️
It’s been nice to just watch the farm for a few days without my input. We really are creating a beautiful landscape for ourselves and so many organisms. So excited for all that is to come season after season. 🐝🪱🦋🐌🐓🙏🏾
07/04/2023
🥹🧚🏾♀️Can’t wait to get this food to the community at the farmers market! Looking healthy. We’ve planted over 8,000 babies for the season. ☺️
02/04/2023
✊🏾 April 1st sunset photo. Letting the Arugula flower. We love to let our veggies flower here. Especially in these early months, it’s a great way to get the pollinators curious about what’s to come. 🐝🧚🏾♀️ Our chickens love the overwintered veggies, too! 🐓
31/03/2023
☀️ Chamomile blooming~ (All over the place!) Sooooo excited and grateful for the abundance! 🧚🏾♀️🙌🏾🐝🦋
30/03/2023
Grandmother in the wind;
seed;
promise;
29/03/2023
🤗 Homie decided to take a ride with me on the tractor. I’m here for it. Also a fresh layer of sweet smelling mulch. ☺️🧚🏾♀️
24/03/2023
Earthworm view of drip irrigation at sunset. 🪱 Also a lil friend perched on the irrigation, marking the return of insects this season. Yay and not yay. 😩
The Story
I have a vivid memory of jumping up and down on my great grandmothers bed. Lizzie is what we called her. She taught me playfulness, love, compassion, and so much more. I remember stories from my mother about my grandmother's using herbal medicine for them when they were young; boiling sassafras to make headache remedies… Every story meant the world to me; and now I have found myself caring for the people around me using the same plant allies they did.
When I arrived in Oakland after spending all of my life in Baltimore; I had no idea what to expect. I found myself a bit shocked by the Bay Area "culture," and taking care of many house plants in my room kept me grounded from the bigotry and hate outside of my doors. After the realization that they were (and still are) so important to my day to day well-being; I sought after more knowledge of how I could make use of plants more for myself and those around me.
I recognize that all of my ancestors have been important on this journey through life and that they walk with me every day. There is no doubt in my mind that they lead me to California in order to get closer to these ancestors and their wisdom. I began taking classes and started my own garden so that I could learn to love the Earth and her children hands-on.
The work that I do with plants is a true work of love. The garden means everything to me and the abundance it gives to myself, my loved ones, and the community around me is a true blessing. It is a true joy to care, sing, dance with and harvest the plants. Every step is bliss...
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