Eclipta Herb Sanctuary

"Plants teach us how to be human.”  - Kat Maier 

Our sanctuary is located on a 0.7 acre lot in the northeast part of Baltimore City. Home to over 100 different species of medicinal plants (& growing) it is an educational space which focuses on ecological conservation (of human & land body) as well as providing a gathering ground for community building, earth skills workshops, plant tours and collaboration. We have a mix of native, naturalized & non-native species. We pride ourselves on being one of the most biodiverse ecosystems within the city & specialize in habit restoration which considers, soil health, climate change instability & the cultivation of both flood & drought tolerant plants. "Plant extinctions are occurring at a rate unmatched in geological history, leaving ecosystems incomplete & impoverished." -Botanic Gardens Conservation International

"The land knows you, even when you are lost." - Robin Wall Kimmerer

Plants are our kin, our lineage. As such, the main focus of our cultivation efforts are to provide the opportunity to apprentice with the plants themselves. To learn their dynamic language & to be able to experience, with all our senses (especially for our surrounding community of urban dwellers), the specific habitats & growth cycles of our herbal allies. We believe that medicinal plant conservation plays a key role in habitat restoration & that the root causes of ecological destruction emerge from our disassociation from the shifting cycles of land. Giving reverence & understanding to the dynamics of our existence, as a part of nature, is essential to our survival & a vital part of any healing process. If the land is sick we are sick & vice versa. Herbalism is the people's medicine, our first medicine...yet, we forfeit this gift if the people do not know nor care to know the ecosystem in which they inhabit. This lack of cultural awareness has caused profound disorientation & severed us from a very important birthright. Soil = Soul. 

Our goal is to implement Traditional Ecological/permaculture principles where nothing is considered waste but gets cycled back into the land.  When we acquired the property we had also inherited a deceased Ash tree which, unfortunately, needed to be cut down. Rather than haul the tree off to a "waste" dump we chose to give the Ash a proper burial by implementing a practice called Hugelkultur while also being able to make a kitchen table and books shelves for our home. In addition we compost every food scrape via a Jora Composter, while old brush gets shredded for bedding or burned for the ash. We enjoy diverting bagged leaves (from our neighbors) which are destined for the landfill to also feed our garden. We also receive chicken manure from our neighbors & supplement, when needed, with Hollins Organic soil.  Next up is rain water catchment!