Alchemist Mother Apothecary

From the garden, the kitchen, and the woods

Alchemist Mother Apothecary

Plants for the kitchen, the body, the home — and the stories we inherit.

This week Orange peel drying on the rack by the stove, and the last calendula heads coming in before frost.

The world

A small apothecary at the edge of the woods, and a kitchen table covered in plants.

This is a living notebook kept by a mother who cooks, grows things, draws, films, and studies the old ways people have used plants. Some of it comes from Eastern European kitchens and folk calendars, some from an American garden, much of it from old books and trial and error.

Nothing here pretends to be ancient wisdom. It is curiosity, written down carefully — what was made, how it turned out, and what is worth keeping.

  1. plants
  2. kitchen
  3. body
  4. home
  5. seasons
  6. stories
  7. things made by hand

Explore

Four doors, and a garden path

The fifth door Plant Stories The plants themselves — met in the garden, at the edge of the road, in old books. How to know them, when to gather them, what people have done with them, and what I have learned.

Now · 28 September 2026

From the autumn season

All of autumn

The cupboard fills. Roots, hips and berries, the last flowers before frost, and the first warm drinks of the year.

Coming in the calendar Halloween · 31 October — Pumpkins, apples and the American evening of lanterns and costumes.

  • Currently in the garden

    Pulling the last calendula, cutting back the lemon balm, and leaving the rose hips for the first frost. Garden notes →

  • Currently in the kitchen

    Candied peel for the winter jar, and a pot of rose hip and apple simmering for the cupboard. The recipe →

  • Currently in the apothecary

    Calendula oil steeping on the windowsill — it will be strained into salve at the end of the month. How it's made →

  • Currently in the wild

    Elderberries along the creek are nearly done. The birds have taken the rest, which seems fair. About elder →

Watch

Latest films

Made at the kitchen table and in the garden. Each film has a page here with the recipe, the plants, and the notes that didn't fit on screen.

Watch the latest
Film arriving soon

An Afternoon of Orange Peel

Four oranges, a pot of syrup, and a rack by the stove. Candying peel for the winter jar.

Recently written down

Recipes & stories

Everything in the journal

From the journal

On Not Calling It Medicine

Why this notebook separates what tradition says, what I have seen, and what science knows — and why that matters more than ever.

When I started making things from plants, it was because I wanted gentler things for my family. A salve for scraped knees. A warm drink for a cold night. A syrup in the fridge for winter. I wanted to understand what my great-grandmothers' generation had known — the kind of knowledge that used to live in every kitchen…

Read on

The future apothecary

Something is being made.

The physical apothecary is coming later — teas, salves, syrups, journals and prints, made in small batches once each one is truly ready. For now, this is what's on the worktable.

  • Botanical LabelsDrawing the first twelve plants
  • Calendula SalveSourcing tins and testing shelf life
  • Herbarium PrintsFirst drawings in progress
  • The Nature JournalChoosing the paper
Look at the worktable

Letters from the Apothecary

Seasonal recipes, plants, stories, and things being made. Sent when there is something worth sending.

A few letters a season. Never more than that.