Cultivating Connection Through Plants & Herbs: A New Chapter for BWPC
- Charlene Lord
- Mar 20
- 3 min read
Cultivating connection through plants and herbs, herbal apprenticeship, Caribbean herbal traditions, bush tea traditions, houseplants and herbalism, ancestral plant wisdom, grief and plant care, healing and herbs
Plants have always been part of my story, long before I ever brought home my first spider plant or learned the difference between overwatering and “this plant just has attitude.” My journey into herbalism didn’t begin with a textbook or a workshop. It began in my childhood kitchen, in a Caribbean household where herbs were woven into daily life without ever being labeled as anything special.
If you grew up like I did, you know the rhythm.
Momma’s bush tea in the morning.
Peppermint tea after dinner.
Chamomile tea before bed.
Ginger when your stomach felt off.
Fever grass when your spirit needed settling.
We didn’t call it herbalism.
It was culture.
It was care.
It was connection.
Those early rituals planted seeds I didn’t recognize until much later.
🌱 When Grief Brought Me Back to the Plants
In October, when my father passed, the ground beneath me shifted in ways I couldn’t prepare for. Grief has a way of rearranging your days, your breath, your sense of time. And in that season, the plants became my anchor.
Watering them gave my days structure.
Harvesting herbs gave my hands something gentle to hold.
Making simple preparations — helped me slow down and breathe through the heaviness.
The plants didn’t take the grief away.
But they held me while I learned how to carry it.
That’s when I understood: herbalism wasn’t something new I was stepping into. It was something I was returning to.
🌿 What Herbalism Means to Me
For me, being an herbalist isn’t about titles or expertise. It means being a guide rooted in gratitude — someone who helps others reconnect with the wisdom of leaves, flowers, roots, and the gentle ways plants can support the body and spirit.
And I don’t see herbalism as a destination.
I see it as apprenticeship.
Continuous education.
A lifelong relationship with the plants, where I’m always learning, always listening, always humbled.
I am, and will always be, an apprentice to the plants.
🌱 Why Herbalism Belongs - Cultivating Connection Through Plants & Herbs
Black Woman Plant Chronicles has always been about more than houseplants. It’s been about storytelling, community, and the ways plants help us grow — inside and out.
So this next chapter feels natural.
Aligned.
Rooted.
You’ll still get the plant care you love.
But you’ll also see:
gentle introductions to herbs you can grow at home
simple herbal preparations you can make safely and easily
stories rooted in Caribbean and Black diasporic traditions
reflections on what the plants are teaching us
and more content aligned with my mission
Cultivating Connection Through Plants & Herbs
This isn’t a shift away from plants.
It’s an expansion.
A deepening.
A remembering.
🌿 An Invitation
Whether you’re a seasoned plant parent, herb‑curious, or somewhere in between, you’re welcome here. This community — this collective — is a space where we celebrate growth in our plants and in ourselves.
I’d love to know:
What herbs or teas did you grow up with?
Peppermint, fever grass, chamomile, bush tea blends — or something unique to your family.
Share your stories.
Share your memories.
Let’s keep these traditions alive, together 💜
Rooted in gratitude,
Charlene
Black Woman Plant Chronicles
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