Why Grow Medicinal Herbs?

The agricultural revolution is truly happening, especially where we live in Vermont. Nestled within these green rolling hills and mountains is a rich community of small farms, over five hundred of which are certified organic. Today farmers are growing and producing a myriad of “alternative crops,” from alpacas to cranberries, emus to mushrooms and even rice.

Yet when asked what kind of farm we own and operate, there are often perplexed looks or awkward jokes when we say, “We grow medicinal herbs.” Once it’s established that we’re not growing marijuana, the questions start and just don’t stop. “What kind of herbs do you grow? Are they hard to grow? Which plants grow here? Where do you sell them? Is it profitable? Can we come to visit?”

Using Herbs As Medicine

Many people don’t realize herbs are used for medicinal purposes and that many of the pharmaceutical drugs they are familiar with were derived from plant compounds. They often think more of herbs as culinary ingredients than as healing agents.

It is an entirely new concept for most people that medicinal herbs can grow successfully in Vermont, where the winters are cold and long and the summer sun variable. Growing local food makes sense to them, but growing local medicine sounds revolutionary.