The Farm

The Mission

So Below Apothecary supports the earth through regenerative agriculture, focusing on native perennials to promote pollinator density, soil health and improved air and water quality. The result of good land stewardship is a healthy environment and high quality botanicals that provide beauty and nourishment to our thriving community through food, art, and aroma.

  • Farming decisions are made based on how I can best tend the land while producing botanicals, which is why I farm not just organically, but regeneratively.

    Crop diversity, minimizing (with the hope of eliminating) tractor use, and planting perennials are a few ways I help ensure the land remains healthy.

  • I grow over 30 varieties of plants that can be used for food, art, aromatics, and medicine. A large portion of land is dedicated to native perennials, including elderflower, anise hyssop, slender mountain mint, wild monarda, coreopsis, rudbeckia, hopi dye sunflower, and purple coneflower.

    As a multi-media artist, I grow many of my own dye plants to make paint, ink, and pigments. I also focus a lot of energy on aromatics to distill into the essential oils used in my perfume and body care products.

  • I grow on two spaces in Southern Minnesota. The biggest area of production is located in Northfield, Minnesota, on rented land. I have also set aside a small portion of land on our homestead for long-term native perennials and shrubs.

    I frequent art fairs and farmer’s markets in Northfield, Faribault, and occasionally, the Twin Cities.

As Above, So Below

There is a maxim - “As above, so below; as within, so without; as the universe, so the soul.”

The “above” is the macrocosm, the universe, that is reflected in the microcosm, the world, “below.”

One summer day I was pondering this maxim while tending the flowers in the field. The beauty of the ever-changing sky could be witnessed in these fields, always shifting in color. The diversity of plant and wildlife illustrated the multitude of celestial bodies in the heavens. The stars surrounded by darkness were like microbes in black, fertile soil.

It is my goal for So Below Apothecary to mirror the splendor of what is Above us. I want the plants nourished by this soil to pass its nourishment onto others. I want the flavors, aromas, and colors of these beautiful botanicals that regenerate the environment they grow in to revitalize minds and spirits.

I believe the land I work on is more than just a farm, and I approach farming as a spiritual practice. It connects me to myself, to the cycles of nature, and to the cycles of life and rebirth in a way I can’t quite put into words. I hope my love and care translates into my work, and I hope you - the reader, consumer, neighbor, friend - can feel it, too.

“I believe one cannot gain true ecological literacy without a great empathy with, and understanding of, nature and how it functions. Thus one’s heart also needs to be involved.”

- Charles Massey