ECO Summer Youth Program Visits Farmacy Garden

ECO City Farms treated the students in their Summer Youth Program to a special visit to the Farmacy Garden. The brainchild of Jim and Peggy Duke, the garden is a living anthology of medicinal plants and herbs sourced from all over the world. A retired ethnobotanist and scientist at the USDA, Jim drew inspiration from his travels.

His greatest insight came from his stay in Panama, where he realized that the children there treated with traditional medicine, were just as, if not more, healthy and vibrant as his own children, who were using variation medications prescribed by doctors in the U.S. After touring the garden and learning about the origins and purpose for many of the plants, the students were treated to a cooking demo and learned how to make their own body scrub.

After eating a pasta dish, using a pesto made with fennel that they harvested, Mr. Duke sang some songs and even signed some copies of the book that started it all The Farmacy Garden.