Content warning – prison, racism, suicide, self-harm, medical neglect, chronic illness, trauma

This is part three of a workshop that explores herbalism, incarceration and abolition. This particular section introduces practicing herbalism in prison based on Nicole’s (she/her) experiences inside with testimonies from people inside that have worked with the Prisoner’s Herbal Book.

About the workshop: This workshop explores the role of herbalism in supporting prisoners, families and communities affected by incarceration, and herbalist roles in the abolition of these systems of oppression. There are more than 11.5 million people incarcerated worldwide, including a massive 2.2 million in the so-called United States. Most are completely excluded from herbalism yet many can find plants cracking through the concrete. These plants can bring hope, connection and health support to people experiencing the worst of state violence.

In this workshop we will explore the health impacts of incarceration, and look at herbal strategies to support people experiencing traumatic stress and PTSD. We will look at some practical uses of plants commonly found in prison yards and what practicing herbalism in prison can look like. The workshop explores ‘abolition’ as a framework and the role of herbalists within these movements.

Links & resources from this episode

• You can find the workshop videos, PDFs and slides for free at: https://solidarityapothecary.org/product/herbalism-incarceration-abolition-workshop/
• Herbalism, PTSD & Traumatic Stress Course
• Herbalism, PTSD & Traumatic Stress Course Waiting List
• The Prisoner’s Herbal book
• Request a free copy of the Prisoner’s Herbal for someone in prison

Find them all at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast/

Support the show

Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by @amani_writes | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism podcast with your host Nicole Rose from the Solidarity Apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and liberation.

Let's get started.

All right, welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

This little series now is the kind of audio of an online workshop I gave exploring herbalism, incarceration and abolition and I really encourage you to go back and listen to the first one in particular where I'm kind of introducing the series.

I'm not going to do that kind of all over again.

You can see in the show notes I've got like a description of two paragraphs of all about what the workshop's about but it's basically connecting herbalism, incarceration and abolition.

So Yeah, just to introduce this section, part three so this is about practicing herbalism in prison based on my own experiences inside, but I've also included testimonies from people that have been in prison, that have done herbal medicine work who've, yeah, received the Prisoner's Herbal Book and have been involved in that in some way.

So yeah, it's kind of a little bit, a little bit more interesting for like herbal medicine folks.

And again, like every section, You know, these are huge kind of terrains of struggle and I could talk about herbalism in prison for like days on end, you know, and I've got hundreds of testimonies of different prisoners and stuff.

So yeah, it's just, you know, a tiny, tiny introduction to a massive subject.

And again, like the rest of the series, just content warning.

There are obviously references to prison and, you know, all the horrible things in prison like suicide and self harm and stuff.

So, yeah, take care when listening.

I also want to emphasize for anyone listening that I'm still posting the Prisoner's Herbal Books out to people in prison for free.

So I'll put the link to the request form in the show notes.

If you know someone who is incarcerated who would benefit from the book, then please fill out the form.

I'll get a copy to them in the post.

I'm also really excited that the Prisoner's Herbal has been translated into different languages around the world.

So hopefully we can expand this more to more than just people that speak English and Spanish.

Okay.

Yeah.

So this is part three.

All right.

Now we're going to look at practicing herbalism in prison.

You know, finally get onto some plant stuff.

So I just want to be really clear that like I don't believe the solution is kind of herbalism in prison, like the solution is no more prisons.

Like I really advocate for prisoners to learn herbalism and to feel inspired and to receive a copy of the Prisoner's Herbal Book but like I don't think planting gardens in prison is gonna make people's lives better, right?

Like, what we need is, like, for this system to just be, like, destroyed and, you know, to have systems of care and community care and everything else that we're going to talk about in the abolition section, but I just wanted to kind of name that because I think sometimes people can be inspired thinking about gardening projects, like, within prisons themselves and I think there are, like, beautiful examples of that, but I just want to say that, like, yeah, my I'm talking about this stuff not because I think that's the answer and that's what we should all be focusing on.

Okay, so herbalism in prison, like my experiences so I got a job in like the prison gardens.

I put gardens in kind of quote marks because they weren't really gardens, they're like each house block had like a little courtyard of Like a little kind of concrete courtyard and there was like a triangle of grass in the middle and sometimes they had beds with border like with Some kind of perennial cabbages and weeds and things in But generally it was just this kind of like little triangle of grass And you know, there was other gardens like there were roses In like the main kind of front facing garden of the prison where visitors and staff would walk through.

And you know, we, there was also a mother and baby unit where we built like a herb garden and a vegetable patch and stuff.

So it's like there were, there was some opportunities for learning about kind of horticulture and stuff.

But generally it was like this kind of rote like weeding quote unquote where I wouldn't really weed.

I would harvest herbs and I would leave roots growing in there sneakily without the garden officer.

looking at me doing it because I wanted to come back to these amazing plants.

So I mostly learned herbalism from older women on the kind of gardens team, and also women from like traveler backgrounds who, you know, know loads about kind of hedgerow medicine and different weeds and things and plant lore so I just want to say that.

They were really impactful in my journey.

And yeah, it was just constant experimentation, right?

So, like, I would literally, like, have to smuggle weeds from my garden shift, like, in my bra to take them back to my cell, you know?

We were searched at the end of every day, or, like, every shift.

And, you know, often when we got onto the wing, we might be searched, so it was always kind of like, sneaky.

And, you know, people kind of knew that I was, like, the plant person, you know, like, my room was always full of plants, in terms of, like, things I'd harvested, and I'd be drying roots on the prison radiator, and, unfortunately, my cell got spun quite a lot, because I think they knew that I was probably, like, the only drug free person in the prison, because I'm, like, Sort of straight edge.

So yeah, I think that was maybe why my cell got spun quite so much for their statistics.

But yeah, when I could I would have plants and roots and leaves drying on the prison radiators.

I would sleep with dandelion root under my pillow.

So I talk in the Prisoner's Herbal book, it's not just about making medicine, it's really about connecting with plants and building that deep relationship with plants and having that sense of comfort, like, there's nothing better than, well, sorry, it's like, absolute wrong phrasing, but like, when something is happening, you know, you can hear some horrific violence like the other side of the cell door and you can't do anything about it knowing that you can grab that root and you can hold it you know and you can feel safe and protected because you've got that plant like that's the kind of herbal practice I meant in prison right Excuse me.

You know, I also experimented with kind of canteen remedies.

So, Helen, this older woman, who was like a lifer in prison she used to have pepper tea.

Like, she was from Scotland, and she was like, oh, have some pepper tea, Nicole.

And whenever we had a cold, sorry, I just offended everyone from Scotland with that terrible accent.

But yeah, like, she'd put Like pepper that, you know, just like normal salt and pepper sachets, but put pepper in hot water when we're in the gardens, and it kind of kept her warm, right?

It's like circulatory stimulant.

So yeah, there was lots of kind of like, creative uses of, you know, can I make salt water for a gargle, for my sore throat, for my toothache?

You know, can I make salt water so that I can wash my wound in something a bit cleaner than this gross prison water?

And, yeah, I also got some funding from this group called the Vegan Organic Network to do two herbal, herbal medicine courses, like that, it's like this project called the School of Natural Health Sciences.

I kind of wouldn't recommend them really, but Yeah, they were kind of great while I was in prison and I also did like a certificate in horticulture and permaculture and that was a 700 hour course and was just absolutely amazing.

Like, I didn't get much physical practice at that time, but the theory and stuff and learning about plants and things was like really fantastic.

You know, the prison didn't enable that.

That was all like privately organized things.

But yeah, so I kind of brought together these experiences in this Prisoner's Harbour book because yeah, my best friend, like I mentioned Sam, was, you know, experiencing cancer, having infections, struggling to take care of herself, and I just felt so hopeless, like, not being able to get things into her, like, or medicines I'd been making on the outside, so I really wanted to write something where prisoners could, you know, do as much as possible for themselves, like, on the inside.

So I kind of wrote this book bringing together my experiences it talks about medicine making in like a prison environment, you know, because you are very limited, right?

Like you're not going to be making like tinctures and infused oils and suppositories, like you're just literally like, you know, what are 500 things you can do with like dandelion root tea, right?

So yeah, it was all about being as creative as possible with things like, you know, like foot baths, or teas, or cold infusions, or leaving things to infuse overnight so they were stronger.

You know, and I put together ten profiles of like some of the herbs that I worked with in prison.

So, includes dandelion, plantain, yarrow.

Chickweed, mallow, nettle, chamomile, self heal, daisy, and rose.

And yeah, there is this sort of much broader extensive section on canteen remedies, so how you can medicinally work with things like fruits and vegetables and different spices.

Like, I wasn't able to access these spices, but other prisoners in different prisons can.

So I think I've tried, you know, I went through canteen lists that friends sent out from different prisons.

I looked up ones from the U.

S.

And I tried to think, right, what is potentially available to people and how can they work with these items, like, in a medicinal way?

And there's also a section about connecting with plant allies.

Because I want to say that, like, not every prisoner has access to any outdoor space with plants, right?

Like, my friend Kev, who's in solitary confinement, they purposely don't let plants grow in those courtyards, right?

Like, he doesn't even have, you know, like, an open access view to anything.

There's just, like, a hole in the roof of this courtyard, so he can only see the sky, like, for, like, 15 minutes a day.

But you know, he doesn't have garden beds for example.

He actually wrote a joke.

A joke review of the Prisoner's Herbal being like, We're being tortured enough in prison and then you torture me with this book!

And yeah, I never published it obviously but it was very funny.

And he was like, yeah Nicole, I read the whole thing, like, and appreciated it.

So I talk about connecting with plant allies like in terms of more spiritually and emotionally connecting with a plant, you know, like whether that's drawing a plant or just studying it or, you know, working with it, like, magically somehow or in a religious way, like, just, yeah, different forms of practice that don't necessarily mean medicine making.

And yeah, and then there's a section on wound care because many people don't go to officers for wound treatment because it can imply that they've been involved in some sort of incident, so I wanted to just put some kind of basic first aid essentials in there and also, you know, some creative strategies for wound healing with different herbal teas and things.

Okay, so I wanted to share a video, like, testimonial from a prisoner.

I find it so interesting, the, the plants and how, how they can help you if you're sick.

You know, going out and looking for them, just something as little as that, just going out looking for them.

And the joy I had, yeah, that's what I want to call it.

It was just immense, actually finding the chamomile, drying it out, using it, how it made me feel, it's very transformative in my opinion.

Okay.

So a little bit about their prisoners herbal distribution.

So around 3000 books have been distributed mostly in the UK and the us.

But also like some other countries and we've kind of got it to prisoners by advertising about it in newspapers Like that are targeted at prisoners and newsletters like via existing projects And friends and family also kind of request the book like via my website.

So I'll respond to them directly and get a book in the post and we also sort of donate copies in bulk to like existing prisoner book projects who, you know, are amazing, like super important infrastructure for getting books into people inside.

And yeah, there are two translated versions in kind of Spanish.

So one is distributed in Spain.

And the other one has been distributed in Mexico, which I'll talk about in a second, and the Italian version is very nearly finished.

The German version is very nearly finished, and people are also working on a French version, so yeah, I'm incredibly excited about all of these translation projects.

Yep, so the version in Mexico, anyone who speaks Spanish is gonna laugh at me in my translation.

La Herbolaria de lxs presxs.

Super grateful to Heather who's been getting the book to people like in prisons across Mexico and yeah the book's been like super well received like even though it's kind of written in this like English context like people have really found it inspiring in terms of connecting to plants of their own lineages and they're working on like a second edition where they're going to have contributions from prisoners in Mexico and Chile with their own experiences in relationship to plant medicine.

So that's, yeah, really exciting as an offering.

Okay, so again, if this was a participatory workshop and I was with you all right now, I was going to ask people, like, how might herbalism be liberating for prisoners?

So just kind of pause me and then come back to it.

So some of my thoughts about why herbalism is liberating for prisoners.

I think it's really about like sense of connection and relationship, you know, like the same as us, right?

Like strength from the natural world and from aliveness, like it's really inspiring and, you know, joy creating.

You know, there is this practical element too, right?

Of overcoming powerlessness and like building health autonomy.

Like, in the pandemic, my friend Sven, who's in prison, did this you know, like, they were obviously all, like, getting really sick, and they read The Prisoner's Herbal, and then they kind of collectively combined their spices and the people who were kind of, like, locked in and isolated because of COVID, they would, like, make them, like, strong infusions of, like, turmeric and stuff in.

in soy milk in their kettles because people heat things up and cook in their kettles in prison and then leave them outside their door for the people who were sick and that just, yeah, it just warmed my heart so much to know that the book was being useful like that.

And you know I've got hundreds of examples of things like that from people from prison who've written.

So herbalism can really support us to be in this sort of safe and social state.

You know, this parasympathetic nervous system state, this rest and digest.

Like, like I've said, like prison creates this unrelenting state of hypervigilance and hyperarousal, which is ultimately a survival tactic.

But I think herbalism can help you escape even for a second, you know, in terms of making you feel.

a bit safer and more connected.

It's obviously also like a passion for many of us and a great hobby.

It's like a source of stimulation and learning.

And yeah, just this like spiritual support, you know, from this plant ally work, this kind of anti colonial legacy of herbalism, you know, ancestral connections, you know, vast amounts of people in prison.

In the UK, for example inside because of importation of drugs, for example you know, I had a partner inside who was from the Caribbean, from St.

Lucia, and, you know, for her, like, having access to different spices and things really took her back to her home, you know, so.

Yeah, like I think herbalism can be very sort of subversive in terms of helping us connect with our roots, right?

Okay testimonials.

So I probably don't have time to read through all of these, but I'm going to encourage you to look on the website.

I've got absolutely loads of testimonials from people in prison.

So yeah, I think because of time I'm not going to read them, but you'll have a copy of the slides so you can pause this and look at them.

This is one from someone called Stuart and I just love how at the end he writes like, herbs keep me alive in prison and give me light in greenery.

Or Russell, you know, like he writes about how it connected him to plants and weeds in a way that he never expected.

Yeah, and then also people have left testimonials who are working with prisoners, so this project, the Insight Garden program, I've put a picture of them here they've written that, you know, it's like a really amazing resource for them in their prison in California, not their prison, but the prison where they work, where each week they sort of discuss a different plant from the book, and yeah, like, another person has used the Prisoner's Herbal as a kind of tool for their newsletter that's getting to people in prison.

And yeah, like I said, I've got so many letters from prisoners that I haven't even typed up that are, you know, talking about the impact of the book.

Okay that's it for this section.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the show at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast.