Plants are our food, our medicine, and our oxygen. They create our climate. More than this, they are our teachers. This is why we chose to feature David King, botanist and plant activist, in our premiere of The Lia Andrews Show (airing this Wed @ 7pm PST).
David King was Judith’s and my botany professor for our masters program at Yo San University. Traditional Chinese Medicine is a plant-based medicine, so the importance of his class was obvious. However, he did far more than teach us about deciduous trees vs evergreens, he introduced my class to their world. Stephen Harrod Buhner’s The Lost Language of Plants and Eliot Cowan’s Plant Spirit Medicine were required reading.
Our distance from nature has allowed the emergence of factory farming, GMOs, and deadly pesticides as acceptable ways to grow our food. There is little thought to the destruction this causes to the soil and water, the suffering to the animals or laborers, or the health risks to consumers. There is also psychological damage. When we are in sync with our electronics we develop a frenzied pace that affects all our relationships and our happiness, whereas a few moments walking in nature can restore us to peace.
As David relays in the interview, life had dealt him a heavy blow, and it was his connection with plants that saved his life. He came back from that experience with the ability to listen; an ability that humankind used to have before the advent of video games and cell phones. I believe, of all his gifts, this is his greatest; to teach us how to listen again. This is a vital lesson for herbalists, gardeners, farmers, and for all of us who share space with plants.
David King is the founding chair of the Los Angeles Seed Library and is garden master of the Learning Garden, where he hosts classes. David is also working on a book for gardeners.
