I learnt about plants from my father, who was a herbalist and an amateur microscopist.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The herbalist I met a few times - it was great - she gave me literature about the different processes that an herbalist would do to make medicines from certain herbs and things.
I know my corn plants intimately, and I find it a great pleasure to know them.
I remember how my dad was so into herbal solutions and health food well before that stuff became popular.
Most young people find botany a dull study. So it is, as taught from the text-books in the schools; but study it yourself in the fields and woods, and you will find it a source of perennial delight.
I have learned how to plant coastal hay, fertilize and bale it.
My own back yard, and my mom and dad's back yard, is where I learned about tomatoes and weeds and daily maintenance.
For many years, I hated nature. As a student, I refused to put a plant anywhere - a living plant, that is. Dead plants were OK.
As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature.
My grandmother was this amazing woman in the Dominican Republic who used to read tea leaves and palms. She would cure people in her neighborhood by going into her garden, plucking a couple of leaves, and brewing teas.
How my son discovered vegetables was from growing them in the garden.