About Our Farm
At Terra Mater Farma we have learned so much from observing the natural world. We understand that life on this planet works through cooperation and community: we are all dependent on each other. Plants live above and below ground. Below ground is an interconnected mycorrhizal web which is the web of life that feeds the plants. There is now scientific evidence for that interconnectedness demonstrating how plants share and exchange nutrients for the benefit of the fungi and the trees, and by extension - all human life.
This is why we practice what we now call regenerative farming, which is just a modern-day way of describing practices that our ancestors understood. Our farming practices seek to improve the condition of natural resources, going beyond sustainability, so that the land will produce healthy nutritious food and medicine for future generations.
We strive to rebuild the soil organic matter by eschewing tilling - so as not to disturb the microorganisms and decaying roots below ground - and by further supporting the soil’s health through practices that replenish the nutrients for the next crop, like cover cropping and composting. In this way the nutrients and carbon in the soil are available for the plants’ health, keeping the carbon in the ground and out of our atmosphere.
Our plants are deeply rooted in fertile soil, nourished by the sun, air, wind and rain. They are tended and gently harvested by women’s hands. We surround our plants and ourselves with an abundance of Calendula, Borage, Dill, Sweet alyssum, Nasturtium, Marigolds, Basil, Yarrow, Dill, Mallow, Cosmos, Queen Anne’s lace, Sunflowers, Tansy, just to name a few. In so doing we are putting out a welcome mat to pollinators and all those beneficial insects that help us discourage pests so that we never need to use harmful synthetic chemicals.
Plants grown this way are more nutrient-rich than conventionally farmed plants. Our flowers and berries, enjoyed alone or infused into the tinctures we prepare, are powerful: rich in nutrients, flavonoids and terpenes. Our tinctures are whole plant remedies containing the full array of cannabinoids and other constituent parts of the plant. Whole plant remedies have been shown to be far more effective than commercially processed cannabis products. And our plants are happy and thriving. We know because we are in an intimate relationship with them. When they talk, we listen.
And while science may not be able to put a value on the impact of such mindfully tended plants to our spiritual hearts, we know that plants grown with such love, feed not just our physical bodies, but our souls.
About Our Plant Partners
Cannabis
The discovery of the Endocannabinoid System is the single most important medical/scientific discovery of our lifetimes. This system relies on cannabinoids. We become cannabinoid deficient when we’re sick, stressed and particularly as we age. Supplementing our bodies’ production of cannabinoids with the plant’s cannabinoids is imperative to our health and longevity.
Wild Motherwort
It has been said that taking motherwort tincture makes you feel like you’re being embraced by Mother Earth. Motherwort is said to encourage a positive mood and helps promote relaxation. It helps with menstrual cramps, hot flashes and hormonal mood swings. Motherwort has been used to control inflammatory diseases. It is often recommended to reduce anxiety, relieve a rapid heartbeat as well as normalizing blood pressure. Click to purchase and read more about Motherwort.
Wild Autumn Olive Berries
Autumn Olive Berries possess 17 times more lycopene than tomatoes, which is where we get most of our lycopene from. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, thought to decrease the risk of cervical and prostate cancers, among other cancers; decrease the risk of heart disease, decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol, and prevent chronic diseases. The berries are also high in flavonoids, which have been associated as a protective agent against premature aging and deterioration of brain function as well as protecting against cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Click here to read more. Tinctures will be available this season.
Wild Stinging Nettle
Nettles taken early in the season can prevent and/or lessen seasonal allergies. Can also restore hair loss and slow the progression of graying. Can lower blood pressure, nourish your nervous system, strengthen your bones, helping us build bone mass as we age. Also good for boosting energy levels, decreasing muscle and joint pains and helping with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. These are just a few benefits, click to read more and to purchase tinctures of wild stinging nettles.
Wild Purslane
Wild Purslane is an essential food for vegetarians and vegans or people who feel sick from fish oil. It has the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acid alpha linolenic acid (ALA) found in any green plant - even more than found in many fish oils. Purslane possesses one of the highest concentrations of vitamin A among vegetables; has six times more vitamin E than spinach and seven times more beta carotene than carrots. Click here to read more. Tinctures will be available this season.
About Us
The Crones
Andi & Toni
On a personal level we’d like to share with you that we are old enough to proudly call ourselves crones. Crones were the matriarchs of most human communities, prior to patriarchy, that were revered for their wisdom and experience.
It was their role to help educate their human communities as well as to support the natural world, our mother earth. That’s precisely what we are doing. We are grateful to have been sought out by our elder green beings and to share their gifts with you as generously as they have shared with us.
Cannabis was the impetus for our personal journeys that have led us to each other and now to Terra Mater Farma. That would have been enough, but she has done so much more. She encourages playfulness and connection and helps us let go of the to do lists in our head. She brings humor into our everyday dramas. She is a master amplifier with a propensity towards joy and appreciation for life. She helps open our hearts, which is the journey we all must take if we are to awaken to our authentic selves.
About Andi
For nearly two decades I’ve been growing awesome fruits and vegetables and herbs. It’s not me - it’s my soil that should be given all the credit. It is loaded with compost and nutrients that feed a subterranean network of microbes that nourish the plants. Then there’s also the multitude of beneficial plants that grow alongside the crops. Those plants invite teams of insects, birds and bees. They also help me take care of pests and diseases because I would never use synthetic pesticides and other chemicals on my babies. After all, it is my children who consume what I harvest so I am particularly motivated to nourish the natural world that helps me provide.
But in 2018, it was the cannabis plant that called me back off the farm into the political arena once again. In response, I founded NY Small FarmA (NY Small Farm Alliance of Cannabis Growers and Supporters) to educate legislators and the public of the importance of welcoming back this sacred plant and the need to grow her outdoors under the sun, conscientiously and lovingly tended by small farmers, and of the need to put an end to what was becoming a horribly polluting multi-state business: industrial indoor cannabis cultivation.
On behalf of this plant I went to Albany, met with legislators and the governor’s office, drafted proposed legislation (I’m an attorney as well as a farmer), lectured at colleges and local libraries, wrote policy papers and Op Eds for local papers. I was convinced that once Albany understood how important this plant was they too would want to ensure its integrity. I urged that the Cannabis plant establish the paradigm for how all plants should be grown: without dangerous pesticides and without ripping up the earth with regular tilling.
I appeared on podcasts, gave interviews to the press and traveled around the state in what I affectionately called Canna Curious Community Chats, speaking to the public about the beneficence of this plant and the seemingly miraculous list of human conditions she could heal.
One of the greatest benefits I’ve received from working with cannabis has been to my emotional and spiritual well-being. In our spiritual practices we seek to enter into stillness and open our heart perception. Cannabis can amplify our ability to do that. She is not a substitute for a spiritual practice, but she is one of our tools for doing the work of tending consciousness. Cannabis helps me to take time out and see things from a different perspective: one that is grounded in the aliveness and awareness of the present moment.
Cannabis has been my inspiration to share all that I’ve learned with others as prohibition was finally coming to an end. This is my next chapter in sharing.
About Toni
Cannabis and I became fast friends in college, where my world was opened to different ways of living and being and believing. My heart was opened. When I became pregnant I stopped using cannabis for almost 20 years. My life was busy raising two boys and working.
In 2016, for a period of two and a half years, I lost my mother, father and brother. I was with each of them as they passed. Also during that stressful period, I was also one of the primary caregivers for my father as he battled cancer. I was completely stressed out, so sad and so worried all the time. I did not sleep through the night. I was drinking more and starting to go through menopause.
In 2017, I started experimenting with CBD. I felt immediately happy after taking it and started sleeping again. I have always loved making things and started making my own tinctures and experimenting with adding THC to the mix. I was reminded why I loved cannabis so much in my young adulthood. I felt safe and free again. I wanted to learn everything I could about this plant. Powerfully she was calling to me.
The past 4 years, I have immersed myself in learning about this plant. I have toured farms, taken classes, including a life changing one by master herbalist Tammi Sweet, author of The Wholistic Healing Guide to Cannabis. I served as a board member at NYSmallFarma, met with State senators and Assembly members, grew and grow my own, helped harvest amazing plants and used myself as a guinea pig to learn everything I could about how this plant makes me feel and how she could help others. I am a people person and if cannabis helped me, it could help others and I wanted to help. I have learned so much along my journey and I would love to share that knowledge with you.
