Support Us

Greenspell is dedicated to making herbalism and ecological awareness accessible to our community – if you have the means to financially support our mission, we have three primary avenues for you to contribute:

  1. Become a supporting member of the Virtual Garden

  2. Make a one-time or recurring donation →

  3. Purchase products from First Curve Apothecary at the ‘Actual Cost’ pricing tier.

Donate

3% Cover the Fee

Contribute through The Virtual Garden

This online space is intended as an ever-evolving resource for folks interested in diving deep into the plant and fungal life of the Great Lakes, particularly the Chicago Region.

Essentially, I am working to create the knowledge-base I would have dreamed of having when I started learning about herbalism and ecology over a decade ago.

Explore topics related to:

  • Herbalism

  • Herbal Medicine Making

  • Botany

  • Ecology

  • Foraging

  • Self-Cultivation & Study Habits

  • Stillness & Meditation

  • as well as an ever growing collection of plant and mushroom monographs detailing the medicinal, food, and craft uses of plants and fungi that we might find exploring the natural areas of the Chicago Region.

Subscribing to the Virtual Garden allows you to contribute to our mission while also gaining access to herbalism and ecology related online courses and info at the same time!

What your subscription & donation dollars support:

Herbal Free Clinic

The Herbal Free Clinic provides no-fee consultations and a discount on herbal products for individuals who may not be able to afford the full price of a holistic herbal consultation. Eventually, we’d love for the clinic to be entirely Free (including custom herbal formulations). Your subscription dollars will help us get to that point.

Greenspell Intensive Scholarships

Currently, we are only able to offer two partial scholarships each year for people who would like to participate in the Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive. Eventually we’d like to offer full scholarships for those interested, but who otherwise wouldn’t have the means to attend. Each subscription supports this possibility.

Free Herbal Products for Indigenous Folks

The plant-based remedies we make through First Curve Apothecary are meant to offer healing with as few barriers as possible, particularly for those who have been overlooked due to oppressive systemic racism and marginalization.

As an herbalist working with and on lands sustained for millennia by Indigenous people, I believe it is important to offer back medicine that I could have never created were it not for the stewardship, knowledge, and care of these Indigenous groups. Towards this end, I offer free product to Indigenous people.

At the moment, we are only able to sustainably offer a limited amount of free herbal product, but your subscription will allow us to increase our offerings.

Future Stewardship Initiatives

One of our long-term goals is to deepen ecological stewardship in the Chicago Region and surrounding areas. We also hope to offer education and skill development related to ecological stewardship.

Your subscription will allow us to orient our efforts toward developing our stewardship initiatives and inviting our community to learn more about stewardship at whatever scale possible.

Greenspell Education Center

A physical location and land to learn in-person, hands on, and in the presence of other curious human beings is in the works! This also requires a lot of resources, and we are trying to avoid taking on debt or inviting in outside investors at all costs, so your support will bring us one step closer to making this happen for our community!

Last but not least, you are supporting your local community herbalist! :)

Frequently Asked Questions about the Virtual Garden Subscription

  • Since the Virtual Garden is freely offered, financial contributions provided by those who sign up as ‘Supporting Members’ are considered as donations, which we do not refund. You are welcome to cancel at any time.

  • Of course. However, privileges afforded to supporting members may change over time. All new paid subscriptions are subject to the current pricing at the time of subscription or re-subscription.