Community Care Apothecary

Community Care Apothecary 🌈family owned herb shop est. 2021
come for the bulk herbs & small batch blends, stay for the nourishing connection🌿♥️💙🧡🧿
open Mon-Thur 10-5 & Sat 10-2

Today we wrapped up the second 6 month session of Herbalamory: cultivating generative relationships with medicinal and m...
02/21/2026

Today we wrapped up the second 6 month session of Herbalamory: cultivating generative relationships with medicinal and magical plants 🌱 and I am so grateful that we were with each other and the plants over this last 12 months together 😮‍💨
While I’m taking a short break until the next round of this monthly workshop starts up again, the super exciting news is that registration for the second cohort of my year long in-person foundational herbalism program is officially open 🎉

✨Herbalism Through the Wheel of the Year starts in April and runs straight through next March!

During our time together we’ll build a solid foundation in herbalism rooted in integrative care practices through full sensory hands-on learning, story telling, skill sharing, embodied experience, time in the garden, herbcrafting and seasonal ritual.

As the wheel of the year turns, we will have the opportunity to prepare, cultivate and tend our symbolic inner gardens as we physically work with medicinal plants in the herb garden and in the apothecary. Participants will come away from this program with an abundance of grounded herbal wisdom, practical skills and plants willing- a deeply rooted sense of interconnectedness. This foundational class includes 70+ hours of in person herbal education on the following topics:

✨herbal medicine making: infusions, decoctions, tinctures, glycerites, syrups, oxymels, poultices, infused oils, salves & more!
✨herbal actions
✨solubility, effective extraction methods
✨medicinal plant identification
✨ethical foraging practices
✨sustainable herb growing
✨make custom blends of seasonally supportive herbs
✨cultivate a deeper connection to your roots through exploring culturally traditional ancestral herbs
✨practical herbal supports for self care & community nourishment

sliding scale for BIPOC, trans & disabled folks is available. payment plans are available to all as needed. and this year I’m happy to be able to offer a couple of partial work trade opportunities. All details are listed on the 🕸️feel free to reach out with questions!

Here are some moments from the first cohort, I’m so looking forward to connecting with the 8 new folks in the next session 😍

new orleans day 4: EOS was pure magic. we woke at 4:30am after a massive thunder & lightning storm overnight to meet bef...
02/15/2026

new orleans day 4: EOS was pure magic. we woke at 4:30am after a massive thunder & lightning storm overnight to meet before dawn and sing the sun up over the Mississippi river. The theme this year (which I learned late last night) was underworld, sub terra, subrosa, mycelium, pomegranate…and it was absolutely stunning to be a part of this very particular sacred little moment in time♥️
I fell deeply in love this morning, and Eos could easily be the ritual that would bring me back here year after year 🌞

Blessed Trndez my Armenian loves ♥️ Today we jumped this little fire on Bulbancha land time and time again until we were...
02/14/2026

Blessed Trndez my Armenian loves ♥️ Today we jumped this little fire on Bulbancha land time and time again until we were emptied out but somehow feeling so full. Clearing away to make space for what’s emerging. out with fascism, in with liberation 🔥🌷

Day one in New Orleans and my very first stop was , a super well stocked indigenous owned apothecary a few blocks down f...
02/12/2026

Day one in New Orleans and my very first stop was , a super well stocked indigenous owned apothecary a few blocks down from where I’m staying with dear ones💜 My favorite thing to do when I travel is to meet the local plants and herbalists, and this little spot already has my heart. I had such a lovely time chatting with folks there all morning, swooning over their wide selection of herbs and bringing some beautiful medicines back home with me.

It’s spaces like this that remind me how grateful I am to be woven into the web of care that neighborhood herb shops offer our communities. Thank you for welcoming me in Miss Anne & L’Oreál, I had a wonderful visit with you and will be back for sure♥️

sending big love and appreciation for everyone who joined me for the second mutual aid workshop in the herbal community ...
02/08/2026

sending big love and appreciation for everyone who joined me for the second mutual aid workshop in the herbal community care series last night!
The topics that we discussed are at the very core of CCA’s foundation and my heart is so full from our time together. The recording will go out tomorrow for the *65* people that registered (WILD 😳) and will be available for replay under the workshop tab as soon as I can figure out how to make that happen.
From the bottom of my big gay heart, I thank you for showing up to sustaining ourselves, our communities & our movements with herbal support.

It meant the world to me to have had two of my oldest childhood friends there with us for the first time, still at my side close to 30 years later. Getting to share some stories, geek out about herbs and offer practical strategies for fortifying and nourishing ourselves & each other was so damn generative ♥️♥️ let’s do it again soon.

just to be clear…
01/30/2026

just to be clear…

✨next mutual aid workshop is on sustaining ourselves, our communities & our movements with herbal support✨This workshop ...
01/28/2026

✨next mutual aid workshop is on sustaining ourselves, our communities & our movements with herbal support✨

This workshop was originally held at Weaving Ecosystems of Anti-carceral Care in Holyoke last year when organizers, activists & community leaders from all over the state convened…and I fully intend on carrying the magic from that day forward.

Throughout our lifetime, so many of us engaged in carework, community organizing, activism, peer support and non-profit work have already been through major cycles of burnout, activation, deep fatigue, chronic pain and and and all while doing the very real work of surviving. and parenting. care giving and working.

Staying engaged to meet the moment while navigating all that we currently are on a personal and collective level, along with everything that has come before is just too fu***ng much most days. And yet we show up. we resist. we organize. we share what we have and tend to what is in front of us. We all have something to contribute, and keeping our communities nourished & fortified happens to be the very foundation of this little apothecary. Let’s geek out about it together.

During the course of our time together we’ll go over 10+ of Reede’s favorite herbs to:

•support the nervous system (rest & digest)
•nourish the adrenals during burnout and fatigue
•clear the blood of excess stress hormones (such as cortisol and adrenaline)
•fortify our bodies with tonic herbs
•get better quality sleep
•stay present in your body so we are better resourced to meet the needs of the moment
•tend to both the emotional and physical heart

Part herb share, part community discussion, part ask an herbalist- these workshops are designed to be super interactive, so you are encouraged to be an active participant in this class! The recording will be sent out for folks who are not able to join us live.

Thank goodness we have the plants and each other to see our way through. See you soon loves ♥️

welp, I’ve been shoveling all day and somehow there’s even more snow. Our driveway has not been plowed yet and from I ca...
01/26/2026

welp, I’ve been shoveling all day and somehow there’s even more snow. Our driveway has not been plowed yet and from I can see of the road over the waist high mountains of snow at the end of our driveway, it’s not looking so hot.

Calling it early for tomorrow “no school Foster/Glocester”!! (if you’re from RI and in your 40’s now, you know 🤣

We got around 2 feet of snow up in the hills, so we’re staying home for the big dig out today. I’ll be in touch about to...
01/26/2026

We got around 2 feet of snow up in the hills, so we’re staying home for the big dig out today. I’ll be in touch about tomorrow as we get closer!

Took this pic of Em yesterday late afternoon during our second round of shoveling and I cannot even fathom how another foot of snow came down after this ❄️

Hope you’re staying cozy warm with lots of tea ♥️
Local friends in Western MA and surrounding areas how much did you get?!

✨Deep winter rest & restoration✨storythyme! During the very last harvest of the season, I felt/heard the herbs whisperin...
01/24/2026

✨Deep winter rest & restoration✨
storythyme! During the very last harvest of the season, I felt/heard the herbs whisperings about the kinds of ***deep*** nervous system support that would be needed for the season ahead…and even after all these years of partnering with plants, it still amazes me how they just know- every single time.

These 5, very specific loves were quite persistent on coming together for some deep winter care.
When the plants share their wisdom, I listen…and wow…the synergy of these herbs are like a dream.

Slide through to meet the plants in this blend featuring:
✨fresh milky oat tops from
✨Passionflower from our dear friend Koko at Paradise Lot in Holyoke
✨California poppy & Blue Vervain from our gardens
✨and some dried rose petals from the summer solstice beach rose harvest

I’ve been working with it daily since it was strained last week and all I can say is that I’m so damn grateful for these plants♥️

Fresh batch of Tea For Times Like These…because woof…we sure are in some times loves.
01/21/2026

Fresh batch of Tea For Times Like These…because woof…we sure are in some times loves.

just over here letting my tears fall free from the surprise package of Armenian herbs that my dearest sent from GUM Shu...
01/14/2026

just over here letting my tears fall free from the surprise package of Armenian herbs that my dearest sent from GUM Shuka in Yerevan😭😭

As soon as I realized what was inside I clutched the bag of rose petals to my heart for a good half hour and bawled my eyes out right here at the community tea table. Big heaving sobs that must have been building up for some time, because at the first deep breath of vard my eyes closed, something shifted and the shop faded out around me. Suddenly transported 6,000 miles away, arev shining brightly on my face, laying belly to belly with the land and mountains and rivers that live so vibrantly in my cellular memory.
The weight of what I’ve been holding buoyed, and in this sweet dreamy state I received some much needed old country village guidance on allowing more help in…and after a while I couldn’t tell if I was holding the bag of roses, or if the roses were holding me 😭

Lily jan, a gift like this is invaluable and I cannot find words adequate enough to express what these herbs mean to me♥️♥️

ps, in the package is:
✨oortz = wild armenian thyme
✨vard = a SWANA rose that is unlike any other grown here
✨life everlasting flower (if you know the armenian way of calling it, please let me know!)

Address

52 Main Street #8
Florence, MA
01062

Opening Hours

Tuesday 11am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 3pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

+14133413490

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Community Care Apothecary posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Community Care Apothecary:

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category