Excerpted from Phyllis' new book, Southern Folk Medicine: Healing Traditions from the Appalachian Fields and Forests . "When the leaves start a falling, the snakes start a crawling." - Local saying We parked the truck on top of Billy Ridge at the crack of dawn to go ginseng hunting down the mountainside. The early cool [...]

Excerpted from her forthcoming book, The Geography of Health: Southern and Appalachian Folk Medicine. Plants have always been my companions, both in the woods and the fields. For as long as I can remember, they have kept me company, shaded me from the hot sun and supported my health. As a child, passionflower (maypops) could [...]