Hey ya'll!

My name is Eden Elise Ellis and I was born and raised in Arkansas, the fourth generation on my mountain. My family has been here so long that my great, great grandmother was a housekeeper at the Beard And Lady (known then as the Chester House) in the late 1800s.  I grew up hunting and fishing and wandering the woods and so I suppose being fourth generation mountain woman, it was no surprise that I couldn’t sit still in high school.  Everything I loved, cared about and was interested in, was outside in the forest and I felt like I would die if I had to spend another day, month, year at a desk.

 

In tenth grade, my parents finally relented and I dropped out public school and began being home schooled where I had the opportunity to explore the forest and teach myself about my true love, Arkansas’ native plants!

 

Alongside my regular homeschool curriculum, I started taking master foragers classes and  was blessed with a couple of amazing mentors who passed down their lifetime’s worth of knowledge to me.

 

These days,  I work with plants in some form or fashion every day and night, I basically live at  the apothecary. I feel so blessed to have the amazing Beard And Lady Inn to come to, full of everyone and everything I love!   As part of my ongoing practice, no matter what else is going on, I make sure I have a few hours of alone time to obsessively study, read, write, or make whatever I am passionate about at the moment.

 

I absolutely believe humans were designed to create, after all we were made by the best creator of all time, the creator of the universe!  To that end, I choose not to make my medicine if my mind isn’t right or I am feeling spiritually off.  When I am making medicines, I am always sure to say a prayer and ask for healing and blessing for the person who will eventually receive my medicines. 

 

Above all, I am loving life in tiny Chester, and I’m so grateful to get to live out my dream of making medicines with plants each and everyday.