Memories of Cascade Anderson Gellar
I first met Cascade in 2007, at the Lent's International Farmer's Market in Portland. I was helping with a farmer's market booth for the Learning Gardens Lab (LGL), and in the quiet, early summer mornings my friend Steph and I harvested and cleaned abundant produce, herbs, and cut flowers from LGL and packed it all into tubs to sell at our market stand.
Market abundance at the Lents Farmers Market: Parsley, nasturtium flowers, aronia berries, kohlrabi, kale, lettuce
Cascade came to our booth one morning, and shared her knowledge about aronia berries and other herbs that we had harvested that day. I felt an instant connection to her. She had a very down-to-earth, kind, and wise way of interacting. I asked her what she did, and she said that she was an herbalist. I was curious about that as a profession - I was very interested in plants and gardening and community work.
I was able to study with Cascade further at the Learning Gardens Laboratory, and every time I saw that she was teaching at community events or herbal conferences, I made sure to attend her presentations. She always shared layered insights in a practical way, with great warmth and enthusiasm.
By 2012, Mickelberry Gardens had been born and was into our second year in business. We were making our honey herbal products in the kitchen of a former Mexican restaurant and selling them at farmer's markets.
Herbal Medicine Making in the restaurant kitchen
Honey Super storage in the former Mexican restaurant
Our first day at the PSU Farmer's Market, April 2013
Mickelberry Gardens 2013
In late 2012, I saw a flier for an upcoming course Cascade was offering at the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering:
Digging Deeper into the Healing Power of Plants: Understanding Families, Constituents, Solubility, Formulating and Other Important Details of Herbalism with Cascade Anderson Gellar.
I instantly signed up for this class, excited to study with Cascade in a more in-depth way. It was a weekly class held at the naturopathic college in Portland. I was busy with my new herbal business and thrilled for the chance to learn more from such an experienced herbalist.
The class was everything I was looking for. The wisdom that she shared in each class through her storytelling was incredible. The approach that she had to teaching about plants went deep, she could discuss the way a plant impacted culture and economy, along with the phytochemical constituents and practical uses for healing and well-being. Her passion for sharing knowledge, and for empowering us all to make connections and be good stewards was incredibly inspiring. Her passion and commitment to protect and serve the Earth, her honoring of cultural practices that tapped into green wisdom, and her way of making space for others to share knowledge were all things I feel fortunate to have experienced. She was a gifted teacher.
One of our herbal class field trips in March 2013 to harvest blackberry root. Cascade is holding the pitchfork and leaning in to watch one of the roots get washed.
After several months of study and building community together, and email came from Cascade that she could no longer continue holding class. I was sad that the class was cancelled so abruptly, and couldn't wait for the opportunity to study with her further.
Two weeks later, the news came that Cascade had passed away. It was shocking, and the grief and loss hit hard. She got a terminal cancer diagnosis, and dropped everything to spend time in nature with her family for her last days.
The outpouring of grief and love after her death created community in Portland. I learned how many lives she had touched and what a profound impact she had. There were many people that I knew in other parts of my life, that also showed up to mourn her and celebrate her life. The group of herbal students that I was a part of as her last cohort continued to meet as an herbal study group, which was a wonderful place of connection and friendship.
A memorial for Cascade at NUNM, May 2013
I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to learn from Cascade, and for her modeling of deep integrity and clarity. I'm also grateful for this incredible book that shares her teachings with a wider audience!