EIGHT MILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Under the lush trees of Chickasabogue Park in Eight Mile, three friends are helping people rediscover the plants and ecosystems that have shaped this region for centuries. Their mission is simple: reconnect people to the land beneath their feet.
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These community plant walks began as casual outings with friends, but they quickly grew as more people sought hands-on knowledge about the plants and fungi often overlooked in daily life.
“People are starving for this information like they’re taught to be fearful of nature and of the plants and of the land, you know,” Melissa Nichols, a community herbalist of Cedar & Moon Apothecary, said. “When they come to a plant walk, it breaks those barriers, those walls disappear, and people stop seeing things through a lens of fear.”
Melissa partners with Natasha of Bee Lightful Botanicals and Tanner, known as Mushroom Man Tan, each offering a different lens, from herbal medicine to pollinator ecology to mycology. Together, they offer more than plant identification. Their hope is to inspire stewardship, curiosity, and respect for the environment.
“Opening people up to a whole new world, so I feel like everyone nowadays we’ve gravitated towards phones and screens, and we’ve lost connection to the woods,” Tanner Hammond, AKA Mushroom Man Tan, said. “Plants and mushrooms fall under the same category for me, so I started with mushrooms, but I fell in love with all of it, and right now I feel like mushrooms are just a good segway into plants, and it opens everyone up.” Says Tanner Hammond AKA Mushroom Man Tan…