Student Activity:
Make Your Own Colonial Plant Book
Credits: Illustrations by Elise Helmers; Text by Emily Vieyra-Haley & Cecilia Vidal; Format Design by Cecilia Vidal
**Please note: We do not recommend using any of these plants as medicine at home and we are not giving medical advice. This is just for fun. If you are feeling ill, please call your doctor for proper treatment.
Pre-Activity Lesson:
How did colonial settlers in New Netherland treat sickness and disease?
Among the many struggles faced by settlers in this unfamiliar environment were sickness and disease. Without modern-day medical knowledge, colonial families looked to nature to help cure common illnesses like fevers, rashes, and upset stomachs. Descriptions of these natural remedies could be found in books listing plants and their medicinal benefits. Popular plant books, like Rembert Dodoens’ Herb Book (1554) and Nicholas Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (1652), were often brought from Europe to the New World by colonial settlers.
Where did medicinal plants grow?
Medicinal plants were commonly grown in gardens next to the home, known as kitchen gardens. Resources were in short supply, so it was very important that each plant had a purpose. Women were primarily responsible for taking care of the kitchen garden, as well as for making and providing remedies to their families. The Bowne House still has a Kitchen Garden on its property!
What types of plants were grown in colonial gardens?
Many plants used by settlers are still used today. Herbs like sage, parsley, and thyme are commonly used in cooking and can often be found in kitchen spice racks! But some plants grown in New Netherland gardens may be less familiar to you, such as foxglove and bee balm. While large amounts of seed for planting were brought to the colonies from Europe, other seeds were found in New Netherland itself. Many Europeans learned about botanical remedies native to New Netherland from indigenous peoples already familiar with the area’s plantlife.
Activity Instructions:
Now that you’ve learned about the importance of medicinal plants in the daily lives of colonial settlers, you get to create your own Colonial Herbal Book!
To get started, print out the pages for your book. Each page has a picture of a plant, its name, and a description of its medicinal properties.
Color the plants based on their descriptions, but also feel free to get creative!
When finished, put the pages in number order, beginning with the cover.
This is your very own Herb Book, so make sure to sign your name along the line on the front cover!
Now, with the help of an adult, bind your book pages using staples or string.
As you get to know more about medicinal herbs and plants, have fun adding pages to the book with your own drawings and descriptions.
**Please note: We do not recommend using any of these plants as medicine at home and we are not giving medical advice. This is just for fun. If you are feeling ill, please call your doctor for proper treatment.