Marita Orr is a Gourmet cook, Herbalist, Aroma therapist, Reiki Master, Teacher, Tarot Reader, All Natural Herbal Product Maker, Professional Commercial and Sacred Space Gardener, the owner of the Biscuit. Orr and The Teabiscuit Inn & Herbary CURRENTLY: Planning 2022 classes, workshops and retreat weekends focusing on A Mind, Body, Spirit connection here at The TeaBiscuit Inn & Herbary, Wells NY My husband and I recently retired and moved to the beautiful Adirondacks. We bought an Inn that is 100 years old, with a lot of history. Keeping the name was not feasible. So we are changing it to the Biscuit. It seemed to be what everyone called it anyway. We are located at the south entrance of the town of Wells, NY. It is across from the Spillway. We have been working hard cleaning it up and getting it ready to offer beautiful weekend classes, workshops and retreats using herbs in food, art and healing. Learning to work with natures gifts for a deeper connection to oneself. I am Hoping to make a difference in my community by sharing healthy ways to live and part take in self care that is needed in this fast paced life. I am blessed to have a beautiful and supportive Husband. We have grown together since 1981, like two trees planted too close and have learned over time to grow together to become one. Blessed to walk the earth with him. I surely couldn’t do it without him. He was a Carpenter, one of New York States finest. Working high up on steel beams and the dead wood. He makes my soap boxes, herb dryers and plant presses that I include in my classes . It is fun to have him in the Garden working with live wood and his hands in the soil. He is a great helper. He is always so patient, kind and willing to dig, move or make anything I need with no questions asked. I have an amazing son, Brian and he has 2 children, Madison and Brayden. They are totally awesome inside and out. Beautiful family…they either got my eyes or my ears. I have dedicated my life’s work to my Children, Brian jr, Emma Emily(late miscarriage ) and Matthew Alexander(age 28). They always have AND always will continue to inspire my work. It is because of them, I am who I am… I am beyond honored and so blessed to be their Mom. A little background. They say it runs in your blood. The biggest influence on me was my parents. My Mom was the most amazing artist in so many mediums but most recognized in the gardens . She was the most talented horticulturist I knew. People would come from miles around to see her gardens and receive her maternal support. She brought the flowers and trees to me to learn from. She was also the most amazing cook. I still count on her recipes, they are tried and true. She also taught me compassion, dedication, what sacrifice is and how to find peace in prayer. Her dedication to The blessed Mother was deeply infused in me. My Dad was and will always be my sweet heart. He gave me unconditional love and support and a few of his cynical ways. His life taught me to steadfast and believe, But most importantly how to love my children with all my heart. He often said he knew exactly where to find me and that I was always dancing among the flowers in the garden. But it ran even deeper than that. My maternal grandparents were both very gifted with the plants and vegetables as well as cooking . They owned there own tavern. My grandfather was an old Irish farmer and taught me how to use the gifts from the ocean as fertilizer for my gardens along with his stories of capturing mermaids and understanding the Celtic ways. My Maternal grandmother, was an amazing cook as well as flower gardener. She loved the smell of roses and a good pot roast cooking. She was the very first person to bring the secrets of the flowers to me. Teaching me how to make many plants from a single plant by the time I was 4. Using an African violet plant and its leaves.. Every time I smell roses or see a Violet I think of her. I was fortunate enough to have another set of Parents. My moms siblings. The Crazy mad brilliant fun ones. Artists and free thinkers.. My late Uncle and God Father, was an artist and founder of The China Trade Bonsai Society, a non-profit organization founded in 1998. He taught me everything is possible by teaching me how to make a big tree fit into a small pot. My late Aunt and God Mother was an Artist and Upholsterer of antique furniture. She taught me her trades. She gave me love, confidence and courage. Always supporting me and loving me through it all! The good, the bad and the ugly! It is a story in my family that my paternal great, great, great grandmother was a medicine woman of the Mohegan long house. Sometimes when I am stirring that great big pot of herbs or rendering bear fat I feel the drumbeat in my chest. I had a ancestry test done. But have not confirmed with cousin’s yet. So until proven otherwise I will stir and chant. My father’s grandmother and Mother were both very gifted. They were active horticulturist winning many awards for their gifts in their community. Okay, now on to where I learned To dance. One warm spring morning as I was dropping off my sons to school I noticed a mom with tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong? She explained to me that she was so behind.. And she needed a helper for her gardening business. Well it was history. I Worked under Julie Helberg, an amazingly patient perennial gardener from 1996-1999 as her assistant. I learned so much. She never let me call a plant by its local name. When she dissolved the business I was honored that she gave me the commercial sites. That’s when I started my own business, Boxes and Borders. It consisted of Residential and Sacred Space Gardening as well as Commercial Container Gardening accounts. I closed my last account on that business 2019. Working sacred gardens for clients was such an honor and a treat. I was blessed to be able to use and learn many sacred plants, rocks, tools, designs and techniques. I loved being able to bring the flowers and plants to people to live amongst in their own sacred space. I Learned so much about design, how to listen to the earth and how to get the feel of the land. But most importantly I learned that the customer is always right. I find it very fulfilling and purposeful. I believe that the gardens I tended helped all those that visited them. I love to inspire others to find peace and healing in nature. It was also a wonderful experience working in the public eye. I loved Adding color to the dark back ground. I lived in a tough town. I used to have to tie down the bigger plants and trees so they would not be stolen. At that time there were many homeless and mentally ill that utilized the streets as their home. They loved the plants. I was often approached and thanked by them for creating the beautiful displays. After awhile I started to plant with certain intent. I would choose the plants in hopes to heal and protect them. They honored them.. They became the plants guardians and protectors. And I learned they also protected me, because of the gardens. I am so grateful for them watching out for me back then. They were my buffer between the dark and the light.. I was lucky enough to have studied Herbalism, gardening and some ethnobotany at the Botanical Gardens in The Bronx. Learning botanical names, classifications and studied the language of flowers. I was enchanted by it. I feel most connected to Spirit when dancing among the flowers it seemed so appropriate. I had learned a secret language between me and my creator. I always felt guided and trusted my intuition. I am mostly self taught. But there are many that molded and shaped me. I did have the opportunity to study and train with Rosemary Gladstar. I graduated from both her Apprenticeship and Teachers Training programs. I try hard to honor them. I truly believe in walking the beauty path.. You know? Making it pretty as you go. But, truthfully folks I went to go see how she does it. You know me, always dreaming of building an empire. What I came away with was much more profound than that. Even I, did not recognize it then.. not as I do now. I see the importance of the healing magic of the plants I also was blessed to be local to Susun Weed. I loved her day classes and her Wild Woman Ways. She is always kind and beautiful to me. I really feel blessed. I also love to sit under Matthew Wood and just listen. I could listen to him spin words into an intricate well designed fabric for hours. I worked a lot but in my spare time I formulated all natural products for others. I formulated for a local midwife. I helped create her base line. She later changed and adjusted them to perfection with her own personal magic. I also formulated for a very busy spa and taught many massage therapists how to make their own oils and beauty products. For 6 years, 2010 to 2016, I was honored to be sought by and work for Susie Sanchez with Sage Nature, Bath and Body, Soap for Hope, Selective Mutism, a profit for non profit company in California. I was their head formulator & quality assurance director. I also made their 6 medicinal lotions (anxiety specifically for autism, depression, cancer, epilepsy, pain specifically for neuropathy, dementia.) This work was special for me. A way to heal my ancestral trauma. Each formula was made and dedicated for one of my family members. I was wanting to MAKE a difference for my grandchildren and their children. Break the chains of the past. I made medicine specially for children on medicine, can’t take any more medicine, or need to be used in conjunction with their medicine. I worked along with their doctors. I used herbs with the least contradiction or contra reactions. I could use Kava and Ashwagandha as there was so much data available and most doctors had no problem applying it topically. They had to be made very pure and clean, no preservatives, gmo, organic when possible. Even the herbs had to be sourced in lots, so that they could be traced back. These recipes were tried and adjusted the whole time. I used cannabis root in my formulas it was usually found in a compound formula of Ashwagandha and Kava kava. This trio of herbs is amazing. Added as a base to add grounding to the formula. It is literally grounding. I noticed that it could stop the shuttering and throb of many central nervous system issues. I also learned that cannabis root made all my formulas louder and work quicker. I add It to everything. It can be drying as it is astringent. It is effective for pain as it contains Friedelin. I just love it. Before I retired I taught and gave my recipes to 3 beautiful women, one on the East Coast, West coast and locally. My hopes are they will continue to improve, share and make them better and more effective. I honestly think my students come just for meals. I try to coordinate the food with the class or workshops. I think this helps send my messages home.. Mom always said you will win their hearts through their stomach. I worked in the Food Service Industry for over 20 years. Including, Putnam Hospital Center as sanitation supervisor. EFCO of Poughkeepsie as a lab tech in their kitchens. Adams Fair acre farms 10 years in the Deli Department - involved with platters and catering. I also assisted in some recipe formulation, Creator of the Marita's Sesame noodles. Which by now has been adapted. I also spent 4 years working in the Meat department utilizing the fat from the animals to create moisturizing soap, salves and lotions. (Grateful for Susun Weed for suggesting I learn to use it, as it was becoming a lost art in medicine making.) Watching it be absorbed into skin and how quick it made transmission for the herbs amazed me. That was enough proof for me. I was hooked I have been teaching since 2010. I started with free classes, inexpensive gatherings and lots of vending. I worked hard and gave freely. Grateful for the ones that believed enough in me to take my Soap, Apprenticeship, Intentional and Ethnobotanical courses. I had my dream come true in 2019. I taught at the NEWHC in New Hampshire. Now I am moving into the next phase of my life. I am hoping this part of the journey is full of joy and peace. Wanting to help others refill when they are empty. That is my mission now. Oh how I love that goal. Honored and humbled to be at service NOTHING CONTAINED IN THE WEBSITE IS INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSIDERED, MEDICAL ADVICE OR TO SERVE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN OR OTHER QUALIFIED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER. 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