First Curve Apothecary

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First Curve Apothecary

Tinctures, bitters, and teas. Locally sourced herbs. 🌿
Rooted in the Great Lakes Bioregion. Handmade in Chicago by community herbalist, alex williams.
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greenspell.myflodesk.com

12/11/2024

Thank you all for coming out to our first open house and warming up the new space with us!

I am blown away by the turnout and overflowing with gratitude from your support. The student-led workshops and apothecary offerings seemed to be very well received and we managed to raise enough money for two partial scholarships for next year’s Greenspell Intensive!

Thank you again for such a great day, it showed us all the potential this new space has for hosting workshops, connecting people with plants, and as a community gathering space.

Now it’s time to dig in and start planning for next year! If you or anyone you know would like to collaborate or host a workshop at our new space, feel free to reach out at alex@greenspell.org, I’d love to discuss your idea with you!

08/11/2024

Here’s one workshop that I’m particularly excited to attend at this Sunday’s Open House, The Green Gratitude Poetry Workshop led by local creator, herbalist, and Greenspell student, Taven Frank

This workshop will explore intuitive and intentional creative expression for the Earth and our nonhuman kin.

Throughout this workshop, we explore how we can strengthen our relationship with the natural world and practice gratitude through the process of art making.

There is incredible empowerment to be found in connecting with gratitude and our earthly bodies through difficult times such as these. Making sense of these connections, and even discovering new connections through the simple crafting of a poem, can reveal new ways of being and navigating our world.

So come by and kick off the day with us at this workshop, which you can attend for free or through sliding scale donation. Whatever you prefer. Just don’t forget to RSVP through the link in bio!

06/11/2024

Getting ready for the Greenspell Open House on Sunday!

And we made some herbal candies for you all, so come by on Sunday, November 10th for an abundance of other treats and workshops offered by the 2024 cohort of the Greenspell Herbalism Intensive.

The Greenspell Open House offers students of our Bioregional Herbalism Intensive the opportunity to engage our Chicago community and give back a little bit of what they learned throughout the seven month course.

Through student-led workshops and a sliding-scale apothecary booth, this open house supports our ongoing efforts to provide more accessible herbal remedies and education, empowering community members to engage with herbal medicines and wellness practices to cultivate preventative self-care and abundant aliveness!

Stop by for:
~ donation-based and student-led DIY Herbalism Workshops
~ Our apothecary booth with free and donation-based herbal remedies for Fall and Winter wellness (made by the 2024 cohort of our Bioregional Herbalism Course)
~ herbal beverages and tea
~ Zines with art, reflections, herbal practices & recipes.
~ & more!
..Or you can always just stop in, check out the space, and mingle with us!

This event is entirely non-profit and donation-based. No one turned away for lack of funds. To learn more about how we allocate our proceeds from this event, please visit our Open House page.

Learn more about our Open House event at our link in bio.
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22/10/2024

Mark your calendars! Our first ever Greenspell Open House led by students of this year’s Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive is coming up on Sunday, November 10th from 10am-5pm at our new apothecary space in West Town!

Previously known as the ‘Community Apothecary Pop-up’, The Greenspell Open House offers students of our Bioregional Herbalism Intensive the opportunity to engage our Chicago community and give back a little bit of what they learned throughout the seven month course.

Through student-led workshops and a sliding-scale apothecary booth, this open house supports our ongoing efforts to provide more accessible herbal remedies and education, empowering community members to engage with herbal medicines and wellness practices to cultivate preventative self-care and abundant aliveness!

Stop by for:
~ donation-based and student-led DIY Herbalism Workshops
~ Our apothecary booth with free and donation-based herbal remedies for Fall and Winter wellness (made by the 2024 cohort of our Bioregional Herbalism Course)
~ herbal beverages and tea
~ Zines with art, reflections, herbal practices & recipes.
~ & more!
..Or you can always just stop in, check out the space, and mingle with us!

This event is entirely non-profit and donation-based. No one turned away for lack of funds. To learn more about how we allocate our proceeds from this event, please visit our Open House page.

Learn more about our Open House event at our link in bio.
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21/10/2024

This past Saturday we had our last 2024 Greenspell Intensive class. We capped it off with a book discussion of David Abram’s ‘Spell of the Sensuous’ and a little potluck at our ‘classroom’ at LaBagh Woods.

I’m filled with so much gratitude for this wonderful group of humans who showed up each month open, curious, and excited to explore the ecosystems and medicine of our beautiful home nestled along the southwest tip of Lake Michigan.

This course is the cornerstone of each passing year, and I hope to offer it through my elder years when my hair has grayed and all but fell out, each year evolving into an ever more connective and immersive experience.

With every end there is always a beginning, and while I’m steeped in the bittersweet feeling of this year coming to a close, we do still have one last hurrah for the intensive and for our community beyond: The Greenspell Annual Open House! (Previously known as the Community Apothecary Pop-up).

Student Led workshops, herbal beverages, tarot, plant walks, and more on Sunday, November 10th.

More details coming soon, mark your calendars in the meantime!

Thanks .kooser for the class photo

27/09/2024

I’m beginning to feel really at home in the new space! Thank you all again for your support, and for those who have donated to the fundraiser so far.

For those of you who don’t know, we’ve moved into a bigger space to accommodate our growing business, while allowing us to expand our educational offerings… to get us through the first couple of months, we started a crowdfunding campaign!!

This fundraiser is the first of many efforts of securing funds to ensure we can continue to offer high quality herbal supplements, holistic health services, and education to our community. These funds will help us in building out the infrastructure for our new space to be able to produce product for more wholesale accounts, which will provide the financial stability to continue offering our free clinic and affordable education.

There are several tiers at which you can contribute, all with perks! The easiest way is by making a $5 donation which enters you into a raffle for the chance to win 5 First Curve Apothecary products of your choice + lifetime access to our Greenspell Community & Virtual Garden (anticipated to be ~$132 / year membership starting in 2025).

The first raffle draw will be on October 1st (in just a few days), so as long as you contribute before then, you’ll be entered in the raffle!

There is a lot more information on our crowdfunding page on how the funds will be allocated, and the perks with contributing different amounts. Check the link in bio for more details!
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19/09/2024

Raffle & Fundraiser!

After five years, we’re finally asking for some monetary support. We’ve moved into a bigger space to accommodate our growing business, while allowing us to expand our educational offerings… but we need your help!

This crowdfunding campaign is the first of many efforts of securing funds to ensure we can continue to offer high quality herbal supplements, holistic health services, and education to our community. These funds will help us in building out the infrastructure for our new space to be able to produce product for more wholesale accounts, which will provide the financial stability to continue offering our free clinic and affordable education.

There are several tiers at which you can contribute, all with perks! The easiest way is by making a $5 donation which enters you into a raffle for the chance to win 5 First Curve Apothecary products of your choice + lifetime access to our Greenspell Community & Virtual Garden (anticipated to be ~$132 / year membership starting in 2025).

There is a lot more information on our crowdfunding page on how the funds will be allocated, and the perks with contributing different amounts. Check the link in bio for more details!
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07/08/2024

Plant Walk this Thursday at Patchwork Farm!

We have some spots left! Link in bio for sign up and details.

If you’ve been curious about getting to know the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion, I welcome you to join myself and fellow plant lovers at golden hour to explore all of the wonderful medicinal & edible plants at Patchwork Farm in Humboldt Park!

At these walks you’ll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn some basic ecology concepts relevant to our region, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize these plants for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.

Thanks .verbena for the photo!
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05/08/2024

Plant Walk This Thursday at Patchwork Farm!

If you’ve been curious about getting to know the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion, I welcome you to join myself and fellow plant lovers at golden hour to explore all of the wonderful medicinal & edible plants at Patchwork Farm in Humboldt Park!

At these walks you’ll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn some basic ecology concepts relevant to our region, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize these plants for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.

We will finish off our plant walk with general Q&A as the sun sets for the evening.

Link in bio to sign up!

31/07/2024

Sometimes it’s hot outside and you need a little cat nap.

That’s fine! No such thing as FOMO when you’re all curled up in nap town.

Maybe a little Underworld Potion by your side to help you swirl into sleep in a nice little spot in the shade?

📸
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23/07/2024

Want to start building your home apothecary?

Join us at Laila Studio for a series of workshops covering the basics of herbal medicine making.

Our next workshop in the series is ‘Herbal Tinctures - alcoholic extracts for everyday herbalism’ on August 14th from 6-8pm

And the following month we have ‘Herbal Infused Oils - for skincare, wound healing, and pain management’ on September 18th from 6-8pm:

These are the herbal preparations I rely on the most in my practice due to their accessibility and efficacy.

Feel free to attend only one workshop or both!

Also, if you want to learn what medicinal plants grow in our region that you could practice your tincturing or making into some other herbal preparation, come to one of our plant walks! We have one coming up this Thursday at Patchwork Farm.

Link in bio for details and signup!
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22/07/2024

Plant Walk this Thursday at Patchwork Farm!

Link in bio for sign up and details.

If you’ve been curious about getting to know the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion, I welcome you to join myself and fellow plant lovers at golden hour to explore all of the wonderful medicinal & edible plants at Patchwork Farm in Humboldt Park!

At these walks you’ll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn some basic ecology concepts relevant to our region, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize these plants for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.

Thanks to my student Megan for the photo!
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09/07/2024

If you really want to learn about plants, you gotta get up close and personal, and I love inviting curious humans in to learn the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion where they live!

We have three plant walks coming up:

~ Jul 25 at Patchwork Farm
~ August 8 at Patchwork Farm
~ August 24 at Horner Park

At these walks you’ll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn some basic ecology concepts relevant to our region, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize these plants for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.

Do you have a community garden or plot that you’d like to know more about about the medicinal and edible uses of the plants? I also offer private walks for small groups, if you’re interested reach out at alex@firstcurveapothecary.com
Link in bio for details and signup.

📸 .kooser
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08/07/2024

We’ve been so excited about starting the Greenspell Organization and expanding our educational offerings, that we almost forgot that we sell wonderful, well-crafted, and highly efficacious herbal remedies too!

Also, with the busyness of summertime, we almost forgot to slow down and take some moments or peace for ourself.

Enter Peace Portal: a cooling and nervous system calming blend to quell the heat and activity of summer for a deeper sense of chill. Whether you need to calm the nervous system a bit from the sensory overload that can sometimes accompany patio season out with friends, or just need the inspiration for a night in when everyone’s out, grab a bottle of Peace Portal, take it with you on the go, or add it to some sparkling water (or iced tea) with honey and lemon juice for a non-alcoholic mocktail to unwind back into a space of stillness and calm.

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03/07/2024

Introducing the Greenspell Organization!

We’ve been working hard making some structural changes over the past few months, with the idea for this organization fermenting for a few years now.

Essentially, we have long-term plans to expand our educational offerings as well as expand our Herbal Free Clinic to serve more of our Chicago community through this organization.

So the First Curve Ecosystem will be splitting into two complementary parts (think of them like two branches from the same Oak):

First Curve Apothecary will be dedicated solely to herbal products, while the Greenspell Organization will be home to:

~ Alex’s clinical herbal practice
~ All educational offerings (including the Greenspell Bioregional Herbalism Intensive, as well as one-off plant walks and workshops)
~ The herbal free clinic
~ And the new Greenspell Online Community & Virtual Garden (details in bio, and a more details post regarding this offering soon!)
~ with much more to come over the years…

Both First Curve and Greenspell will be sharing a newsletter for now, so you won’t have to sign up for another newsletter. But if you are more interested in herbal & ecological education and herbal consultations, please give a follow, since we will be dedicating the instagram for apothecary and product related posts, while the instagram will be dedicated to bioregional plants, education, earth connection, and posts related to the herbal free clinic.

Also, the Greenspell website is still not fully fleshed out, so many of the pages will bring you back to the First Curve website for the time being. We’re working on it!

Thanks as always for your support over the years, I’m so excited for how we are growing and we hope to connect more for many years to come!

Herbaceously yours,

Alex + co
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28/06/2024

Took a quick walk at Horner Park the other day to decide which plants I want to talk about this Saturday... and there are so many to choose from right now! Very excited for this one... and it looks like we’re going to have some nice weather too...

If you’ve been curious about getting to know the medicinal and edible plants of our bioregion, I welcome you to join myself and fellow plant lovers on an afternoon walk to explore all of the wonderful medicinal & edible plants at Horner Park!

At these walks you’ll have the opportunity to connect with plants, learn some basic ecology concepts relevant to our region, and gain a better understanding of how to utilize these plants for food or medicine from the perspective of a clinical herbalist.

Link in bio for details and signup.
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20/06/2024

~ HerbRally Interview ~

While I’m still enjoying my time away in Switzerland, I also just wanted to quickly share about a podcast interview I did with Mason Hutchison of !

We talked about so much, including my origins as an herbalist making dandelion wine and absinthe as a kid. Quite synchronistic as I’m currently exploring the woodlands and towns of Môtiers, which is considered to be the birthplace of Absinthe. Here I am resting in a stream in the hills of Môtiers where many of the ingredients for absinthe have been sourced. Most of the distilleries you’ll find in town are just individuals or families distilling out of their home.

I’m filled with such gratitude to be able to work with plants for a living, as anywhere I go, no matter how far from Chicago that may be, I still feel right at home, finding other plant people of different cultures all embraced by the plant and fungal realm that we grow from.

I hope you give the podcast episode a listen, and please let me know what you think!

You can listen on YouTube (link in bio) or on Spotify, or head over to for info on other listening platforms.

From the show notes:

“In this episode of The Herbalist Hour I’m joined by Alex Williams.

Amanda and I recently drove down to Chicago to hang out with Alex for this interview.

I knew after meeting him at the Great Lakes Herb Faire we’d absolutely need to connect as he is a fascinating and lovely human doing some pretty awesome work in his neck of the woods.

We chat about his herbal origins, mentors, his work at First Curve Apothecary and a whole lot more.

There’s even some freestyle haikus thrown in the mix for good measure.”
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Groundbreaking… Alex shares his first selfie-talking-to-phone-on-instagram-video with the world… is this a one time phenomenon or is it opening the floodgates to a whole new social media persona? One thing we know for certain, is that Alex is very excited for next year’s intensive. Link in bio for details :)

“That really tastes really good” Just enjoying some Elderberry & Reishi Tonic straight from the bottle. This daily-use tonic is crafted for cold & flu season immune support. A delicious and supportive non-alcoholic syrup, made from raw apple cider vinegar, local honey and immune supporting botanicals and mushrooms, Elderberry & Reishi tonic builds deep immunity as the weather turns inward. With elderberry, elderflower, reishi mushroom, orange peel, lemon peel, ginger rhizome, cinnamon bark, nettle leaf, burdock root, calamus root, local honey, apple cider vinegar, we’ve been told it tastes like spices apple pie in syrup form :) Pick up a bottle for a little immunity shield this winter. Purchase alone or as a part of our ‘Nourish’ Winter Wellness Kit. Link in bio!

This summer I had the opportunity to volunteer at my favorite Great Lakes Herb Farm, Golden Hour Herb Farm (@goldenhourfarm). Earlier this week, was my last visit of the year. My first day I planted hundreds of seedlings, my last day I harvested hundreds of roots. In between I and they tend. I feel so grateful to have connected to so many plant friends throughout their growth, and to have made new friends in the wonderful folk behind Golden Hour Farm. It fills my heart with joy to know the herbs that I craft into potions for you are grown and foraged with such love and attention. All the thanks to Golden Hour for welcoming me and allowing me to learn from them throughout these past few months. Looking forward to how our relationship unfolds! \ / \ / \ #midwest #herbalism #herbalist #herbalmedicine #herbs #plantmedicine #herbalremedies #holistichealth #apothecary #wellness #selfcare #plantmagic #herbaltea #greenwitch #wizardry #bitters #adaptogens #tinctures #immunehealth #immunesupport #shopsmall #shoplocal #medicinalmushrooms #mushroomextract #greatlakes #bioregion #bioregionalherbalism #guthealth

This summer I had the opportunity to volunteer at my favorite Great Lakes Herb Farm, Golden Hour Herb Farm (@goldenhour.farm ). Earlier this week, was my last visit of the year. My first day I planted hundreds of seedlings, my last day I harvested hundreds of roots. In between I and they tend. I feel so grateful to have connected to so many plant friends throughout their growth, and to have made new friends in the wonderful folk behind Golden Hour Farm. It fills my heart with joy to know the herbs that I craft into potions for you are grown and foraged with such love and attention. All the thanks to Golden Hour for welcoming me and allowing me to learn from them throughout these past few months. Looking forward to how our relationship unfolds! \ / \ / \ #midwest #herbalism #herbalist #herbalmedicine #herbs #plantmedicine #herbalremedies #holistichealth #apothecary #wellness #selfcare #plantmagic #herbaltea #greenwitch #wizardry #bitters #adaptogens #tinctures #immunehealth #immunesupport #shopsmall #shoplocal #medicinalmushrooms #mushroomextract #greatlakes #bioregion #bioregionalherbalism #guthealth

Perpetually creeping on the cutest of critters and pollinators (i.e. all of them). Featuring our plant friends Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Late Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), with a strong emphasis on the beautiful purple New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) – and there might be a glimpse of Arnica (Arnica montana) in the background? P.S. if you’re here, reading this, and you have nothing going on this Sunday (October 9), and you live in Chicago... come to our pop-up! Heck, if you have something going on cancel it and come anyway! Details in the link in bio :) \ / \ / \ #newenglandaster #boneset #echinacea #fennel #pollinators #critters #midwest #herbalism #herbalist #herbalmedicine #herbs #plantmedicine #herbalremedies #holistichealth #apothecary #wellness #selfcare #plantmagic #greenwitch #wizardry #shopsmall #shoplocal #greatlakes #bioregion #bioregionalherbalism

my first thought when I come across logs covered in Turkey Tail: “must be nice…”

~ Cottonwood Bud Infused Sunflower Oil ~ Thanks to @goldenhour.farm for this beautiful Cottonwood (Populus spp.) bud harvest! I prepared these buds into an infused oil that will be going into the Spring/Summer edition of our 'Ope' Wax All Purpose Salve. The resinous and aromatic buds of the regal cottonwood tree emerge as early as late January through March. These buds are great as infused oils or in salves for soothing injuries or tense muscles. I also reserved some of the buds for a tincture to have on hand for a liniment (tincture applied topically) for tight/sore muscles, which I can expect a lot of as I begin running, skateboarding, hiking, and generally wiggling around again as the weather warms up. I love how medicine seems to present itself at just the right times, don't you? Typically I'd harvest from a fallen branch after an evening of strong winds, but I didn't have that opportunity this year and what I was able to gather wouldn't yield much of a batch, so I'm grateful as always for @goldenhour.farm 's wide array of cultivated and foraged herbs. Keep an eye out for our updated Community Apothecary offerings hitting the online shop in early June, of which this oil will make an appearance :) P.S. First video editing attempt... only up from here! -alex \ / \ / \ #topicals #salve #balm #cottonwood #poplar #populus #cottonwoodbud #musculoskeletalsupport #muscletension #herbalism #herbalmedicine #treemedicine #midwest #herbalist #bioregionalherbalism #greatlakes #bioregion #sunflower #sunfloweroil

Enjoying the light dance as these yellow eye heirloom beans from @rancho_gordo come to a simmer. We’re strong believers that soups and stews are the original potions, and that there absolutely is powerful magic in a pot of beans. Food/nutrition/nourishment is one of the primary foundations of health, to be considered before ever thinking about using herbal medicines. The preparation of food is also a time to invite slowness into your day, to really be present and sensitive with the food you are about to ingest. We’re in the depths of winter, a time for slow cooking stews, soups, and moves… and with that comes the opportunity to slow down and delight in the foods we eat. How do you find magic in slowness?

bubblin’ away over here getting ready for the Community Apothecary… I’ve been infusing local organic sunflower oil with plantain, calendula, marshmallow root, chamomile, and yarrow at 120F for two days now, and we’re only halfway done :) This oil will be made into an all purpose skin salve as an offering at our Community Apothecary Pop-up this Saturday! Link in bio to learn more. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our fire cider workshop! Signing up gets you a bag full of herbs, a jar, some honey, and apple cider vinegar to make at the workshop on Saturday. Sign up while supplies last! Link in bio to sign up! \ / \ / \ #infusedoil #herbaloil #plantain #calendula #marshmallowroot #chamomile #yarrow #sunfloweroil #bioregionalherbalism #plantmagic #apothecary #herbalism #herbalist

Hi friends. We like to show pictures of plants and medicine more than ourselves, but we want to try and amend that a bit. Here is stef and I talking shop at our recent popup last week at @chicagomakerspopupshop Here’s to a day where we don’t have to fidget with our masks and can share freely about our love of wild weeds and medicinal mushrooms. <3

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