Rooted in Slane: How an Amercian herbalist found her connection to the land

An American-born herbalist followed her instincts to an iconic house beside the Gothic gates of Slane Castle, where she has developed a deep connection with the plants and landscape of County Meath.

When Dezarae Carver spotted a house to rent beside the bridge and Gothic gates at Slane Castle, she had no particular connection with the village. Having moved to Ireland after spending some time in Europe she was living in Dublin when the distinctive property caught her attention.

Something about it felt right, and she decided it was where she wanted to live.

It was a move that would bring her closer to the landscape and the natural world that have become central to her life. Today, Dezarae forages for ingredients in the surrounding countryside, including elderberries from trees along the Boyne, and makes handcrafted herbal tinctures in small batches for her business "In the Garden."

For her, the relationship between people and plants is about much more than what can be harvested or made from them. It is about learning to pay attention to the natural world, understanding the changing seasons and recognising what is growing on our own doorsteps.

“I felt when I moved to Ireland, the land helped me,” she says. “I struggled actually connecting with people here, and I felt really connected to the land.”

Originally from Ohio in the United States, Dezarae has been interested in nature for as long as she can remember. Growing up in a farming state, she spent much of her childhood outdoors, climbing trees and playing with friends until evening.

It was a childhood before screens dominated everyday life, when children could drop their schoolbags at home and disappear outside for hours.

Looking back, she feels fortunate to have had that freedom and the opportunity to develop an instinctive relationship with the outdoors.

Although she had always enjoyed working with soil and tending plants, her interest in herbalism took a more formal direction during the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the pandemic arrived and life slowed down, she began looking for something new to explore. She came across an online programme offered by the School of the Sacred Wild, a California-based herbalism school, and signed up for a two-year apprenticeship.

The course followed the Celtic Wheel of the Year, exploring plants in the context of the seasons and the natural world. Rather than beginning with textbooks and botanical classifications, students were encouraged to spend time with individual plants, meditating with them, tasting teas and paying attention to their characteristics before learning about their composition and traditional uses.

The experience changed her relationship with the seasons, too. Having previously struggled with seasonal affective disorder during the winter months, she began to see the colder part of the year as a time for rest rather than something simply to get through.

The course also introduced her to the cultural and spiritual traditions associated with plants, including those found in Ireland.

She was fascinated by the mythology surrounding hawthorn, nettles and the fairy trees of Irish folklore.

“Herbalism is so woven into Irish history,” she says.

As someone who had arrived from another country, discovering those stories deepened her appreciation for the landscape around her.

She began to notice the plants growing close to home, including elderberry, mullein, dandelion, honeysuckle and hawthorn. One of the lessons she took from her studies was to start by paying attention to what grows nearby.

That approach now informs her own foraging. Along the Boyne, she gathers elderberries for her preparations, while the hawthorn trees and hedgerows around Slane provide further opportunities to observe and work with local plants.

She is conscious, however, that foraging requires care. It is important to avoid areas where plants may have been exposed to sprays or pollution, to take only what is needed and to leave plenty behind for wildlife.

For Dezarae, this is part of a wider belief in reciprocity with nature — that people should consider what they take from the environment and what they give back.

When foraging, she takes only what she needs and leaves plenty for wildlife, particularly birds that rely on berries during the winter months.

“You would only harvest what you need,” she explains. “You would never want to harvest everything from one plant or one tree.”

She also describes asking permission before gathering from a plant or tree, and leaving something in return as a gesture of appreciation.

“Sometimes a plant might say no,” she says. “It might be for whatever reason it is. Maybe the birds might need more.”

Her interest in helping others connect with the outdoors has also extended into community work.

Around six years ago, as part of a project for her herbalism apprenticeship, she developed a medicinal herb garden at Solas Glan Community Garden in Navan. Given a section of the land, she created a living willow wall and a spiral walkway, planting herbs including chamomile, hyssop and meadowsweet.

Her intention was to create a peaceful outdoor space where people experiencing addiction could spend time in nature as part of their recovery, particularly those who might not have access to a garden of their own.

“I wanted it to be for people struggling with addiction to be able to go, as part of their recovery, to connect with nature,” she says. “A lot of people don't have enough space necessarily to have their own gardens.”

The experience reinforced her belief in allowing nature more room to flourish. She has seen the difference that leaving a garden to grow wild can make, recalling how, at a home where she once lived, she allowed parts of the garden to develop naturally.

“I just noticed, when I let the garden grow wild for like a year, there were so many more bees and birds and worms in the soil,” she says. “The herbs are happier when they're able to just be.”

The approach reflects ideas championed by Irish author and rewilding advocate Mary Reynolds, whose work encourages people to reconsider how they manage outdoor spaces and allow ecosystems to recover.

Dezarae’s own growing and gardening activities have slowed since becoming a mother. Her son River is now 17 months old, and her time is divided differently, but her relationship with nature remains an important part of her life.

During her herbalism apprenticeship, she recalls meditating with hawthorn and having a powerful realisation about her desire to become a mother.

“I didn't specifically ask that, but hawthorn is such a deep heart plant,” she says. “When I connected with hawthorn, hawthorn showed me as a mother, and I was like, ‘Oh, that's what my heart really wants.’”

For Dezarae, the experience reinforced her belief that spending time in nature can help people reconnect with parts of themselves they may not fully recognise.

“When you're open to a relationship with nature, nature can kind of show you parts of yourself that maybe you're not fully aware of,” she says.

That philosophy informs her small-scale herbal business. Dezarae makes tinctures and teas using plants she grows, forages or sources from specialist suppliers when they are not available locally. She works in small batches, with tinctures steeping for around eight weeks before she bottles and labels them herself.

Her preparations include different blends, and she has offered individual sessions and created bespoke preparations for clients. She describes the work as a passion project rather than a large-scale business.

She is also clear that her apprenticeship was not a medical herbalism qualification. Herbal preparations can interact with medicines, so anyone considering using them for a health concern should seek appropriate professional advice rather than replacing prescribed treatment.

For Dezarae, however, reconnecting with nature does not require extensive botanical knowledge, a large garden or acres of countryside.

“I love the idea that you don't actually need that much space to have a garden,” she says.

A window box, a plant to tend or a walk that encourages someone to notice the trees and flowers around them can be enough to begin.

She hopes to pass that appreciation on to her son as he grows up, giving him some of the same freedom and closeness to the outdoors that shaped her own childhood.

From her childhood in Ohio to Dublin and finally the house beside Slane Castle’s Gothic gates, Dezarae’s journey has taken her across continents. In Slane, she has found a place where her interest in plants, her small herbal venture and her personal philosophy can come together.

For more info on In the Garden click here