Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) has finalized the sale of Dr. Jim Duke’s Green Farmacy Garden located at 8210 Murphy Road in Fulton, Maryland. The property was purchased by Community Ecology Institute (CEI), a non-profit organization located in Howard County, Maryland. MUIH made the official announcement on December 22, 2022.
Dr. James (Jim) Duke, a published ethnobotanist and former faculty member at MUIH, built The Green Farmacy Garden in 1998 after a 30-year career with the US Department of Agriculture. The six-acre property, which includes a house and pasture land, became a sanctuary for over 300 medicinal plants collected for over 60 years. The garden was designed to highlight the plants featured in Duke’s book, The Green Pharmacy.
The property, which was Duke’s home until he passed away in 2017, was eventually transferred to MUIH as part of an arrangement between the Duke family and the university. The gardens were available to the public, as well as MUIH students in the school’s herbal degree programs. However, with the move to online and hybrid learning, students’ visits to the property were reduced and administrators committed to finding an appropriate organization to take over the gardens.
MUIH’s President & CEO Marc Levin says selling the property to CEI was a move in the right direction for both the school and the gardens. “As stewards of the garden, we are pleased that it will continue to serve as a place of learning for the community and herbalists,” said Levin. CEI leaders plan to continue to make the gardens available for community events and expand public use of the property. The Green Farmacy Garden remains part of the United Plant Savers network of sanctuaries around the country, which strive to educate the public and maintain native plant species that have become at risk or endangered.
About Maryland University of Integrative Health:
Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) is a leading academic institution focused on the study and practice of integrative health and wellness rooted in contemporary science and traditional wisdom. A values-driven community educating practitioners and professionals to become future health and wellness leaders, MUIH has more than 20 progressive graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines, offered on-campus and online. Launched in 1974, MUIH is one of the few universities in the U.S. dedicated solely to whole-person, relationship-centered, and evidence-informed care. In addition, MUIH’s on-campus Natural Care Center provides compassionate and affordable healthcare from professional practitioners and student interns who deliver clinical treatments and consultations throughout each year. For more information about MUIH, please visit http://www.muih.edu.
About The Community Ecology Institute:
The Community Ecology Institute’s mission is to cultivate communities where people and nature thrive together. The institute’s work focuses on tangible, community-level change at the intersection of environment, education, equity, and health. Find out more about CEI by visiting https://www.communityecologyinstitute.org/.