Maebh Aguilar

🌿🥔 • práta • papa • patata • potato • 🥔🌿 - - - Solanum tuberosum, beloved, starchy, buttery tuber — who lives idolized & infamous. a gift from the ground. maybe one of the ancestral origins of my love affair with the solanaceae family. i tell ppl i “come from potatoes on both sides.” it is certain that potatoes sustained, saved & lived in co-creation with my ancestors in both Ecuador & Ireland for centuries of time. - potatoes were domesticated by Indigenous Andean peoples across what is now southern Peru & NW Bolivia — tho there are wild potato species native to all of Abya Yala. among a plethora of domesticated tubers, papas have been a staple Andean food crop for thousands of years. in one form as chuño, from the Quechua ch’uñu meaning “frozen potato” — freeze-dried potatoes &/or potato flour. Quechua & Aymara communities continue to make chuño to this day, via a traditional 5 day process, yeilding shelf stable foodstuffs with a storage capacity of 10-15yrs. - potatoes entered Europe via Spanish colonization in the late 1500s & later became an indispensable crop for impoverished tenant farmers in Ireland during British occupation of the island. when potato blight demolished entire years worth of harvests in Ireland in the mid 1840s, the narrative surrounding what became the Great Hunger or the Irish Potato Famine was that of Irish incompetence, agricultural failure, or a spiteful natural tragedy. in fact, Irish tenant farmers (farming plots owned by British landlords) were forced under colonial rule to continue producing cereal crop exports for the British empire while their own people barely sustained. British colonial policy maintained & ensured that Irish people starved, including creating “work houses” for tenant farmers who could no longer pay their rents. they were made to pay their debts thru manual labor projects such as building “roads to nowhere” & useless stone walls amid empty fields. some of these roads & walls still stand, a testament to the lunacy of colonial violence. - further potato & self portrait studies to come. first photo, 35mm film & digital collage, 2021. second photo, a potato doing it’s thing on my kitchen windowsill. -

• below the ground • - - join us this friday, march 4th 5-7pm for the opening reception of Eco/Systems at Asian Arts Initiative! 🤓✨ link to register @asianartsphilly - Below the Ground (digital collage & illustration, 2022) details a pathway of potatoes across the space-time-continuum, connecting ancestors of mine in the equatorial Andes, colonial Spain, and British-occupied colonial Ireland. i will be showing this collage and a couple others in Eco/Systems group exhibition, which will be on view march-july 2022. - this will be my first time sharing artwork in public & in person since the pandemic began. i’m humbled to take part in this dynamic group show 🪐💖 come say hi! covid safety precautions detailed in registration link. -

🌞Land Acknowledgement Honorariums for the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation🌞 happy lunar new year 🌑 & start of Black history month✨ i'm here to announce the launch of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Land Acknowledgment Honorarium! this opportunity is for people who live on ancestral Lenape land in philly, jersey and beyond to redistrubute money to support the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation. the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape have cared for this land since time immemorial and have survived centuries of genocide and land theft. in my circles of farmers & herbalists - cultivators of this land, stewards of wild spaces, crafters of medicine using native plants, inheritors of uncited Indigenous knowledge within Western Herbalism, & more - here is a way to begin to pay it back. any resident is welcome to contribute! altho our city, state & federal governments continue to profit from the exploitation of Lenape lands & peoples, we the residents have an opportunity to support their tribe with our own actions. this Honorarium was created in a collaboration between the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribal council & a small group of non-Native philly residents. we highly encourage recurring monthly payments! people who might consider paying honorarium: - anyone who has said a verbal land acknowledgment at a gathering - anyone who owns a house, business, or other property in philly, NJ or DE - landlords in the region - anyone who makes money in philly & NJ - anyone whose ancestors were settlers in this region - city agencies, non-profits, businesses, universities and farms operating in the region - any of us who have “Lenapehoking” in our IG bio - any of us who forage food and medicine from lands within Lenapehoking - any of us who sell foraged goods - any of us who sell native plants or seeds for more info, check out the site. link in bio. share far & wide! questions, collabs, additional offers of support, land returns, pls email [email protected]. in solidarity, maebh aguilar #lenapehoking #philly #landback #landacknowledgement #nanticokelennilenape #phillyblm #southjersey #newjersey #youareonnativeland #youareonstolenland

•❤️‍🔥🌺 it’s baby time 👹❤️‍🔥• Philly, join us once again for Building Your Home Apothecary’s annual Medicinal Herb Sale !! come find us on Sunday, May 3 from 12-4pm (or sell out!) at Bartram’s Garden, down by Sankofa Farm’s community garden. come get your baby herbs, all ready to be planted out in your gardens, porches & patios 🌱🌱 HERBS AVAILABLE: Marshmallow Epazote Anise Hyssop Rue Blue Vervain Greek Mullein Elecampane Calendula Huacatay (Peruvian Marigold) Nigella (Black Seed) Hibiscus Rabbit Tobacco Besobela (Ethiopian Basil) Skullcap Tulsi (Temperate) Lemon Balm Buena Mulata Cayenne Pepper Feverfew Spilanthes Motherwort all herbs are $5/ea, with some larger, mature perennial divisions available for $10/ea!! Venmo, Cashapp and Cash (exact!) accepted. SEE YOU THERE✨✨🌱🌱🌱💖❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

❣️🌹Building Your Home Apothecary 2026 applications are now open🌹❣️ if you’re based in Philly and looking to dive deeper with herbal studies, dig your hands in the earth, learn to grow medicinal plants & make medicine in community — please apply ❣️ i’ve been priveleged to offer this introductory herbal course alongside @dominiquematti and @episbymerce at Bartram’s Garden for 3 years now, and each season i am more and more impressed by our students, the gardens we cultivate, and the abundance of medicine we create together. enjoy these pics from our 2025 cohort’s medicine-straining-day 🌼🥲 as well as an example of the fully homegrown medicine bundle you would graduate class with! last pic is one of the most special gifts i’ve received this year: a student’s mom’s homegrown Goji berry harvest from her California garden!! 💖😭 apply at bartramsgarden.org/home-apothecary or at the link in the you know where ~( b👁️oh)~ !! flyer credit: Cavhanah Baht T’om via Bartram’s Garden.

💖💞🌱Going to Herb School🌱💖💞 Pt. 2 thank you so much to everyone who has shared & supported my ~Art Prints 4 Herb School~ fundraiser so far! if you’ve bought a print, it means the world to me. here are all of the available prints! all prints are 9” x 12” on archival matte finish paper. 1. Ancestral Veneration 2. Water Lily 3. Egg Carton Test Print 4. Portal 5. Resist Psychic Death 6. Phone Call w Ancestors 7. De La Tierra 8. Abolish ICE 9. South Philly Spring 10. Schuylkill River all prints available at the 🕷️🕸️link in my biome🕸️🕷️!!! i’ve sold 10 prints so far — if i sell all 50 from this round of prints, i will have raised half of my 2026 tuition!! if you’d like to support but don’t want a print, feel free to send lil’ gifts to my pay handles (pictured). in case ya missed it: i was accepted as a 2nd year placement into the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism’s Clinical Herbalist program for 2026. after over 10years of working with, studying, growing and teaching about medicinal herbs — i’m ready to embrace clinical study to get me where i need to be. that is: taking you as a private client for your herbal needs! 😘🤓🧪 i am selling prints of my photography & cyanotype artwork to raise money for my tuition. pls check out the webshop in my bio!! purchasing an art print directly supports my tuition fees. i plan to add more items to the webshop over time, like custom cyanotype garments & original pieces. stay tuned!! (also, to clarify 😅 i am Not moving to Vermont! i will be taking VCIH’s Clinical Herbalism course virtually, from home in Philadelphia 💜🏡)

💖💘💓🌿Going to Herb School🌱💓💘💖 hi 👋🏼☺️ i was accepted as a 2nd year placement into the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism’s Clinical Herbalist program for 2026. after over 10years of working with, studying, growing and teaching about medicinal herbs — i’m ready to embrace clinical study to get me where i need to be. that is: taking you as a private client for your herbal needs! 😘🤓🧪 i am selling prints of my photography & cyanotype artwork to raise money for my tuition. pls check out the webshop in my bio!! purchasing an art print directly supports my tuition fees. if all 50 prints from this round sell, i will have raised half of my 2026 tuition!! i plan to add more items to the webshop over time, like custom cyanotype garments & original pieces. stay tuned!! feel free to share & thanks so much to the support of my friends, family, community & partner miles for getting me this far 💜🥲 & thanks to miles and my beautiful friends in the sick ass band @gladie_band for making relatable, heart wrenching, life sustaining art & music — like their song featured in this reel! ✨🌱

Hear from experienced BIPOC seed farmers about how they think about seed work in this Zoom panel on Wed, Oct 15th, 12pm (AZ). Panelists include: Amirah Mitchell from @sistahseeds , Maebh Aguilar from @trueloveseeds , and Helena Sakiestewa Gonzales from @nativeseedssearch . This event is intended as a safe space for members of the BIPOC community. If you fall outside of these communities, you are still welcome to register to receive a Zoom recording after the live session. Register at the link in @communitygardendbg ‘s bio.   Escuche a agricultores BIPOC con experiencia compartir cómo se relacionan con el trabajo de semillas. Miércoles, 15 de octubre, 12pm (AZ), Zoom. Panelistas invitados: Amirah Mitchell de Sistah Seeds, Maebh Aguilar de Truelove Seeds, y Helena Sakiestewa Gonzales de Native Seeds/SEARCH.  Este evento está pensado como un espacio seguro para miembros de la comunidad BIPOC. Si no perteneces a estas comunidades, puedes registrarte para recibir una grabación de Zoom después de la sesión en vivo. Regístrate en el enlace de la bio de @communitygardendbg . #seedsovereignty #seedkeeping #foodsovereignty #bipocfarmers #seedsaving

🌽•De La Tierra•🌞•Here to Stay•🌞•Abolish ICE•🌽 excited to share that this design i made is being produced as tees by @philaprint , and are now live for sale on the Philly Printworks website! design is a scan & digital compilation of handcut letters on corn husks. 50% of proceeds from this tee will go towards Philly’s own @vietlead and @the805undocufund in California’s central coast. this is a humble effort to support their tireless, ongoing anti-deportation work and community support of ppl & families effected by ICE raids & kidnappings within our terrorized landscapes. as a Latinx, first gen urban farmer with the privelege of citizenship, i have never had to fear for my life when i show up for work to grow food & medicine for ppl. altho immigrant ppl are more than their/our labor, it is in farming and landbased practices that i have built my life — which compels me to draw attention to relief efforts on CA’s Central Coast — where farmworkers (who are largely ¡¡INDIGENOUS!! Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Purepachas) are fleeing for their lives in the very fields where they grow, tend & harvest 25% of all produce shipped & sold in US grocery stores. as an Ecuadorian, i am intimately familiar with the violence, forced migration, and displacement that continues to ripple out from the US War on Drugs. i am acutely aware that this same violent root & stem effects Southeast Asian refugee & immigrant communities the same way it effects Andean & Latin American immigrant communities in the US. our struggle is one. these are the reasons i have chosen to contribute proceeds to both VietLead and 805undocufund. pls check out & support the rest of Philly Printworks’ ABOLISH ICE collection for more dope designs & artwork by fellow artists raising funds for orgs doing equally as crucial immigrant rights & anti-deportation work, not the least of which being Philly’s own @vamos_juntos_ (link in bi0me to purchase~) 🌽•Of the Land•🌽•We’re Here to Stay•Abolish Borders // Abolish Nation States•❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

🌼 join us at BYHA’s annual medicinal plant sale 🌼 this coming saturday, May 10 from 12 - 3pm, or when we sell out! funds help support our Building Your Home Apothecary herbal course. find us down by Sankofa Farm’s Community Garden with medicinal herb starts, for $4/each. please bring your own box for carrying plants!! see ya there 🌸🌸🌸

study on Pokeberry, cyanotype on cotton pillowcase, 24” x 29” excerpt from a series/study on Pokeberry that has percolated thru my brain since 2016, when i received a spiritual message from a 6ft tall Poke plant along the edge of a section of historic garden i was restoring. it spoke of pain, exploitation, perserverance, and iron through its heart. our convening has been distilling for me ever since. looking forward to longer sunlight in my home on the surface of the earth, breathing warmer air into my lungs, visiting the salt of the sea, and the chance to make more images in collaboration with the skies, stars & plants. 💫 this piece of winter in my northern hemisphere always stretches the longest, drags the heaviest, and feels the most arduous. reminder for myself & anyone else that: we are almost there. ⛅️

🌺 scenes from Building Your Home Apothecary’s 2024 class ❣️ each year, we plant & tend a garden together in community. we learn from each other, and the plants, using herbalism as a tool for cultivating intimate, liberating & communal relationships with the land and ourselves. thank you so much to our beautiful 2024 cohort. applications for BYHA 2025 are now open! closing jan 20. read more & apply in bio :)