At Åmot Farms in Dededo, Saina Bernice Nelson has a collection of over two hundred beautiful plants from achote to rosemary to hibiscus and roses and even strawberries. But her farm isn’t a typical farm. Saina Nelson grows åmot, traditional medicine, from the Marianas and around the world.
Saina Nelson is dedicated to teaching our island’s community of the power of plants. From golondrina to atmagosu to hibiscus, these common everyday plants have medicinal properties that can heal. Some of these plants may look like weeds at first glance, but the trained eye of Saina Nelson can identify them and list the ailments that they treat. As we walk around the farm, she tells us which are good in teas, in ointments and oils, eaten raw, or squeezed for their juices. For the fruiting trees on her farm like the mangoes, soursops, and manzanitas, she makes them into jams to preserve the bounty of what the land gives.