New advances in technology continually shift; and can fully disrupt which practices remain as competitive advantages, compared with those that become disadvantages. Furthermore, external forces such as legislative actions have the potential to fundamentally change the classifications, and thereby the markets extended to botanical medicines. Nurturing Nature® Group Consultants helps producers, processors, and dispensaries of organizations and technology interests stay ahead of the curve in new developments within their respective industry segments, through contingency planning for disruptions in existing processes, whether medical, technological, or legislative.

As our ancestors evolved in prehistoric times, early human beings likely recognized that a profound relationship exists between plants and health.  Ancient healers were among the earliest of civilization’s most accomplished botanists and would have been regarded poorly if they failed to keep their plants alive.  Without horticultural knowledge and the ability to sustain plant-derived remedies, healers would lose their formulary and most certainly would have failed at their craft.  The earliest physician healers included Imhotep in Egypt (2667-2648 BC) and Hippocrates in Greece (460-370 BC), who understood and recorded ancient plant remedies that have withstood the test of time.

Nurturing Nature brings unusual combinations of clinical healthcare knowledge complemented by expertise in botanical medicine horticulture to give us the competitive edge.  Ultimately, these backgrounds uniquely qualify us to provide consultancy services that advance the evolving endocannabinoid sciences within an emerging Integrative Medicine botanical industry only in its infancy.

Continuous Quality Improvement Ensures Horticultural Success

Nurturing Nature consultants provide quality assurance guidance in the application of best practices to promote continuous quality improvement. Standards will be created and continually revised to reflect the objective scientific evidence for industry development. These standards will be shared and serves as the basis of an evaluation process that will help botanical medicine organizations measure, assess, and improve performance.

As in any industry, there are often “best practice guidelines” that become accepted as the standards within that industry.  The 2014 American Herbal Pharmacopeia’s (AHP) monograph for Cannabis species and the United States Pharmacopeia’s (USP) publications for other alternative herbal supplements are examples. These are offered as general guidelines that must be applied in specific ways within each operation, and currently are regarded as minimum botanical medicine standards that are expected to evolve.

Nurturing Nature integrates advances in plant health (horticulture) with those procedural processes derived from clinical medical healthcare.  Those universally accepted methods used in the practice of medicine are in essence applied to our agricultural recommendations.  This application of sophisticated processes involved are indeed a translation of fauna to flora.

Nurturing Nature’s Method for Horticultural Success

Translational science (also referred to as “translational medicine”) is a discipline within biomedical and public health research that aims to improve the health of individuals and the community by “translating” findings into diagnostic tools, medicines, procedures, policies and education.  It is a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach that endeavors to translate new research and technology into practical ways that benefit community health in the safest and most efficient way possible that can be summarized as “Lab bench; to the bedside; to the community”.

T1 or translational phase 1 begins the translation journey from the lab bench seed selection, to testing effects at the patient’s bedside, to sharing the benefits with the community. During this phase, researchers usually conduct preclinical studies and phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. T2 expands discovery to larger patient populations in phase 3 and 4 clinical trials, observational studies, and even some survey research. T3 launches the practice-oriented stage of translational research by implementing it to find out if a certain treatment or practice works in a real-world setting. T4 focuses on policy. If T1-T3 were successful, the next step is to find the best method of reaching clinicians and patients with a nationwide policy concerning treatment X or strategy Y.

Nurturing Nature® Group Consultants actively participates in the development of entity-specific best practices and quality standards; and can assist with deriving the metrics necessary to ensure that such standards are met and quality improved on a continual basis. Deriving from his 20-year hospital career experience familiar with federally required healthcare accreditation procedures, Dr. Block innovated and incorporated The American Commission on Botanical Safety and Efficacy in 2015 to develop organizational accreditation processes that will benefit patient outcomes and improve the future industry’s best practices.

Validating Nurturing Nature’s High-Quality Agriculture

Block Botanical Gardens validates Nurturing Nature’s agricultural methods…  Our consultancy has integrated knowledge from Dr. Jeff Block’s medical profession and applied those guiding health & wellness principles to his inventive hybridizing and robust botanicals. Resulting from intelligent landscape design; not only are the gardens filled with award-winning rare plants, but they are also visually spectacular!  Conservation friendly high-quality irrigation products and practices responsibly sustain extraordinary specimens.  The staff’s commitment to sustaining horticultural excellence supports and showcases many of the world’s most beautiful plants adapting to South Florida’s subtropical climate.

Much of the Nurturing Nature team’s success stems from an extensive understanding of a given unique plants’ optimal need for water, air, and light. In addition to a rare plant conservatory, two automated greenhouses efficiently develop seeds to specimens that are nurtured to nature’s highest standards.  Miami’s Block Botanical Gardens showcase abundant subtropical plant life derived from six continents, all extraordinarily thriving in a naturally rich century-old residential fruit grove. This gardens’ commitment to horticultural excellence supports and sustains the world’s most beautiful plants adapting to South Florida’s subtropical climate.  Highly sought after ornamental wonders abound and include internationally recognized palm, aroid, and bromeliad collections. Developed over three decades, these inviting gardens feature brick pathways accessing dramatic plant groupings grown to their greatest natural potential. As a medical doctor, physician-scientist, master gardener educator and community leader, Block has a generation of unparalleled experiences with developing sustainable technologies and advanced irrigation practices serving fine subtropical gardens.

Block Botanical Gardens custodial mission is to sustain subtropical ornamental plant specimens of extraordinarily high horticultural merit that compare favorably among the finest seen in the world.

We practice “The Art and Science of Nurturing Nature“.