At Historic Bethabara Park, the medicinal garden is the oldest European medicinal herb garden in the United States. It was laid out in October 1756 for Doctor Kalberlan, one of the first settlers to establish Bethabara, and its design was modeled after a Medieval abbey schematic with 64 plants chosen for their healing properties. The Moravians used simple home remedies from plants they grew or collected, emphasizing wellness and prevention through the belief that food was medicine and medicine was food. Plants from the garden were also collected by the physician and compounded into medicines using traditional recipes, then obtained directly from the physician or apothecary with careful instructions for use. Today the garden serves as a living history exhibit and seed source rather than a place for making medicines. Modern research has found that some of these plants contain medicinally valuable active chemicals, some contain toxic compounds that can be harmful or fatal, and others are harmless, nutritious, and still used as food flavorings.