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A large exhibit area is devoted to how early settlers relied on the bounty and blessings of nature to survive. One panel in the exhibit explains the importance of a hand-me-down knowledge of edible and medicinal plants. Such was a long-standing tradition of people in rural areas.

In 1728, Col. William Byrd, while surveying the line that now separates the State of Virginia from North Carolina, noted in his journal; "To help cure fatigue, I used to chew a root of ginseng as I walked along. This kept up my spirits. It gives an uncommon warmth and vigor to the blood. It cheers the heart of a man that has a bad wife and makes him look down with great composure upon the crosses of the world. It will make old age amiable by rendering it lively, cheerful and good humored."