In 2021 I offered 3 online classes, hosted by the wonderful River Valley Coop. They recently shared with me the recordings of these classes so I’ll be posting them here on my blog throughout the year! The final one of the series was this class, “The Winter Herbal Medicine Cabinet”. Please enjoy the class video below and the accompanying text, which is the handout class participants received, which includes numerous recipes! In this class I demo making: Elderberry Syrup Garlic Honey Winter Immune Broth You can find the recipes for these below if you’d like to follow along and make your own whil ..read more

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) Our grief is a portal, an opening, a passageway into honoring that which we love. Anyone who’s ever been grief-stricken can tell you that grief is an expression of love - the two are inseparable. Grief itself isn’t something to be cured or healed, it’s something to be in relationship with. And, still, sometimes it’s too much. The weight of it can bear down and become immobilizing, expressed as a state of deep nervous system activation, exhaustion, and chronic stress. And sometimes the expression of grief isn’t enough. Our culture doesn’t give much space for grievin ..read more

In the herb world there's kind of an inside joke that's basically this-  some people are "Blue Vervain" people, meaning they're pretty Type A, love lists and order and control (but often get stressed-out trying to control everything), tend towards holding stress in their bodies-  particularly the neck and shoulders- and are often a "work hard, play hard" type. In the Ayurvedic framework these are folks with LOTS of  Pitta. The medicine of Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) is perfect for people of this disposition and anyone who has these tendencies which, let's be honest, is many o ..read more

In 2021 I offered 3 online classes, hosted by the wonderful River Valley Coop. They recently shared with me the recordings of these classes so I’ll be posting them here on my blog throughout the year! The final one of the series was this class, “The Winter Herbal Medicine Cabinet”. Please enjoy the class video below and the accompanying text, which is the handout class participants received, which includes numerous recipes! In the class below I demo making: Elderberry Syrup Garlic Honey Winter Immune Broth THE WINTER HERBAL MEDICINE CABINET In thinking about herbs and preparations to have on ..read more

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) Our grief is a portal, an opening, a passageway into honoring that which we love. Anyone who’s ever been grief-stricken can tell you that grief is an expression of love - the two are inseparable. Grief itself isn’t something to be cured or healed, it’s something to be in relationship with. And, still, sometimes it’s too much. The weight of it can bear down and become immobilizing, expressed as a state of deep nervous system activation, exhaustion, and chronic stress. And sometimes the expression of grief isn’t enough. Our culture doesn’t give much space for grievin ..read more

Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) in flower In the herb world there's kind of an inside joke that's basically this-  some people are "Blue Vervain" people, meaning they're pretty Type A, love lists and order and control (but often get stressed-out trying to control everything), tend towards holding stress in their bodies-  particularly the neck and shoulders- and are often a "work hard, play hard" type. In the Ayurvedic framework these are folks with LOTS of  Pitta. The medicine of Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) is perfect for people of this disposition and anyone who has these te ..read more

Wild Rose (Rosa multiflora) Rose season is quite possibly my most highly anticipated “plant season” of the year. Many of us bioregional herbalists mark the year in this way…April is Dandelion and Violet, May is Nettles, and Rose season here begins in June. Whether it’s Beach Rose growing wild on the coast, Wild Rose growing every which way with the brambles in the hedges, or a fragrant antique Rose growing in a hidden garden- I love them all. And, true to the adage, a rose is a rose is a rose… One of the most amazing thing about Roses is every species in the Rosa genus can be worked with medi ..read more

In 2021 I offered 3 online classes, hosted by the wonderful River Valley Coop. They recently shared with me the recordings of these classes so I’ll be posting them here on my blog throughout the year! The first of the series was this class, “Medicine-Making 101: Herbal Vinegars, Oxymels & Spring Tonics”. Please enjoy the class video below and the accompanying text, which is the handout class participants received! Medicine-Making 101: Herbal Vinegars, Oxymels & Spring Tonics Burdock (Arctium lappa) I first became interested in diversifying my apothecary with vinegar and honey-based p ..read more

Spring Willow Magic Spring is one of the classic times to work with tree medicine, during the season when the sap is rising, the vascular cambium is active with sap and nutrients, and the trees are waking back up. Below I share some of my favorite trees to work with in the spring and my hope is that even if you don’t have all of these trees in your bioregion, you at least have a few. The trees with medicinal barks discussed here can also be harvesting in the fall, which is another time that the medicinal, inner cambium layer of the bark is active, as the trees are sending those nutrients down ..read more

Barberry (Berberis spp) is a medicine I truly feel all of us should know. This ubiquitous shrub is abundant, pervasive, and rich in a very special alkaloid extensively studied to have a whole host of antimicrobial properties, Berberine. This alkaloid gives Barberry its distinctive yellow roots and inner bark and is the same alkaloid that makes the famous Goldenseal so antimicrobial and gives it its golden-yellow color as well. But importantly Barberry, unlike Goldenseal, is not at-risk and or endangered like Goldenseal is, making it a wonderful analog species in many situations. Whenever possi ..read more