
The Essential Herbal Blog
1,181 FOLLOWERS
The Essential Herbal Blog is filled with information, recipes, lore, and crafting ideas and instructions for using herbs and making them a part of your life everyday. The Essential Herbal Magazine is a print magazine by, for, and about herbie people and the things they love about herbs.
The Essential Herbal Blog
1M ago
Another year begins. I'm starting to get the hang of this! Seriously though, we still love what we're doing, and that's very fortunate indeed.
The new issue is full of wonderful information. The cover is Skylar in the Way-Back machine, on a warm day in winter, a first visit to the woods with her mom and Molly a decade ago.
The Table of Contents:
Crossword – Happy New Year 2025
Words of beginnings and clean slates and herbs &nb ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
1M ago
I'm squeezing this in before posting the latest regular issue. It's been a whirlwind around here! We realized it was seriously time to stop making soap, and sadly hung up our aprons. The soap in stock poured out of the shop, as did holiday orders. Now that there's a moment to think, it's time to post!
The regular issue went out 2 days ago, and I'm already working on the next EXTRA! They've become a favorite treat for subscribers!
In this issue:
? The Foraging Year wrapped up with a combination of late November and early December. We really ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
4M ago
porterstavern@yahoo.com
porterstavern@yahoo.com
We got to work very early on this issue so that we could take care of some stuff around the farm. As we worried about filling it up, it grew and grew until we had more pages than we normally do - and they're all great! This issue finishes 23 years of publishing, and there have been a very few issues that almost magically publish themselves. It happens when we are stretched too thin due to circumstances beyond our control (AKA life) and are considering surrendering and being late. Miraculously, it comes together and *POOF* we sli ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
4M ago
(photo from Wikipedia - but I did this job at one time)
The other day I was talking to a friend about an old gripe. It's about people who were in business before the internet learned to either come up with original products OR do something to make them their own. We'd learn enough about them to change the recipe, change the packaging, call it something different ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
4M ago
What is the Extra?
In between regular issues that come out every other month, we put out some extra content that is only available to subscribers, and it arrives automatically.
Originally, the Extra was going to just be a great seasonal recipe or remedy, maybe a puzzle, or a little video. That never happened. Instead, the Extra is almost always a jam-packed mini-magazine. The time may come when we have to do something less once or twice, but for now we are pretty amazed with what we keep sending!
We did put together the first 2 years (and soon we'll have another 2 ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
4M ago
This summer has provided lots of opportunities to rekindle friendships and meet new ones. It's been a lot of fun and has held more than its fair share of challenges, too.
I didn't realize how behind everything was until the last herb faire (actually tea festival) of the year was done, and I had a minute to look around. We won't talk about the things that still need unpacking though. Laundry is done, dishes are done, and we're working away on the Nov/Dec issue now! So, seems like time to get the current issue posted.
SUBSCRIBEor
SINGLE ISSUE
This issue is really ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
7M ago
Our latest "subscriber only" extra content went out yesterday.
Inside, you'll find Rebekah's latest foraging adventures (Utah, this time), witch hazel toner, a yarrow remedy in honor of yarrow being herb of the year, a charming conversation between a group who all shared parts of the same plant, and our usual word puzzles!
Subscribe today and get it!
www.essentialherbal.com ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
7M ago
From the Jan/Feb 2015 issue of The Essential Herbal
The following article was written in response to the IHA Herb of the Year® as we try to do each year. For instance, we're aiming to include something about yarrow in each issue this year for the same reason. We find that we learn so much about these herbs when we really look at them individually!
Right now, Herb Society of America is honoring Savory as their herb of the month, and so I pulled this article out to share!
Seasonal Savorys
Savory Saturea ssp.
There are two types of Savory, Winter (Satureia montana ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
7M ago
This is one of those very rare books that I savor like fine chocolate. I don't want to read a lot at one sitting, because each herb (for instance) description or tale requires some introspection. To read too quickly, I couldn't absorb it properly. It deserves the time.
Physically, the book feels good. Nice size (over 400 pages), easy to hold at 9" x 6" - and print that I can easily read. The paper is non-glare, which I also appreciate.
Very often when people are attempting to convey experiences that are mystical or beyond the mundane, they employ a sort of l ..read more
The Essential Herbal Blog
8M ago
The little mimosa grove in the lot next to the house is flowering. I can stand on the deck and see exactly when it's time to go out and pluck the blossoms. It's easy to see when storms knock down branches, so that I can get out there and peel the bark before it gets too dry.
A lush St John's Wort plant popped up in the middle of the grove!
Several years ago while writing one of my books, there were a lot of remedies using mimosa tincture, and several tea blends using mimosa. It's one of my top 10 favorite herbs I talked to a representative of a large herb ..read more