It’s been on my mind to have Michael Pilarski on the show for quite a while now, so when he dropped by the other day to see my garden, it seemed like the perfect time to invite him to be here.  I loved talking with Michael about his experience of both wildcrafting and farming, and his perspective about the benefits and drawbacks of both of those ways of working with the land.  And it was so much fun chatting with him about our love for herbal gatherings! Michael also shared some fantastic tips on gathering arnica and making medicine with it, including his recipe for Arnica Liniment ..read more

I had such a great time catching up with Phyllis Light in this conversation!  Hearing Phyllis’ unique herbal story and her philosophy about herbs and herbalism was a real treat.  Plus, she shared such an abundance of information about sumac and its medicinal gifts that I am inspired to start working more with this amazing plant! Phyllis shared so many ways to work with sumac, including her recipe for Sumac Elderberry Syrup (along with several suggestions of how to use that syrup).  You can download a beautifully illustrated recipe card for Phyllis’ syrup here. You will be amazed ..read more

It was so much fun to meet the famous Brigitte Mars, who has been an herbalist for over fifty years.  I’ve admired her work for such a  long time, and found in this interview that she is also quite the character!   Brigitte has such a strong thread of creativity that just bursts out of her, and our conversation went in many unexpected directions – way beyond simply talking about our mutual love for dandelions! It’s truly bizarre to me that some people reach for poisons to eradicate certain plants in their lawn - especially when so many of those plants can be so beneficial t ..read more

I have fallen in love with Mary Morgaine Squire’s plant love letter newsletters lately, and when I sat down to interview her, it was made even more clear to me just how deep her connection with the herbs is!  I’m excited that she chose ginkgo (GIngko biloba) for her herb – it’s a new plant for the show and one I haven’t worked with much myself. I really enjoyed learning more about it.  I’m even trying to find a place to grow a ginkgo tree in my own yard now! Mary shared so many wonderful things during our conversation – from a plant meditation to an excerpt from her love letter to gi ..read more

I’ve known Kristine Brown for many years, and it was such a delight to sit down and chat with her about her love of nettle – a plant that herbalists love to love!  Even though I have immersed myself in nettle love for years, I learned some new things about this wonderful herb during our conversation.  And it was so much fun to hear about Kristine’s herbal journey and how she came to develop her herbal zine and amazing herbal learning system for children. If you homeschool your children – or even if you don’t, but simply enjoy sharing the gifts of herbs with the children in your life ..read more

I am a huge fan of the work done through United Plant Savers (UPS) and so it was truly an honor to have Susan Leopold, the executive director of UPS, on the show!  I had so much fun talking with Susan.  Of course she discussed the UPS’s efforts to catalog and protect at-risk native medicinal plants, but this conversation also went places I didn’t expect,  including some of the history of herbal medicine in the United States and a sneak peek at next year’s International Herb Symposium. Susan also talked about some of the many free resources United Plant Savers has to offer, like ..read more

It was so much fun to interview Dr. Jillian Stansbury!  She is a plant nerd in all the best ways, and every section of this conversation has so much wisdom infused into it.  Not only does Dr. Stansbury give a ton of information about chamomile’s many gifts but she also touches on the differences between the use of herbs and pharmaceuticals, her passion for ethnobotany, and so much more. If you like to nerd out on herbs then you are going to love this conversation! A master at herbal formulation, Dr. Stansbury also discusses herbs that partner well with chamomile for different health ..read more

This is Maria Noël Groves’s second time on the show, and I’m thrilled to have her back!  You can tell that Maria is an herbal teacher, because this episode is packed with in-depth herbal information about lemon balm.  She shares so much wisdom about lemon balm’s gifts that I just  can’t wait to get into the garden and work with this wonderful plant again! Maria also shared many ways to work with lemon balm, including her recipe for Lemon Balm Fresh Tincture.  (You can find the link to your free, beautifully illustrated recipe card here.) When might you turn to lemon balm? H ..read more

I've spent many hours poring over Thomas Avery Garran’s materia medica books.  In fact, his first book was one of the first herbal books that I bought when I started studying Chinese medicine!  And as you’ll see in this episode, Thomas clearly loves plants and has wonderful insights into them, from their gifts and energetics to how to grow and harvest them. I was surprised when Thomas chose motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) as his plant for the interview – I just didn't see it coming!  But as you’ll see, it’s obvious how much he loves motherwort, and he shares so much about this wo ..read more

I am thrilled to have David Winston back on the show! Like his last episode, which featured nettles, this episode is absolutely packed with knowledge and wisdom from David’s 55 years of experience. (Speaking of his incredible storehouse of herbal know-how, if you’d like to study with David, he’s enrolling students now! You can get the details in the show notes. I'm proud to promote David's course as an affiliate partner.) David’s love of rose really shines through in this episode, and he shares so many ways to work with this wonderful plant!   As a listener, you also have access ..read more