Fresh Lion’s Mane mushroom Lion’s Mane Mushroom is an herb I’ve been enjoying so much over the past months. It’s a powerful nootropic, has a special talent for helping heal damaged nerves, and possesses the famous beta-glucan polysaccharides that make medicinal mushrooms such potent immunomodulators. Over the winter we’ve been learning a ton about herbal nootropics in our Viriditas Membership Community and I wanted to share a but of what we’ve been covering! But first…what’s a nootropic you might ask? What’s a Nootropic? Nootropic is an herbal action used to describe brain-boosting, mood enha ..read more

In honor of winter and the deep nourishment this season has to offer, I wanted to share with you all a favorite recipe I've been making that's also super appropriate for the winter in terms of food as medicine and seasonal energetics. If this topic is intriguing to you, you can take a listen to my interview from last winter on The Herbal Womb Wisdom podcast all about the energetics of winter and learn why miso, and the salty taste in particular, is so good for you in the winter. You can listen while you make your soup!  Deep Winter Miso Soup Ingredients: Making the broth base for the sou ..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 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