Plant Stories | Featuring Doug Elliot
There may be no better person that embodies the vision of “Plant Stories” like herbal troubadour and Appalachian naturalist, Doug Elliot. A gifted storyteller, Doug recites both wisdom and whimsical through spoken word and song. We’ve compiled some of our favorite songs that Doug has recorded with us and are releasing them together, in this delightful and heart-warming episode. Our host, Thomas, gives a brief introduction in between Doug’s sets, offering context for each of the four botanical tales & tunes.
Meet The Herbalist With Bevin Clare | Featuring Lucretia VanDyke (Rerelease)
With a journey that began when she was a little girl mixing herbs, mud, and roots on her grandparents’ farm, Lucretia VanDyke has had a lifelong connection to the plants. She has been in the wellness industry for over twenty-five years. Her quest for knowledge and storytelling has led her all over the world to learn about remedies, traditions, and ceremonies from indigenous healers.
Interviews On Herbal Radio With Thomas Dick | Featuring Jiling Lin
Thomas sat down with our good friend and talented herbalist, Jiling Lin, over Zoom this past fall to get to know her a little better. We’ve had the great fortune of partnering with Jiling on numerous projects including filming instructional videos, writing poetic blogs and journal articles, emceeing Free Herbalism Projects, and of course hosting Tea Talks on Herbal Radio. We’re so grateful for the opportunity to get to know Jiling even more as Thomas and Jiling chat about her upbringing, the sharing of plants and stories, and the pivotal herbal plot points in her life. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Jiling as much as we did!
Living in the Legacy of African American Healers
There is no way to fully know all the accomplishments and contributions people of color have made in the healing arts. Throughout my American herbal studies, I heard people sing songs to the plants and listened to their stories about herbalism. While these stories were helpful, they didn’t resonate as deeply for me because they did not represent people of color. Many times, when teachers could tell a story about someone in the BIPOC community who influenced their path to herbalism, they had forgotten those long-ago educators’ names. I began a quest to speak the names of my ancestors, to collect the stories of the powerful women who wove a patchwork quilt of herbal knowledge that was passed down to them from lands most had never felt a sunrise in.
The Many Roles of An Herbalist
The first time I ever helped someone’s sleeplessness and stress with a simple tisane blend, I felt such a strong sense of familiarity, rightness, and resonance that I knew that something in my life had irrevocably changed. Stepping from curiosity into active involvement in herbalism was a form of initiation for me, a door opening into a world I’d always wanted to be a part of, but wasn’t sure I was good enough for. This transition also shifted my role in my community, and I became a person that others came to for help, advice, support, and information much more often than previously.
Now that I have witnessed and helped so many others through the same portal, this moment of transformation is something I think of as the taking on of the green mantle. I imagine it like the fairy shawl of Manx folklore, woven of living flowers, moss, and mushrooms that rests upon the shoulders of all who follow this path of devotion to the healing powers of the green world. When I meet someone with a deep connection to the plants, it almost seems as if I can see that mantle on them, and it never fails to remind me of the importance of connection and relationship in herbalism.
What Sustainability Means to Us
What does sustainability mean to you? Is it about balancing what we take and what we give? Is it about leaving a natural legacy for your children or grandchildren? Or maybe just leaving the land in better shape than you found it? Different people think about sustainability in different ways, but in the end it comes down to a recognition that this is the only planet we’ve got and we need to take action in our daily lives to do our part to caretake our home. We asked our staff members what sustainability means to them and how working for Mountain Rose Herbs reflects their commitment to put the care of our planet at the forefront. Listen in and let us know what sustainability means to you and what you do to live your best sustainable life.
The Faces of Mountain Rose Herbs
We wanted to take a moment and thank all of our wonderful employees for their heartfelt dedication and commitment to the herbal community. Not only did this dream team bring us through an incredible 2022—they did it joyously and with kindness for each other.
Thank you, Mountain Rose Herbs team, for serving the community with your positive attitude and passion for herbalism, sustainable living, and natural wellness.
Your work never goes unnoticed.
7Song’s Scientific & Humorous Approach to Herbalism
In the summer of 2022, our Creative team traveled to Ithaca, NY, to spend a few days learning about 7Song (@7Songsevensong) and his Northeast School of Botanical Medicine. Our friend, esteemed herbalist 7Song, has been inspiring herb students at his school since the early 1990s. While some herbal schools are rooted solely in plant medicine, the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine focuses on the human body, critical thinking, and botany. As a self-described cynic, 7Song brings humor and practicality to an often challenging field of work.
Visit 7Song at 7song.com
Follow him on Instagram @7songSevenSong
Follow him on Facebook @Sevensong.Sevensong
The Sacred Copal Tree + Ceremonial Uses for Día de Muertos
Copalli—the Nahuatl word for Copal—is a resin extracted from the Copal tree and has been used in Indigenous practices for thousands of years. In honor of Dia de Muertos, our friend Patricia Cortez has written a beautiful blog about her memories of how her Mamá Trini trained her in El Salvador to work with Copalli. We love the story of how she learned to befriend and honor the Protium Copal tree and the traditional way of using maguey cactus to harvest the copal. And did you know that in 2016 the Mexican government designated Dia de Muertos as a Cultural Heritage to the world? We all have Ancestors to honor and celebrate regardless of where we are from. What do you recall about your ancestors and how do you honor them?
Voiceover graciously provided by Patricia Cortez.
Patricia Cortez is a bilingual-bicultural holistic practitioner at Eugene Reiki Healing in Eugene, Oregon. Visit her here: www.eugenereikihealing.com.
2022 Grants 4 Plants: Meet the Winners!
As many of you know, each year Mountain Rose Herbs offers Grants 4 Plants to change-makers who have a vision to take care of people while protecting our planet. This year, we received hundreds of applications for four $4,000 grants. We were astounded by the passion, creativity, and commitment of our plant-loving community. Grants 4 Plants is a celebration of herbal education, environmental stewardship, and the ever-growing herbal community. Please join us in congratulating this year’s grantees: Bottoms Up Community Garden, Insight Garden Program (IGP), Salish Place of Remediation Education (SPoRE), and Quail Springs.
