The Enchanter’s Green: Vervain, Wood Betony, and St. John’s Wort | Featuring Kiva Rose Hardin
This podcast episode is the presentation that Kiva Rose Hardin gave for the Fall 2022 Free Herbalism Project. This was a virtual event that took place over Zoom on October 14, 2022.
Kiva states, Vervain, Wood Betony, and St. John’s Wort were some of my earliest herbal allies when I took my first steps on the plant healer’s path. These three herbs are nervines, but so much more! They have a long history as sacred and magical plants across many cultures. Medicinally, all three are often categorized as calming but also have profound tonifying effects and myriad healing actions that are not always as well-known as they should be. In the class, I will cover my personal experiences with the herbs, including specific indications, application, medicine making, dosage, folklore, and more!
Bulk Ingredients That Save Money, Reduce Waste, & Promote Resiliency
I love the peace of knowing that I have both the skills and stock on hand to thrive in most of the situations life throws my way. I can confidently rely on my resourcefulness and forethought to help me whether I can’t get to the grocery store for a bit, need to pinch some pennies, or just ran out of laundry soap. The efforts that I put into this lifestyle are also in line with my sustainability goals and significantly reduce the waste generated from my household.
I wouldn’t consider myself a “prepper” by any means, but I do think of myself as an experienced bulk buyer and a sustainability-minded person. In addition to improved resiliency, bulk purchasing also saves a ton of money and resources. Let’s use dried organic basil leaf as an example. A store-bought bottle of organic basil leaf is roughly $8.00 per ounce. A four-ounce bag of basil leaf that you can use to refill into your own upcycled bottles is $7.25 at Mountain Rose Herbs. That would be about $32.00 if you bought that much at the grocery store. I don’t know about you, but I go through more than one bottle of basil leaf a year, and with that kind of cost savings, I can even afford to share it with my friends and family if I couldn’t use it all myself.
The Art of Culinary Creations
Food is art. It is an art blended from culture and experience, passion, and appetite. But only fresh and vibrant spices can truly make your culinary creations come to life. Mountain Rose Herbs has provided farm-fresh organic spices since 1987 and continues to be the supplier of choice for home cooks and professional chefs alike.
Herbs Are Not Pharmaceuticals | Featuring Dr. Christopher Hobbs
This podcast episode comes from Dr. Christopher Hobbs’ presentation for the Fall 2022 Free Herbalism Project. This was a virtual event that took place over Zoom on October 14, 2022. Dr. Hobbs discusses why herbs and herbal medicine is fundamentally different than drugs. Since the pandemic, the popularity of herbal medicine in households has continued to grow rapidly. Dr. Hobbs help us to look closely and practically at how herbal medicine can transform your health and wellness while helping to relieve symptoms and chronic ailments. His presentation also details why choosing herbal medicine as our first line of prevention and treatment in most ailments can not only benefit us—side benefits rather than side effects—while being completely sustainable and beneficial for our beautiful planet and all the inhabitants. Dr. Christopher Hobbs occasionally references slides throughout his presentation. You can find his slides by watching the presentation on our YouTube channel.
Body Into Balance, With Maria Noël Groves | Tea Talks With Jiling
Jiling and Maria discuss favorite easy-to-grow herbs for a medicinal herb garden, “remedy gardens,” favorite herbs for delicious teas, increasing access for herbal classes within a for-profit business model, and more. We hope this conversation inspires your spring planting, growing, learning, and harvesting projects!
How to Make Herbal Syrups for Cocktails, Mocktails, Pancakes, & More!
Homemade simple syrups infused with dried herbs are a handy ingredient to have at the ready and as the name implies, they are incredibly easy to make! If you can boil water, you can make simple syrup. Herb-infused syrups can be added to carbonated water, brushed on cakes, drizzled on yogurt or pancakes, and, of course, added to mocktails! They are also a great way to take herbs without the use of alcohol and are especially great for getting kids to willfully add healthy ingredients to their diet.
Herb-Infused Simple Syrup Recipe Using Dried Herbs
Simple syrups are a fun and surprisingly useful ingredient to keep on hand in your refrigerator, especially when they are infused with your favorite herbs. A lot of people think of mocktails or cocktails when they think of simple syrups, and that’s definitely a good use for them. But they are equally wonderful added to carbonated water, as sweetener in tea, brushed on cakes or cupcakes, drizzled on yogurt or pancakes, and more. They are called “simple” syrup for a reason—if you can boil water, you can make simple syrup. And infusing simple syrups with herbs takes them from being a good ingredient to an amazing one!
The Importance And Limitations Of Scientific Research For Herbalists
Learning to read and assess scientific research articles is an important skill for the modern herbalist. The information is literally at our fingertips, however, we do need to know how to interpret it. As herbalists, our information is scrutinized. Someone can be on seven medications with dangerous side effects, but when something goes wrong, it will be blamed on the lavender in their deodorant. If we make the wrong claims, we can risk serious repercussions.
How To Clean And Upcycle Bottles, Jars, & Other Empty Containers
If you’re anything like me, you don’t like to waste. When you enjoy herbal preparations as part of your daily routine, you are bound to wind up with a stockpile of perfectly good containers that can still be used. But how can you make sure they are cleaned well enough to reuse, and how can you continue to put them to use time and time again? Here are some tips and tricks to help you keep those bottles in circulation.
Ashwagandha: Uses And Benefits + Tasty Recipes
Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) a plant highly praised in the Ayurvedic tradition, is in the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. It’s been said that the herb may give both energy and calmness to those plagued with physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. The species name somnifera means sleep-inducing, whereas ashwagandha comes from the Sanskrit words “ashva” and “gandha,” meaning “horse smell” since some think the roots of this calming plant smell like a horse. To each their own in the smell department; however, being a trophorestorative herb, it can bring “horselike” strength and vitality when used consistently over time. Ashwagandha has also been known to have a positive effect on cortisol levels due to real and perceived stress triggers and their subsequent physical and emotional symptoms. With stress being a way of life for many, the release of stress may also result in increased vigor and energy.
