Results for Category: Herb Talk
Two Basic St. John’s Wort Preparations To Keep In Stock
“This is her greatest trick: Bringing light and warmth to your darkness by helping to re-create the electric leap of synapses firing and energy moving along. Call on St. John’s Wort when you need a sip of sunshine so you can find your light in the darkness.” – Maia Toll, The Illustrated Herbiary St. John’s…
Seaweed 101: What You Need To Know And Why You Should Add It Into Your Materia Medica
Although seaweeds are not technically considered “herbs,” these aqueous plants have recently begun to receive attention in the...
How To Use Low-Dose Botanicals Like Lobelia Safely
Plants are complex, and they have profound effects on the human body. Paracelsus said, “What is there that is not poison? All th...
How To Use Rose for Grief Support
I believe that the world was created and approved by love, that it subsists, coheres, and endures by love, and that insofar as it is redeemable, it can be redeemed only by love. –Wendell Berry I’ve been thinking a lot about the briar lately—or more specifically, the rose. I see a need for the actions…
6 Ways To Use Ginger Every Day
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizome is most commonly used in the kitchen given its slightly sweet, spicy, and strong aromatic flavors. However, there are many ways you can use this herb every day in your herbal practice, too! From helping soothe muscle pain, enhancing overall circulation, and nipping colds in the bud, ginger has many uses…
Adding Devil’s Club to your Materia Medica
When I first saw devil’s club in the wild woods, I had no idea what it was, but I was immediately entranced by it. The thick, ye...
5 Ways To Use Hollyhock In Your Materia Medica
You may have admired hollyhock (Althaea rosea) already in gardens, along bike paths, or in other sunny locations as a beautiful an...
6 Basil Varieties & What You Should Know About Them
Few things compare to the fresh smell and flavor of basil pesto. Throw some basil leaves and pine nuts (or even less expensive almonds) in a blender with some olive oil, lemon, and salt, and you create a fragrant, herbaceous spread you can put on most anything. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!…
How To Incorporate Hemp In Your Materia Medica
With hemp (Cannabis sativa) only just beginning to emerge on the forefront of herbal practice and scientific research, there is much curiosity and confusion in the herbal community surrounding the general use of hemp and what distinguishes it from marijuana or weed. In this article, I will guide you through a basic introduction to hemp,…
The Lure and Lore of HOPS: The 2018 Herb of the Year
Each year since 1995, the International Herb Association picks an Herb of the Year. This year that herb is hops (Humulus spp.). Be...
Maitake 101: A Valuable Mushroom (+ Maitake Barley Risotto Recipe!)
Early October in New England means many things: cool and sunny days, peak fall color, crisp apples, and icy cold cider come to min...
7 Things You May Not Know About Passionflower
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata L.) has a rich history of use here in the West. Not only has it been used by Native American tribes, early European settlers, and African American slaves, but its uses have varied over time, especially as the Eclectic physicians of the 19th and 20th centuries began to use it more and…
Adding Yarrow To Your Materia Medica
Yarrow grows freely in my gardens and I encourage it to do so, as much for its beauty as its beneficial uses. While the blooms have just gone by in my garden, the harvest is drying on the herb rack and macerating into a potent tincture in the herb cupboard. And while yarrow has long…
34 Ways To Use Roses
Summer heat means decadently fragrant roses are in riotous bloom! What could be more lovely than the full blossom of a rose? Howev...
Who Else Wants To Learn About Spanish Moss?
For starters, Spanish moss is neither Spanish in origin, nor is it moss! Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is actually an epiphy...
All About Dandelion (For Your Materia Medica)
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is most assuredly a treasured plant in my local materia medica and is appreciated by herbalists throughout temperate regions of the world. Sadly, dandelion is not celebrated by all—due to its penchant to grow and blossom wherever it darn well pleases, it is loathed and poisoned by those who value a pristine…
Little-Known Ways To Use Lovage
If we were to walk back in time and enter a medieval medicinal or kitchen garden, in the back we would surely find a relatively unknown plant today—lovage. Unlike many herbs, lovage may have begun its journey with humans as a therapeutic plant and evolved into the culinary plant too few of us enjoy today….
Motherwort Through History
Here at the Academy, we often talk about historical knowledge and folk tradition comprising one of the legs of the three-legged st...
St. John’s Wort: Not Just For Depression
Stumbling upon a field of wildly growing St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) is like discovering a ray of Earth-bound sunshin...
Sweet Violets of Spring
I’m sitting here, looking out the office window over the snow-covered hills and sniffing a wee bottle of violet leaf absolute that arrived a couple months ago in an extravagant birthday basket. It is hard to describe, but Marge Clark of Nature’s Gift has this to say about it: “Intensely green initially, this absolute has…
All About Wild Cherry Bark (Printable Monograph)
Wild cherry bark has been used in a variety of ways in years past to support the health of the body. Today, we want to peel back the layers so you can learn all about wild cherry bark and how to use it in your home or your herbal practice. Not only are we going…
15 Uses for Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a much loved staple in our kitchens. Its sweet, floral, clove-like, earthy, and spicy aroma and flavor complement cook...
8 Terrific Ways To Use Pine Needles Right Now
Have you ever wished you could stock your herbal apothecary with only a handful of herbs? Herbs that have so many uses, you’d ne...
Creating a Local Materia Medica with Burdock
Most of us know burdock, even if we don’t realize we know burdock. This plant’s ingenious seed dispersal system—its clingy burrs—demands we pay attention eventually, for example, when removing them from our clothes, our hair, or deep in our dog’s plush fur. Inconvenience aside, you’ve got to give burdock credit for ingenuity. Swiss engineer George…
Creating a Local Materia Medica: Holy Basil
There is an herb in my local materia medica that is not native to my area, does not grow wild, isn’t hardy here in New England, and isn’t perennial—it requires annual seeding in the garden and is sensitive to frost. Despite these limitations, I am undeniably, profusely, and irrevocably in love with holy basil, and…
12 Traditional Herbs That Ease Pain
Over-the-counter pain relievers are a modern invention, but before they were available people relied on many different herbs to br...
Creating a Local Materia Medica With Motherwort
Motherwort is the gift that keeps on giving in my garden. A member of the tenacious mint family (Lamiaceae), she self-seeds hersel...
Is Red Clover Safe During Pregnancy And Breastfeeding?
Sure, it’s a valuable herb for women (and men too), but is using red clover safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding? Generally, red clover is a safe herb to use, however, when it comes to this season of a woman’s life, there are a few important things to consider as there are many conflicting views surrounding the…
Creating a Local Materia Medica With Plantain (+ Plantain Salve Recipe)
Part of the beauty of a local materia medica is its humility, and you can’t get much more humble than plantain (Plantago spp.). Considered a weed the world over, this tenacious and resilient plant steadfastly grows in lawns, fields, roadsides, disturbed land, sidewalk cracks—you name it. And while plantain is often overlooked today (saved by…
Unlock the Power of Mint: A Family-Friendly Herb
Beautifully fragrant with a delightful taste, amazing mint (Mentha genus) is a helpful and welcome herb for everyone in the family...
