Plant A Magical Living Fort For Kids
A lush living fort covered in lovely plants creates a wonderful hideaway for children. It makes the perfect shady spot to spend a summer afternoon immersed in imagination or simply reading a good book. For a child, there isn’t anything that is much more fun than hanging out in a fort. A living fort is…
Growing Herbs in Unlikely Locations
When you picture herb gardens, you might think of luscious outdoor spaces that are filled with exotic fragrances, beautiful colors, and paths to wander leisurely from one area to another. For the vast majority of herb growers, however, this scenario simply isn’t possible. Most gardeners grow herbs because they believe in their natural health benefits,…
What to Do With an Herbal Education
There are many reasons to seek an herbal education, ranging from a desire to become a clinical herbalist to something more informal such as helping family and friends. Simply falling in love with herbs is also a perfectly valid reason! Regardless of the initial reasons that set us on this journey, an herbal education can…
3 Simple Handmade Teacher Appreciation Gifts
Here in our neck of the woods the end of the school year is fast approaching. With it comes the promise of a summer filled with long, lazy days along with many exciting adventures. This is a time of new beginnings and of saying goodbye. For kids and teachers these goodbyes are often to very…
Refreshing Violet Lemonade
Wild violets are abundant this time of year, and they offer such wonderful benefits. The leaves are thought to support the lymphatic system, which is so helpful when we consider the strain put on our bodies by environmental pollution and toxins in food. Even those of us striving to reduce the number of toxins we’re…
On-the-Go Herbal First-Aid Kit for Camping, Hiking, or Anywhere
I grew up hiking, backpacking, and camping all over Yosemite National Park with my dad. Yosemite fills my heart with amazing memories of the outdoors adventures we shared. I have the pleasure of saying that I have climbed to the top of Half Dome, and that I have seen meteor showers from the top of…
6 Herbal Books Worth the Investment
As we tell our herbalism students, herbal books are an invaluable resource for the home herbalist, and growing your home library over time is always a great idea. Having at least three herbal books or resources available is absolutely necessary when studying plants and creating a materia medica. Still, there are so many fantastic books available – where should you…
Designing An Herb Garden
This is the second article in a two-part series on planning and designing your herb garden! Part I – Tips for Making An Herb Garden Plan – discusses planning your garden – choosing a location, prepping the soil, and gathering plants. Part II – Designing Your Herb Garden – discusses design ideas for theme gardens and color selections. …
A Family Herb: Violet Plant
Violet plants are a pure delight for the senses, enchanting children and adults alike with their lovely, sweet-smelling purple flowers and precious, bright green heart-shaped leaves. A seasonal springtime flower, violets are often among the first plants to peek their little flowering heads up towards the sun. Gather the flowers in the spring and enjoy…
How to Enjoy Green Matcha Tea
I am seriously obsessed with green tea—specifically, organic Matcha green tea. I just can’t get enough of it. Matcha comes from the shade-grown tea leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. The whole tea leaf is stone-ground into a fine powder. The highest quality Matcha is grown in Japan and is a deep, colorful green. Generally,…
Celebrate HerbDay with Herb of the Year™: Savory Monograph
To draw attention to HerbDay 2015, we are celebrating with the reveal of our Savory monograph from The Herbarium, which just so happens to be this year’s International Herb Association’s Herb of the Year™. HerbDay is an international celebration of herbs and herbal products, conceived of by five nonprofit organizations: American Botanical Council, American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, American…
Herbal Honey Recipes For Kids
Do you love honey? Believe it or not you can make honey even more tasty by infusing it with your favorite herbs. Making your own delightful herbal honey is great to try out with kids and share with family and friends. Herbal honey this is one of the most delectable ways to preserve and enjoy…
Tips For Making An Herb Garden Plan
Join us in this two-part series on planning and designing your herb garden! In this article, we’ll dive into creating an herb garden plan – choosing a location, prepping the soil, and gathering plants. Have you’ve been poring over seed catalogs and making your lists? You are not alone! Have you made your final choices, or are you…
3 Herbal Gifts to Celebrate Mother’s Day
In Louisiana, we have been enjoying beautiful spring weather for over a month now. Before long, my rose bushes will be bursting with lovely flowers, which I harvest and dry each year to use in my herbal creations. With Mother’s Day around the corner, I want to offer a few ideas for handmade products made…
A Homemade Dandelion and Chicory Root Coffee
I love coffee. That wonderful aroma on a chilly morning, how it wafts its “wake-me-up” scent straight to my nose. I adore that delightful buzz that comes with sipping my brew on the back patio, while watching the sunrise. I admit, sometimes it’s more than love; it’s a bit of an obsession. Back in the…
Herbs Work in All Seasons
Herbs work in all seasons – both in the seasons of nature and in the seasons of our lives. There to support us in the unique challenges our bodies face each season – the allergies of spring, summer’s heat, winter’s colds – herbs work with us year round. In the seasons of our lives, herbs…
How To Make A Poultice With Dried & Fresh Herbs
It’s easy to focus on the internal herbal preparations, like teas, extracts, and syrups, because we are so conditioned to “taking something” – whether that be supplements, OTC medications, or prescriptions – to manage our health. Topical herbalism, though, has many unique preparations that have benefited people for generations. In this post we’ll teach you…
Learning to Define Sustainability: Lessons for Essential Oil Consumers
The Elephant in the Room Define sustainability. “Sustainability” is a not-so-new term floating around the shelves of our global economy, hot on the tongue of marketers and advertisers ready to sell us the next best thing to organic. Within the natural products industry, “sustainability” is a concept that appears in many dressed-up forms. For example, when…
Introduction To Herbs For Kids: Herbs Are Tasty!
Everyone loves a tasty little something to munch on, and it is fun to cook up a yummy treat to share! You can make delicious food by using herbs when you cook. In fact, throughout history people have used herbs in their cooking to make their food tasty and healthy. When you add herbs to…
5 Herbal Body Care Products to Buy or DIY
Do you enjoy making your own herbal bath and body care products at home? Making luscious lotions, healing salves, heavenly soaps and other goodies can be rewarding, but usually DIY instructions are for bulk batches that make several bottles, jars, or bars of one recipe at once. Sometimes it’s nice to have a favorite herbal…
5 Homemade Spring Cleaning Products
For many of us, the warmer weather of spring brings with it a desire to do some serious cleaning. However, conventional cleaning products can do more harm than good as we are exposed to various toxins such as phthalates, triclosan, 2-butoxyethanol, chlorine, and more. Some products common in the US have even been banned by the…
Herbs Work for Families
Herbs work as part of many different lifestyles, and family life is no different – herbs are the perfect complement to family life. They enrich our lives in a multitude of ways. Not only are herbs are a healthy choice for all ages, but they connect us to the natural world, give us seasonal traditions to share…
Choosing Essential Oil Carriers
This post is the fifth in a weekly, multi-part series on using essential oils. We started by discussing Basic Essential Oils for Daily Living, How to Choose High Quality Essential Oils, Essential Oil Safety, and Incorporating Essential Oils Into Your Herbal Practice, and continue here with a discussion on choosing essential oil carriers. Which carrier oils should you choose, and why? Which…
Introduction To Herbs For Kids: Wildcrafting
Fun On The Wild Side Take a trip outside your door and look down! What do you see? Do you see little plants growing? Perhaps it is one single little dandelion or maybe you have found a whole area of plants growing and thriving. You won’t have to go far to find wild plants! Sometimes…
What is Herbalist Day, also known as Thank an Herbalist Day?
Everyone has a unique story of their own herbal journey. Herbs touch so many lives – they are there for people of all ages and from all walks of life. For some, a kind word from a friend set them on this path. For others, a cherished book or the curiosity born from exploring a…
Incorporating Essential Oils into your Herbal Practice
This post is the fourth in a weekly, multi-part series on using essential oils. We started by discussing Basic Essential Oils for Daily Living, How to Choose High Quality Essential Oils, and Essential Oil Safety, and continue here with a discussion on using essential oils in herbal practice. What are the safety considerations? Can essential oils be used internally? What are ways for…
How to Start Foraging in Your Backyard
Many people are interested in learning about edible wild plants, and a natural extension of this is to start foraging and explore what may be growing close to home. One of the best ways to begin foraging in your backyard is to find an herbalist or forager who offers local plant walks. Having in-person instruction…
Herbs Work as a Foundation
One of the most beautiful roles we fill as herbalists is that of teachers. In a way, it really doesn’t matter what path we take as an herbalist – we are always teaching. We may feel that we are the only real student we know, especially if we are self-taught or lifelong learners of the…
Introduction To Herbs For Kids: Adventures In The Herb Garden
Are you dreaming of starting an herb garden and creating a special place for your new herb friends to live? In our last lesson we talked about some of the basics you need to start your very own herb garden. In this lesson we’re heading back out to the garden to learn more about starting plants from…
Natural Soapwort Shampoo and Body Wash
When you are planning your spring garden, consider not only the beauty but also the usefulness of the plants that you plan to put in. I love ornamental plants as much as anyone else, but I get a particular sense of satisfaction if I have a purpose or use for the lovely flowers that brighten…
