The Folklore and Medicine of Witch Hazel
Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana, Hamamelidaceae) is our kinky, golden-star flower shrub or small tree that blooms in cold weather, when all other flowers are absent from the landscape.
Our Favorite Herbal Blogs, Podcasts & YouTube Channels
The internet can be a fantastic place to learn about herbs—with a significant caveat: anyone can share any sort of information that they want, free of qualifications or checks and balances. That’s why we’ve coralled our most-trusted online herbal resources for you to peruse. Materia medica, plant identification, recipes, research articles—it’s all here.
Witch Hazel Wonders: Cultivation and Herbal Uses
The homegrown benefits of witch hazel are easy to overlook as an herbalist, as witch hazel is not traditionally something you think of planting in the garden or making medicine with for your apothecary—drugstore brands are what most people associate with witch hazel.
The Medicine of Pine
There are over one hundred species of pine worldwide, and most have recorded medicinal uses. Cultures around the globe have used the needles, inner bark, and resin for similar ailments.
Cultivating Woodland Herbs: How to Grow Native Forest Medicinals
Why grow native woodland herbs? Growing our own medicine—in any setting—creates an intimate connection with healing plants. There are some important environmental reasons for cultivating rare woodland medicinals as well. Further, many of the woodland herbs are easy to cultivate, as compared to our garden herbs.
An Herbalist Interview: Brandon Ruiz of the Charlotte Herbal Accessibility Project
What a delight to interview Brandon Ruiz of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Herbal Accessibility Project—a community-inspired network of food and medicine gardens that reflect and reconnect local relationships with ancestral plants.
A Love Letter to Rose
My Beloved Rose: Given the way you show up with your gifts of flowers and medicine year after year—perennial and glorious, with little help from humans—I’ve been feeling that the least I can do is to write.
Goldenrod Uses: A Round-Up of Herbal Recipes + Resources
Among herbal wildflowers, goldenrod (Solidago spp.) has grown itself a special place in our hearts. Lighting up the late summer landscape with a warm glow, this native North American herb has an endearing repertoire of gifts: it’s a natural dye plant, an edible and medicinal herb, and a nectary flower for pollinators.
Homegrown and Wild Harvested Aromatic Smoke Sticks
Aromatic plant smoke holds an ancient and familiar allure. The alchemy of transforming dried plants into fragrant smoke has a profound effect on the feeling—or energy—of a space or person.
Goldenrod Tea: An Herbal Blend for Urinary Tract Infections
Need to get your urinary tract back on track? This tea blend is helpful for addressing the symptoms and the root cause (primarily, bacterial infection) of urinary tract infections (UTIs).