J.T.: Community Herbalism & Urban Wildcrafting

J.T. is a Seattle-based herbalist and mom. She’s an old friend of mine who started the same herbal apprenticeship that I did in 1998 before my son Rowan was born.

Since she started learning about local plants and how to use them, J.T. has come up with creative ways of gathering herbs and using them to nourish her family. Like myself, J.T. is a family and community-centered herbalist. Not only does she keep her family healthy and help them when they are sick, she also shares her knowledge of herbalism with others in her community. This has led to her teaching classes at local herb shops.

I join J.T. in this interview live at the Northwest Herbal Fair. J.T. had just finished teaching a class on tincture making. This fair was very special since LearningHerbs sponsored it, J.T. was teaching, and our mentor Eaglesong was even teaching there and was honored at the event as a local herbal elder. We all had come a long way since our journeys began together nearly 13 years ago.

There is often talk on the HerbMentor forum on “what herbal school have you gone too?” or lots of detailed discussions on some pretty complicated stuff. Though we need to have these discussions, I wonder sometimes if it’s intimidating to folks who just want to being natural medicines to their lives in a simple and fun way. It’s always challenging on HerbMentor to strike a balance between simplicity and those who want advanced knowledge.

J.T. is the archetype of the family herbalist who kept it simple. I wanted you to see the natural progression of starting out to helping others, which can often lead to opportunities to teach others. There is power in simplicity, and I hope you all get something out of this “home herbalist profile” if you will.

She also shares some of her secrets in urban wildcrafting and other cool tips. She’s figured out quite a bit like someone who has ever stopped harvesting herbs and making remedies.

It’s a change from our usual interviews, but y’all know I like to change it up every so often. Seriously, if you have ever felt overwhelmed at the prospect of learning about herbs, please listen to this interview.

If you live in Seattle, you might catch a class with J.T. at Dandelion Botanical. She also has trained and works with EarthWalk Northwest with Karen Sherwood.