Herbs with Rosalee

I’m excited to have our first Chinese medicine practitioner, Toby Daly, on the show. That he chose to talk about dan shen—one of my favorite herbs to grow in a garden and perhaps one of the herbs that I have been growing the longest—just added to my delight! If you don’t already know dan shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), I’m confident you’ll love it, too, by the end of this episode.To give you a sneak peek, dan shen can help to:► Cool and calm irritability► Ease chronic pain► Support the heart and pericardium► and moreAll this while having the additional distinction of being the lead player in a whole herb formula that’s just been approved in the U.S. to go to Stage Four clinical trials. (That’s big, folks!) And, as if that wasn’t enough, dan shen is absolutely gorgeous, with brilliant, large purple flowers that are beloved by pollinators of all sorts, including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.Any which way you look at it, there’s an abundance to enjoy and appreciate about dan shen! By the end of this episode, you’ll know:► Why Chinese medicine (and, of course, clinical herbalism) always starts with the patient, not with the herbs► What does it mean to “move the blood” and why is that important?► How does dan shen compare and contrast to hawthorn?► The role of humility and collaboration in herbalism► How to make a tincture with dan shen that supports the heart and the liver, the two major emotional systems in the body from a Chinese medicine perspective (be sure to download your recipe card!)Here is one of my favorite takeaways from our conversation: “We can never say something is good or bad. We always have to say, ‘For who? What’s the constitution? What’s going on with them right now? When? What’s the season or the climatic factors that’s going on?’ We can never answer ‘Is this a good herb or bad herb?’”For those who don’t already know Toby, he received his undergraduate degree in Food Science from the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. He began studying Chinese medicine in 1997 with Sunim Doam, a Korean monk trained in the Saam tradition. He earned his master's degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2002 upon completion of training at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco and Chengdu University in China.During his four years of training in San Francisco, he interned with the prominent acupuncturist Dr. Angela Wu and learned to apply the lofty theories he was studying in school into the pragmatic setting of a busy clinic. In 2013, he developed the Chinese Nutritional Strategies app to provide digital access to the wealth of Chinese dietary wisdom.In 2016, proving that some people never learn, he completed a PhD in Classical Chinese Medicine under the guidance of 88th generation Daoist priest Jeffery Yuen. In 2021, he developed the Chinese Medical Characters app to enable direct access to foundational Chinese medical terms and concepts.He lectures internationally and in April 2023 he published his first book, An Introduction to Chinese Medicine: A Patient's Guide to Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Nutrition & More.I didn’t know Toby prior to this episode and I really enjoyed getting to know him. I think that like me, you’ll find him to be very sweet, endearing and super knowledgeable. He didn’t even bat an eye when I interrupted him to talk about Tori Amos, so big score in my book. If you’d like to hear more from him, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get an easy link for his website. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m so happy to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

If you've been following my herbal offerings for even a short time, you know that I'm not about focusing on fear. While some alternative health practitioners rally around toxins and pollutants, I'd rather focus on joy and the things that I do have control over. But unfortunately, environmental contaminants do exist, and we can't simply ignore them away. That's why I'm especially grateful to Sarah Sorci for coming on the show. She has taken it on to research important contamination issues for gardeners and foragers, and then shares that information in a way that's based on empowerment rather than fear. (Love that!)By the end of this episode, here’s just a sprinkling of what you’ll know:► As a forager, how can you navigate effectively around contamination concerns?► How can you address it if your garden soil has contaminants?► How can you navigate conversations with neighbors about using herbicides or pesticides on their property?► What simple and practical safety tips can you implement today when using your garden hose? (Don’t forget to download your handout from Sarah!)Here is one of my favorite takeaways from our conversation: “We should all have access to being able to harvest clean and safe food and medicine, whether from our gardens or from our local communities. And I wanted to create a location  where gardeners and foragers could find some answers to these [safety] questions in one easy location.”If you’re not already familiar with Sarah, she is an herbal educator, writer, and the founder of Sweet Flag Herbs. She loves supporting folks who seek meaning, empowerment, and environmental sustainability by connecting with plants.Through her writing project, A Nourishing Harvest, Sarah explores environmental contamination issues that affect gardeners and foragers, translating scientific data into practical and approachable free articles. She also creates beautiful educational boxes that facilitate ancestral connection by way of the plant world. Sarah has offered hundreds of classes and plant walks throughout Western New York and beyond.Sarah came to herbalism by way of an Environmental Studies degree, farm work, and offering therapeutic gardening programming. She’s a 2014 graduate of the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine's Holistic Herbalism program, and she’s taken clinical herbalism classes with the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine. Sarah is grateful to the unnamed elders, foragers, and tenders who have contributed to our collective herbal knowledge.Sarah lives and gardens with her partner in Chautauqua County, NY, homeland of the Seneca Nation of Indians (sni.org).If you’d like to hear more from Sarah, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

At first blush, today’s episode with earth skills expert, Lynx Vilden, might not seem to be “about” herbs. But au contraire! At the heart of herbalism is connection with Earth and the entire web of life that dwells on her. And my guest today, Lynx Vilden, lives and breathes that interconnectivity.Like anything, living off the land while relying on primitive skills has its ups and downs. And Lynx has a knack for describing it in a way that’s completely unromanticized yet captures your  imagination.Rather than instructing, our conversation opens up an invitation for you to wonder… How many different ways are there to be a healer? What would you learn about the world and yourself, living in the wilderness for weeks at a time? And if you’re not ready for that, what might it look like to take just a step closer to connecting with Earth as our ancestors knew her?Here’s one of my favorite takeaways:“Earth sustains us, circling the sun as we cycle through life, death and rebirth. Without her, we are lost. It’s a truth we all fundamentally know, but one that recedes in the rushing madness of modern life, the prioritization of convenience and money over time, community and connection.”For those of you who don’t already know her, Lynx has been practicing and teaching primitive living skills with passion both in the US and in Europe since 1991. With her experience traveling, exploring, and researching the nature and traditional cultures of arctic, mountain, and desert regions, she started the Four Seasons Prehistoric Projects program in 2001, which was dedicated to learning and sharing the ancient skills of primitive living, and created Living Wild in 2011. Lynx’s story has been featured in The New York Times, Outside Magazine, The Guardian, and others. She currently lives on an old homestead in Norway.If you’d like to hear more from Lynx, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.It’s such a special treat for me to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

It was such a pleasure to sit down with herbalist and teacher, Nicole Telkes, to discuss juniper (Juniperus spp.)! In some bioregions, this plant is hated as a pest in the landscape and a source of misery to seasonal-allergy sufferers. But juniper is full of medicinal gifts! For instance, juniper:► Supports the kidneys and urinary tract► Warms cold, cramping muscles and can soothe the pain of osteoarthritis► Can help to clear fungal infections► and moreJuniper also gives us aromatic, beautifully-colored and -grained wood and provides habitat and food for a multitude of animals.There’s a lot to enjoy and appreciate about juniper! By the end of this episode, you’ll know:► Why it’s important to question and observe the role of plants in their environment… and to critically evaluate what you’re going to do with plants before you harvest a single leaf► Two types of infections it’s really smart to talk with your doctor about before self-treating► Who needs to be cautious about working with juniper (and why)► The surprising role of passivity in herbalism► How to make a juniper infused herbal oil you can massage into sore muscles or cold joints…or just enjoy as an after-bath oil that will leave you smelling delicious (be sure to download your recipe card!)Here are two of my favorite takeaways from our conversation: “In permaculture, we always talk about turning problem areas into solutions, or things that are looked at as a problem into a solution. I look at invasive and weedy plants and how can we turn them into solutions.”“It’s like a grocery store. You can’t just walk into the grocery store and take whatever you want. Even in a grocery store, you still have to exchange something. In nature, we might not be exchanging money, but we need to exchange something back.”For those who don’t already know Nicole, she is an award winning practicing herbalist and RH(AHG). She has a background in botanical studies, plant conservation work, community activism, and herbal first-aid clinics. She wrote the books Medicinal Plants of Texas and Herbcraft: The Complete Guide to 21st Century Holistic Western Herbalism. She lives between Seattle and Austin, supervising over 250 medicinal plants and themed gardens at Bastyr University and is the founder and lead instructor at the Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine. She is best known for her work freeing fire cider.If you’d like to hear more from Nicole, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m so happy to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

Oak trees (Quercus spp.) probably aren’t the first plants that come to your mind when you think of herbal medicine. But as today’s guest, Greg Monzel, shares, oak trees are more than bountiful with their gifts!“Plant x for problem y” is how many people start out thinking about herbal medicine… and oak is not without this type of benefit.  To give one example, oak is a powerful astringent that’s helpful as a wound wash and as an ingredient in tooth powder that can help to tighten up your gums.But oak doesn’t stop there. It gives you an invitation to go deeper. As a hub in the web of life, oak teaches you about connection… to the land and to the other creatures we share it with. If you have roots in the Northern hemisphere, acorns even give you a way to connect with your ancestors as you fuel your body. And the quiet, stately beauty of oak is a medicine in itself, a pleasure to spend time with.To quote Greg, “For me, the most important medicine from oak is that giving, nourishing quality. It not only does that for the little bugs but turkey, squirrel, humans… everybody eats [acorns] and benefits.”By the end of this episode, you’ll know:► How to process acorns into flour (and why you’d want to)► How to make a nutrient-dense treat from acorns (be sure to download your recipe card for acorn crackers!)► When to work with red oak vs. white oak (and why)At one point during this interview, I forgot I was doing a podcast. Instead I was caught up in all that Greg was sharing and simply there for the conversation. Here’s one of my favorite takeaways:“We’re disconnected… We don’t feel connected to those same biscuits that you make from wheat flour or from the $.99 a pound bag of wheat compared to those dense acorn muffins that you can make where you know what tree you were under when you gathered those. You can smell the air again. You can see the squirrels scurrying around. You just feel connected to your land and to the place that you’re in.”For those of you who don’t already know him, Greg Monzel is a student of nature with a gift for nourishing deep connections between people and plants. He first experienced the medicinal power of plants as a teenager when he successfully treated his chronic strep-throat with raw pineapple. He has been a practicing herbal educator, medicine maker, and grower since 2008. Greg and his wife Colleen co-founded Persimmon Herb School in 2015 to hold plant centered space and build a healing community.If you’d like to hear more from Greg, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for his website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m so happy to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

Hawthorn (Crataegus spp.) is one of my favorite plants. I love hawthorn so much that I turn to it  almost every single day of my life. So I was very excited when today’s guest, Tatiana Eaves, chose hawthorn as a topic for our conversation.There are so many gifts of hawthorn!Hawthorn is often revered for how it strengthens the physical heart… but this is just one of the medicinal gifts Tatiana mentions.Hawthorn has so many benefits beyond your physical heart. Herbalists often turn to hawthorn for the energetic heart, too. For example, hawthorn medicine is for when you’re feeling broken hearted, experiencing a loss of heart or when you find yourself in a self-protective and walled-off survival mode during a stressful season. What if there was an herbal friend that could help you keep your heart open through a tough time? How would that change your experience? How would that change the experience of your loved ones?To quote Tatiana, what if you could  “remain receptive to receiving love, to be loving, to be delicate but not fragile, to be strong and soft”... no matter what’s going on around you?I invite you to listen in and explore whether hawthorn could be that protective and supportive herbal ally for you.By the end of this episode, you’ll know:► How hawthorn can be a model for being loving while expecting respect► What flower essences are and how to work with them► How to connect with a plant – and why you’d want to► How to show respect when you’re harvesting plants – and why that’s importantHere is one of my favorite takeaways: A scientist by training, “I love the Western point of view and I thought it was really useful, but in some aspects it felt really limiting not to be able to discuss the beauty and the feelings evoked in me by Nature, like our inherent heart connection with all of life.” Tatiana Eaves is a Medicine Woman – an ecologist, herbalist, wildcrafter, and spiritual guide, among many other things. She has spent her life seeking to deepen her understanding of the interconnected nature of life; learning and finding the threads of connection between various ways of knowing. She believes in sharing her knowledge and the wisdom of the forest to bring us all back into the remembrance of our personal power to enact change in our lives, our communities, and beyond. Her goals are in bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this planet by working collaboratively with others to strengthen our connection with ourselves, Mother Earth, and each other. While I was interviewing her, I had to suppress the urge to stand up and clap many times throughout our conversation. I so loved all that Tatiana had to share, not just about hawthorn, but also about reciprocity, relationship and connections to the plants.If you’d like to hear more from Tatiana, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m beyond delighted to share our conversation with you today.----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

It’s not every day that you’ll hear someone express love for a “pernicious” weed. But by the end of this episode, I think you’ll understand exactly why Sunny Savage loves spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus) and why I seriously can’t wait for amaranth to start popping up in my own garden this spring.Really, what’s not to love about a plant that:► Takes care of itself (your only work is to harvest and cook)► Is deeply nutritious…to quote Sunny, “ticking lots of boxes on my nutritional needs”► and tastes good, to bootAs Sunny shared, “If they only knew: Spiny amaranth, in particular, can be up to 87% of the human nutritional needs from one plant. That’s eating the seeds, the leaves.” Wow!  By the end of this episode, you’ll:► Have a new perspective to consider about working with the edible invasive plants of your ecoregion► Have some basic ID tips for amaranth species ► Know how to avoid the herbal mistake that left Sunny with a pit in the bottom of her stomach when she realized what she’d doneFor those of you who don’t already know Sunny, she is a mother and wild food forager, whose life is dedicated to helping people identify, harvest, and prepare invasive plant species through her mobile app the Savage Kitchen. She is the author of the book Wild Food Plants of Hawai'i and hosted the internationally-airing wild food cooking television series Hot on the Trail. In addition, she has been a headlining chef at the “Taste of Chicago”, a TedxMaui presenter, and served as faculty at the White Earth Tribal & Community College. Sunny earned a Master’s Degree in Nutrition, focusing on the antioxidants in wild greens.An avid adventurer, Sunny traveled to every continent before her 30th birthday and has learned from plants and people along the way. She has called the island of Maui, Hawai'i home for the last 14 years, but previously adapted to life aboard a sailboat for over 3 years, in an RV for a year, at a research station in Antarctica for a year, and grew up without electricity or running water in the wilds of Northern Minnesota. She enjoys distilling her observations of the natural world into storied solutions.If you’d like to hear more from Sunny, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m so happy to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

As you’ll see in this episode with astrologer and herbalist Maeg Keane, there’s much more to blackberry than an astringent herb to help bind up loose stools or diarrhea! For instance… What if blackberry could teach you about setting boundaries and letting go of what’s not serving you? These are just two of the astrology-inspired perspectives that Maeg explores in our conversation.But even on a more physical plane, what’s not to love about a plant that:► Gives you a delicious dose of antioxidants and a blood tonic all in one► Can bring some relief from leaky, boggy allergy symptoms► Tightens up mouth ulcers or spongy gums► and more…By the end of this episode, you’ll know:► How astrology and herbalism complement each other► When a very simple herbal recipe is best► A possible remedy to call upon for relief from acute or traveler’s diarrheaHere is one of my favorite takeaways from our conversation: There’s “a belief that there’s only one way to know the truth, that it has to look like lab coats for it to be true. I think that is one way that we find out what the truth is… and I don’t think we should walk away from it. And there are many others that predate it and live alongside it.” For those of you who don’t already know Maeg, they are a consulting astrologer, herbalist, and writer. Their work is rooted in an animist, devotional approach that tends to the ties that bind us to each other and to the more-than-human world. Whether relating to the stars from which we come or to the alive and wise planet we call home, Maeg hopes to bring people into nourishing companionship with the teeming, enchanted world around them. They run Third Sister, an online client practice through which they offer one-on-one astrology readings and herbal care.Meag weaves perspectives and disciplines together in such a kind, gentle, grounded, and thought-provoking way. If you’d like to hear more from Maeg, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for their website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m so excited to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

You have a double treat in store with this episode.First, have you ever wondered what it takes to grow herbs commercially on a large scale? I kept hearing about Oshala Farm from my students, so last year, I placed an order to check them out. I was so impressed with the herbs I received and knew immediately that I wanted to interview Elise Higley, the farm’s cofounder! From finding the right location to the hard work of growing, harvesting, processing the harvest, fulfilling orders, stewarding the land… there are so many details to juggle! I came away from this episode with even more respect for herb farmers than I already had. I hope you’ll enjoy this peek into running a successful herb farm, too!Second, stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is one of those herbs that people grow to love and crave, even if they’re not initially drawn to the taste. I loved discussing the gifts of this nutrient-dense herb with Elise! Who couldn’t benefit from an herbal ally that:► Is deeply nourishing, strengthening, and energizing – an herbal tonic you can enjoy every day (and that your body will thank you for)► Can provide support to folks who suffer from seasonal allergies► Supports kidney health► and more…To quote Elise, “Nettle is nutritive, high in iron, high in minerals… I feel like it’s a staple as far as nourishing and fortifying the body.” I completely agree.This episode is full of tips and ideas you can borrow like:► Best practices for growing medicinal herbs (whether you use this to inspire your own garden or as a springboard for asking questions when you’re sourcing herbs to purchase)► Possible herbs to blend with nettle when making infusions (and how they complement nettle)► Various ways to work with both fresh and dried nettle leaf► How to grow stinging nettle in your own gardenFor those of you who don’t already know her, Elise Higley is a folk herbalist, wife, mother, grandmother and farmer.With her background in Western Herbalism at California School of Herbal Studies and her husband Jeff’s background in organic farming, they blended their dreams and created a full-fledged herb farm in 2013. Together they own and operate Oshala Farm. Located in Applegate Valley, Oregon, Oshala Farm has over 80 medicinal herbs in cultivation.Elise’s teachers and mentors include Cascade Anderson Geller, Rosemary Gladstar, Karen Aguiar, Teri Jensen, Lily Mazzarella, Autumn Summers, David Hoffman, Shana Lipner-Grover, Jon Carlson and, of course, the plants themselves! In her downtime, (9pm-5am) she helps with the Breitenbush Herbal Conference and TerraVita Herbal Symposium and works on agricultural advocacy with Our Family Farms.If you’d like to hear more from Elise, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m so delighted to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here. 

Calendula (Calendula officinalis) is one of my most-adored herbs! So I was thrilled when today’s guest, Alex Crofoot, chose calendula as a focus for this interview. And I loved hearing both new and familiar ways of working with this favorite (and very versatile!) plant. Calendula is an herbal friend that:► Is powerfully healing to the skin, yet is gentle enough to soothe a baby’s diaper rash or to bring some relief to red and irritated eyes. Calendula belongs in every herbal first aid kit!► Has a range of applications for women’s health, from postpartum healing to helping relieve symptoms of vaginal atrophy► Supports the lymphatic system and is healing to the gut, both of which can benefit folks who suffer from chronic allergies or frequent illness (or just about anyone, really!)► and that’s naming just a few of calendula’s gifts…To quote Alex, “Calendula is such a great introductory plant that also builds upon itself.” I couldn’t agree more.This episode is full of tips to help you:► Make infused oil with fresh calendula flowers (without spoilage due to  moisture content)► Make a full-spectrum calendula tincture (and why you might want to take the extra steps)► Avoid problems with mold on your harvested calendulaFor those of you who don’t already know Alex, she was born in the southern tier of NY, among rich farmlands and birch forests. She is a trained community/clinical herbalist and full spectrum doula who is passionate about accessible herbal care and supporting all pregnancy outcomes. Alex was raised around her Southern great grandmother who was a birthing assistant for her mother who worked as a midwife and herbalist with the Chestnut Ridge People. This may explain her admiration for the plant and reproductive world since childhood.Alex is a queer cis woman. She is the founder of the Community Care Camper, a free mobile herb clinic serving underserved populations in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is the co-owner of Black Locust Gardens herb farm and plant nursery, a coordinator for the Great Lakes Herb Faire, an herbal educator, mom, animist, pagan, writer and is currently working on opening up a mutual aid herb shop. She works on a sliding fee scale, weaving together a harm reduction and client centered lens. She works mostly with AFAB people's health around postpartum, pregnancy loss, gut and hormonal health.If you’d like to hear more from Alex, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes.I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!----Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.comFor more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.----Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.