Herbal Radio

This week’s guest on Herbal Radio is the wise-spirited author and curandera (ku·ran·de·ra), Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz. We recorded our interview with Felicia prior to her keynote presentation for the 2023 Fall Virtual Free Herbalism Project, so be sure to check out her recorded presentation after listening to this episode! In Felicia’s words, Curanderismo (ku·ran·de·ris·mo) is a 500-year-old traditional healing practice that is still in existence today. It is influenced by Spanish, Indigenous Mexican, the Moors, West African, and Native American traditional healing practices, and is a result of the blending of these cultures during colonization. Today, we sit down with Felicia and learn about her family who originated from northern New Mexico. She reflects on her childhood spent uncovering the power of plant medicine through her great-grandmother, who was a naturally gifted and knowledgeable elder curandera. Felicia’s youthful eyes were fascinated by her great-grandmother’s ancestral medicine-making practices, which soon blossomed her intrigue into connecting with the Indigenous principle of one’s medicine being one’s food. Shaped through the lens of her ancestors, her practice led her to publishing her book on elemental recipes and rituals, Earth Medicines. As always, we truly hope you enjoy today’s Herbal Radio episode, thank you for tagging along with us for another botanical adventure! Felicia Cocotzin Ruiz is a traditional healer, award-winning author, and indigenous foods activist recognized for her work with food and lifestyle as medicine. As a child, she was deeply influenced by her great-grandmother, who was well-known in her New Mexico community as a curandera. Also called by the healing medicine, Felicia honored her own spirit and began learning folk herbalism, whole food cooking, and other holistic modalities with Indigenous teachers across the Southwest–where she works with the sun, the moon, and the elements, offering medicine workshops and one-on-one healing sessions for her community. Felicia’s work has been featured in Spirituality & Health, Forbes, Bon Appétit, and several other media outlets including The Original Americans episode on Padma Lakshmi’s Taste The Nation (Hulu). Felicia presents frequently around the country on traditional healing practices, culinary medicine, holistic wellness, and Native American food sovereignty for nonprofits, universities, and museums–including the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Click here to watch Felicia’s keynote presentation from the 2023 Fall Virtual Free Herbalism Project! Click here to learn more about Felicia’s practice through her business, Kitchen Curandera! Check out Felicia on Instagram!   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Today’s Herbal Radio episode features the enthralling storyteller and creative alchemist, Sarah Greenman. Sarah is a profoundly talented artist, cultural worker, community organizer, storyteller, and a true archeologist of the soul. Thomas and Sarah sit down and chat about her upbringing in a household full of thespians who’d break out in theatrical tunes at the drop of a hat, her detailed recollections of climbing the steep staircase leading to her grandmother’s art studio as a young child, and the numerous creative paths she has embarked on to blossom into the botanical artist and passionate community-driven person Sarah is today. Sarah’s passion for unearthing buried stories of those left without a voice in our past and present-day is profound across each of her paintings and collaborative work within her community, and you’ll certainly be left with new perspectives on the natural world that surrounds us after listening to today’s episode. Be sure to check out more on Sarah Greenman’s artwork and community efforts detailed below. Thank you for tuning into Herbal Radio, we’re so happy to have you tag along with us for another botanical adventure! Sarah Greenman (she/they) is a playwright, painter, facilitator, and Executive Director at the American Leadership Forum of Oregon. As an artist and community organizer, Sarah’s work is joyful, inclusive, strategic, and fiercely focused on collective liberation. She loves reading, music, camping, botany, the sea, and spending time with her children, Charlie and Katie. Sarah holds a BA in Creative Writing with a Women's Studies emphasis from Mills College. Sarah's plays have been produced in New York, Oakland CA, Berkeley CA, Portland OR, Santa Maria CA, and Seattle WA. Sarah is also a graduate of the Pacific Conservatory Theater (PCPA). Sarah formerly served as Creative Director and then Operations Director for StateraArts, a national nonprofit creating pathways that bring women and non-binary creators into full and equal participation in the arts. Originally from the Central Coast of California, Sarah now resides in rural Eastern Oregon.  Visit Sarah's art gallery here! Check out Sarah's own podcast - Collaborative Alchemy Podcast here! Check out Sarah's blog - The Bohemian Home here!   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

This week’s episode of Herbal Radio episode features the all-encompassing wise woman and holistic healer, Corinna Wood. As the founder and former director of the Southeast Wise Women Herbal Conference for 15 years, Corinna has a true passion for providing safe community spaces that allow women to connect through shared herbal passions. Today, Corinna sits down with us and reflects on her childhood growing up in La Spezia, Italy, and fondly shares her earliest memories of weaving through towering grape arbors in the backyard of her cobblestone home and squashing buckets of grapes between her toes alongside her brother as a young girl. After moving back to the States and finding herself amid a rocky transitionary period of her life, Corinna turned outwards towards her passion for plants to reconnect with her journey of inner growth and healing. She sought out reconnection through bonding with women in her community and discovered her newfound purpose to provide a space for women of all walks of life to find the community she once was seeking herself. Founding the Southeast Wise Women Herbal Conference served this very purpose, and has since been the largest herbal conference in the country.  Corinna will be offering her annual limited-time free seminar from January 24th - February 3rd, so be sure to check out the link attached in the description below to register for this once-a-year opportunity that will focus on healing the mind, heart, and soul from the passionate and wise woman herbalist herself.  We truly thank you for tuning in with us for today’s Herbal Radio episode, we're thrilled to have you tag along with us for another botanical adventure! Corinna Wood A visionary teacher of holistic healing and women’s wisdom for over 30 years, Corinna Wood is well-known in the herbal community for her caring and loving teaching style and the generous wisdom she so willingly shares.  Corinna founded and directed the Southeast Wise Women Herbal Conference, the largest herbal conference in the country, which ran for 15 years.  Today, she supports women worldwide with earth-based tools and techniques for inner growth and healing—a medicine chest for your mind, heart, and soul! Join Corinna’s free seminar (limited time only!): Self-Healing the Wise Woman Way   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com  

In this “Tea Talks Roundtable,” Jiling discusses the work of the Stonefruit Community Herbalists with the Stonefruit Herbal Collective: Michelle Soto, Jocelyn Kirkwood, and Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich. Roundtable Topics Their individual journeys into herbalism How the Stonefruit Collective came to be How herbs may be shared freely Building a free and sliding scale clinic The relationship between the Wild Cherries Herbal Studies Program and Cutting Root Farm A simple tip for how herbalists can begin cultivating welcoming spaces for transgender, gender-queer, and non-binary folks The importance of humility and deep listening About the Herbalists 🌿 MICHELLE SOTO (she/ they) is a fashion forward herbalist, educator, gardener, dog lover, and community organizer. She runs Cutting Root Farm and is part of the Stonefruit Community Herbalists in western PA. Visit Michelle at CuttingRoot.com 🌿 JOCELYN KIRKWOOD (she/ they) is a Community Herbalist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner residing in Pittsburgh, PA. They are part of the Stonefruit Community Herbalists, teaching at the Wild Cherries Herbal Studies Program, and an herbalist at the Three Rivers Free Clinic for the People. Jocelyn co-founded the Lake Effect Free Alternative Health Clinic, and has been an herbalist there for nine years in Cleveland, OH. 🌿 VILDE CHAYA FENSTER-EHRLICH (she/ her) is a lover of play, games and mischief, to bend the world and grow connections within and between us. She is an herbalist, teacher, and consummate hostess living in Western Massachusetts, who loves crafting sweet and magical spaces of feelings and resistance for her communities of gender weirdos. 🌿JILING LIN is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. A clinician and teacher, Jiling is also a passionate traveler, artist, and adventurer. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here. Resources Learn more about the Stonefruit Herbal Collective and Wild Cherries Herbal Studies Program at WildCherries.org Competent Care for Transgender, GenderQueer and Non-Binary Folks, a resource for herbalists and other practitioners, curated by clinical herbalists Vilde Chaya Fenster-Ehrlich and Larken Bunce Wild Current Herbalism Advanced Clinical Herbal Skills program   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Cathy Skipper is an international teacher, plant person and healer who brings 30 years of teaching, healing, and plant experience, her highly-attuned intuition, and her mastery at “seeing the person within” to all her work. Cathy says, "All my work is based on my own journey as a wounded healer. I coach and teach from a place of experience. I am totally familiar with navigating the unconscious realms, the ancestral realms, the plant and animal realms. I am a menopause midwife, helping women rebirth themselves as they go through the initiation of menopause into their wise-eldership.” Jiling and Cathy discuss: Healing the whole person Aromatic medicine and the psyche Plants and inner alchemy Making the unconscious conscious Navigating the psyche through scent Working with scent sticks Trusting the symbols Quieting the inner critic Ancestral healing Visit Cathy Skipper at: AromaGnosis.com CathysAttars.com About Jiling: Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here.   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Happy almost-New Year plant-enthusiast listeners! For the last episode of Herbal Radio in 2023, we’ll be shaking things up a bit from the usual plant adventure we find ourselves embarking on each week. After a busy year filled with interviews, Thomas and Jiling sit down and share laughs, insightful moments, and highlight some of the most impactful conversations they’ve had in 2023. Throughout the year 2023, we had the pleasure of featuring an array of enthralling guests, including soulful tunes from Leah Song and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia, insightful discussions on the importance of community with the one-and-only Rosemary Gladstar, entertaining stories on her encounters with lightning as a child from the wonderful storyteller Margi Flint, as well as captivating discussions with Richo Cech on his seed-seeking adventures in Africa, and so much more! We’ve had such a wonderful year sharing voices and stories from many folks throughout the herbal community and beyond, and we’re so excited to share more with you in the upcoming year. From the entire Herbal Radio family, we hope you have a peaceful and welcoming New Year!   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Happy holidays and belated Winter Solstice, Herbal Radio listeners! Thank you for tuning in with us for this week’s episode. Today, we chat with esteemed author and food-expert, Jon Steinman. Jon is the face and writer behind Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants, which offers inspiring stories and a thorough analysis of American and Canadian food co-ops using real life examples. Through his wiring, Jon dissects the food retail sector and the shadows cast by corporate giants. He makes a strong case for food co-ops being the crucial alternative to create local food-based economies and enhance low-income food access across communities. Jon’s expertise within the food industry for over two decades, there truly is no better person to shed light on the evolution and current standing of our food-gathering rituals. Jon Steinman has studied and worked with all things food for 25 years. He was an elected director from 2006-2016 of the Kootenay Co-op – Canada's largest retail food co-op specializing in natural foods, serving as Board President from 2014-2016. Following the publication of his book Grocery Story: the Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants (New Society Publishers 2019), he completed an extensive book tour that took him to 125 food co-ops and 23 in their development phases. Jon regularly delivers educational sessions to food co-op boards and staff and is a frequent guest speaker at food co-op annual meetings and book clubs. In 2023, Jon became an Accredited Professional Dialogue Practitioner through the Academy of Professional Dialogue and introduces organizations such as food co-ops to this mode of communication. Jon was the producer and host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast Deconstructing Dinner, once ranked as the most-listened-to food podcast in Canada and was writer and host of Deconstructing Dinner: Reconstructing our Food System – a television and web series available online. Jon coordinated and curated the annual Deconstructing Dinner Film Festival of food documentaries and was involved in a number of local food initiatives including the Kootenay Grain CSA - Canada’s first community supported agriculture project for grain and G.E. Free Kootenays.   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

Welcome back to Herbal Radio plant-enthusiasts, thank you for joining us for this week’s episode. We had the pleasure of sitting down with our long-time friend and proprietor of Herbcraft, jim mcdonald. Last time jim was our featured guest on Herbal Radio, we shared his enthralling presentation from the Summer 2022 Free Herbalism Project on the virtues of plantain – an infinitely sustainable and resilient plant that often carries the unfortunate reputation of being a pesky weed. Today, jim dives deeper into what constitutes a “weed”, and what allows a botanical to cross over the threshold of what we consider carrying medicinal value. Without giving too much of Thomas and jim’s conversation away, here is a quote from jim to start us off with an introspective thought, “Just because you can’t do everything, doesn’t mean you can’t do anything”. We truly hope you enjoy today’s episode of Herbal Radio, we’re so happy to have you here with us on this botanical ride. jim mcdonald is an herbalist, manic wildcrafter, and medicine maker in Southeast Michigan (that cool state that looks like a mitten you can see from space) where he teaches, sees clients, wildharvests, and concocts herbal formulas. In 1994, jim's life changed when he drank tea from a wild plant he harvested from the land he lived upon. Since those first sips of strange tea, his life in the woods and meadows of Southeast Michigan has centered itself on the plants & ecosystems of that land, and how he might share their virtues to restore wellness with those around him. His approach to herbalism is a blend of traditional folk and Indigenous influences mixed up with a bit of 19th century eclectic and physiomedical vitalism. He weaves his sense of humor and discretionary irreverence to his approach so as not to appear too serious about life! Jim hosts the websites www.herbcraft.org & herbcraft.podia.com, which list his offerings and conveys his thoughts on plants and herbalism (and if you’ve ever wondered, the lack of capitalization is an homage to e.e. cummings).   Learn more about jim and his educational opportunities by clicking here.  Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest  Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

This week’s guest on Herbal Radio is the knowledgeable and passionate naturopath, Taryn Forrelli. As an expert in wellness and supplement formulation using science-backed plant medicine, Taryn holds the title of Chief Science Officer at Traditional Medicinals. Thomas and Taryn chat about her upbringing in Boston, MA, and how her passion for uncovering medicinal secrets hidden within the individual cells of plants blossomed throughout her young adulthood. We truly hope you leave today’s episode with a piece of newfound plant knowledge from this innovative and brilliant individual. Taryn has spent nearly 20 years working in the natural products industry including 12 years with New Chapter and 4 years with OLLY. She actively holds the title of Chief Science Officer at Traditional Medicinals and is responsible for their quality, formulation, and leading her team with science-backed innovative strategies. Her knowledge and understanding of plant medicine have allowed Taryn to collaborate with numerous organizations to launch over 60 science-backed dietary supplements. She is a Naturopathic Doctor and wellness expert with a passion for science, innovation, and formulation. Lean more about Taryn's work with Traditional Medicinals! Connect with Taryn on LinkedIn!   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com

The Botanical Bus, with Jocelyn Boreta | Tea Talks with Jiling Jocelyn Boreta is a community organizer, herbalist and the granddaughter of an Indigenous Farmworker. She is committed to cultivating health equity through culturally centered care. Before co-founding the Botanical Bus, Jocelyn organized weekly bilingual, bicultural wellness workshops with Cultivando para Salud at LandPaths Bayer Farm and worked as a clinical herbalist at Farmacopia for four years. Her activism has roots in 10-years working as Program Director of the Global Exchange Fair Trade Stores. Jocelyn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Cultural Anthropology from University of California Santa Barbara and certification in herbalism from the California School of Herbal Studies. She believes that “Herbalism is activism. It shows us that we are connected to the earth, that we know how to heal ourselves, our families and our communities with the plants that grow around us.” Jiling and Jocelyn discuss: Community as medicine, health as celebration Planting seeds of self-care through seasonal health Creating healthcare equity, access, and inclusion with culturally-centered services Food as medicine “Todos somos medicina” (We are all medicine”) “Si sanas tu, sano yo” (”If you heal, I heal”) Radical love The importance of stress and sleep support; starting with the nervous system The healing harvest Visit Jocelyn Boreta & The Botanical Bus at: TheBotanicalBus.org Instagram @Botanical.Bus Facebook @BilingualMobileHerbClinic Resources mentioned (from The Botanical Bus): Donate to the Botanical Bus (non-profit) Become a Botanical Bus volunteer (for licensed clinicians) Become a Botanical Bus apprentice! (3-4 BIPOC folks accepted each year) Join Botanical Bus Wellness Workshops (online + in-person) Learn more about the Botanical Bus Mobile Herb Clinic Read up on the Botanical Bus commitments About Jiling: Jiling Lin is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here.   Join our community! Subscribe to the Mountain Rose Herbs newsletter Subscribe to Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube Follow on Instagram Like on Facebook Follow on Pinterest Follow on Twitter Read the Mountain Rose Herbs blog Follow on TikTok Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. Mountain Rose Herbs www.mountainroseherbs.com