7 Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating from an Herbalist
Healthy holiday eating tips from herbalist Juliet Blankespoor, with simple practices to support digestion, peaceful mealtimes, and a nourishing relationship with food throughout the season.
Healthy holiday eating tips from herbalist Juliet Blankespoor, with simple practices to support digestion, peaceful mealtimes, and a nourishing relationship with food throughout the season.
Many seeds have a built-in sense of timing, a quiet alarm that only sounds once winter has truly passed. This internal clock ensures that a seed doesn’t awaken during an unseasonable warm spell, only to perish when cold returns. Seed stratification (sometimes called cold conditioning) is our way of mimicking that natural pause, helping seeds recognize that it’s safe to begin life.
Opening children up to a world of wonder and magic is as easy as introducing them to the plants. Creating a life among the green world is both empowering and full of depth. Read on to learn about simple ways to connect with plants, herbs that are helpful for children, first aid preparations, and herbal recipes you can make together.
The beauty of Caribbean herbal knowledge is that it lives in the people. The downside to this is that there is not as much scholarly or published work on the matter. Much as with other Indigenous ways of being, it is mainly an oral tradition passed down from generation to generation.
Ever wished your kitchen shelves could double as a healing cabinet? ✨ Your herbal apothecary can begin as simply as a shelf of recycled glass jars, and the intention to care for yourself with the gifts herbal medicine can offer.
Your herbal business idea can begin with one single plant. One herb can be your teacher, your muse, and your ticket to launching a business that is meaningful and sustainable. You don’t need dozens of product lines, acres of herbs, or a full curriculum to start sharing your knowledge and passion. In fact, with a strong herbalism education and a bit of creativity, you can establish your business by building your business skills, offerings, and impact on the strongest foundation: a deep kinship with the plant world.
Ready to dive into some reading that’s as comforting as a cozy evening and as fresh as a bundle of handpicked herbs? We went on the hunt for the best fiction books featuring our favorite green-thumbed heroes—herbalists. Our readers have shared their most-loved herbal novels—the ones that made their hearts race, their minds wander, and their love for all things leafy grow even stronger. So, grab your favorite reading spot, a cup of herbal tea, and get ready to explore the art of herbalism in all its storybook splendor.
Shaena Heartwood is a Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine graduate and the owner of Humble Creek Farm where she and her family grow a diverse array of medicinal herbs, pollinator flowers, and native fruits, and with that abundance create herbalist-formulated seasonal herbal care products that honor the land and nourish the home and body.
Whether you grow your own herbs or purchase them from a bulk supplier, storing dried herbs properly will ensure they enjoy a long life filled with potency and freshness. In this article, we’ll share the basic rules of thumb for storing dried herbs (and tinctures, infused honeys, herbal oils, salves, and powdered herbs), plus we’ll impart our tips for finding the best high-quality bulk herbs to use in your home apothecary.
We recently had a conversation with Star Feliz (they/them) of Botánica Cimarrón for our Student Business Spotlight series. Star is a clinical herbalist, full-spectrum doula, spiritual guide, and Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine graduate. They practice Afro-Taino Caribbean and Western herbalism, drawing creative inspiration from their ancestral lineage and a big imagination for an earth-healing future.