Pride is more than just rainbow flags and parades; it’s a reminder that every person deserves to feel safe, supported, housed, loved, and celebrated all year round. As we continue to honor LGBTQIA+ Pride, we also celebrate the power of herbal healing.
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.
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.
Give the perfect present to your herbal loved one! Giving a great gift is an art. Giving an herbal gift is to know and love the plant person in your life. To help you find the perfect present, we’ve compiled an herbal gift-giving guide featuring special items from small makers to please your herbally-inclined loved ones. For fun and ease, we’ve grouped these gifts into categories suited to unique plant personas.
Like it or not, artificial intelligence (AI) is now interwoven into the basic technology we use daily. Like all technology, it’s only as helpful or harmful as the intentions of the people using it. Mostly, we hear about the dangers of using AI and how it can be used in nefarious ways, yet it also offers promising solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. In this article, we’ll primarily explore the risks of using AI in herbalism, especially herbal education.
To help get you started down the path of home medicine making, we’ve put together a list of our favorite books for creating your own natural medicine chest. This article shares our top picks for the best home herbal apothecary books, including essential medicine-making guides and recipe-rich herbal books.
Stamens, stigmas, and anthers were my first dates in what would become a lifelong love affair with plants. Today, I plan my vacations around botanical gardens and keep random pieces of colorful bark in my pocket in case I need an icebreaker in an awkward social situation. Three decades into this journey as a plant–human matchmaker, I’ve owned almost every herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now an online herbal school specializing in bioregional, hands-on herbalism.
Happy Pride! This blog post serves as an accompaniment to our month-long LGBTQ2+ Pride month series that has been posted weekly to Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine’s Instagram page throughout the month of June. The series, The Flowers We Request: Pride & Healing, has been written by Brydie (they/them) and Sarah (she/her/ella).
A plethora of resources are available for one interested in the rich traditions related to African American herbalism. Below are a few lists in various media. Included are books, conferences, Facebook groups, herbalists, organizations, and websites. This is of course only a subset of items in this field but will hopefully get you well on your way if you’re just starting to explore this area, and will be helpful to all one way or another.
Many new or modified herbal traditions arose within Black communities in North America. These traditions were most celebrated, documented, and depended upon in the Southeast, where slavery was most concentrated. Typical elements included a combination of African, European, and Indigenous healing modalities, medicinal herbs, spiritual practices, and folklore.
