Herbal Medicine Article Library

Following is a selection of my writing on harvesting, making, using herbal remedies.

(None of the writing on this site is meant to diagnose or treat disease. Not all herbs are safe and appropriate for all people–please read up on any remedy you are considering taking, and consult your healthcare provider about your specific needs. Everything copyright, please do not reproduce without my permission, as written clearly throughout the site.)

 Principles & Concepts in Herbalism

Thoughts on Family Herbalism: on growing into the Healer role within your family

Holism, Balance, Synergy, & Solubility: Principles of Home Herbalism: Learn central pillars of herbalism for an in-depth understanding, beyond learning an herb for each problem

Weaving Together the Patterns of Herbs: Using Materia Medica to its Fullest Potential: Using patterns to learn herbs in a simple top-down approach

Solubility in Medicine Making: alcohol? water? vinegar? oil? HOW DO YOU PICK?!?

Energetics: How to Choose Cold & Flu Relief Herbs that Work: Understand herbal energetics–your medicines will work better!

The Art of Formulation: To move from beginner to expert herbalist, learn to put together formulas so they work well and taste good

Critical Thinking for Contraindications: how to figure out if herbs are potentially harmful or might interact with a medication

Allyship in Herbalism: Ruminations: Herbalists’ obligation to act in the interests of our communities 

Bark Harvest & Ethical Wildcrafting: Harvesting intentionally to avoid damaging ecological populations

Bioregional Herbalism, or “Go Outside”: Focus on the plant medicines right outside your own front door!

Why I Don’t Pick the Flowers: Leave the Spring Ephemerals Alone: Moving through the seasons as part of the plant community, and understanding our own place in these ecosystems

The Battle Over Fire Cider: The problem with trademarking herbs… and a delicious fire cider recipe of my own

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Family Herbalism

Thoughts on Family Herbalism: on growing into the Healer role within your family

Birth Trauma: Healing with Herbs: Herbs & techniques to support physical and emotional healing, whenever the time is right

Essential Herbs for Young Children: You’re doing awesome at making people. Here are the top herbs to have on hand to help you with that.

Indispensable Preparations for Young Children: Get medicines into kids: Recipes that work!

Choosing Remedy Forms for Young Children: Use your Herbalist skills to pick which remedies will work best!

How to Choose Safe, Effective Herbal Remedies for Young Children: How to decide which herbs to use for kids

Herbal Ice Pops for Sick Kids: Make herbal remedies into anti-dehydration, tasty medicinal treats

Frozen Yogurt Infusions: Toddler Magic: Transform remedies into frozen yogurt, a great trick for sick kids!

Herbal Steams: Combat dry winter air to help decrease our bodies’ susceptibility to germs

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Medicine Making Techniques

Making Weight-to-Volume Tinctures: Ratios, percents, & ounces (oh my!): One of the most comprehensive, easy-to-understand guides on the internet

Keeping Tinctured Herbs Submerged: 8 troubleshooting ideas for when your herbs won’t stay submerged in the tincture

Oxymels: Love in the Medicine: Benefits & instructions for making delicious honey-and-vinegar medicines

Infused Honey, Syrups, & Elixirs for Winter Colds: Medicinal properties of honey, PLUS winter cold recipes

Infused Honey with Rugosa & Multiflora Rose: Make and use flavorful–and fragrant!–rose honey medicine

Energetics: How to Choose Cold & Flu Relief Herbs that Work: Understand herbal energetics-your medicines will work better!

Frozen Yogurt Infusions: Toddler Magic: Transform remedies into frozen yogurt, a great trick for sick kids!

Herbal Ice Pops for Sick Kids: Make herbal remedies into anti-dehydration, tasty medicinal treats

How to Make Herbal Teas: Understanding infusions versus decoctions, and how to make each

Homegrown Tea: Tea can be the perfect entry point to Home Herbalism, as well as a continued part of your herbalism journey.  Here is an expansive guide on selecting and crafting tea at home.

Infused Herbal Oils: Make and use infused herbal oils, plus how to select your ingredients

Herbal Steams: Combat dry winter air to help decrease our bodies’ susceptibility to germs

Preserving Mushroom Medicine: Homemade recipes for the often-overlooked medicinal mushrooms

Herbal Ice Cubes: Preserving Water-Soluble Magic Beyond the Growing Season: Preserve fresh summer-growing herbs that don’t make good tinctures!  Especially great as a cocktail garnish, in tea, or the bathtub. 

Iced Tea & Ice Cubes: Summer Medicines: Preserve herbal teas beyond summer in the form of a cool treat, cocktail garnish, or tea

Folkloric Tinctures: Make these easy, completely non-mathematical medicines in minutes

Infused Vinegar: Make delicious medicinal herbal vinegars  

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Specific Herbs

Nervines, Adaptogens, & Coping: A Holistic Perspective on Nervous System Health: Choosing the right nervines and adaptogens in stressful times

Rose-Infused Honey: Rugosa & Multiflora Rose: Types of rose honey, and how to make this flavorful and fragrant infusion

Immune System Health as a Daily Practice: Herbs for maintenance of immune health

Immunity Herbal Bone Broth: Integrating herbs into homemade bone broth

Family Herbs for Respiratory Illness: 50 family favorites for coughs, fevers, and emotional responses to illness

Cold & Flu Tea Recipe: A recipe to keep in the pantry for when life gets busy & someone gets a cold

How to Choose Cold & Flu Relief Herbs that Work: Understand herbal energetics–your medicines will work better!

Infused Honey, Syrups, & Elixirs for Winter Colds: Medicinal properties of honey, PLUS winter cold recipes

Kitchen Herbalism in a Pandemic: Herbalism principles, remedies for illness, and maintaining immune system health during these unpredictable times

Herbal Resources for COVID-19: Compiled resources for purchasing, preparing, and learning about herbs during the pandemic

Echinacea Tinctures From Your Garden: Harvest and create tinctures using the immune-boosting Echinacea

New England Aster: The benefits of these common wildflowers for respiratory illness

Preserving Mushroom Medicine: Homemade recipes for the often-overlooked medicinal mushrooms

Japanese Knotweed for Dinner & Medicine: How to use Japanese Knotweed, a protection against Lyme disease and delicious spring food

Nettles, Burdock, & How to Make Tinctures That Actually Work and Don’t Taste Like Death: Make medicine from easy-to-find weeds!

Make Your Own Herbal Allergy Syrup: Herbal remedies & nutrition for allergies

Milky Oats Tincture: What’s the Secret?: Grow and tincture Milky Oats, a restorative, nutritive nervine

Goldenrod: Medicinal uses of Goldenrod, plus allergy and cold syrup recipes

Lookalike Forest Plants: Solomon’s Seal & Blue Cohosh: Plant ID skills for wildcrafters!

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Food As Medicine & Medicinal Foods

Solstice Brew: Herbal Hot Toddy: Welcome the dark turn of year with medicinal cocktails

Immunity Herbal Bone Broth: Recipe for bone broth with medicinal herbs

Infused Vinegar: Make delicious medicinal herbal vinegars

Infused Honey: Rugosa & Multiflora Rose: Make and use flavorful–and fragrant!–rose honey medicine

Herbal Ice Cubes: Preserving Water-Soluble Magic Beyond the Growing Season: Preserve fresh summer-growing herbs that don’t make good tinctures!  Especially great as a cocktail garnish, in tea, or the bathtub. 

Iced Tea & Ice Cubes: Summer Medicines: Preserve herbal teas beyond summer in the form of a cool treat, cocktail garnish, or tea

Preserving Mushroom Medicine: Homemade recipes for the often-overlooked medicinal mushrooms

Frozen Yogurt Infusions: Toddler Magic: Transform remedies into frozen yogurt, a great trick for sick kids!

Japanese Knotweed for Dinner & Medicine: How to use Japanese Knotweed, a protection against Lyme disease and delicious spring food

Quince for Perseverance, Patience, Hope: Food-as-medicine, but not how you think

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Herbal Farmcraft

Winter Gardening: Collecting the Seeds of the Year’s Labor: Support the plants’ life cycles by collecting & casting seeds

SWEETGRASS//TRUSTING THE PROCESS: On plant rematriation in the Botanical Sanctuary

American Chestnuts Bear Fruit: On impossible dreams in the Botanical Sanctuary

Starting Medicinal Plants from Seed: Step-by-step guide to growing your own medicinal plants, including advanced techniques for fussy germinators

Create Your Own Botanical Sanctuary: Learning from the Land: Benefits of creating your own botanical sanctuary: this IS attainable, no matter your resources

Mid-Summer Wild-crafting: Meet the wild medicines of July: St John’s Wort, Roses, & more

Wildcrafting in High Summer Meadows: Savoring the meadow plants of August: Bee Balm, Goldenrod, Elder, & more

Time to Dig Roots: Harvesting root medicine

Feeding Flowers: Fertilizing & dead-heading medicinal herbs

Growing Milky Oats: Grow and tincture Milky Oats, a restorative, nutritive nervine

Garden Planning: Garden planning and record-keeping in winter months

Long, Cool Spring Survival: Gardening when the calendar says summer but the weather says spring!

Supporting Garden Allies: Pollinators & Pests: Nourish the workers in your garden!

Plant a Bug Spray Garden: Grow herbs as bug repellent: keep bugs away from other herbs, and making your own herbal bug spray

Cover Crops for Herb Gardeners: Everything you need to know to plant cover crops with medicinal herbs

Bark Harvest & Ethical Wildcrafting: Harvesting intentionally to avoid damaging ecological populations

Why I don’t Pick the Flowers: Leave the Spring Ephemerals Alone: Moving through the seasons as part of the plant community, and understanding our own place in these ecosystems

Bioregional Herbalism, or “Go Outside”: Focus on the plant medicines right outside your own front door

Everything copyright, please do not reproduce without my permission, as written clearly throughout the site.

Everything copyright, please do not reproduce without my permission, as written clearly throughout the site.