5 tips for Budding Herbalists
I consider anyone an herbalist, if you have the love & respect for what our plants have to offer us. If you are listening to what nature is telling you for sustainably harvesting & not taking without permission. You are an herbalist in my eyes.
What hurts my heart is hearing & reading people online picking parts or removing the whole plant because they ‘thought’ it did something. Oh no! I feel like the Lorax ! Ha! Please, research before you harvest. Know what you are harvesting & what your harvest will become. Foraging & processing takes a lot of time. If you do not do something with your harvest, well, it will all goes to waste because you were still trying to figure out what to do with the plant. That there, is an injustice all in itself.
Always be respectful, ask permission, harvest with positive intention & follow through with the processing in a positive manner. Your energy is the secret ingredient of all wild-crafted plants & herbs. So, don’t hurry. Listen.
Start everything in small batches.
Teas, salves, creams, infusions, tinctures, serums, oh my! Once you get hit with the green bug, you will want to do everything! Go slow. Get to know your herbs first. If you are listening closely, you will find that a plant will want to work with you! That my friend, is the fun part.
So start small, learn as you go, & follow your herbal creation intuition.
Do not buy everything!
You can do so much creating without having to buy any special equipment. Choose & invest in a couple really good books, see what you have in your home that you could try out first. For example, use a potato ricer for a tincture press instead of going out and buying the 300$ version. Take it slow, there are many plants, many books, many cool things, & you don’t have to get it all. Sit with nature, let her tell you what you need instead.
It takes time
Good things take time. It takes a lot of time of working with herbs to get really comfortable with them. It’s why its good practice to start small. There are people who have decades of knowledge & they still learn something everyday. Don’t overwhelm yourself with having to know everything right away. You want too, I know, we all do, but step back & enjoy the nature ride. All in due time, your knowledge will build & you will have your own favorite things to talk confidently about because you followed these 5 tips.
Start in your backyard
You do not need a field of dreams to get you to appreciate nature, you can also just start in your own backyard. There are so many awesome edible weeds out there, that everyone just steps on. Start to learn a couple that you see the most on your land. Research, cross reference & harvest! I like to mow around patches of certain things in my backyard so I can forage it later. One year I just let all the side weed triming go, just to see what grew. It was the best thing I did & encourage you to do the same. I found Motherwort, Nettle, Chickweed & Wild violets, just to name a few!
Find another budding herbalist!
Find that special someone & learn together! When you explain something you know, you retain it much easier. When you have a friend who is just as awesome as you are, you can share books, ideas, & harvests. Forage together, compare notes, & recipes. How awesome is that!?
I have a bestie & we share things back and forth together. If she has something she doesn’t like anymore she gives it to me. Visa versa. We can garden nerd together at stores together & we share seeds too. Find your herbal bestie & grow together.
You don’t have a best friend who isn’t as excited about plants as you are? Totally ok! Make a post in a group, in your social network. There could be someone out there waiting for you, so don’t be afraid to make the first move by voicing you are looking for someone to learn & grow with.
Candice
I want to show others that medicine is all around us. There are many common backyard plants that we can benefit from. Including what we use as a day to day culinary herb within our dishes can have a huge impact on our daily health. Being conscience of different common herbs that you might already have in your pantry & work with them to enhance your families health.
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