This week on Herbal Radio, we are joined again by the educator, gardener, author, and 2022 recipient of the Grants 4 Plants program, Tyrone Ledford. Join host Lucretia Van Dyke and Tyrone as they explore:

• Navigating life through trauma: adolescence into adulthood
• Community gardening to grow awareness of wellness
• How enslaved Africans cultivated American agriculture
• Bridging the gap between the person and the plant
• Tyrone's new book, Cultivating Abundance in Harsh Climates: A Guide to Desert Gardening

As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at [email protected] to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

Learn more about Tyrone and Lucretia below!

🌿 Tyrone Ledford, a native from Compton, CA received his Bachelor's Degree from California State University, Fullerton in Child & Adolescent Development with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. He later received his Master's Degree from Pacific Oaks College in Human Development/Social Change. Tyrone has almost 15 years of experience in teaching early childhood education, and is currently a full-time child development professor for Cerro Coso Community College. Tyrone, who is the co-founder of Holistic Divine Innovations, founded and organized the Ridgecrest Community Garden and Herbal Zen Garden. Tyrone has been gardening intentionally for 10 years, and grows a combination of fruits, vegetables, and herbs for both culinary and healing power. Tyrone's experience extends as far as growing herbs to create his own teas, and tinctures, and educating communities on how to grow their own food and how to use plants for its nutritional value and medicinal properties. Tyrone's goal is to introduce individuals to the natural resources our earth provides, and to increase fresh organic food resources throughout communities. Tyrone hopes to help you create a sustainable garden because he believes health is wealth.

🌻 Lucretia VanDyke began her herbalism journey as a little girl mixing herbs, clays, and muds on her grandparents' farm. Today, Lucretia VanDyke has been in the herbal industry for over 20 years. As a holistic educator, speaker, herbalist, ceremonialist, spiritual light coach, intuitive energetic & reiki practitioner, diviner, storyteller, artist, and world traveler, Lucretia has accumulated over 3000 hours of training. She has studied with indigenous healers and some of the greatest minds of our time. Lucretia has been a holistic esthetician & healing arts practitioner for over a decade focusing on integrating indigenous healing rituals, plant spirit medicine, and meditation into modern-day practice. Lucretia brings her vivacious spirit and message of self-love in her work to inspire others to embrace their unique beauty and purpose. Her work with herbs and sacred practices honors women's wholeness through grief work, sexual trauma, ancestor connection, womb healing, self-empowerment, food alchemy, and holistic skincare. She is currently collecting stories throughout the south while working on expanding her BIPOC community healing arts and herbal education program.

⬇️ Check out Tyrone's video interview below! ⬇️

https://youtu.be/OTeaXyq12Z4

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