Herb Mentor Radio

Yarrow’s leaf and flower are most typically used by Western herbalists, but there is also traditional usage of the roots. In this article, I’ll focus on the medicinal uses of yarrow leaf and flower.

Yarrow’s leaf and flower are most typically used by Western herbalists, but there is also traditional usage of the roots. In this podcast, I’ll focus on the medicinal uses of yarrow leaf and flower.

Want to learn more about the medicinal uses of yarrow?

Now that we’ve just scratched the surface of the many benefits of yarrow, you might be wondering how you can learn more about this powerful plant.

Well, here’s the easy way to learn more about yarrow: download a FREE deck of our top 12 Herb Notes here. You’ll learn all about yarrow, plus 11 other common herbs like cinnamon, aloe, and more.

I hope you enjoy Herb Notes, our new "3 healing herbal uses in 3 minutes" addition to the HerbMentor Radio podcast.

Nada Beydoun is a registered herbalist with a BSc. in Microbiology and Immunology and Masters in Applied Human Nutrition. Her interests include SWANA region herbal medicines, and she has a community work background in refugee settlement and empowerment.

And Fatima Matar is a passionate gardener supporting the work of growing and bringing awareness to milkweed and Monarchs since 2019. Outside of driving around with a backseat filled with milkweed plants, you can find her doing photography as a freelance photographer.

And Nada and Fatima just so happen to be cousins! Several years ago, after learning about the dire situation of declining monarch populations and milkweed habitat loss, these two plant enthusiasts embarked on a journey to start stewarding milkweed for monarch butterflies.

Monarch butterflies rely on milkweed to lay their eggs and feed their larvae. By growing milkweed, we can support endangered monarch butterflies and other vital pollinators.

Together, in this episode of HerbMentor Radio, Nada and Fatima dive into the gifts of the wondrously aromatic milkweed, why they grow milkweeds for monarchs, and the ecological and cultural importance of monarch butterflies.

Nada and Fatima also share...

You can learn more from Nada and Fatima — and check out more of Fatima's beautiful milkweed and monarch photography — on Instagram at @beybotany and @naturewithfatimam.

Please note: pleurisy root (Asclepias tuberosa), which is a species of milkweed, is contraindicated during pregnancy, and this plant does increase the risk of cardiac glycoside toxicity if taken with drugs or herbs that contain those constituents.

PS...

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Christa Sinadinos is the author of The Essential Guide to Western Botanical Medicine, and is the founder and director of the Northwest School for Botanical Studies in Fieldbrook, California, where she has trained hundreds of students. She has more than 25 years of experience as a clinician, teacher, gardener, and medicine maker.

In this episode, we have one of those aha moments with Christa. We were chatting about herbal garnishes like parsley, and Christa said...

When we think about any of the herbs that people use to decorate the plate, they often are good for digestion.

Then we started to rack our brains thinking about all of the the herbal garnishes we've ever seen: mint, lemon, parsley — all herbs that promote healthy digestion!

These herbal garnishes have been passed down for generations as a simple kitchen herbalism remedy for digestive health, but we never thought about garnishes this way until chatting with Christa.

In addition to totally blowing our minds about garnishes, Christa shares how to work with angelica, the surprising health benefits of parsley, her #1 herbal condiment for immunity, and how she wrote our favorite herb book.

ALSO... while supplies last, readers will receive $20 off Christa's book The Essential Guide to Western Botanical Medicine with the promo code LHSave$20.

Rosemary Gladstar is literally a star figure in the field of modern herbalism, internationally renowned for technical knowledge and stewardship in the global herbalist community. She has been learning, teaching, and writing about herbs for over 40 years and is the author of 11 books. Rosemary is the founding president of United Plant Savers and founder and past director of the International Herb Symposium.

Susan Leopold is an ethnobotanist and passionate defender of biodiversity. Over the past 20 years, Susan has worked extensively with Indigenous peoples in Peru and Costa Rica. She is the Executive Director of United Plant Savers and Director of the Sacred Seeds Project. She is a proud member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia and the author of the children’s book Isabella’s Peppermint Flower, teaching about Virginia’s botanical history. 

Together Rosemary and Susan shared with us all about the International Herb Symposium, a gathering right outside of Boston where herbalists just like you come together in honor of the plants and in the spirit of respect and reciprocity to share and learn from one another. By coming together in this way, the Symposium strives to create local and global communities dedicated to healing and caretaking the Earth and all beings.

Oh and by the way, did we mention that the Symposium is super fun?! The event's tagline is "Come for the plants, stay for the party." And Rosemary and Susan certainly brought the party to HerbMentor Radio.

In this episode they shared...

Learn more and register for this year's International Herb Symposium (June 9th–11th) here: https://www.internationalherbsymposium.com/registration/

PS...

If you listen to the episode, you might even get a promo code to save big on your Symposium ticket ;)

PPS...

So, usually we interview a special guest on the pod, but today to bring in the new year we're chatting just the two of us all about herbs for wintertime.

Winter really asks us to slow down, rest, and dream about our year to come.

But many of us don’t have the time and space to actually slow down right now. Whether we’re recovering from the festivities of the holiday season, working, or caring for our families, modern life sure makes it hard to slow down.

Luckily, we can still draw on herbal remedies and rituals to nourish and soothe our nervous systems so that we can feel fueled enough to dream and plan for the year ahead.

In this episode Tara shares her 3 key herbal strategies for stress relief like...

Plus, we offer you a simple framework for planning out your herbal year so you can prepare for all of the beautiful seasons to come. 

Tara's nourishing herbal tea blend...

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Add all of your herbal ingredients and two quarts of water to a pot.

2. Cover the pot and heat it enough so that the water reaches a steady simmer.

3. Simmer your herbs for about 15 minutes. 

4. Remove herbs from the heat and let cool for about 15 minutes. Now strain your tea and enjoy!

Dr. Keren Dolan is a Doctor of Clinical Nutrition, Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild, and Holistic Aromatherapist. Emphasizing integrative Functional Nutrition, her goal as a clinician is promoting wellness and resilience through advanced nutritional strategies and targeted botanical interventions.

So, we didn't exactly make this conversation easy for Dr. Dolan — knowing that she had such an extensive background in clinical nutrition, herbalism, and aromatherapy, we couldn't help but ask her some pretty big questions...

Dr. Dolan graciously answered all of our questions and more, and we sure learned a lot along the way, including...

Get a special offer on HerbMentor at HerbMentorRadio.com

Build your herbal first aid kid with your Herbal Preparation Cards: www.Herbal.Cards

Corinna Wood teaches earth-based herbalism in the Wise Woman Herbal Tradition and focuses on inner-growth and transformation. She was co-founder of Red Moon Herbs and her Southeast Wise Woman Herbal Conference ran for 15 years.

Grab a cup of tea and your favorite blanket — it's time to get cozy and learn all about herbs for fall! Corinna draws on her years of experience as an herbalist and educator to share how we can nourish our bodies this season and beyond with herbal roots.

In this episode you'll learn how to make healing remedies with prolific roots like comfrey and burdock, how to work with poke root safely, why broth is the key to autumn self-care, and so much more.

Mimi Prunella Hernandez has dedicated her life’s work to serving as an advocate for both traditional and herbal pathways while building cultural bridges of understanding. As an herbalist she draws upon the influence of her Granny Healers and her background in biochemistry to weave together an herbal practice that’s rooted in folk traditions and modern science.

In our conversation, Mimi shows us how to think beyond capsules and tinctures and easily bring herbs into our kitchens. The phrase “food is medicine” gets casually tossed around a lot these days, but Mimi really lives by this principle. She weaves herbs into her everyday life: making vinegars, honey, wine, tea, and even frosting with the herbs that grow all around her. Mimi offers us a few of her favorite tips for bringing herbs into the kitchen that we at LearningHerbs are definitely going to start adding to our daily routine — including “Mimi’s Mystery House Tea.”

In addition to kitchen herbalism, Mimi also shares…

You can learn more from Mimi at herbalnightschool.com

Get a special offer on HerbMentor at HerbMentorRadio.com

Build your herbal first aid kid with your Herbal Preparation Cards

When you enter MXED GREENS apothecary, one of the first things you'll notice is the deep care that herbalists Tasha and Devon Greenwood have put it into every detail of this herb shop...

From the cozy self care station to the herbal zine library to the handmade signs outlining their sliding scale model, MXED GREENS is a space that centers the deeply rooted wellness of its community.

In this episode of HerbMentor Radio, Tasha and Devon draw on their experience as new business owners and practicing clinical herbalists to share...

You can find Tasha and Devon Greenwood at mxedgreens.com

Get a special offer on HerbMentor at HerbMentorRadio.com

Build your herbal first aid kid with your Herbal Preparation Cards: http://Herbal.Cards

When you first start studying herbs it can feel like you need to find the best herb school, the best herb books, and the best way to study herbs in order to become a "real herbalist"...

But after studying and teaching herbalism for the last few decades, jim mcdonald (a Michigan herbalist who blends traditional folk influences and mixes it up with a bit of 19th century eclectic and physiomedical vitalism) can definitively say that there’s no one “right way” to learn about herbs. Rather than racing to find the right answer to every herbal question as quickly as possible, learning about herbs is actually about choosing your own herbal adventure and cultivating a growth mindset.

And jim certainly fits into the “choose your own adventure” mentality we have here on HerbMentor Radio: this is our third interview with jim, and each time we’ve gotten to go on some of the most amazing herbal tangents and dive deep into exciting herbal questions.

In this episode we ask questions from HerbMentor members and learn more about...

You can find jim at herbcraft.org.

Get a special offer on HerbMentor at HerbMentorRadio.com

Build your herbal first aid kid with your Herbal Preparation Cards: http://Herbal.Cards