Rosemary Gladstar was the very first person I interviewed for this podcast nearly four years ago, and it was truly an honor to be able to have her on the show again. She is such a presence in the world, having brought so much love and wisdom to the herbal community for decades. Rosemary’s work has inspired many thousands (at least!) of budding and experienced herbalists, and I am so incredibly grateful for every moment I get to spend with her.

Rosemary discussed a variety of topics in this interview, but there was one major thread that wove its way through our conversation:  the beauty and power of diversity, whether that’s diversity in an ecosystem, in a group of people, or even in the thoughts and ideas that guide us on our journey through the world. She shared about many of the people, places, and plants that have influenced her path, and how sometimes the most challenging of situations have often been her biggest teachers.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► What inspired Rosemary to write her new book, The Generosity of Plants – and why she continues to be inspired by its contents

► Why Rosemary finds such value in being challenged by different viewpoints

► How the art of herbal formulation can be used as a model for community and collaboration among people

► Why connection, relationship, love, and adventure make such strong medicine

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Rosemary Gladstar has been practicing, living, learning, teaching and writing about herbs for over 45 years. She’s the author of 13 books, including her latest book, The Generosity of Plants. She’s also the author and director of the popular home study course, The Science and Art of Herbalism.

In 2018, Rosemary was awarded an honorary doctorate for her life work from the National University of Naturopathic Medicine. Rosemary is the co-founder and former director of both the International Herb Symposium and the New England Women’s Herbal Conference, the founding president of United Plant Savers, and the co-founder and original formulator of Traditional Medicinal Teas.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

You’re in for a treat! In this episode, I had such a delightful conversation with joAnna Sanchez, who has been “beckoned by the plants,” as she so lovingly puts it, for decades. She shares such hope for the world, gained through her work with the plants and relationships with other students of nature, and her positive attitude is infectious – I found myself just beaming after speaking with her!

I was thrilled that joAnna chose to speak about  Lobelia inflata, a plant that she has been working with closely for many years. She had so much to share about it – not only its medicinal benefits and tips for working with it, but also some fascinating history of this often-maligned herb. joAnna included her recipe for Lobelia Acetract, and you can download your beautifully-illustrated recipe card for this traditional preparation here: https://bit.ly/3Dm78DL

Lobelia is a diminutive plant with some big effects! Here are some of the ways lobelia has been worked with both historically and in modern days:

► As a respiratory antispasmodic, to help with asthma and coughing

► To relax the nervous system, reducing muscle twitches and tics

► To help stop smoking and give support with nicotine withdrawal

To learn even more about lobelia’s benefits, be sure to check out the entire episode!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why lobelia is infamous in the herbal world (and why, despite its notoriety, it’s such an amazing plant!)

► Why you should only work with lobelia in low doses

► What makes lobelia a great plant for herbal skeptics

► An old-fashioned but still relevant herbal preparation for lobelia

► and so much more…

For those of you who haven’t met her, joAnna’s herbal journey began in the natural foods industry in 1979; she later served as clinician in private practice for 13 years. She was, and remains, a voracious reader of all things botanical. In 1997 joAnna wrote five texts and started teaching coursework at Sonoran University, where she began what is now likely the largest plant medicine garden in the Southwest. 

joAnna launched her own herb school for personal interest and professional training, and has trained a host of herbalism educators. She is a passionate educator, plant hunter, gardener, and conservationist herbalist. joAnna has a calling to remain personally experiential with her relationship to the plants, and to practice the preservation of herbal traditions.

I’m so excited to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

This conversation with Julie Caldwell was such a joy! It brought me back to a time when I was just a baby herbalist studying in Santa Cruz, California, where the surrounding mountains are home to countless towering redwood trees.  

The redwood forest where Julie lives is a few hundred miles north of Santa Cruz – but as she pointed out, the entire northern hemisphere  used to be covered in redwoods, and those of us who live on this part of the earth are connected by the land’s memory of these ancient beings.  These trees and their connections to the surrounding ecosystems are a beautiful reminder of our own connections to our community – including the community of plants and other beings in the world around us.

Speaking of community, Julie loves to bring people together around food that sparks conversations about the important trees in their lives, and the recipe she shared with us is a delicious way to do just that!  You can download your beautifully illustrated recipe card for Julie’s Redwood Pots de Crème here: https://bit.ly/423UzGF

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► The unique ecosystems that exist high up in the canopy of the redwoods

► Seven ways of working with redwood and other conifers – including simply going for a stroll!

► What makes redwood so great for your respiratory health

► How working with redwood can help you release long-held grief

► A fascinating way to access the medicine of old-growth redwoods even if they don’t grow where you live

► How community was essential to the building of Julie's herb store, Humboldt Herbals

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Julie Caldwell lives in the Pacific Northwest coastal mountains of northern California among the ancient old growth redwood forests and the wild Pacific coastline. For the past 27 years she has happily tended her vibrant retail herbal apothecary, Humboldt Herbals, where many powerful relationships between people and plants have been cultivated. Julie is a long-serving member of the Visioning Council for the Organization of Nature Evolutionaries, an educational non-profit dedicated to co-creative partnership with nature, and is deeply committed to amplifying communication with nature consciousness and our brilliantly beautiful wild Earth.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

----

Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

I was thrilled to have a chance to interview Dr. Jacqui Wilkins! I’ve been following her on social media for some time now, and her posts always brighten my day with their beauty and insight.  Our conversation went so many places – from the ways that herbalism can reconnect us with the land and our ancestors, to more technical aspects of how chemical constituents of plants interact with our hormones.

I was also really excited Dr. Jacqui chose to speak about yarrow, my plant ally for the year.  Yarrow is an amazingly versatile plant with so many gifts that sometimes I wonder, what can’t yarrow do?  Dr. Jacqui discussed some really unexpected ways of working with yarrow, and I can’t wait to try the Heart + Boundaries Oxymel recipe she shared.  You’ll find a beautifully illustrated recipe card for it here: https://bit.ly/4jb6Leh

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why yarrow is many people’s most-used field medicine

► A fascinating way to work with yarrow root

► The chemical constituent that yarrow has in common with chamomile - and how the two herbs can be worked with similarly

► Seven different herbal preparations for yarrow

► How to work with yarrow to help you set and hold your boundaries

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t already know her, Dr. Jacqui, ND, is a mixed Indigenous Yakama, Irish and Eastern European Naturopathic Doctor, plant medicine person, birth worker, teacher and steward of the earth. She tends to the Xálish Medicine Garden on Vancouver Island, which is the Snuneymuxw Territory, crafting plant medicines through Xálish Medicines, and honoring her mixed lineages of earth and stars. She shares wisdom of earth based practices, plant medicines, ancestral reverence and earth tending—remembering we are nature, not separate from creation. Her intention is to help us deepen connections with the land, our ancestors and all relations, bringing healing, harmony, and a sense of belonging.

I’m so excited to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

----

Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

It was such a delight to sit down and chat with Bevin Cohen – he has such a deep love and appreciation for plants, and so many gems of herbal wisdom to share!  Our conversation was centered around wintergreen, a plant that he has been learning with since he was a child, but also touched on so many other aspects of living a life rooted in herbalism: from the importance of being in the moment and forming personal relationships with plants, to the crossover between food and medicine – a great reminder that plants’ gifts are not solely found in salves, tinctures, and tea!

Bevin’s journey with wintergreen really illustrates the ways that we can grow as humans alongside the plants, simply by being present, listening, and giving back.  He shared so many beautiful ways that wintergreen has shown up in his life, and the many ways he has worked with it through the years – including his go-to recipe for when he starts to feel a cold coming on!  Be sure to download your copy of Bevin’s healing tea here: https://bit.ly/4hH5MBx

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why Bevin calls wintergreen tea “one of the most patriotic of all beverages”

► How to work with wintergreen to soothe sore, achy muscles

► Tips for preparing your wintergreen harvest to get the most potent medicine

► How learning the folklore surrounding plants can make you a better herbalist

► The amazing benefits of working with plants that grow near you

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know him, Bevin Cohen is an award winning author, owner of Small House Farm and host of the popular Seeds & Weeds podcast. Bevin offers workshops and lectures across the country on the benefits of living closer to the land through seeds, herbs, and locally grown food. He is a food and garden writer whose work has appeared in many national publications and he's the author of more than ten books, including his latest, Herbs in Every Season.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

----

Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

It was such a pleasure to have KhadiYah Preciado on the podcast - her curiosity about the plant world and its many gifts is inspiring, and it was just delightful to hear about her love for chickweed and the ways that she works with this abundant springtime herb! 

One of the many ways that KhadiYah works with chickweed is in her Itch Relief Oil – a fantastic medicine to make in the spring, when chickweed is abundant, in anticipation of the inevitable mosquito bites of summer!

You can download your beautifully-illustrated recipe card here: https://bit.ly/3FyWA4F

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why it’s important to connect with plants on a personal level using your observations and intuition, and not just through books

►How reconnecting with ancestral practices has helped KhadiYah become a better herbalist 

► Four ways to work with chickweed

► A helpful tip for preserving the delicious abundance of spring chickweed through the winter

► How KhadiYah harvests a LOT of chickweed from her garden all at once

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, KhadiYah Preciado is a passionate author, herbal teacher, and mother dedicated to empowering others to reconnect with nature’s healing power through African-centered and Biblically-aligned herbalism. As the founder of Yah’s Apothecary, she combines her professional expertise with personal experience to empower others to heal their bodies, nurture their families, and build thriving herbal businesses. When she’s not teaching or blending remedies, KhadiYah homeschools her children, cultivates her herbal garden, and mentors women who want to reclaim their health and their purpose.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

It was such a joy to meet Dr. Ryan Shepherd! In our conversation, we dove into the many benefits of licorice root, which is one of the most frequently worked-with plants in herbal medicine, thanks to its wide use in Traditional Chinese Medicine formulas. Ryan also shared about his herbal journey from London to China to Texas – a story that is perhaps as varied and unique as licorice itself!

In addition to discussing the medicinal benefits of licorice root, Ryan showed just how versatile this herb is by including it in his mouth-watering recipe for Qi-Boosting Chicken. (I can’t wait to give this recipe to my handsome French husband so he can make it for me!) You can find your beautifully illustrated recipe card here so that you, too, can make this yummy herb-infused dinner: https://bit.ly/4kodV05

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Five different body systems that can benefit from licorice

► Why licorice root is like the conductor of an orchestra

► When Ryan works with licorice in smaller quantities in formulas vs. when he gives it a more starring role

► Five conditions that can be helped by working with licorice root

► Who should NOT take licorice root (hint: it’s not just about hypertension!)

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know him, Dr. Ryan Shepherd is one of those amazing practitioners with a deep well of knowledge and experience. He started his journey at the University of Westminster in London, earning his degree in Medical Herbalism, and then went on to study naturopathy, functional medicine, and acupuncture. Ryan’s passion for healing took him all the way to China, where he worked in hospitals in Shanghai and Nanjing, treating complex cases and training under Dr. Zhonghua Fu, the inventor of Fu’s Subcutaneous Needle technique. Ryan currently has a practice in Dripping Springs, Texas where he is very passionate about providing his services and years of training and experience to the community.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

It’s always an honor to connect with EagleSong, and this conversation was no exception. She has such a deep and dynamic presence in the herbal world, and I knew our conversation would be rich with wisdom and insight. We talked about the interconnectedness of people, plants, the earth, and human history—big, beautiful themes that EagleSong brings to life through her stories and experiences.

We also spent time with one of my favorite plant allies, hawthorn. But rather than just listing its herbal benefits, EagleSong shared how she’s worked with this sacred plant for decades, offering a perspective shaped by deep listening and tradition.

One of her favorite hawthorn traditions is making a Hawthorn Oxymel from the fruit—and she’s graciously shared her recipe with us here: https://bit.ly/4i7QBm5

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How connecting with her ancestors brought EagleSong closer to hawthorn

► How getting to know plants on an individual level can make you a better herbalist

► Why hawthorn is considered a keystone species in many ecosystems

► A traditional method for making hawthorn medicine (and how to keep it from turning into jelly!)

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, EagleSong dances her mischief in the hedge, that luminous place between tended and wild. A lifelong gardener, she has designed, managed and tended high visibility kitchen gardens and farms, commercial gardens, herb gardens & nurseries, and has trained in healing & therapeutic garden design. Often called a hawthorn whisperer, she has been researching hawthorns for over 30 years and has traveled to 6 countries pursuing an understanding of "what they are good for.” EagleSong is known for her wit and kitchen table wisdom and her incessant need to go outside and play! Today, she enjoys teaching herbs from the ground up wherever she is called.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

----

Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

Sometimes, I have a pretty good idea what guests on the podcast are going to talk about.  But going in to this conversation with Carin Fortin, I wasn’t sure what to expect - I knew very little about Carin and even less about her chosen herb, ashitaba (Angelica keiskei)!  At first I thought this plant would be similar to angelica (Angelica archangelica) or even dong quai (Angelica sinensis). 

But no! Ashitaba is an amazing herb with its own unique gifts. 

It was fascinating to hear all that Carin had to say about this versatile, strengthening herb, and the connections she made among ashitaba, the different systems of the human body, and the workings of the earth.  Carin also shared why it’s so important to build personal relationships with plants, along with some intriguing perspectives from biodynamic farming.

You’ll love Carin’s recipe for Ashitaba Honey with Rose, Burdock, and Light Root - a delicious example of how food can be our medicine!  To download your beautifully illustrated recipe card for this herbal honey, click here: https://bit.ly/4gGOu6V

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How ashitaba can be seen as a mirror of the human body, as well as the body of the earth

► Seven medicinal benefits of ashitaba - and why Carin sees it as a knight in shining armor!

► Why getting to know herbs is a lot like like getting to know people

► Five tips for growing ashitaba

► How biodynamics influences Carin’s approach to farming and herbalism

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Carin Fortin—herb farmer, herbalist, and teacher— grew up in Switzerland and has been living in America for 25 years. She is a member of national and international Biodynamic Agriculture committees and is active in the Santa Cruz Anthroposophical Society branch. Together with her partner, Delmar McComb, she started and runs Blossom’s Biodynamic Farm in Aromas, California, where she grows and value-adds medicinal herbs from all over the world. She distills hydrosols, and makes skincare products as well as other health products. Blossom’s first line of California-grown remedy was a range of digestive bitters, picking up Carin’s family’s Swiss tradition.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

----

Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.

Where do your herbs really come from? What happens before they land in your tea cup, tincture bottle, or spice jar?

The journey from seed to shelf is full of twists and turns, and the choices we make as herbalists and consumers can shape that journey in meaningful ways.

In this episode, I’m talking with Ann Armbrecht, the author of Following the Herbal Harvest. Ann has spent years exploring the global herbal supply chain, and she’s sharing four essential questions to ask before buying herbs—questions that can help you make more informed, ethical, and high-quality choices.

And because Ann is wonderful, she’s also offering listeners a free excerpt of her book! You can find it in the resource section below. Honestly, I think this book should be required reading for everyone who loves herbs! 

By the end of our conversation, you’ll know:

🌿 Why an organic certification isn’t a golden ticket—but why it still matters

🌿 How the choices of farmers, suppliers, and consumers are all connected in a web of well-being

🌿 A simple but powerful question to ask yourself before purchasing any herb

🌿 …and plenty more thoughtful insights that might just change the way you see your herbal allies.

For those of you who don’t know her, Ann Armbrecht, PhD, an anthropologist, is the director of the Sustainable Herbs Initiative. She is the author of Following the Herbal Harvest: A Search for the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines (previously published under the title, The Business of Botanicals: Exploring the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines in a Global Industry) that documents her journey following herbs from seed to shelf. She is also the co-producer of the documentary Numen: The Healing Power of Plants and the author of the award-winning ethnographic memoir Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home, based on her research in Nepal. Ann was a 2017 Fulbright-Nehru Scholar documenting the supply chain of medicinal plants in India and she now lives with her family in central Vermont. 

Grab a cozy cup of tea, settle in, and join us for this fascinating conversation!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.