The Autumn Apothecary: Stocking Up for the Season

September has a particular urgency to it in the herbalist’s calendar. The elderberries are ripe. The roots are beginning to concentrate. The last of the summer herbs need to be preserved. And the cold season, with all its demand for immune support, warming...

The Herbalist’s Approach to Cold and Flu Season

The herbalist’s approach to cold and flu season is fundamentally different from the reactive grab for whatever is on the pharmacy shelf when symptoms appear. It begins in September with preparation, responds at the very first sign of illness, and moves through a...

Warming Spice Blends for Autumn: Medicine in the Kitchen

Autumn has its spice palette, and it is not merely aesthetic. The warming, aromatic spices that appear in pumpkin pies, mulled wines, and seasonal drinks through the autumn and winter months are genuinely medicinal plants that the body benefits from at exactly this...

Tea Blending for Winter: A Complete Guide

Tea blending is where herbal knowledge becomes genuinely creative: where understanding what individual herbs do allows you to combine them in a way that addresses a specific need, balances a flavor profile, and reflects something of your own taste and approach. It is...

Warming Herbal Preparations for the Darkest Weeks

There are preparations that are appropriate for every season, and then there are preparations that are specifically for December: the month when the light is at its shortest, the cold is at its most sustained, and the body and spirit both benefit from deliberate,...