Building a Herbal First Aid Kit

A herbal first aid kit is not a replacement for conventional first aid supplies and medical care when they are needed. It is a complement: a curated set of preparations for the minor acute situations that most households encounter regularly, where plant medicine is...

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,...

Making Herbal Gifts: Salves, Syrups, and Spice Blends to Give

The second herbal gift guide of the quarter is for December, when the time frame is shorter and the gifts need to be made from what is already in the apothecary rather than preparations requiring long maceration. These are the gifts that can be made in an afternoon...

Cinnamon: More Than a Spice

Cinnamomum verum (true or Ceylon cinnamon) has been among the most valued spices in human history, traded across thousands of miles in the ancient world and worth its weight in silver at various points in the medieval spice trade. Cinnamon bark rolled into quills...