Herbal Radio – Details, episodes & analysis

This week on Everything You Didn't Know About Herbalism, we are joined by Christopher Parker, the self-taught mycologist with 30 years of experience in mushroom cultivation, wildharvesting, and herbal medicine making.

Join us to explore:

• Christopher & Katherine Parker's new book, The Mycelial Healer: A Comprehensive Guide to the Cultivation and Traditional Uses of Medicinal Mushrooms
• Growing up through the changing seasons and breathtaking landscapes of Southern Appalachia
• The domino effect that transforming floodplains into food forests could have 
• Unique and creative ways to get medicinal mushrooms into your diet
• Making fungi cultivation accessible for all

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 podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

 

Learn more about Christopher below! ⬇️

🍄 Christopher Parker is a farmer, educator, and myco-culture keeper from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. For more than 30 years, he has cultivated gourmet and medicinal mushrooms in the Southern Appalachians, blending Indigenous forest-tending traditions with modern mycology science.

As co-founder of The Forest Farmacy, a working farm and applied eco-mycology school, Christopher trains farmers, growers, and land stewards to regenerate soil, restore forests, and build livelihoods based on food sovereignty. His approach combines ancestral wisdom with hands-on cultivation, teaching people to grow mushrooms not just as a crop but as a practice of reciprocity and ecological repair.

Christopher maintains one of the most diverse fungal culture libraries suited to the Appalachian bioregion and is dedicated to passing on these living genetic materials, along with the stories and skills that give them meaning. His work champions fungi as both food and medicine, and as partners in creating resilient communities.

At the core of his teaching is a simple truth: humans are not separate from the forest—we are keystone species. Through careful tending, mushrooms serve as a bridge connecting people and place, culture and ecology, past and future.

 

📚 Get your hands on Christopher's new book! 📚

The Mycelial Healer: A Comprehensive Guide to the Cultivation and Traditional Uses of Medicinal Mushrooms

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📓 Find herbal education opportunities at Christopher and Katherine's Eco-Mycology School! 📓

The Forest Farmacy

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🍄 Want to learn how to grow your own medicinal mushrooms? 🍄

Check out the Beginner Mushroom Growing Course, by The Forest Farmacy!

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🌾 Join Chris for a LIVE webinar on turning farm waste into food, medicine, and profit 🌾

Start your Regenerative Mushroom Farm | Wednesday December 3rd 6pm EST

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⬇️ Check out Christopher's video interview below! ⬇️

https://youtu.be/uJjIfNiEcDY 

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Mountain Rose Herbs is a purveyor of the highest quality organically grown herbs and spices, teas, essential oils, & botanical goods. You can find our organic botanical offerings on MountainRoseHerbs.com.

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🌿 Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. 🌿

 

 

 

This week on Everything You Didn't Know About Herbalism, we are joined by Juliet Howard, the herbalist and author who focuses her practice on connecting budding mini herbalists-to-be through creating accessible, reciprocal backyard herbal education for children. Join us to explore:

• Juliet's newly launch book, The Girl Whose Garden Comes Alive
• How the Pacific Northwest sparked her journey as a writer
• Children's natural connection to nature
• How children can remind us to slow down
• Why forming relationships with the green world help guide children into adulthood

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 podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

🌿 More of a visual learner? Click here to watch Juliet's video interview!

Learn more about Juliet below! ⬇️

🪻Juliet Howard is an herbalist, mother, author of The Girl Whose Garden Comes Alive, musician, medicine-maker, and a lover of all things wild. Her relationship to plant magic began at a very early age living on the wild cliffs of the Oregon coast. Her approach to herbalism comes from a deep reverence for plants and she believes wholeheartedly that plants are a powerful portal into the magic and wonder of being alive and embodied.

Check out Juliet's blog!

🌸 Recipes + Creations

🖍️ Coloring Pages

🌿 Plant Magic (coming soon…)

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Find Juliet on social media!

📸 Instagram @daymoonbotanicals

🎥 YouTube @JulietHoward-j3n

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Mountain Rose Herbs is a purveyor of the highest quality organically grown herbs and spices, teas, essential oils, & botanical goods. You can find our organic botanical offerings on MountainRoseHerbs.com.

Join our community!
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🌿 Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world. 🌿

 

This week on Everything You Didn't Know About Herbalism, we are joined by certified herbalist, educator, and nerd for all things herbs, Colleen Bingham. Tag along with us as we explore Colleen's herbalism journey, which began with the one and only Rosemary Gladstar, the river of experiences Colleen has floated through since then, and her views on our uncharted future with AI. As the founder of Herb Nerd, Colleen shares her scientific approach to herbalism, explaining how her methods offer insight into not only the medicinal properties of the plant itself, but also provide a deep understanding of how an herb interacts with the human body.

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 podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

More of a visual learner?

🌿📺 Check out the video interview here! 📺🌿

🌷Colleen Bingham is a lifelong nature-loving nerd and the founder of Herb Nerd, a digital education hub for herbal medicine making and natural product development. She started her herbal journey in 2010 thanks to the writings of Rosemary Gladstar and an introductory herbal program with Jane Bothwell at the Dandelion Herbal Center, later deepening her knowledge at the California School of Herbal Studies, where she became core faculty and taught for a decade.

Colleen is a Certified Herbalist, natural product formulator, and educator with 13+ years of experience in the wellness space. She's taught hundreds of students how to make herbal remedies from scratch, combining traditional wisdom with scientific insight. At herbnerd.com, her deep love of solubility, extraction, and phytochemistry culminate in niche courses that deepen her students' understanding of why and how plants heal.

Herbal skincare was her gateway into this work. In 2013, she launched Poppy Botanicals, a cult-favorite brand and creative incubator for plant-based beauty before "green beauty" became mainstream. She's also worked behind the scenes as a copywriter, formulator, education strategist, and DSHEA compliance/claims substantiation expert for national brands like Traditional Medicinals, Urban Moonshine, Dr. Morse's, and Herbal Academy.

Her students know her for making herbalism accessible, fun, and crystal clear, blending her BFA in theatre with her Virgo moon sensibilities to keep classes engaging and practical. Whether you're curious about making your own face cream or building a home apothecary, she's here to help you nerd out on nature!

Hone in your Herb Nerd skills!

🤓🌿 Herb Nerd Classes & Downloads 🌿🤓

 Check out Colleen's blog!

📝 Herb Nerd Blog 📝

Peruse Colleen's YouTube channel!

📀 @HerbNerdSchool 📀

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Mountain Rose Herbs is a purveyor of the highest quality organically grown herbs and spices, teas, essential oils, & botanical goods. You can find our organic botanical offerings on MountainRoseHerbs.com.

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🌿Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.🌿

In this week's Herbal Radio episode, we recount our enthralling and informative conversation with the bilingual-bicultural holistic practitioner, Patricia Cortez. Patricia sits down with Thomas in his studio and looks back on her childhood in El Salvador, her maternal grandmother's role as a "Spiritist" in her community, and the history of Día de Muertos. We hope you enjoy this touching podcast full of storytelling, wisdom, and a deep heart.  

Patricia Cortez is a bilingual-bicultural holistic practitioner at Eugene Reiki Healing.

Mayan-Pipil is her maternal lineage and Aztec-Chorris her paternal lineage. She was trained by Mamá Trini, her maternal grandmother who was a "Spiritist" -the one who talks to Spirits, in the healing arts and in indigenous practices. She is a Sacred Fire tender and performs Sacred Fire Ceremonies on behalf of this community. She graduated from Portland State University as a Clinical Social Worker in 2005 and worked as a mental health clinician for over 15 years. She is currently an Adjourn Professor in Latinx Family and Culture at Pacific University and Administrative Program Coordinator at the Trauma Healing Project a nonprofit organization in town. She leads a small private practice offering Reiki, Energy Medicine, Abdominal Massage, Sound Treatment and other healing arts; for the past 8 years she has offered classes and workshops on Indigenous and Reiki Practices, Self-Healing, Ancestral Healing, Mayan Calendar, Healing of Earth, Reconciliation of Feminine & Masculine, Toltec Numerology, Dream Implantation, Working with Weather Beings and Energies in English and Spanish. She performs Womb Ceremony and works with Invisible Realms, Sacred Fire, the Moon, Copal, Weather Beings and Cacao.

You can find Patricia here: www.eugenereikihealing.com

Read Patricia's blog "Copal: A Healer, Protector, & Guide for Dia de Muertos" here. 

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Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

There may be no better person that embodies the vision of "Plant Stories" like herbal troubadour and Appalachian naturalist, Doug Elliot. A gifted storyteller, Doug recites both wisdom and whimsical through spoken word and song. We've compiled some of our favorite songs that Doug has recorded with us and are releasing them together, in this delightful and heart-warming episode. Our host, Thomas, gives a brief introduction in between Doug's sets, offering context for each of the four botanical tales & tunes. 

Today's episode also comes with a special visual bonus! We had the pleasure of visiting with Doug in the summer of 2022 at his Appalachian homestead. Click here to see some of the photos of Doug in his element. 

Visit the links below to watch the videos of Doug's storytelling serenades on our YouTube channel:

Dandelion Tips, Tales, & Tunes

Life Lessons Through a Song About an Apple

Rural Riddles & Blackberry Boogie

A Sweet Strawberry Tale & Tune

Want to hear more from Doug? Give "Interviews on Herbal Radio | Featuring Doug Elliot" a listen!

Visit Doug Elliot's website here

Doug Elliot is a naturalist, herbalist, storyteller, basket maker, back-country guide, philosopher, and harmonica wizard. For many years made his living as a traveling herbalist, gathering and selling herbs, teas, and remedies.

He has spent a great deal of time with traditional country folk and indigenous people, learning their stories, folklore and traditional ways of relating to the natural world. In recent years he has performed and presented programs at festivals, museums, botanical gardens, nature centers and schools from Canada to the Caribbean. He has been a featured storyteller at the National Storytelling Festival. He has lectured and performed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and conducted workshops for the Smithsonian Institution. He has led ranger training sessions for the National Park Service and guided people on wilderness experiences from down-east Maine to the Florida Everglades. He was named harmonica champion at Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove, N.C. He is the author of five books, many articles in regional and national magazines, has recorded a number of award winning albums of stories and songs, and is occasionally seen on PBS-TV, and the History and National Geographic Channels.

In recent years, he has received a variety of honors. The National Storytelling Network (the largest storytelling membership organization in the world) inducted him into their Circle of Excellence for "exceptional commitment and exemplary contribution to the art of storytelling." The International Herb Association presented him with the Otto Richter Award honoring his work with herbs and useful wild plants. The National Association for Interpretation (the professional organization of park rangers, naturalists, museum curators, etc.) gave him the Master Front Line Interpreter Award for his "mastery of interpretive techniques, program development, and design of creative projects" celebrating the natural world and our human connection to nature. 

Elliot's passion for the natural world developed in early childhood roaming the woods and waters around his home. His dad used to say, "That boy knows what's under every rock between here and town." He still roams the woods today. He has traveled from the Canadian North to the Central American jungles studying plant and animal life and seeking out the traditional wisdom of people with intimate connections to the natural world. And he still looks under rocks. These days he uncovers more than just a few strange critters; he brings to light the human connection to this vibrant world of which we are a part.

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Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

Accessible herbal education, community outreach, and learning how can we better share herbal medicine are core values of ours at Mountain Rose Herbs. Discussing these topics led us to our guest this week, Tree Knowlton. Tree is one of the coordinators of Herbalists Without Borders Eugene chapter, graduate of Columbines School of Botanical Studies, master medicine maker, urban homesteader, and adored community member. Listen as we delve into the magic of one of Tree's beloved elixirs, the paths she took to be where she is at today, and the ways in which Herbalists Without Borders Eugene operates within our local community.

Tree Knowlton is an herbalist, urban homesteader, sustainable landscape architect, and coordinator of the regional grassroots chapter of Herbalists Without Borders International, Herbalists Without Borders Eugene. A longtime resident of Eugene, Tree dedicates much of her time to community-based activism and recently, her adorable and playful puppy.  

Herbalists Without Borders Eugene is a regional grassroots chapter of Herbalists Without Borders International, coordinating and operating within its values, mission, and vision.

Visit Herbalists Without Borders Eugene here.
Visit Herbalists Without Borders International here.

Visit our Events Calendar here for the schedule of upcoming classes with Herbalists Without Borders Eugene at the Mountain Rose Herbs Annex.

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Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

We are deeply thankful for today's interview with co-founder of Holistic Divine Innovations and founder of the Ridgecrest Community Garden and Herbal Zen Garden, Tyrone Ledford. This inspiring conversation centers around Tyrone's life growing up in Compton, California, his experiences growing food, his development of the Ridgecrest Community Garden and Herbal Zen Garden, as well as his life's other meaningful pursuits.

Holistic Divine Innovations was one of five Grants4Plants winners in 2021 whose organizational mission is to show innovative, holistic ways of living by teaching self-sustainability through gardening and agriculture, herbalism, and maintaining one's connection to nature. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we do!

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's background also consists of working in mental health intensive services as a family specialist. Tyrone is an author of the Child, Family, and Community Open Resource Textbook that is used throughout community colleges in California.

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.

Visit Holistic Divine Innovations here.
Visit the Ridgecrest Community Garden Facebook page here.

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Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

 

This week's episode was recorded at the in-person Summer 2022 Free Herbalism Project at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum in Eugene, Oregon. Emcee, Jiling Lin, introduces keynote speaker jim mcdonald – who presents on the many virtues of plantain. It's commonly said in herbalism that "It's far better to know a dozen uses for one herb than one use for a dozen herbs", yet, many people still think of herbs in a "take this for that" sense. To remedy this, jim mcdonald will offer in depth information on the far reaching potential of the common and infinitely sustainable weed plantain, exploring its deep and vital usage for issues throughout the body. From mosquito bites to leaky gut syndrome, this is a plant that can be a foundational part of one's path to wellness.   

Learn more about the Free Herbalism Project by clicking here.

In 1994, jim mcdonald's life changed when he drank tea from a wild plant he harvested from the land he lived upon.  Since those first sips of strange tea, his life in the woods and meadows of southeast michigan has been centered on the plants & ecosystems of that land, and how he might share their virtues to restore wellness with those around him.  jim's approach to herbcraft is deeply rooted in the land he lives upon, and blends traditional european folk influences with 19th century eclectic and physiomedical vitalism, which he conveys with story, experience, humour, common sense and lore to students, clients, random passersby and readers of his websites www.herbcraft.org & herbcraft.podia.com.  He's taught classes throughout north america and is currently (still) alternately writing "Foundational Herbcraft" and the "A Great Lakes Herbal", in addition to articles for journals and other publications.  jimis a community herbalist, a manic wildcrafter and medicine maker, and has been an ardent student of the most learned teachers of herbcraft… the plants themselves.

Learn more about jim and his educational opportunities by clicking here. 

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Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

On this episode of Plant Stories on Herbal Radio, we had the opportunity to speak with the acclaimed and enthralling herbalist, Richo Cech. We dive deep into Richo's life and passions, discussing everything from his seed-seeking adventures in Africa, to captivating stories of how he grew Strictly Medicinal Seeds from the ground up (pun-intended).

Richo Cech started his professional work as an archaeologist and ethnobotanist in East Africa. Upon his return to the United States in 1978, he began cultivating and saving the seed of medicinal plants. Over the years, his gardens have become the basis for Strictly Medicinal Seeds, growers of organic, open pollinated and GMO-free seed and plants of medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, succulents, trees, and garden vegetables. Richo and his family produce a popular, bi-yearly, hand-illustrated seed catalog that provides access to this collection of common, quirky, eclectic, and bizarre seeds and plants. Richo is author of "Making Plant Medicine" (2000), "Growing At-Risk Medicinal Herbs" (2002), and "Growing Plant Medicine" (2009).

Richo has botanized in China and Africa, resulting in the introduction of many new and exciting medicinal herb species to gardeners throughout the world.

Visit Richo Cech at:

https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/

https://www.instagram.com/strictlymedicinalseeds/

 

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Strengthening the bonds between people and plants for a healthier world.

Mountain Rose Herbs
www.mountainroseherbs.com

Join herbalists Jiling Lin, Erika Galentin, and Camille Freeman for a lively Tea Talks Roundtable discussion on Nurturing the Herbal Practitioner. 

We explore:

• some of the challenges that come with running an herbal practice 

• how to create a work cadence that's realistic in the long run 

• establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life

• how to run an herbal practice that feels ethically aligned, aud sustains you 

• how we can feel supported and connected as herbal practitioners-- and continue growing and evolving as people and clinicians

• the role of the herbalist in modern life

• …and more! 

Learn more about these herbalists below: 

🌿CAMILLE FREEMAN is a licensed nutritionist and registered herbalist specializing in menstrual health. She runs the Monday Mentoring community, hosts the In the Clinic with Camille podcast, and offers continuing education for advanced practitioners. Camille is a professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, where she teaches physiology and pathophysiology. Sign up for her newsletter here. 

🌿ERIKA GALENTIN is the Clinical Herbalist and Lead Creatrix at Sovereignty Herbs, and host of the Herbal Practice Connexion and Herbal Sensorium podcast. Erika is a professional member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK, MNIMH) and American Herbalists Guild (USA, RH). She offers herbs & wellness coaching, online and in-person classes and workshops, and clinical mentorship programs. Sign up for her newsletter here. 
  🌿JILING LIN is a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac) and herbalist in Ventura, CA. A clinician and teacher, Jiling is also a passionate traveler, artist, and adventurer. Visit Jiling at JilingLin.com, Instagram @LinJiling, and Facebook @JilingLAc. Get her free Nourishing Life (養生) template, Five Phases (五行) outline, or sign up for her newsletter here.