21/03/2026
🌳Today marks the release of our third Elder Tree Newsletter!! 🌳Whoohoo! We launched our first issue on the Spring Equinox last year and honestly, we couldn’t be prouder of our little news rag. The Elder Tree in a nutshell is all about putting the medicine in the hands of the people and this newsletter aims to do just that - to have a finger on the pulse of grassroots herbalism in Oz and to share that knowledge as far and wide as we can.
This is an offering not just for The Elder Tree crew but for the national herbal community. It features an array of wonderful and informative articles and recipes from fantastic and inspiring herb folk around Australia (and one in NZ) as well as a national herbal directory.
This newsletter is free to our members, and $5 to the broader public. Purchase your copy here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uUyMqcIguU77jSouePaapKefGIGhM4nQ/view?usp=sharing
Become a member here:
https://www.theeldertree.org/becomeamember
We feel really fortunate to have a great selection of contributors from around the country, who are each doing wonderful things in their own communities, as well as rippling out with big impact. They represent different voices and perspectives, and as our newsletter grows we hope to include articles from even more leaders, educators, growers and community herbalists, in turn helping us to provide free education to the national community and to support all of the wonderful teachers around the country.
We would like to give a special thanks to our regular contributors.
Cat Green - from Everyday Empowered is a community herbalist on a mission to bring herbs back where they belong… to our homes, gardens and communities. . Every year on the Sunshine Coast she hosts Herb Fest, which is Australia’s only large gathering focused solely on herbal medicine (It’s also an epically fun day out). She runs regular community herbal medicine workshops and teaches online and in-person courses on herbal medicine so people can care for themselves and family more naturally. A long-time friend of The Elder Tree, she has been both host and interviewee on the podcast and recently signed on as a co-host of the Herbal Education segment alongside Tatiana. Check out HerbFest 2026 for the next amazing event in June this year.
Heidi Merika - Heidi Merika Botanical resides on Gubbi Gubbi country on the Sunshine Coast, and is an experienced naturopath, medical herbalist, teacher and author with a passion for wild medicinal and nutritional plants. She has authored two brilliant books - Wildcraft: The science and spirit of wild plants for food and medicine (2019) and From the Wild: An essential companion to identifying, cooking and enjoying common wild plants for health and healing.(2024) She also regularly runs popular workshops on herbal medicine and foraging for wild plants.
Christopher Smith - Christopher Smith from Mountain Herbs is a Conservation Herbalist committed to transforming our relationship to Medicinal plants. He is the creator of HERBOLOGY HUB an online subscription program for fostering Medicinal Herb Growers in Australia and he is also an Australian grower of select rare and endangered herbs such as Golden Seal, Solomons Seal and Arnica. We also think he is a really cool guy.
Penelope Maguire - 'Penelope Maguire from Botanical Kitchen is a New Zealand based Herbalist and Naturopath with a passion for educating folk on wild and edible herbs and the incredible gifts they offer us. She joyfully shares the most beautiful, nourishing and supportive herbal recipes with us and we love having her onboard.
Taj Scicluna - Taj Scicluna resides on Wurundjeri land in the Naarm/ Melbourne region of Victoria and is a Botanical Educator, bioregional Herbalist and Awe Seeker. Founder of Botanical Education, her work is dedicated to processes that foster healing and that honour science and tradition. She is one of the leading voices in plant phytochemistry and herbal constituents in Australia and has talent for weaving together science, ecological literacy, cultural awareness, and a deep reverence for the living world. She is also a co-presenter of the permaculture segment on The Elder Tree Podcast.
As of this edition, we have two new amazing contributors:
Lily Aagren aka Lily of the Herbs - Lily Aagren is a wild herbalist residing on Wurundjeri Country by the Birranrung River, in Warrandyte, VIC. Lily has been running workshops and teaching herbalism for 10 years and runs the School of Elemental Herbalism. She dreams of bringing back the dirt, the flowers and the leaves to learning.
Benjamin Turale - is the Director of The Temple of Mercury, a Hermetic mystery school based in Victoria, Australia in Ballarat (Waddawarung country). He also serves on the International Alchemy Guild as Director of Education. He is arguably one of the leading Alchemy teachers in Australia and gives us a unique insight into this often misunderstood tradition.
We have also had contributions from other interesting herb folks such as
And our casual contributors who contributed to the last edition but not this one, though will contribute to future editions:
Tamara Clements - of From The Soil Herbal who is based on Wadandi Boodjar in South Western Australia, where she practices as a community herbalist, medicine maker, workshop facilitator and herb grower - whilst completing her training in Clinical Western Herbalism.
Naomi Ingleton - is a maker and grower of traditional foods and plant medicine on Waywurru country in North Eastern Victoria , where she has a micro herb farm, food garden, an apothecary and runs workshops. She is also the driving force behind FarmacyCo and also Herb Connect, which is an online space where growers and buyers can meet directly, reconnecting people to the source of their medicine. Herb Connect will open doors for small-scale herb farmers, backyard growers and wild foragers to create new possibilities for buyers who want to know exactly where their plants come from. It’s a vision rooted in respect for the land and the people who care for it, and one which the Elder Tree is really happy to be a involved with.
This newsletter is published quarterly, seasonally, every solstice and equinox. If you would like to submit an article, small or long. Herbal Medicine focused, please reach out to us.
The sky is the limit - poetry, art, a fictional story, medicine making or growing, crafting - we would love to hear all about it. We put a lot of love, time and hope for the future into this newsletter. It’s free to our valued members & patrons, then available for $5 to the broader public.
A huge thanks to our epic co-editor team- Cait Moore and Tatiana Dawn. A lot of love and hard work goes into this newsletter!
Enjoy the rest of this day folks!!!
