Health & Herbs

28/04/2026

Herb Craft is now open. Congratulations. Please visit and support Julie in her new venture. It is great to see a herbal dispensary with high-quality products available to our Richmond community. Let's support local businesses. 🎉💚🌿💛 Herb Craft

28/04/2026

🌿

Day one ✅

Thanks for all the support y'all!
It was so lovely to see some of my regulars back in store today & lots of kind messages of encouragement before I even opened the door too! 💚

Things went pretty smoothly! 👌

Though you'd think that given it was me that put all things into place... I'd know where to find those things!
Only opened my cupboards & drawers 847 times over the course of the day 😂

Remember I'm open 9am - 2.30pm
Monday-Friday
No appointment needed, just come on in for a chat about your natural health needs 🌿

26/04/2026

Things are coming along nicely down at Herb Craft 🌿

26/04/2026

Getting there friends! 🌿
Opening Tuesday 28th April.

24/04/2026

An update for everyone to read regarding Herb Craft 🌿
Not long to go now! It'll be a busy weekend getting things into place for Tuesday!
Look forward to seeing you all soon

Julie x

Friends! A little info about Herb Craft
Please read 👇

Hey! For those of you that don't know me, I am Julie, owner of Herb Craft 🌿 previously one of the Medical Herbalists at Health & Herbs before their closure a few weeks ago.

I am excited to be able to continue on providing guidance & support for your natural health journey, with a full practitioner Liquid Herbal Dispensary & a selection of natural health products, I know & love. (And some other super cool treasures/crafts too). 🍄

I am so grateful to be able to share premises with the lovely Lisa (& Zeus the Boxer!) at The Floral Bar on Queen Street, which leads me to my next little bit of info below.

💚 Work- Home Life - Family balance is really important to me, with a 9 year old beautiful stepdaughter whom many of you have met in-store at Health & Herbs already & spoilt to bits, my days are busy with school bizzo, home bizzo & everything in-between, so.....

⏰ My hours currently will be 9am - 2.30pm Mon-Fri.

You will see that Lisa at The Floral Bar is open longer hours, till 5pm.

💐 Please keep in mind, that Herb Craft & The Floral Bar are two SEPARATE businesses sharing the same premises.

💐 If I am not there, you will not be able to purchase anything or order products/tinctures or have any advice given relating to natural health. Please be respectful, Lisa is a busy lady with all her fabulous floral goodness!

🌱 I am ALWAYS happy to hear from you via email, FB, phone or text. If I miss you, I will endeavor to reply as soon as possible.
I appreciate you all!

❓Any questions fire away!

Look forward to seeing ya'll soon! 🎉
Opens Tuesday 28th April!

22/04/2026

You are so right Julie from Herb Craft can't wait to see your space when you open. Not long now! 😍

18/04/2026

Hey friends! Utilising the Health & Herbs page to catch anyone that may not know that Herb Craft is opening soon! 28th April, herbal dispensary and more!
I will be shop sharing with the awesome Lisa at the Floral Bar 211a Queen Street Richmond!
Pop over to follow my new venture 🌱
Any questions or queries you can contact me at jjherbcraft@gmail.com

Friends I got carried away doing other things & forgot to post about the emotional healing aspects Hawthorn may offer! If you know me ...you might know that I tend to multitask & can't sit still long, sometimes that means I have many things I'm finishing at once or in this case forget completely oops!

So anywho...Hawthorn is part of the Roseacae family, the Rose family, which seems to have a long connection to the heart in all manners.
Rose essential oil, one drop on the heart centre is like a warm hug in a bottle.

Hawthorn is an important medicine for not just the physical beating heart in our body, but also the emotional heart. It has long been used in matters of heartbreak, when the heart has been wounded or broken, in times of grief, deep heartfelt sadness, loss of courage & self worth, lack of self love & nurture.
It has been said that it can assist with releasing stuck energies of heart, healing old wounds, helping to create emotional resilience & safe boundaries, providing protection but allowing the heart to remain open to love again.

Think of the tree itself, an abundance of gifts within its flowers, leaves & berries that it can give, but with the protection of its thorns- it's boundaries. It's as though it represents what it can do for us also. Cool!

Something I often suggest - to those open to it, is to sit with an herb/plant, fresh or dry, in the ground, in a prepared medicinal form, or even a photo or artwork, sit with it quietly, meditate on it & see what comes to you, what feelings, thoughts, sensations come to you, it is a really fun & interesting experience, a wonderful way to get a deeper understanding of the herb & what it may offer you.
A great way to slow down & just be too - that's a whole other topic to discuss one day!

Hawthorne has long been associated with the mystical realms, traditions & folklore - particularly with the Celtic Fae
I won't go into this, there is a huge amount of information out there to immerse yourself in when you have time, traditions, folklore, beliefs, stories & knowledge, all well worth diving into.
I have TOO many books! (Can't have too many books surely ...)

I will leave you with this quote I found though, that I love -

“The first herb I think of in connection with the health of our dear hearts is the sacred Hawthorn tree, beloved of the mischievous faeries and all who believe that a life devoid of magic is not really worth living.”
- Robin Rose Bennet,The Gift of Healing Herbs

Oooooh one more thing, something that you may not see so often these days, particularly in the mainstream are medicine bags, Hawthorn berries were said to be carried in small pouches around the neck as a form of protection for the heart. What a beautiful, traditional way to utilise Hawthorn's offerings.

Bring back the medicine bags! 🌿🌿🌿

17/04/2026

Pop over to Herb Craft Julie's new venture!
Opening soon 28th April
Herbal Dispensary & more!

Hey why not make a BIGGER veggie garden!
Today's mission, so that over the Winter I can get it prepared for Spring planting! My poor vege gardens have been a little neglected with everything going on in life & the little spare time I get, but I'm adamant to get them back on track! 👩‍🌾
Ohhhh by the way, for those that don't know me, I'm Julie!
Medical Herbalist at Herb Craft , my new exciting venture in Richmond! You may have met me at Health & Herbs previously, I had worked there for 3.5 years with Alana & the most amazing humans around.•°•. 🌿

Back to digging! Hope you're all having a fabulous FriYAY!!
Pop a comment below to say hi!
I appreciate you all being here 🧡

17/04/2026

Herb Craft 🌿

It's delicious friends!! Delicious!

Approx 2 cups Rose Hips (ends nipped off)
6 cups water
1.5 cups sugar (Can use Honey)
1 whole big fat Lemon sliced, skin & all
Good chunk of fresh Ginger chopped
Small handful of Cloves (Maybe 8-10)

Pop it all into a pot & simmer away for a good 30 minutes, take off the element & use a spud masher to squish & squash it all, back on to the heat & simmer for another 10 minutes or so.
Once cool, use a sieve & some muslin cloth to strain into a glass jug or bowl, I would double the thickness of the cloth to catch all the pesky hairs that like to be a total irritant to the throat & digestive system!
You can then bottle it, cork it & keep in the fridge, this is a sweet concentrate or cordial that you can mix with cold with water, sparkle, or as a hot tonic!

Fabulously delectable with many medicinal qualities!

17/04/2026

🌿 Herb Craft

17/04/2026

🌿 Herb Craft

🥀.•°•.While we have time on a windy, chilly old day...let's make some Rose Hip, Lemon & Ginger cordial! We gathered these hips on our walk yesterday (Rosa canina), prickly little rascals they are! (That's not what I said at the time...🫢)

This cordial does have a bit of sugar in it though...you can use honey if you want to.
For me, the goodness outweighs the sugar content & it's not something we will be drinking daily, year round.

Rose Hips are deliciously tasty, nutritious little bundles of Vitamin C & Antioxidants.

Think:

🌿 Immune support
🌿 Important for fighting infection
🌿 Cellular protection & prevention of oxidative & free radical damage
🌿 Important for collagen production, wound healing, skin health, connective tissue, joint support, blood vessel health
🌿 Iron absorption
🌿 Healthy gums
🌿Scurvy prevention
🌿 Adrenal support in times of prolong stress

Watch this space! 🥀

15/04/2026

Hi friends! Remember to pop over to Herb Craft for updates & all things herby! 🌿🌿
Look forward to opening 28th April!
You can contact me
jjherbcraft@gmail.com in the meanwhile.

Julie 🍂

We had about a cup full of Hawthorn berries, from yesterday's little wander, just enough to make a delicious heartwarming syrup & show y'all the magnificent colour they turn! ❤️

There are so many around at the moment I may just head back out to collect a good harvest.

I used approx 4 cups of water & added the fresh berries to make a decoction. I simmered for a good 20 minutes or so....
Then squished the berries up and added a little more water, simmered for another 10 mins or so. I then strained off the liquid (Look at that colour!!) and added it back to the pot.
As I seem to have been given copious amounts of honey lately (yay!), I used that instead of sugar, about a cup full to the 2 cups of liquid I was left with after it reduced down some.
While I was pottering away, I let this gently simmer & reduce down more and more, stirring regularly till the desired consistency. I wanted it sticky & delicious but didn't want it so thick the spoon could stand up in it!

I then let cool & poured into clean glass bottles, well labelled with name & date.
Miss 9 and I of course taste tested and it got the huge thumbs up and the licking of the lips from her!

This is one way to use the berries, otherwise I'll just make the decoction and drink hot but an easy honey syrup felt just right today on a cool evening to warm & sweeten the heart.

I will endeavor to note things down for ya'll as I'm doing it, I am terrible!! I generally just wing it...this is me full stop in the kitchen, I go by taste & feel & make things up as I go along 🫣
Always changing recipes up or swapping things out....you'll get used to it haha!

I'll call it intuitive creating.... Hehe!!

But seriously...there are some wonderful syrup recipes (with accurate measurements haha!) out on the interwebs, another fav of mine to make is Rose Hip syrup .. excellent for the vitamin C & bioflavonoids content & kids LOVE it ! We harvested plenty of them today.•°•. 👌

💡A decoction is the term I use when simmering herbs in water to make a concentrated liquid, usually when using bark, berries or roots.
When I'm using leaves & flowers, I'm making an infusion.
Photo below is the liquid left after straining, before I added the Honey & reduced.
SO pretty!!!