Mountain Herbalism

12/26/2024

We’re celebrating Hanukah tonight, and I wanted to take the opportunity to uplift some Palestine fundraisers that I’ve heard good things about (I’m also donating).

11/13/2024

I’ll be assisting with this (free!) street medic training this weekend! Please come learn basic first aid skills for upcoming activist events!

04/04/2024

Mountain Herbalism Spring Botany Program Starting Soon! -

There are still spaces in our Spring Botany and Summer Harvesting Classes! This program is designed to give students an immersive, practical education into herbal medicine of the Rocky Mountain Region. Classes include plant identification, local ecology, sustainable harvesting techniques, medicine m...

02/19/2024

Did you know that Palestinians are criminalized for wildcrafting their traditional indigenous foods? The foraging of wild herbs such as za’atar (Majorana syriaca) has been banned by Israel since 1977, as well as akkoub (Gundelia tournerfortii) since 2005.

Slide 1. Akkoub harvesting, Matti Milstein, Adalah Justice Project.
Slides 2-4. Stills from the film Foragers, Jumana Manna, 2022.

02/15/2024

Super excited to dive into the *just published* book by Lebanese ethnobotanist Layla Feghali, and want to encourage like minded folks to order a copy!

12/17/2023

In September I did my first harvest of Valeriana officinalis from my garden! Originally got this baby Valerian from

12/10/2023

Here we are processing Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa) with the botany students August 2023. Applications are now open for the 2024 botany program! If you’re interested, please fill out an online application at mountain herbalism dot com (link in bio).

11/30/2023

Some of you may know that I have a deep love of our low-dose herbs, like poke root here which is a drop dosage lymph mover and immune stimulant.  Low-dose simply means that more skill is required to utilize the herb as a medicine without getting poisonous side effects.  As with so many of our low-dose herbs, common effects of taking too much include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea to remove the offending plant before too much is absorbed.  As always, I want to advocate for skilled and intentional use of our low-dose plants so that the knowledge stays in practice and gets passed on - so much herbal knowledge has already been lost or suppressed.  I saw this poke root (Phytolacca americana) during a visit to Massachusetts this fall.  Lisa Ganora says that the beautiful purple/fuchsia color a group of chemicals called betalean alkaloids (also found in beets!), which is a relatively uncommon pigment in the plant world - most reds are anthocyanins (think tomatoes or cranberries.)

09/29/2023

Levisticum officinale (Lovage) is a carrot family member that I’ve been growing for a few years in hopes of finding an Osha substitute that feels more aligned. Just tinctured the fresh root for the first time!

09/21/2023

After growing yerba mansa for a couple of years, I finally gathered my first harvest and tincture!

08/11/2023

Wild Seed Harvesting Camping Trip and Community Herbalism Applications Open -

During this camping weekend we will explore the role of seeds and nuts in Rocky Mountain ecology, learn how to locate and identify them, and finally how to tend plants as you harvest so that these plants can thrive and continue to support our communities needs for many generations.

07/31/2023

Sign up now for our wild seed harvesting camping trip in September!