Red Road Herbs Retreat & Learning Center LLC

04/14/2026

More signs of spring 🐦🌼🐝
This stand of wild plum trees in our west woods attracts bees, butterflies and humans with their intoxicating scent.

It never ceases to be amazing to see, feel, hear, smell and taste Nature wake up every spring; one miracle after another!

A few of these blossoms can be dried to make no-heat infused honey, a delightful indulgence only available for a short time in early spring 🥰

04/13/2026

Signs of spring, despite having snow a few days ago, are popping up everywhere. I went for a walk in our woods with a tree-nerd friend and we both squealed with delight when we saw the ephemeral blossoms of bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) emerging from the leaf debris. They look delicate but their roots contain powerful medicine that must be used with caution. Although I don't harvest them for medicine, it's good to know they are available if needed. The 'medicine' I get from them is simply the joy I experience when seeing them every early spring and being able to provide a safe home for them in our woods.

Red Road Herbs is a member of the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary Network. We grow several plants here who are at-risk of being overharvested in the wild, including bloodroot, mayapple, black cohosh and echinacea. UPS BSN encourages "stewardship, a relationship that takes into account the natural resources of an area and its native inhabitants and helps to restore the sacred relationship between people and place."

Here's a link to the full list updated in 2026:
https://unitedplantsavers.org/species-at-risk-list/

04/12/2026

FREE WILD HERB HARVEST at RED ROAD HERBS
April 25 and April 26
10 am - 4 pm
Bring clippers/harvest baskets or bags.
Bring pots/trowel if you want to take home a few wild herb plants.

List of plants available for harvest:
Nettle
Cleavers
Ground Ivy
Violet
Dandelion
Shepherd's Purse
Yarrow
Yellow Dock
Wild Bee Balm
Plantain
Chickweed

Additional plants available:
Sweetgrass
Comfrey
Garlic
Mugwort
Motherwort
Sweet Annie

04/09/2026

Our NEW Veno Tonic Salve is formulated specifically to help with varicose veins, spider veins and hemorrhoids. It is made with Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium.)

Horse Chestnut has been used for centuries to strengthen veins, improve circulation and reduce swelling. Yarrow is well-known for astringent, anti-inflammatory and circulation-stimulating properties that help tone blood vessels and reduce itching. They work together to help reduce inflammation and tone veins - Veno Tonic.

Our new Veno Tonic Salve is specially formulated to help with varicose veins, spider veins and hemorrhoids. It is made with Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium.) Horse Chestnut has been used for centuries to strengthen veins, improve circulation and reduce sw

04/02/2026

Registration Open!!
5th Annual Prairie Herbalists Conference
July 18 & 19, 2026

Join us at Nebraska's first and only herb conference!!
🌿🌼🍄🌳

Register Now for Early Bird Special!
https://www.redroadherbs.com/conference

Take a look at our new website! Many thanks to Chelsea at blazinstrategies.com 🥰

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04/01/2026

First nettle harvest of the year!! It's time to make Kay Young's recipe for Potato/Nettle Casserole and have a cup of fresh nettle tea. Isn't it awesome that nature provides what you need when you need it? Nettle has antihistamine properties that can help with seasonal allergies and they arrive just when pollen starts to cause problems.

I'm waiting a bit longer to announce free wild herb harvesting here at Red Road Herbs. The nettle are up, but it'll take a little while for the remaining spring herbs to make their grand entrance into spring - probably around the 25th of April.
Watch this page for more information...

03/31/2026

Special Sale!! Buy 2 Get 1 Free
The Best Herbal Salve Ever - Pain Relief

A natural, plant-powered salve crafted to ease joint pain, muscle tension, and nerve discomfort—made with fresh St. John’s Wort flowers.

Why It Works
St. John’s Wort: rich in phytochemicals that help reduce inflammation
Naturally antispasmodic for muscle tension
Traditionally used to support nerve pain relief
Pure, Small-Batch Crafting

Fresh St. John’s Wort flowers are solar-infused in Extra Virgin Olive Oil and blended with local beeswax for maximum potency.

All-natural. No additives.

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03/30/2026

Another tree hugger in training 🥰
Lottie Lu came to visit this weekend with her momma and did some exploring while her big brother helped rake the yard - yay on both accounts!! She just completed her first trip around the sun and is walking quite well - on flat surfaces. She discovered gravity and inertia of motion while navigating the hills in our yard. She also tasted lots of new things - sticks, leaves, dirt and possibly bugs. It is such a delight to see the world through a child's eyes!

03/27/2026

In addition to knowing the background of your teacher, I think it's important for my students to know the herbalists I admire. Here's list (not all inclusive and not in any particular order) of the herbalists, naturalists and botanists who have been influential in my learning through the past 30 years:
Rosemary Gladstar
Susun W**d
Juliet Blankespoor
Michael Tierra
Henriette Kress
Matthew Wood
Hippocrates
Nicholas Culpeper
Juliette de Baïracli Levy
James Duke
Earl Mindel
Maud Grieve
Carl Linneas
Michael Moore
Keewaydinoquay Peschel
Jerome Kills Small - Lakota elder
John Muir
7Song
Jose Torres (El Yerberito)
Sajah Popham
Linda Black Elk
Elders of Hooper Bay, Alaska
Lisa Strecker - ethnobotany instructor
(I'm sure I've left out a few.)

Who are some of the influential herbalists in your life?

Photo: Impromptu plant walk with Matthew Wood in South Dakota

03/19/2026

While in Arizona I met the cousin of an old friend - Fremont's cottonwood (Populus fremontii.) In Nebraska we have eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoidus) and they are considered sacred by the Lakota and other tribes. Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota holy man, called them the "praying tree" because their leaves are constantly moving and "singing." (Scientifically, this is because they have a flat petiole or leaf stem that allows them to clap up against each other.) They are the honored guest of the Sun Dance with rituals specifically undertaken for choosing, cutting and transporting the chosen one to the center of the Sun Dance circle.

It's not surprising the cottonwood of the southwest is also considered a sacred tree, especially since they are an indicator of water. The Cheyenne and the Arapaho have stories about the star-shaped pith found in twigs. The Arapaho consider them a symbol of the sun. Northern Mexico tribes use them in burial rituals and consider them a symbol of the afterlife. The Hopi and Navajo make their famous Kachina dolls from cottonwood roots.

Both cultures use them for medicine, especially the bark and the buds, which contain the highest amounts of salicin, the chemical compound we have synthesized into common aspirin. Salicin has anti-fever, anti-pain and anti-inflammatory properties. The Hopi use the leaves for infections and swelling. The Mohave use the inner bark for the same conditions. Cottonwood also has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. A salve made from the buds is rubbed on the chest for respiratory conditions.

Cottonwoods grow all across North American, making them one of the most widely distributed trees in the northern hemisphere. Eastern cottonwoods can be found from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. Their cousins, Aspen trees, are found at higher altitudes and often form stands of cloned trees. They really do fulfill their scientific name as a "tree of the people."

03/18/2026

An Irish proverb to celebrate St. Patrick's Day 🍀
I hope each day brings you a good giggle and each night brings you sweet dreams 🥰