(This is Part One of a post on getting started with herbs…I didn’t want to bore you all (yawn) with a long dreary post!) Let’s dig in to Part One.
Hey friends,
In the past few months I’ve embarked on a herbal adventure! Oh yes I did! So, I wanted to share with you all why I started on this journey and what I think (in my opinion) is the best way to get started making your own herbal remedies.
Growing Up with Herbs
Herbs are not unfamiliar to me because growing up on an island such as Jamaica (rich in indigenous plant life and fertile in soil) we used quite a bit of herbs for a variety of ailments and even just everyday uses in teas and such. I remember picking lime leaves from our lime tree to make tea. I did the same thing with soursop. My mom always grew some type of herb in her garden, thyme, mint, fevergrass and ceracee to name a few. I still have very fond memories of summer vacations spent on my grandfather’s farm (my mom’s dad) frolicking through acres of greenery, agriculture and observing livestock (ok, the manure didn’t smell so great, but you learn to live with it!). There was this particular green plant that grew near the sweet potatoes that I used to pick and eat as a child, it tasted so tangy!! OMG, loved it! Don’t ask me how I knew it was safe to eat, I just did! Ah, those were good times.
Even now, when my husband travels home (to Jamaica) he always brings back a stock of different dried Jamaican herbs that we use for teas or minor ailments. It’s funny in a way, because growing up, herbs/plants were a natural part of our life because the food budget only covered the necessities. Pre-packaged hot chocolate, and even tea bags were not an everyday thing. In fact, it was a pretty exciting time when we would receive or were able to buy “American food”. I remember when I got my first taste of Nesquik hot-chocolate! Ooooh, weeee!! That stuff tasted gooood, and which kid didn’t love that rabbit!
As a youngster, little did I understand that the natural way, though void of the fancy packaging, was actually the best way.
Why I Wanted to Learn More
I experienced some health issues a while back and the “mainstream” approach just wasn’t working for me so I asked God to help me to find natural ways towards healing. In January 2014, I started seeing a naturopathic doctor. With prayer, the help of my naturopath and my own research and application in natural approaches, my health improved. All of this got me thinking more and more about my Jamaican experience with herbs, and I felt I needed to dig deeper. Even though we made teas and minor remedies for stomach upset and so on, we just sort of used the stuff with no formal “lesson” as to the methods, measurements, and so on (back home we say “a likkle bit of dis an’ a likkle bit of dat”). I’m sure they knew what they were doing because the remedies always worked! But, y’all should know by now that I like lists and instructions, give me step by step, please!! Basically, I wanted to know more, I needed to understand the whys and hows about what I was doing, and I wanted to build on that knowledge by learning how to make more remedies, not just for my health but for my family’s as well.
The Good and Bad…then the Best
The good thing is we live in an information age, it is readily available at our fingertips, 24/7. The bad news is there is soooooo much information on herbs, it could get your head spinning. As I looked at website, after website, after website all the available information became overwhelming to me and at that point, short of enrolling in an herbal school, I just didn’t know where to start. So, I paused for a few weeks then prayerfully proceeded and eventually came across the best way for me, the Herb Mentor site by Learning Herbs. Their gentle and simple approach did it for me! Yaay! They had the three things I was looking for. Inexpensive, available mentorship (someone to tell me the whys and hows) and flexibility! With Herb Mentor, I could study herbs at my own pace, at a minimal cost with a community of learners, and learn to make the remedies that I feel would benefit my family the most. Awesome!!
Then, I did two things…
1. I connected with the Herb Mentor site. (I keep a a little Herbology Journal where I write all my new findings!), sweet!
2. Next, I decided to dig in to start making some herbal remedies that my family could use. I purchased their Herbal Medicine Making Kit.
Are you intrigued so far? Yes, great!!! Me too. Herbs are awesome!
Stay tuned, in my next post I will tell you all about my Herbal Remedy Kit from Learning Herbs. What I got in it, and pics of all the great herbal medicines I made for my family!
Where to buy:
- Herb Mentor (if you’ve got 8 minutes just go on their homepage and watch the video)
- Herbal Remedy Kit
Updated 5/10/15: Here’s Part Two of this post with all the details on what was included in the kit.
What’s your experience with herbs, if any?
Disclaimer: I was not contacted nor compensated by Herb Mentor to give feedback on their products and/or services. This is simply my way of sharing a little bit of my home with you. 🙂
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