I am a mom, teacher, wife, dog-rescuer, nature-lover, knitter, reader, and friend. I have been a biology teacher here in NJ for 19 years (2 years in Arizona as well). I believe modern medicine is amazing, and saves millions of lives every year. I also think that we as humans have lost touch with our ability to heal ourselves, to take ownership of our own bodies and health. It is too easy to ask for a pill to “fix” us. Herbal medicine has, for hundreds if not thousands of years, been the average person’s medicine chest. This medicine is still available to all of us. Much of what I use in my creations I have wildcrafted (sustainably harvested from natural areas) or grown in my garden. My son knows when he gets a bug bite to go get a piece of the “itch grass”, chew it up, and put the green gob onto his bite. Eww? Maybe. Works? Yup.
I am not a medical professional – I do not give medical advice or prescribe medical treatments. I offer products with a history of uses – please do your own research to see what products you want to use and for what purposes. What works for some purposes, and for some people, may not work for others, and depending on health conditions or medical treatments you are currently on, may actually be dangerous. This is especially true when it comes to internal remedies, even more so than external treatments.
I discovered herbal medicine a few years ago during a workshop hosted by a yoga studio, Country Flow Yoga, in northern NJ. I was deeply moved by the speaker, Robin Rose Bennett, and felt an immediate need to learn more about this. Robin sent us home with an assignment – make one tincture, one salve, and one tea. Hmmm… where to start? I was looking up places to order herbs, and then I found the Learning Herbs Kit. Wow! A whole kit with everything you need to get started – count me in. I was hooked after this – I started buying every book I could find, every herb I could find (thank you Mountain Rose Herbs), and basically becoming obsessed with this idea of plants as healing partners.
Everything I make I have tested on myself and my family. Most of my products started with a personal need – I didn’t want to use something with a list of chemicals I couldn’t pronounce. With the exception of a few herbs (like arnica and comfrey) you can pretty much eat everything I make (although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it). I hope you enjoy these products, and I welcome any feedback!
And yes, it is just a shed. But it is my shed. The dream is to have a barn, a farm. But not today. Today I have a shed, painted like a barn, and it makes me happy. Because I can dream.
Red Barn Herbals 