I had such a great time catching up with Phyllis Light in this conversation! Hearing Phyllis’ unique herbal story and her philosophy about herbs and herbalism was a real treat. Plus, she shared such an abundance of information about sumac and its medicinal gifts that I am inspired to start working more with this amazing plant!

Phyllis shared so many ways to work with sumac, including her recipe for Sumac Elderberry Syrup (along with several suggestions of how to use that syrup). You can download a beautifully illustrated recipe card for Phyllis’ syrup here.

You will be amazed at the many medicinal gifts that sumac has to offer! Here are just a few ways that you can work with sumac to benefit your health:

► As a topical remedy for skin issues like fungal rashes and poison ivy

► To help reduce high blood sugar

► As a cooling summer beverage that is high in Vitamin C

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I was delighted to learn just how many health challenges can benefit from this incredibly versatile plant. Be sure to tune in to the entire episode for all the details!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How herbalism and human health have changed in the United States since Phyllis began her herbal journey

► How to distinguish poison sumac from other species of sumac

► How to tell if your dried sumac berries are still medicinally active

► Eighteen - yes, eighteen! - health conditions sumac’s gifts can help with, and six different herbal preparations for sumac

► Why it’s so important to move beyond internet searches when learning about a new plant or herbal treatment

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Phyllis D. Light, a fourth generation herbalist and healer, has studied and worked with herbs, foods, and other healing techniques for over 30 years. Her studies in Traditional Southern Folk Medicine began in the deep woods of North Alabama with lessons from her grandmother, whose herbal and healing knowledge had its roots in her Creek/Cherokee heritage. Phyllis’ studies continued as an apprentice with the late Tommie Bass, a nationally renowned folk herbalist from Sand Rock, Alabama. She is the director of the Appalachian Center for Natural Health in Arab, Alabama, which offers both online classes and in-person classes. She is also on the faculty of the Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism. Phyllis is the author of Southern Folk Medicine, Healing Traditions from Appalachian Fields and Forests published by North Atlantic.

If you’d like to hear more from Phyllis, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card at: https://bit.ly/4bHb64Y.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone...

It was so much fun to meet the famous Brigitte Mars, who has been an herbalist for over fifty years. I’ve admired her work for such a long time, and found in this interview that she is also quite the character!

Brigitte has such a strong thread of creativity that just bursts out of her, and our conversation went in many unexpected directions – way beyond simply talking about our mutual love for dandelions!

It’s truly bizarre to me that some people reach for poisons to eradicate certain plants in their lawn - especially when so many of those plants can be so beneficial to our health! Dandelion is such a cheerful, wonderful plant with so many gifts, and I think that the more people who learn to work with it in their food and medicine, the fewer people will be using toxic chemicals on their lawn.

Speaking of making food from this sunny little plant, Brigitte has shared her delicious recipe for dandelion “mushrooms” with us, which you can find here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Four ways to work with dandelions in food and drink (including an interesting way to use the flower stems!)

► The three herbs Brigitte would bring with her if she was traveling to another planet

► Why Brigitte is so passionate about wild foods

► Why dandelion is such a great herbal ally for mental and emotional health

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of natural health with over fifty years of experience. She teaches herbal medicine at Naropa University. Brigitte has also taught at the Omega Institute, Esalen, many festivals including Burning Man, and even the Mayo Clinic. She is a founding and professional member of the American Herbalist Guild.

Brigitte is the author of many books and DVDs, including The Natural First Aid Handbook, Natural Remedies for Mental and Emotional Health, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, and a newly republished book on dandelion. Her latest project is a phone app called IPlant, and she has several online courses which you can find in the show notes.

If you’d like to hear more from Brigitte, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card at: https://bit.ly/3zvcpGO.

I’m excited to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at

I have fallen in love with Mary Morgaine Squire’s plant love letter newsletters lately, and when I sat down to interview her, it was made even more clear to me just how deep her connection with the herbs is! I’m excited that she chose ginkgo (GIngko biloba) for her herb – it’s a new plant for the show and one I haven’t worked with much myself. I really enjoyed learning more about it. I’m even trying to find a place to grow a ginkgo tree in my own yard now!

Mary shared so many wonderful things during our conversation – from a plant meditation to an excerpt from her love letter to ginkgo, plus her recipe for Sweet Memory Tea. You can download your very own copy of Mary’s lovely recipe here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► The connections between the history of ginkgo, its physical structure, and its medicinal benefits

► The best time of year to harvest ginkgo leaves

► How working with ginkgo can benefit your mind and heart

► Two ways to combine ginkgo with other herbs to enhance their own gifts

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Mary Morgaine Squire, aka Mary Plantwalker, is a land steward, writer, educator, ceremonialist and avid gardener living in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. She began her walk with the plants at Fairhaven College in the early 90’s while earning a BA in sustainable living, and later traveled the world to learn from the plants and healers of indigenous cultures. Matthew Wood, Frank Cook and Juliet Blankespoor have been some of her many herbal teachers along the way.

Mary Morgaine creates sacred sanctuary wherever she goes, pouring her life energy into the space around her. Herb Mountain Farm, a healing botanical sanctuary that hosts events, a forest school and residential community, has been her home for many years and she is devoted to stewarding it with loving care. Her joy arises while tending the land and documenting the life unfolding on this magical planet through writing, photography and collage. Her prayer is that this work will inspire others to care deeply for our Mother Earth.

As a plantfolk woman, Mary Morgaine walks her talk by steeping herself daily in the spirit of the plants whether it’s eating something wild, drinking herbal tea, sitting under a tree or giving voice to the plant nation. She is an eternal student of the natural world and generously shares with others how to strengthen their personal relationship with the plants around them and find their passion for embracing conscious earth stewardship. She offers regular Appalachian Tea Ceremonies, Plant Walks, and other earth-based workshops and is the author of a weekly subscription newsletter called Earth Devotions.

If you’d like to hear more from Mary, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card at: https://bit.ly/4eLQATd.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy...

I’ve known Kristine Brown for many years, and it was such a delight to sit down and chat with her about her love of nettle – a plant that herbalists love to love! Even though I have immersed myself in nettle love for years, I learned some new things about this wonderful herb during our conversation. And it was so much fun to hear about Kristine’s herbal journey and how she came to develop her herbal zine and amazing herbal learning system for children.

If you homeschool your children – or even if you don’t, but simply enjoy sharing the gifts of herbs with the children in your life – you’ll love the Herb Club expanded curriculum sample that Kristine is sharing with us! You can find this free, downloadable curriculum sample – an amazing resource for kids of all ages! – here.

Nettle offers so many wonderful gifts! Here are just a few ways that you can work with nettles to benefit your health:

► To help prevent seasonal allergies

► To strengthen your bones, hair, and nails

► To help normalize low blood pressure

Nettle is such a versatile plant, and there are so many more reasons to include it in your regular herbal routine. To learn the best ways to incorporate nettle into your life (including a delicious way to prepare nettle greens!), be sure to tune in to the entire episode.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why Kristine considers nettle to be her lifetime plant ally

► Kristine’s helpful trick for drying large amounts of nettles

► Seven medicinal uses of nettle leaves, roots, and seeds – including one way that the actual sting can be used!

► Tips for harvesting nettles and extending the season for harvesting their leaves

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Kristine Brown, RH(AHG), is helping parents teach their kids about herbalism, one herb at a time. Combining her knowledge as an herbalist and homeschooling mom, Kristine created the only children’s herbal curriculum that uses all four learning styles (visual, auditory, reading, and kinesthetic). She has taught classes for children locally and coordinated numerous herbal conference kids’ camps both locally and nationally. She is the writer and illustrator of the online children’s publication Herbal Roots zine, including ebooks, online courses that teach children about botany, drawing, and herbs, and a membership offering, Herb Club, with video lessons, expanded curriculum for preschool through high school, and a forum. Teaching others about plants and drawing and sharing her knowledge with children—our future—is her passion.

If you’d like to hear more from Kristine, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your homeschool curriculum sample at: https://bit.ly/3KRemjb.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review...

It was so delightful to sit down and chat with Anjali Deva about Tulsi. I just love it when I interview someone and their love of the plant they choose shines through so clearly, which was definitely the case in this conversation. Anjali’s descriptions of seeing Tulsi growing in India made me wish I could grow whole fields of it myself!

Anjali discussed the many ways she loves to interact with Tulsi, both on a physical and a spiritual level, and I loved her very practical and specific indications for when to try her Tulsi Chai recipe. By the way, don’t miss out on downloading your beautifully illustrated recipe card, which you can find here!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Four digestive issues that can be helped by Tulsi

► How Tulsi’s gifts can benefit multiple organ systems

► The parallels between Tulsi’s effects on digestion and the lungs

► Four delectable ways to use Tulsi in food and drinks (including a delicious way to use it in an afternoon pick-me-up!)

► How Anjali uses Tulsi as part of her spiritual practice

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t already know her, Anjali Deva is an Ayurvedic practitioner, currently residing in the mountains of Southern California. Her private practice, Rooted Rasa, specializes in an integrative and trauma-informed approach to Ayurveda. Anjali founded Mādhya Way, a school for Ayurveda, in 2020 to provide education in trauma-informed care. She is the co-author of From Stressed Out to Stress Wise, published in July 2023. Anjali is dedicated to sharing the Wisdom of Ayurveda for the benefit of all living beings.

If you’d like to hear more from Anjali, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card for Tulsi Chai at: https://bit.ly/4ej73Ou.

I’m excited to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book

I am a huge fan of the work done through United Plant Savers (UPS) and so it was truly an honor to have Susan Leopold, the executive director of UPS, on the show!

I had so much fun talking with Susan. Of course she discussed the UPS’s efforts to catalog and protect at-risk native medicinal plants, but this conversation also went places I didn’t expect, including some of the history of herbal medicine in the United States and a sneak peek at next year’s International Herb Symposium.

Susan also talked about some of the many free resources United Plant Savers has to offer, like their list of at-risk plants and herbs that you can use to substitute for these plants medicinally, which you can access here.

And if you’re interested in helping UPS’s efforts in medicinal plant conservation, I highly recommend getting a membership! I’ve been a member for so many years, and I think everybody who loves plants should be a member of United Plant Savers if at all possible. You can find a link to become a member on the show notes page here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Who the Eclectics were and why they are so relevant to herbalism and plant conservation today

► How United Plant Savers compiles its lists of at-risk plants, and how you can use these lists to guide your use and purchase of medicinal herbs

► Why United Plant Savers encourages people to engage and interact with plants rather than taking a hands-off approach

► Why buying wild-harvested white sage is so problematic (and what you can do to help!)

► Why Susan considers Echinacea to be “the voice of the prairie”

► Four ways you can directly help with conservation of at-risk medicinal plants

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t already know her, Susan Leopold is an ethnobotanist and conservation ecologist known for her work in the fields of plant conservation, sustainable agriculture, and ethnobotany. She is the Executive Director of the United Plant Savers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting native medicinal plants and fungi and their habitat. Leopold is an advocate for ethical wildcrafting practices, community-based conservation initiatives, and the preservation of traditional plant knowledge.

If you’d like to hear more from Susan, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your list of at-risk plants and herbs that you can use to substitute for these plants medicinally at: https://bit.ly/3R6uK2z.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today.

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection....

It was so much fun to interview Dr. Jillian Stansbury! She is a plant nerd in all the best ways, and every section of this conversation has so much wisdom infused into it. Not only does Dr. Stansbury give a ton of information about chamomile’s many gifts but she also touches on the differences between the use of herbs and pharmaceuticals, her passion for ethnobotany, and so much more. If you like to nerd out on herbs then you are going to love this conversation!

A master at herbal formulation, Dr. Stansbury also discusses herbs that partner well with chamomile for different health challenges, and shares her wonderful Tummy Tea Blend recipe. You can find the beautifully illustrated recipe card here.

Chamomile is such a versatile plant! Here are just a few instances when gentle yet powerful chamomile can be helpful:

► To help calm and soothe a wound-up nervous system

► As a mouthwash for gingivitis

► For a variety of digestive issues from gas and bloating to irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis

► To help quell nausea

And there are so many other health challenges that can benefit from chamomile’s gifts! Tune in to the entire episode for all the details!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How Dr. Stansbury combined her training as a physician with her love of herbs, along with other healing practices, to create a truly holistic medical clinic

► Why chamomile is such a versatile plant for your herbal medicine toolkit

► How chamomile can be used to reduce some of the side effects of chemotherapy

► Ten digestive issues that can be helped by chamomile

► Why we can’t possibly know exactly how an herb does what it does (but that’s okay!)

► The difference between herbs and pharmaceuticals in treating health issues

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t already know her, Dr. Jillian Stansbury has practiced as a physician in Battle Ground, WA for over 35 years, and she currently directs the Healing Arts Apothecary, which is open to the public. She chaired the Botanical Medicine program at National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR for many decades and remains on the faculty. Dr. Stansbury leads ethnobotany field courses in the Andes and Amazon each January, and is the author of 7 herb books, including the Award-Winning 5 volume textbook series, Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals, published by Chelsea Green.

If you’d like to hear more from Dr. Stansbury, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card for Tummy Tea Blend at: https://bit.ly/4dQ1w1V.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today.

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear...

This is Maria Noël Groves’s second time on the show, and I’m thrilled to have her back! You can tell that Maria is an herbal teacher, because this episode is packed with in-depth herbal information about lemon balm. She shares so much wisdom about lemon balm’s gifts that I just can’t wait to get into the garden and work with this wonderful plant again!

Maria also shared many ways to work with lemon balm, including her recipe for Lemon Balm Fresh Tincture. (You can find the link to your free, beautifully illustrated recipe card here.)

When might you turn to lemon balm? Here are just a few instances when lovely lemon balm can be helpful:

► When you want to improve your focus

► When you’re feeling stressed out or anxious, and need some nervous system support

► When you need some immune system and antiviral support

But in all of these cases, you need to know how to source or prepare the most potent herbal medicines with lemon balm. Otherwise, your results will probably be disappointing. Tune in to the entire episode for all the details so you can enjoy the most lemon balm benefits!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How herbs can help to support you in getting a good night’s sleep

► What makes lemon balm such a powerful herbal ally

► Why it’s important to source high-quality lemon balm (or grow your own!)

► Three tips for harvesting lemon balm when it is most potent

► Maria’s tips for making a glycerite with lemon balm

► Why it’s best to get to know herbs by working with them, rather than simply reading lists about what they’re “good for”

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Maria Noël Groves is a clinical herbalist nestled in the pine forests of New Hampshire. Her business, Wintergreen Botanicals, is devoted to education and empowerment via herbal courses, health consultations, and writing with the foundational belief that good health grows in nature. She is the author of the books Body into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self Care, Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies, and the new Herbal Remedies for Sleep.

If you’d like to hear more from Maria, which I highly recommend, then head to the show notes where you can get easy links for her website and social media channels. You can also find the transcript for this episode in the show notes and you can access your recipe card for Lemon Balm Fresh Tincture at: https://bit.ly/44KZonW.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today.

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

The secret to using herbs successfully begins with knowing who YOU are. Get started by taking my free Herbal Jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at