some history...

In 1994, while living in an old, overgrown farmhouse in Okemos, Michigan, I discovered a tattered, purple herb book, left out haphazardly on the kitchen counter by one of my roommates. I began flipping through the book, and within a few weeks had begun foraging through the abundant weeds that covered the property and brewing them into strange tasting teas. Until then, I had little interest in either herbs or health, and so my sudden and growing passion with them was perhaps unusual. In hindsight, I think something in those first sips of strange tea woke in me my passion for plants and their medicine. From those first curious experiences, my hunger to both learn from and serve my green friends has been without end.

I am, in many ways, a self taught herbalist. This is not to say that I'm responsible for learning everything I know myself, but rather that I've never really had any formal training with any other herbalist, gone through any courses, or attended any schools. Though every now and again I get grief from those who value credentials, I hardly view this as a liability. If anything, it has provided me with a unique opportunity to learn from doing, and base my knowledge firmly upon my own first hand experience. My education in herbcraft has been, above all things, experiential. Unable to readily find a teacher (this was in the dark ages before you could look online for people teaching near or even far away from you), I was left to my senses and intuition. While plenty of time was spent in libraries and bookstores devouring what information I could find, more still was spent wandering through the forests and fields around my various homes in southeast Michigan, learning one by one the plants I shared this land with, and the communities that together they created. This, by far, was (and still is) the most valuable study I've ever engaged in. Being with the plants creates relationships with them, relationships that change entirely one's understanding of their medicinal virtues and the craft of herbalism.

That said, at this point in my life with herbs, I've conversed, queried and interacted with so many brilliant plant people, that I can't and don't deny the impact of their teachings and all around coolness on how I practice herbalism. The diversity of their perspectives have deeply enriched my own relationship with this craft, and I deeply thank and acknowledge their flat out coolness (though I'll omit names so as not to leave anyone out of the shortlist).

energetic folk herbalism...

My approach to the use of herbs blends a traditional European folk perspective of herbcraft with the eclectic/physiomedical approaches of 19th century American herbalism into a unique and (dare I say) elegant "energetic folk herbalism". I use (and teach about) mostly local plants I know and trust, though I certainly enjoy a draught of Kava and don’t begrudge a plant just cause it doesn’t happen to live close by. I place utmost importance in ethical wildcrafting to ensure that the plants I use continue to thrive in their natural habitats, and in creating unique, personalized formulas for the people I work with.

infuse yourself in plants...

I feel the most important offering I can make to the herbs that have taught me so much is for me to teach others to make relationship with the plants that grow around them and receive their own teachings. It is my deepest passion to encourage people to understand the herbs that they share this land with, and to integrate that relationship into every aspect of their lives. That connection, I believe, is what makes for a good herbalist.