Herbs and Parenting: Elaine Sheff on Natural Remedies, Sustainable Living, and Herbal Careers

Ever wondered how a lifelong herbalist raises her family with nature’s medicine cabinet? Tune in for an inspiring chat with Elaine Sheff of Green Path Herb School! With over 30 years of herbal wisdom, Elaine dives into her journey, from raising kids with herbs to running a thriving herbal business. This episode is packed with down-to-earth advice on natural remedies, sustainable living, and the beauty of balancing parenthood and a career in herbalism.

03:11 How Elaine’s early life sparked her interest in natural health
06:11 Herbal care for pets
10:28 Elaine’s insights on balancing herbalism & running a business
18:13 Raising kids with herbs
25:34 Understanding fevers & trusting the body’s natural healing process
32:17  Why herbs are a lifestyle choice, not a quick fix
38:13 Elaine’s top herbs for families and her go-to adaptogens for busy moms

Don’t miss this warm, wisdom-packed episode that’s perfect for moms, budding herbalists, and anyone curious about natural wellness.

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Chapters

• 1:50 Herbalist Path Podcast Interview
• 17:49 Herbal Business Challenges and Growth
• 25:07 Trusting the Body
• 36:26 Lifestyle and Child Herbal Care
• 41:39 Early Herbal Education and Family Involvement
• 46:26 Essential Adaptogens for Moms

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:51

Hello and welcome to the Herbalist Path, a podcast where you'll discover how to make your own herbal remedies at home so that you can take better care of yourself, better care of your family and better care of our planet. I'm Mel. I'm a clinical herbalist, environmental educator and mountain-l living mama with this crazy passion for teaching more mamas and their little loves how to use plants as medicine in a safe, effective and tasty way, so that there can be an herbalist in every home. Again, it's an absolute honor to have you on the journey down the herbalist path with me so that together we can make herbalism Hashtag spread like wildflowers. Hello, hello and welcome back to the next episode on the herbalist path. You are in for a mighty fine treat.

Speaker 1: 2:50

I'm really, really excited to have Elaine Sheff of the Green Mountain Herb School. Wait, Green Path. Yeah, I was like hold on. I said that wrong. Hold on, Right. As I was saying it, I was like darn it. Okay, I'm going to start that over. I don't want to start out with an improper introduction. Sorry about that. No problem, what's Green Mountain? I don't know. It's a coffee brand?

Speaker 2: 3:13

Yeah, I think you're right.

Speaker 1: 3:16

I'm sorry, elaine, I'm not always this frazzled on a podcast. No worries, mel, good week for me in that way. Okay, Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode on the Herbalist Path. I am so grateful that you are here and you're really in for a super special treat. We have Elaine Sheff of the Green Path Herb School here to share all kinds of wisdom and fun and stories and insight with you. Elaine is brilliant. She is the author of the book Naked. She has been teaching herbalism, I want to say, for 30 plus years. She is a wonderful, wonderful personality. She's been on this show before, so if you'd like this episode, definitely go back and find the last one she was on. She also shared incredible information on how to make your own herbal lip balms in my Holistically Healthy Family Summit. She has been a teacher inside of my program, apothecary Mama, and she is just full of personality, fun, wisdom, insight and herbal knowledge. So, elaine, thank you so much for being on the show again with me. I'm so happy to have you. Oh, thanks, mel, and how?

Speaker 2: 4:33

sweet you are Gosh. Thanks so much for having me. It's always a pleasure honestly to connect with you.

Speaker 1: 4:42

So it really is. I feel like we could talk so much beyond just our podcast episodes. And then we're both like busy women running our programs and families and our own selves, so it becomes hard to connect with such great people. I think that might be part of why I have this podcast, just so I can be like come talk to me, fellow herb woman. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, so thank you so much for that. Yeah, you have done so many incredible things in the world of herbalism. You're really an inspiration to me and I'm sure so many other people, that it's really kind of mind blowing. Maybe you don't get mind blown because you don't recognize it, but I'm telling you right now you're an incredible inspiration and I'm just curious how, how you got started down this path.

Speaker 2: 5:36

Yeah, um, so I grew up my mom with kind of like a hippie mom, you know, um, back in the day and uh, so from the very beginning she, you know, she didn't use a lot of herbs, but she, we grew a garden and she was really into like organic foods. Before it was even a thing and um, or you know, I mean, yeah, before it was a thing, it was just the thing, right, all food was organic. But this wasn't between those and um, yeah, she just really, you know, was into alternative lifestyle kind of stuff, and so that really normalized me to that from the very beginning. And then when I was a teenager I was actually 19. I was out, you know, I'd moved out and I had found this dog on Lake Powell. Someone had left her like way far out in the middle of nowhere. I found her on the shore, like in the middle of nowhere, literally, and so I was like I totally fell in love with her. I was like, all right, now I have a dog, you know, and I'm 19. So I'm like figuring out how to take care of myself and now also this beautiful other creature.

Speaker 2: 6:54

And she ended up getting, uh, and I think she really from the beginning had it, but she ended up getting really bad demodectic mange, which is like a, a skin mite that lives on our skin too, and normally we kind of keep it in control, right. So they're supposed to eat the dead skin, not your live skin, and these guys just were out of control. Her immune system was really shot and they just literally were eating the skin off of her and so especially her face. It was like hamburger. It just was, yeah, poor sweetheart, and she smelled terrible and she was just very sick and I had very little money. But I took her to a vet to see a vet, to like see what we could do and what was going on. And they said, yeah, she's got mange and you have to dip her in this chemical right that's like a insecticide basically, and to kill the population or to get it way down. And so I did that and I, you know, did it again and I did it again and it just was not doing the trick and it was very expensive and I felt like it was not good for her, you know. And so I just was, like you know, I grew up like with all this alternative stuff, like what about herbs? What can I do with herbs to help her. And so I started just doing all this trial and error with herbs, you know, like powdering things and putting them in her food and and using, making salves and using them topically and all of these things. And she got better and I that's all it took. I was hooked. I was just like this stuff works and I love it. Yeah, so I was going to college, for environmental conservation was the degree I ended up getting and but before I graduated I knew that I wanted to be an herbalist. That was my path and literally so.

Speaker 2: 11:32

Since I was 19, I've been learning about herbs, working with herbs, and then, even in college, I was working on an herb Turtle Island Herbs which was a herb manufacturing company mostly tinctures owned by Feather Jones. And where was I in? Where was I? I want to keep saying Bozeman, and that's not right. Boulder, boulder, colorado. Yeah, and then I went out, went out, ended up going to her school, and then I went on to Michael Moore's school. I worked for wish garden herbs and in between there and and then started meadow sweet herbs with with my husband, who was my boyfriend then, john, who I met at my, who I actually met at turtle Island herbs. He worked there as well. So, um, yeah, so that's kind of my story. So literally, uh, you know, all of my adult jobs have been herb jobs and um, and owned my own, yeah, uh, retail store, uh, and manufacturing. We sold wholesale as well for for 18 years and then started green path herb school, uh, 11 years ago.

Speaker 1: 12:46

Awesome. I love your story. We have a lot of similarities in our story, even like with college majors, I went to school for environmental and experiential education just to teach more people, but I think at 19, I was more like outdoor leadership and just really wanting to connect people to nature, and that's kind of how I fell into herbalism. So it's such a fun, fun story and I love that you worked with feather and that you worked with Catherine from wish garden all brilliant people and Michael Moore, of course. I'm excited to see what's coming out on the new website that Greta and Nicole and all the other people are doing to put it together. It's going to be a mighty special resource for the world out there. So amazing.

Speaker 1: 13:35

And the dog piece like what a beautiful story. I am a dog mom also and actually next week I'm teaching a class inside of Apothecary Mama, all about herbs for pet care, and I am down to my last dog of three. So I've been a dog mom for the past 19 years now and had three for a bulk of that time, but they all lived past 15. Um, and my, my last guy here is approaching 15 and I know he's not going to be with us much longer, but what we do find is the incredible impact that what his diet is, or any of their diets and the herbs that I give them, if we miss out on having those herbs like, say, we run out or something like that for a couple of days it's a traumatic impact in how they are able to move and behaving. And then we get those herbs back in and, like this 15 and a half year old puppy is like a puppy instead of an old dog and it's really just beautiful. I love that.

Speaker 2: 14:42

Yeah, yeah, and they don't lie Right and they don't have any like. There's no even knowledge of like oh, I'm taking this now and I wasn't then, or whatever. They just respond and so it is just very pure way to like see what's happening with herbs.

Speaker 1: 14:56

It's so cool and what a lucky little puppy to have you find them oh yeah, I was so lucky too, she was lovely.

Speaker 1: 15:06

Yeah, I love that. Pets are so special. Yeah, I know when I head off to when this little guy, he's at my feet so I keep looking down, but when he passes I'm taking a pet break, are you? Yeah, I want to travel and take a break. So, yeah, sure, we'll see how long it lasts with that pet love and a child and all of that kind of stuff. So, wow, that's amazing. It's a really great story to hear from you and that you owned your own apothecary Another step that I've done and ran an herbal product line Another step that I've done.

Speaker 1: 15:43

It is a lot of experiential knowledge that goes into that. Like so many of those things that you dive into, you can't just know how to do right. I would imagine that you're a lot like me and we're just like. I want to do this and you figure it out as you go. Yeah, right, I mean you did have the benefit of working for other herbal companies, but I'd love to hear a lot of my students have dreams of maybe selling their products somewhere, things along those lines, and a lot of the listeners and I just love to hear from your words and stories like what were some of the greatest things about starting your product line and what were some of the most challenging things as well.

Speaker 2: 16:24

That's a, that's such a good question and I will say, um, to step back for a second, I want to say something that Michael Moore told us and herb school that really, um, I think we always tell our students this because I just feel like it was such good advice and he said basically that herbalists need to be generalists and do lots of different things right, to make a living. I teach for other, you know, I teach at events and for other schools and things like that. I see clients individually, right, so I still have lots of different hats that I wear and I think that that, you know, is a way to be a successful herbalist to be able to make a living as an herbalist is a way to be a successful herbalist, to be able to make a living as an herbalist. So what we? What we did when we graduated from Michael Moore's school, john and I decided, like all right, we're going to go somewhere, we're going to set up an herb business. Where are we going to go? Right? And and picking the place, I think for us was like the first step of like being successful, right, so you want to make sure you're in a place where and this was before, so it's different now, but this was before there was internet, you know. I mean, there was internet, but it was just beginning.

Speaker 2: 17:50

When we first started. Meadow Sweet Herbs was the store that we created and so we had to be really thoughtful about where we were locating ourselves. Right, and we wanted a college town, we wanted to live in the mountains, we wanted really good access to like outdoor recreation and things like that, and so those were some of our goals, and we didn't want to live in a big city was another thing. Little bit back then, right, because we were in, you know, montana, which is rural for the most part anyway, and also somewhat redneck, right, and and then we were also in a town that was. It was pretty small, so north and kind of small, but we were in a university community and, for Montana, a very liberal community, right, the most liberal in Montana. So it fit us well and I'm still, I love my home, I love, you know, where we live.

Speaker 2: 18:48

But that's been a bit of a challenge, and especially before Zoom, before COVID, because people we would have our school and people would travel and move here to come to our school, which was lovely, but also a lot of people had to move here, you know, and that that's a big commitment, so, um, but anyway, so before that, when we, when we had our um store, some of the things so, and we created and we both worked for, you know, my, my husband, john, had worked for rainbow light and then had worked for Turtle Island Herbs, and I had worked for Turtle Island Herbs and Wish Garden Herbs, and so we had a lot of medicine making experience, a lot of experience like making products, and so that was pretty much a no brainer for us. Like, we were very, yeah, and we've been to school two different schools that also, you know, focused on medicine making as part of the curriculum, and so we both felt very, very comfortable with that. But we had no business skills, and so that was the really challenging part for both of us. You know, I remember people coming in for advertising, you know, and like trying to sell us advertising, and I was. I spent hours and hours right at first just looking things over and going what, which one, you know, like how do I decide? And this is a lot of money and I want to make sure I'm doing it right, and you know all of these things, and so it was just a lot of that part was the hardest part.

Speaker 2: 20:21

Just no business skills. And I think one of the things that was very helpful to us is having knowledgeable like hiring. Knowledgeable like a bookkeeper was one of our best things we did was hire a bookkeeper who excelled at business, at working with small businesses Amazing and then have like a lawyer. You know, that we hardly ever use, but it's nice to have a business lawyer. We have an accountant right who we work with and and when we need to, we look for other professionals that have those skills that we don't.

Speaker 2: 20:56

And now, at this point, you know we've owned, we've been business owners and entrepreneurs for what? Like 29 years, and so it's it feels a lot more comfortable now than it did before, but it's still. You know, I still feel like I have areas where I'm not as as skilled or I'm not as interested in right. What I love is the herbs. What I love is that teaching is my favorite, like whether I'm one on one with a client or whether I have students. I love empowering people and passing on herbal information and connecting us back to the earth, which I know you're a huge fan of as well. Right to the earth, which I know you're a huge fan of as well, right, so like getting people engaged back with, like their ancestral connections and traditions and, like you know that we are part of nature and we are animals and that we, um, we can find that again.

Speaker 1: 21:54

Right, we've been separated.

Speaker 2: 21:55

So that's what I I really love, and I love gardening and actually like hands-on working with the plants, right, and medicine making I hugely enjoy. So I have all these, yeah, things that I really, and I love to write too, and so I love, like we have a really robust blog on our website. But I also love writing books and I have, you know, another book that is like knocking at my door, like what are you going to write me? So there's, you know there's so many exciting and fun things I think that we can do as herbalists right when, where, where our strengths aren't, there are definitely someone who can come in and, um, you know, either inspire like honestly, you inspire me or have that other knowledge that I'm like. You know, I don't want to learn about bookkeeping, but luckily I have a beautiful, wonderful bookkeeper who's like, and that's her jam, that's what she loves, and I love working with her.

Speaker 2: 22:55

So you know that kind of stuff, yeah, and you know when we, when we were doing our store, so so one of the things I loved is that I had done all this herbal schooling right, and then we started our store and you never knew what would come through the door and I loved that. Every day I feel like I was learning from questions that people asked and I was getting to take that knowledge I had really gotten from all my teachers right and then apply it in our local community and that was priceless, like you know. That's, like you know, rubber to the ground, kind of like here's, here's, I'm doing the work and I'm and I'm learning so much doing it, you know and and then teaching classes. Of course you know, you know, but, like you, you learn so much by teaching.

Speaker 1: 23:44

I think that's one of the best things about teaching is like you are always learning, and that's one of the greatest things about herbalism too. It's that forever challenge, forever learning. You're never going to know it all. The plants are going to teach you something new. Your students are going to teach you something new. Your students are going to teach you something new. Your clients are going to teach you something new. The business aspects, holy moly, are you going to learn new things the whole time? And especially listening to your business stories and the struggles.

Speaker 1: 24:11

And I can resonate in so many different ways, because when my herbal product line started, I had no idea I was going to end up in these big natural health food stores and in REI and all these places. Sure, it started with a dream of getting a natural first aid kit into everybody's backpacks and camping gear, because playing outside is such a huge piece of my life as well, and that was an 18 year manifestation, though, from the moment of like I want to make this happen. And then that was kind of what triggered me into the world of herbalism. But as I went on that journey, I had no clue about business, no clue at all. I just wanted to heal the world with plant medicine. That's all I wanted to do. So, yeah, no big deal, and that's still totally my mission. So, you know, maybe I could tone my goals down a bit, but that is the heart of everything that I do.

Speaker 1: 25:08

And you were really talking about the importance of outsourcing the things that you don't enjoy and really figuring out what is it that I enjoy and how can I let go of all the other things. Because, as a business owner, you got a lot of things on your plate yeah, an incredible amount and it's really easy to add more, because you do have those salespeople coming in and say you know, here, take my marketing this and marketing that and that's another piece. Like you started 29 years ago, marketing changes dramatically every week now. Yeah, right, like it's a lot to keep track of and yeah. So, anyways, most of the people listening to the show aren't in business.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Some of them might be thinking about it. A lot of them are moms and they are wanting to know the best ways to take care of their kids and what is safe for them. Some of them are grandmas helping out with the grandchildren, things along those lines, and you are a mom also with beautiful herbal insight and used herbs a ton, I would imagine, as you raised your children. Yeah, and I would just like to hear some Elaine wisdom in that realm. Ah, you know, I could ask a more specific question, but I'm like let Elaine flow.

Speaker 2: 26:38

Well, I was just and I know just before we started recording um, the podcast we were talking about, this new program that I'm doing, which is um, will have already come out by the time this airs, but it's my um herbs for pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum class and um. So I have actually been thinking about this a lot because I've been working on that program and super like getting really into the weeds of like remembering when my kids were their births. For instance, I had, you know, two home births with both, with both of them and taking care of them when they were itty bitty and, like you know, I was mentioning to you, like my diaper wipe recipe, for instance, or things like that, and just so it's been bringing me back a lot to those times. Now my kids are 19 or 18 and 20, actually. So, yeah, and it goes so fast.

Speaker 1: 27:37

Yeah, I know Mine's 11 now and I'm like wait a second. I need to go back in time. Please Can we just halt everything?

Speaker 2: 27:48

Exactly, exactly. So words of wisdom, I mean kids respond so well to herbs, like animals, right, they just respond so easily to herbs. They don't have all those kind of like layers that we get as we get older. As far as I mean, I think of it like an onion, like when I, when I work with clients, like there's these layers of like what are we going to deal with here? And then what's deeper, right, those root kind of causes of health concerns, and small children don't really have those Michael Moore used to talk about how they just run hot.

Speaker 2: 28:26

Right, they're growing, they're growing really fast and their immune systems are really their innate immunity. You don't have a lot of acquired immunity, right, and so they respond very quickly and very dramatically and a lot of heat, we could say, right, with fevers and things like that and just, and you know. So what comes to my mind is just the wisdom of the body, like our bodies are so miraculous. I am in awe of the human body and all other life on the planet too, but the human body is just in credible, like I love. I love my body, but I just love that we have bodies and how they have evolved to do all of the incredible things you know brilliant, right, brilliant, like it's miraculous, right and so I have a lot of trust in the body, a lot of trust in that our bodies know it's not that they don't need help and they, of course, need good whole foods and enough rest and enough water and, like you know, the basics right Shelter and to feel safe is so important but fundamentally, our bodies know what they are doing very well, very well, and if we can let them do those things and give them just the tools they need to do it which is all that good food and good herbs and, you know, recuperation, rest, that kind of thing they're going to do. What they do, you know. And so to trust that process, I guess, is and I feel like I recently saw maybe it was on Instagram from you, mel that you were talking about fever right Just recently, and talking about like the fever is there for a reason. Our bodies are doing that for a reason.

Speaker 2: 30:21

If we suppress it all the time, like that's an example of like suppressing the innate immune system right and not letting it do what it wants to do, right and what it knows how to do, and then we start doing things like that and we get into these suppressive modes with pharmaceuticals and things like that that are just I'm not saying they never are helpful. I mean, my son has epilepsy. He uses medication every day and I'm so, so great he wouldn't even be alive right now if it weren't for that. So I am not against pharmaceuticals or Western medicine or anything. I'm grateful, grateful we have access. But it has its pros and cons, right, and? And the cons are that all of that suppression that happens, that you know it's pressing the seizure, great. But there's a lot of things we suppress that we need to like look at the root and be like how do we resolve this? And not just like suppress the symptom.

Speaker 1: 31:22

So and I think that's exactly what you were talking about with the fever, you know- yeah, absolutely, and it's all about us learning to trust the body, like you were just saying, and I think one reason that so many people are so eager to suppress the fever right, moms, general, freak out over a fever and and understanding that this is a brilliant part of your body's like way of functioning really takes you to that next level of empowerment. And I really am going to give a lot of credit to the pharmaceutical and Western medical industries. Again, I'm with you. There is definitely a time and a place for pharmaceuticals Like they can save lives and that's beautiful and brilliant. But that whole entire industry is basically trained people to freak out and to look for that instant fix pill, right.

Speaker 1: 32:16

And then what I see happening out in the world, especially, like I'm sure you've seen it, since the pandemic just a mad rush of people wanting to learn herbalism and with that, a lot of really terrible information on the internet along with really great information, right. So it's that fine balance there of what you are learning. But one thing that I see often and maybe you see this too is just people always reaching out saying oh hey, mel, I have XYZ kind of problem happening. What herb do I take? It's a one sentence question giving me on social media and I don't know this person at all and you know, I understand where they're coming from and why they want to ask that question and they want to look for that one natural herb because now there's this big distrust in the pharmaceutical industry.

Speaker 1: 33:13

I think that's what happened over the pandemic in the pharmaceutical industry. I think that's what happened over the pandemic. More and more people were like, oh my gosh, those guys are bad, you know, but they come to this. What I've seen is it becomes this they're bad and I never want, I will never, ever, ever put any pharmaceuticals in my body again.

Speaker 1: 33:29

I will never, ever, ever go to the doctor again, and I feel like it's people like you and I and other well-trained herbalists and people in holistic healthcare that really understand that this can dance and balance together to speak out and to educate more people that we've got to work together. There's a reason the Western medical system is as successful and has come as far along as it has, and there's a reason that people have been using herbs for thousands and thousands and thousands of years.

Speaker 2: 34:03

both of them work right and are good for different things, right, like I always say like, well, if you were, if you, if I broke my arm, I would go to the. I wouldn't go to the herb store and be like, broke my arm, you know, I afterwards, after I went to the ER, I'd go to the herb store and be like I want to get some herbs that are high in minerals, right, that I can help heal and inflammation, and you know all those things. Like I would definitely go to the herb store but first I'd go have a cast put on my arm, right, yeah, that's Western medicine and that's what Western medicine does really well, I think you know. And herbalism doesn't, you know. And so we all have our strengths and our weaknesses, or the things we do really well and the things that maybe aren't so appropriate, right, and we've spent so much time with Western medicine in my family because of my son's, you know, illness that has been very, very serious and I've seen the pros and I've seen the cons, you know, and so I feel very much like I have a pretty balanced perspective on that. You know, where does it shine and it does, and then where does it fall super disappointingly short, you know, does, and so you know it can be.

Speaker 2: 35:26

It's not, it can't be all things to everyone, and neither can herbalism. I feel like that kind of if we can use herbs daily or in a way that is part of our regular lifestyle, right, and then when those things come up where it's like herbs aren't going to touch this or there's, you know, I really need extra help. Hopefully those times are really limited and small and we are just able to do that one thing and then move on, right, and that's kind of my goal, like. I feel like let's try the herbs first, because they rarely produce a side effect. If you're using the right ones in the right dosages and things like that, right. And then, and then, if we have to, we go down that, that Western medical route, and I'm grateful it's there and I hope to do it as little as possible too.

Speaker 1: 36:23

Exactly Like. I love that you're there and in my back pocket. But you know, I think two things, two words I heard you mention that I'd love to touch on, but in this particular instance, the lifestyle piece. Right, herbs aren't that instant fix, it is a lifestyle. It is about bringing them into your body on a daily and regular basis, not just only.

Speaker 1: 36:45

While some herbs are fantastic in that acute symptom management and care, sometimes we need to think about what herbs we can bring in on a regular basis. Oh, you have, there you are. Oh, I'm gonna clap and hope that Rose can catch this and I'm just gonna kind of check the time as to when this little freeze happened so we can get it edited out. But I was just saying like there were a couple of words that you mentioned as you were just speaking and one big piece that I think people need to understand more. That kind of brings this all together with herbs and how to use them best in your family and your life is lifestyle right. While there are those herbs that are great for acute symptom management and can really work wonders, it is about shifting the lifestyle and that is so important and it is a big shift away from what most people have been trained to do in our society.

Speaker 2: 37:56

Yeah, I talk about herbs as being like the icing on the cake, right, but the cake is like sleep, exercise, whole foods, um, you know, like diet and lifestyle, basically like like you're saying, and then the herbs are like there's no magic herb that's gonna, you know, if you're not sleeping enough or if you're eating you know really terrible foods regularly, or fractionated foods, we could say there's no herb that's gonna fix that, right, if you're not exercising at all, or whatever, there's no herb that's gonna fix that. So we have to do all those other things. There's no getting around those things, right, yeah, and then the herbs are the icing on the top. Is is how I think of it.

Speaker 1: 38:40

Yeah, absolutely they're. They're fantastic. Take care of the core of the life, and then your herbs are like here we go, let's make this even better. So let's back it up again a bit towards Elaine and your motherhood journey and herbs. So I think we've really touched a lot on how Western medicine and pharmaceuticals aren't necessarily the enemy. They're great to not need all of the time and awesome to have as that safety blanket and that herbalism really is a lifestyle. But as you were a mom, I would love to hear about some of the most common herbs you used in your motherhood journey for your children and what things were you using them for?

Speaker 2: 39:27

Yeah, that's a great question. So, and it really depends so much on the age, right, because when they're really infants and babies, I tended to do mostly baths, so I would make a tea and then I would add it to their bath water and really a baby Like, I feel like that's the best way to treat a baby. You know they're so they respond so quickly and they they don't need a lot, right, and so I feel like a bath is like a beautiful, and I used a lot of homeopathic remedies, um, um, and then, as they started getting a little older, I started doing things like um, oh well, we called them, uh, we called it tummy honey. So this is after their one, right, we don't give honey before one year old.

Speaker 2: 40:19

But it's basically an electuary where you take a powdered herb and you press it really as much herb as you can into a little bit. It doesn't have to be honey, it can be any sweet, like liquid, right, so it could be barley malt or rice syrup or maple syrup or whatever simple syrup. But I'm a beekeeper so we mostly use honey and at first that was like marshmallow and probiotics in honey and they would eat it with a spoon, and then that started being any kind of herb that we needed and we just called it tummy honey, because that's what the term they came up with. But whatever it was I needed to give them, I would mash it into honey, right as a powder, and they would eat it. And I loved that because I personally feel, as an herbalist, that taste is very important, like the taste of the herb tells the body the first thing about what we want to do with it, right, and how we're going to absorb it, and those kinds of things. So I love it when we taste our herbs.

Speaker 2: 41:29

And, having said that, like, if they won't take it that way, that's okay too, you know, but a lot of things like frozen popsicles with herbal teas. And I had them start making herbal teas when they were really little because they really enjoyed it and I felt like it was a way to get them really involved, and so from the time they were tiny, they were like choosing herbs, or sometimes I'd buy the traditional medicinals. I don't know if they still have this, but they used to have those teas for kids. Do they see those? Okay?

Speaker 2: 42:04

So they used to do like a three different teas for little littles, and so we had all of those and they would get to choose, you know, what they wanted, and that was a big buy-in for them. And then they've always well, since they were very little taken tinctures as well, and I personally didn't mind at all giving them alcohol tinctures. Like the amount of alcohol for a dosage for a child is just, it's like a ripe banana, even for an adult, like it's very little, you know. And so I would give them glycerides, but I would also give them alcohol tinctures when that's all I had, and usually in a little bit of water and with a water chaser or some tea or something like that.

Speaker 2: 42:49

Some of my favorite herbs calendula was like one that I was always, from the time they were born, like oil, like rubbing them down with calendula oil, all the time. That was my favorite topical herb. I used to put it in their diaper salves and, um, you know, all just like body oil, like little massage, give a little massage with calendula oil. So that was a big one. Lavender, chamomile um, any of the, like the rose, like those flower herbs you know, are generally so gentle and so tasty and they smell good and you know so a lot of like flower, um a lot of flowers, mints.

Speaker 1: 43:41

What else? That's what. I think that's a great list, especially for the, for the little littles you know, keeping marshmallow root.

Speaker 2: 43:48

I feel like it's a great one, very soothing, yeah yeah. And then, of course, the fever herbs too. Right, like their flower, and peppermint Yarrow is a great fever herb, but it tastes terrible, like I, I don't know. I feel like that's one that I have a hard time drinking as a tea. To expect a little person to do that, it's a lot.

Speaker 1: 44:11

I don't know. I'm going to be masking that flavor with some other herbs that are helping Right.

Speaker 2: 44:15

Exactly Some way more tastier herbs. So, and then, you know, I loved to take them out too. So they each had their own little garden plot in our yard and so they got to grow whatever they wanted to grow. It was their decision, but that was super fun. And they still go out and, like you know, forage and eat herbs out of the garden and stuff like that, which I love that. They're still into that, you know, even young adults.

Speaker 1: 44:44

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, my kiddo is starting to get to that age where she's like Mom I'm talking about herbs again and I'm like, and I'm so glad that you know more about them than 90 percent of the adults in our country. So, hopefully, like as you were just speaking about your children and still doing all of that, I'm like maybe you know, when she gets to their age she's gonna be like oh wow, these gifts my mother made me learn they might even be cool. Yeah, I know, I'm like you know your friends are gonna think this is super cool to know.

Speaker 2: 45:22

Yeah, totally trending herb slay and that's the other thing, like always having them in on making stuff. You know they used to come to classes and be like my helper, you know, know the class and they loved doing that. And we used to, you know, bring like herbal gifts to birthday parties, like lip balm making kits and things like that that we we used to make and sell those at Meadow Sweet Herbs and anyway, it was just. It was really like any way we can do that, right, I feel like their flavor palates, like the amount of things they're willing to tolerate, tasting and things like that, or taking, is amazing, right because that's how they grew up.

Speaker 1: 46:04

Yeah, anira definitely grew up in the apothecary and going to farmers markets with me and pouring tea samples for people and yeah, it's like wild crafting and little cute princess dresses out in the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 2: 46:17

Oh, my heart.

Speaker 1: 46:20

It's so cute, it's so darn cute. Okay, we're going to go. I don't want to waste too much of your time in the day and I know you have a lot of big, exciting things coming up, but I wonder if you could choose just one herb that you think every mom needs in her back pocket, whether it's for her and her journey of motherhood, or it's something that she needs to keep around for children.

Speaker 2: 46:47

Yeah, those would be different in my opinion, so you can pick one. Yeah, okay, so the one. So it would be an adaptogen for a mom that's. Yeah, that's what it'd be. I have, you know, used adaptogens right Like every day for years, and especially like during really stressful times or when we're not getting a lot of sleep, when they're little and like they're it just they help so much much to like just balance the stress and help give us natural energy without caffeine, and you know there's just so many great things about them. So, and a couple of adaptogens that I think are particularly great for moms, one that comes to mind is gotu kola, and that's because it's also so good for mind and memory and I know, like mom, brain, pregnancy, brain nursing, brain, no sleep, like it's just a thing, right, and so that's one in particular that I really, really love. And yeah, it's just, it's just a great one. It's really I was gonna say it's very easy to grow as well, like in Montana, it doesn't, it's tropical, so it doesn't overwinter, but you can grow it from seed and grow it for a season and harvest it, you know, or bring it in in the winter and you know. So, anyway, that's one it's, and I like to use it fresh as a tincture, is my favorite way. So, anyway, gotu kola is great. Another couples that I you know. Just think of, like um, holy basil, which is, I think, very safe and very accessible and, again, super easy to grow, tastes good, um.

Speaker 2: 48:26

And then the other one that comes to mind for me that I really love and I use regularly is rhodiola. This is one that that we have to be cautious with. Like I, I grow it in my garden and so, first of all, you can grow it, and that is what I recommend, um, because, and you can get it from like um, uh, oh, what is richo's? Richo checks, uh, strictly medicinal, thank you, strictly medicinal, has the seeds. So, um, get it from him is what I would recommend. But, um, and if you grow like, if you live further North, it's a, it's an easy one to grow, honestly, um, because it's often adulterated and it also grows like. The areas that it grows, uh, native, are fragile, and so I like to grow it and it is totally doable to do that. So you use the root, and rhodiola rosea is the botanical name, and I love that.

Speaker 2: 49:22

I use it a lot and the things that I like about adaptogens.

Speaker 2: 49:27

So we can pick and choose and this is true with all herbs, right. They never just do one thing. They have all these medicinal characteristics because of their complex chemical constituents, right, and so we can have an adaptogen that's more for mind and memory, or an adaptogen that's more for the immune system, like, for instance, the holy basil, right. Or we can have an adaptogen that has an affinity for the respiratory system or whatever. It is right.

Speaker 2: 49:54

So so those ones that are good for the immune system, like holy basil and rhodiola, are both great for the immune system, and rhodiola is also really good for mind and memory and really good for depression, and with my kind of journey with my son, it's been at times just so emotionally devastating. He's still here with us, but we've almost lost him three times and it's just been really hard. So that is an herb that really helps to support emotions as well as our limbic system in our brain, like that stress response, and also the immune system, which always gets depleted with stress. So so those are some, a few adaptogens that I think would be really lovely for moms.

Speaker 1: 50:47

Yeah, I think that is obviously really really fantastic wisdom and advice to share with everybody. You have some really exciting things coming up at the time of us recording this. I know that right now, your pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum class is a live class, so unfortunately, it's already started by the time this episode goes out, little secret to the world. I am trying to convince Elaine to let it be available to the masses forever but that only happened before this show, so you can ignore that as well.

Speaker 2: 51:25

We'll keep you posted, if it happens.

Speaker 1: 51:27

Yeah, but you have so many other amazing ways to share your knowledge and information with people, through your books, through your programs and things like that. I would just love for everybody to know more about what you offer and how they can connect with you and grow their herbal wisdom and knowledge even further.

Speaker 2: 51:49

Thanks, mel. Yeah, so, and we're also doing a green pharmacy class, but again, that one has probably already started and rolling as we're doing this. But so, so some of our upcoming programs, the herbal foundations, which is a year long, once a month, one Saturday a month program, and that's so 72 hours. It's great for, like the home herbalist, we go over different body systems, herbs for different body systems, we go over a bunch of different medicine making. And then we also do a bunch of monographs which are like here's this one plant and let's talk all about it, right, what parts do you use? Where does it grow? How does it work medicinally, are there any contraindications? All of those. So it's like a deep dive into a single herb. How do you best want to make medicine out of it, like, how is it soluble? Right, those types of things.

Speaker 2: 52:45

So, herbal foundations, and we've been teaching that program. That is our longest running program, so we've been teaching that program for about 20 years now, I think. And then we do have another one that I thought your folks might really be interested in is my cycle tracking and natural birth control class, which talks about, like, the anatomy and physiology of the female and the male, but mostly the female reproductive system, those cycles and how they work. So we taught we get into the, the physiology of the body and how it works and then how you can apply rules based on that with um, uh, to avoid or to achieve pregnancy. So it's the fertility awareness method which is scientifically proven and I love it.

Speaker 2: 53:33

I I started teaching that even before I started teaching herb classes. So, um, and I've used that since I was in, since I think I was 20 when I started using that method and I, it's so amazing, I love it. And then herbs, like at the end of that uh program, that workshop program, is like how can you use herbs for the cycle in there, nice, so yeah, and that's a webinar, so that's all like self paced. But in all of our classes we record and so if people can't come for you know, or they miss a certain class, they can just watch the recording afterwards and they get those life for a lifetime, which is great.

Speaker 1: 54:15

I love that, thank you, and they can find that at greenpathherpschoolcom.

Speaker 2: 54:22

That's right yeah.

Speaker 1: 54:26

Greenpathherpschoolcom everybody.

Speaker 2: 54:29

We also have a great lots of free information. We have a YouTube channel and lots of free information on the website. Lots of free information. We have a YouTube channel and lots of free information on the website a really robust blog that has tons of recipes and great herbal information. So there's lots of free stuff, too, that people can access.

Speaker 1: 54:49

Thank you so much, elaine. It's always such a pleasure and a joy for me to get to chat with you, so I really believe that's going to be such a pleasure and joy for for me to get to chat with you, so I really believe that's going to be such a pleasure and joy for our listeners to tune into as well, and I definitely encourage you to check out Elaine's website and her school over at Greenpath Herb School. If you couldn't tell, the lady is a wealth of herbal knowledge, so thank you so much knowledge.

Speaker 2: 55:20

So thank you so much. Thanks, mel, and it is always such a pleasure and delight and inspiration to talk with you, so I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 55:24

Thank you Awesome. So that is a clap means that the interview is done. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you sharing everything your wisdom, your time all of it.

Speaker 2: 55:41

Yeah, thanks so much for for having me. I really appreciate that as well, of course.

Speaker 1: 55:45

Of course I hope you have an amazing time with your sister and then I will have Jennifer send you all the things when this episode does air and you can do with it what you want. If you want to share it or embed the episode on your own blog or whatever you want to do, that can happen perfect.

Speaker 2: 56:07

Thank you, sweetheart thank you have a fabulous day you too, and yes, I look forward to connecting with you more. In November is when I set the schedule for the school, so I'll be in touch then and see if there's a time that works for you, probably later towards May or June, for you to teach. And anyway, I'll be in touch and that sounds great.

Speaker 1: 56:31

Yeah, I'm really excited for that. Even though my communication is spotty, I'm really working on setting up the people in the back end to do the things that I don't want to do, so I can touch the plants and teach the people and do the things I love. Yeah, and all the other pieces.

Speaker 2: 56:49

So yeah, thank you, thanks, mel. Have a great day you too. Bye-bye, bye, bye, thanks, mel. Have a great day you too.

Speaker 1: 56:57

Bye-bye, bye. Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Herbalist Path. Being on this journey with you is absolutely incredible. If you dig this episode, please leave me a review on your favorite podcast player and share it with your friends so that together, we can make herbalism hashtag spread like wildflowers. On another note, I must mention that, while I know you're getting some good info here, it's important to remember that this podcast is purely for entertainment and educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment. While the information in this podcast is absolutely relevant, herbs work differently for each person and each condition. That's why I recommend you work with a qualified practitioner, whether that be another herbalist, a naturopath or your doctor. So thank you again. I am truly honored that you're tuning into these episodes and on the path with me to make sure that there's an herbalist in every home. Again, don't forget to share this episode with your friends so that we can make herbalism Hashtag spread like wildflowers.