Our 2019 Traditional Roots Herbal Conference ended with a stirring talk by Dr. Gary Ferguson about the tangible ways that culture supports healing. The class was so powerful that we’re making the whole two-hour session available for free.
By Kurt Beil, ND, LAc, MPH Everyone understands how time spent in a beautiful natural setting can be good for you. The peace and relaxation from the surrounding trees and other vegetation leaves one feeling restored and invigorated. These experiences have been sought for hundreds of years, and this simple activity is affordable and enjoyable …
By Amelia R. Cohn Naturtium officinale, commonly known known as watercress, is is one of the oldest known salad greens consumed by humans, sharing the Brassicaceae family with collards, kale and broccoli. This semi-aquatic plant is high in many vitamins and minerals. It contains heart-rate and blood-pressure regulating potassium as well as the B-complex vitamins that are crucial …
5 Iconic Chinese Herbs: Combining the botanical, the sensory and the classical (2 hours CE to be applied for) Thursday, Aug. 15, 6:30-8:30pm in the Min Zidell Healing Garden at NUNM. Light refreshments will be served. In this talk, Eric will weave together insights from Han dynasty classical Chinese medicine texts, ecological and botanical information, and …
By Dr. Orna Izakson Today I held a 400-year-old copy of Gerard’s Herball in my hands. (It’s actually only 380 years old, but who’s counting.) I got to lift it, touch its cover, open and turn its pages, read its words. The crisp paper is cotton or linen fiber, and is in better shape than some of the …
Unintentional Medicine from Evolution’s Winners By Dr. Orna Izakson Back in the late ’90s and early aughts, a small but information-dense ’zine circulated in the Eugene area called “weed lover.” The premise was that weeds offend gardeners by growing where they’re not wanted, but that they nevertheless offer great value by way of food, medicine …
My favorite seed catalog came in today’s mail. What’s new for 2010: organic Floriani red flint corn, green meat radish, Bolivian rainbow pepper, purple bok choy, ruby streaks mustard. This is why I started gardening – I was awed by the incredible diversity of life I could sustain on my little corner of earth. There …
A spring planting guide while you’re planning what to plant Gardeners have a big advantage during deep darkness of a northwest winter: We get to pore over garden books and catalogs that offer shards of sunlight and whiffs of spring. Dreaming about striped tomatoes, salivating over the prospect of a fresh melon, imagining the thrum …
At the end of a talk I gave the other day about gardening with medicinal plants, a lovely woman came up to me afterward to ask about books. If I could only have one herb book after the apocalypse/revolution/peak oil, etc., she asked, which book would it be? Book geek that I am, of course …
There is an infographic* going around on social media that is telling: *Key at end By Dr. Mahalia Freed We are becoming nature-illiterate, and the consequences reach beyond not being able to identify the trees around us. It is telling that we can identify brands and not leaves. It speaks volumes about the values in …
Dr. Mahalia Freed
Dr. Freed is delighted to share her knowledge of plant medicines and how they can help us heal.
Dr. Orna Izakson
Dr. Izakson, Traditional Roots Lead Physician, is a licensed naturopathic physician and registered herbalist in Portland, Oregon.
Jim McDonald
Jim McDonald has been practicing the art of herbcraft since 1994. He offers a knowledge of herbalism that blends western folk and indigenous views of healing with the Vitalist traditions of 19th century western herbalism.