Meet the Herbalist ~ Giveaway!
Richo Cech is an internationally known herbalist, the founder of Horizon Herbs, and the author of one of our favorite herbal books, Making Plant Medicine. He started his professional work as an archaeologist and ethnobotanist in East Africa and has propagated over 1,000 medicinal herb species gathered from all around the world to grow on his organic certified farm in Williams, Oregon. Horizon Herbs sells an impressive array of rare medicinal herb seeds that are grown on their farm. Recently, he has botanized in China and Africa, resulting in the introduction of many new and exciting medicinal herb species to gardeners throughout the world.
The Giveaway!
We are excited and honored to have Richo Cech share his incredible wealth of knowledge and passion for plants with us at Rootstalk! To celebrate, we’re giving away a copy of his book The Medicinal Herb Grower: A Guide for Cultivating Plants that Heal and 5 packs of organic herb seeds from Horizon Herbs (Echinacea, White Sage, Tulsi, Calendula, and Self Heal) to help get your healing herb garden growing this spring!
There are 5 easy ways to enter for a chance to win:
1. Read our interview with Richo below and leave a comment telling us your favorite herb to grow in the garden.
2. ”Like” the Rootstalk Festival on Facebook: Rootstalk Facebook Profile Leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve “liked” the Rootstalk page.
3. Write a blog post about your most powerful experience in the garden or out in the wild. Link back to this giveaway and be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can check it out!
4. Follow us on Twitter at MtnRoseHerbs and tweet about this giveaway with the tag #RootstalkGiveaway. Leave a comment letting us know you’ve tweeted.
5. Leave a comment on one of our previous blog posts that you find interesting and include the tag #Rootstalk.
Submit all of your entries by next Tuesday, May 3rd and we’ll announce the winner on Wednesday!
Good luck and enjoy reading our new interview with Richo!
1. What classes will you be teaching at Rootstalk this year?
Seed Harvesting, Winnowing, Floating and Planting
Richo will bring his seed screens and buckets for this one. We’ll start by harvesting a few local herb seeds, and then distill them down to the essence. Relative advantages of each technique will be discussed and demonstrated. We will then plant some seeds of hope in the hearts of all participants.
Vulneraries: Herbal Agents that Heal Wounds
Richo will discuss the main antibacterial, astringent and eliminative herbs. This little gathering will include a chance to taste the gentle astringents and to apply special salves, but if we use any eliminatives, the effects will probably not occur within the time allotted.
2. What is one of the most powerful moments you have experienced in the wild or through your work?
I ran over my favorite cat (his name was “White Paws”). I was coming home from work and driving my pickup in the yard with the cat running in front and he stopped to tell me he was hungry and I ran over him. His pelvis was crushed. Not knowing what to do, I went inside and made him some canned cat food and then smothered it with comfrey tincture. I took the bowl of food out to this crushed cat in the yard and he pulled himself forward on his good legs and ate it all up. At that moment I knew he would walk again. After eating comfrey laced food for 2 weeks, he wobbled to his feet and took his first steps. He lived on for years.
3. What is your primary environmental concern?
We wouldn’t know what to do if the elements failed us–enough sun, enough water, the fertile land to grow our food and medicine. My family and I are dependent on this.
4. What can people do to help combat this in their community?
I think we can only continue to protect the wilds and cultivate our gardens. This is the kind of grounded lifestyle that has proven, throughout history, to be most sustainable. And of course, plant Empress Trees (Paulownia tomentosa), one of the fastest-growing carbon sinks on the planet.
5. Are there any projects that you are working on and would like to share?
Revitalizing African Herbalism. I’m involved with a project in Kenya that provides guidance to allow the resurgence of basic useful herbal medicine to be available to the common person. The idea is to find out what the people need and then to guide them to cultivate, prepare and utilize the traditional plant medicines. This project incorporates these positive factors: conservation through cultivation, bioregionally harmonized, effective medicine, non-polluting to the environment and inexpensive enough for all.
Ethnobotany in East Africa. I’m compiling a lexicon of medicinal herbs employed throughout
eastern Africa, complete with Swahili and Latin names and traditional uses. This is a project that helps satisfy my personal desire to learn more about what is available from these diverse equatorial regions, and also is an attempt to contribute to the existing literature. Currently, the lexicon is comprised of over 200 species, and I yearn to go back to Zanzibar to collect seeds, take photographs and continue to augment this learning.
6. What do you hope to experience at Rootstalk this first year?
I am seeking a coming together of herbalists from the western states–Western Herbalists, if you will. We are a diverse group in that we practice many healing modalities, but we can be inspired and strengthened by coming together and sharing what we know. In this gathering I would like to cultivate a sense of awe for the gifts that we each have, and pray that each of us can contribute to a healing vibration that enriches the planet first with our grateful breaths coming right from the root, and then with a flower, the simple result of living lightly on the Earth.
7. What is your favorite plant and why?
Actually, my favorite herb is Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris). Not only did she give me my first experience of an herb actually working (healing canker sores) but she continues to beguile me, winking up out of the grasses with her impossibly bright purple petals displayed asymmetrically like the curls tossed aside by the inadvertent head-tossing of an overly pretty maiden. I love her. And, I love her dried flowering cobs in pure hot water when I make the tea, late in the winter, when all around me people are sick, and my internal membranes begin to sag from seasonal neglect and I can feel an angry army of pathogens, armed to the teeth, leering at the brink of my infirmity, and ready to pounce. I drink her down before bed, and rise in the middle of the night to drink her again, and when I arise in the morning–I’m cured!
For more information about Richo Cech’s amazing work, visit the Rootstalk website here:
http://www.rootstalkfest.com/page/richo-cech
We Are A Zero
I love Rootstalk!! So excited to have my organization Whole Earth Nature School teaching kids programs at the event. See you there!
I love nettles….they serve in so many ways!
Enjoyed this interview very much.
I liked Rootstalk on facebook!
Lavender is my favorite herb to grow. It has so many wonderful uses!
I am sooo looking forward to Rootstalk! I let everyone know about it on my Facebook status the moment I ordered my tickets. I also “like” it on facebook as well.
Considering my “black thumb of death” gardening skills, I have had luck with calendula and skullcap. I adore skullcap and make infusions of it regularly. However, what I can always count on is the plantain which grows so abundantly in my fields, and I don’t even have to do anything to grow it!
Always a joy to see ethnobotanists working hard– while my academic path has shifted more towards the applied side of things, the work people like Richo do to preserve and disseminate valuable cultural information in both the academic and layman’s world is truly a gem.
As for my entry, I have to say that Tulsi happens to be one of my favorite herbs to grow (so, fingers are definitely crossed!). In general, while some members of the mint family can be a bit of a hassle to keep in a plot versus a pot, I always have a use for Tulsi and find that it “gets along” well with some of its slightly more distant relatives like lemon balm and bergamot, whom I use in my more cosmetic applications constantly.
Also made a comment on the herbal haircare post.
My favorite herbs: Lavender and Stinging Nettles! I also “liked” the Rootstalk facebook profile.
I “liked” the Rootstalk facebook page!
Thanks!
)
i’m new to the herb thing and am very interested in them and learning much more about them! an herb that i would really like to have in my garden this year would be echinacea. and now reading about self heal, i’d really like to have that as well. both my husband and i get canker sores so i would love to witness it working!!
i “liked” the rootstalk festival on FB.
Of course, asking herb people to pick their favorite is like asking parents to choose their favorite child…it is too difficult to accomplish! That being said, the most medicinally useful herb that I grow is boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum). Every fall I make a tincture to be brewed with elderberry and wild cherry bark for colds and flu.
Basically my favorite herb to grow is chives as that’s all I’ve grown in my limited desert space. It’s doing wonderfully however. I started it in 1 pot and it’s grown to 2 pots.
I’d like to grow so much more. Catnip, as I make catnip toys, parsley, and dill are ones I’d really enjoy having readily.
I, too, liked the Rootstalk Festival on fb.
I’ve been looking at Empress Trees. Time to stop looking and plant some in the field.
Great article! I love Horizon Herbs and have already ordered a bunch of lovelies from this this year! I think my favorite garden herb so far is Yarrow, as it’s gorgeous and easy to grow!
Born and raised in the Willamette Valley, I have lived in Alaska for more than 30 years now and am always learning what will be happy in my mountain garden. I think my favorite herb would be comfrey, though choosing is hard! Comfrey is so versatile. It will thrive in the most inhospitable conditions (like my yard!!), bees love it, it is wonderful in compost and it heals in the the most amazing way!
Below is my recent blog post about my most recent, and very powerful experience out in the wild @ Alsea Falls…
http://amberfoxcreations.blogspot.com/2011/04/alsea-falls-plant-walk-some.html
And “liked” Rootstalk! And would love to know more about volunteer opportunities!
This was awesome. I liked roostalk on facebook,a nd I read this interview. I love growing the tasty herbs, such as basil and lemon balm . Medicinally, I have relied much of late on horsetail to help with dental problems. I love looking for herbs that grow in the wild and recently bought a book to help me do so. I love Ricco’s work in Africa. Hope some will help with all the health crises there.
I made love to Rootstalk on facebook. J/K. I liked it!
I liked the FB profile page and tweeted on twitter
My favorite herb to grow in Mint.
I know that must sound funny but it brings back childhood memories. My mother always had mint growing. It always smelled great, grew fast tall and green.
All it takes is for me to walk past a patch of mint and I am a little girl again
Mr. Cech is one of those people that make the world better for being in it, I consider him literally, a healing force.
I should probably mention that he’s also indirectly responsible for about 1/3 of the plants outside my door, and he always has something new I just have to try.
Aside from that he’s a walking treasure trove of herbal and gardening experience, with a mind as fertile as the soil he turns, and–(personal opinion) a pretty durned nice person!
I’d be hard put to limit myself to one favorite herb…sorry, that’s simply not possible for me. If we only needed one, I don’t think there’d be so many..:)!
Hi! I “liked” the Rootstalk Facebook page!
Anamari
lOVE Rico, and liked Rootstalk on FB
My favourite herb to grow is Lavender!
“liked” rootstalk on fb!
new to herbs but not gardening . . . loving lavender so far and eager to expand!
It’s too hard to choose just one herb! In love with all healing plant powers. Also “liked” Roostalk.
One of my favorite herbs to grow is lemon balm. It tastes great in tea and smells so good when the leaves are crushed.
I liked Rootstalk on facebook. All of the guests you featured for the Rootstalk festival have been amazing and inspiring. I hope to be as great as them someday.
I liked Root Stalk on facebook
My favorite herb since I was a kid is mint. I am fond of it for many reasons, but one of the reasons is that I would go and pick very large bunches of it and hang it to dry around my grandmother’s kitchen. This is the first year I get to have my own garden and I am looking forward to growing calendula, comfrey, lavendar and of course lots of mint!
I love to grow all kinds of herbs. Basil, oregano, chives, cilantro, thyme, mint, lemon verbena, chevril and lavender are in my garden now.
Quite an impressive story about Self Heal, we have it growing wild here and I am glad to know how useful it is! My newest favorite herb is Holy Basil, or Tulsi tea. I am just now starting some seeds and I just bought the tea. Such a healing tea and it tastes great too! I hope I am successful at growing the plants and I would love to check out “The Medicinal Herb Grower”
I “liked” the rootstalk festival on Facebook.
I “liked” RootStalk on FB and I love growing so many herbs but I also LOVE mint and mugwort is my ally:)
I liked Rootstalk!!!
But, I also really want to try and grow some calendula and echinacea along with my usual lavender
Also, reading this interview has given me hope for my present/future…I’ve just recently gotten a degree in archaeology
I love growing lavender and parsley, but my favorite herb to take is horsetail. It is absolutely amazing.
I really love this interview. Roch describes Self Heal so beautifully. You can tell that he loves herbs and make others feel better. Not to mention teaching others that we can heal ourselves.
What a wonderul piece. Thanks for the read.
=D
What an inspiring interview! It is such a delight to see how one can be so spiritually connected to herbs. Nature is such a magnificent entity. Thank you for this blog post!
So, my favourite herb pick would be Tulsi… Being Indian, I have fond childhood memories of my grandmom giving me fresh tulsi leaves and raisins every morning after her prayers. 
About the contest, although I have terrible luck with lucky draws, I really could use some help to counteract my lack of a green thumb
I love to grow so many herbs! I tweeted #RootstalkGiveaway. Thanks!!
Amazing what Comfrey did for White Paws!
i love growing calendula…it looks beautiful and is so useful!! great interview, thank you.
I love to grow echinacea… its been growing in my yard for a few years now and comes back all on its own. It is amazing how tall the plant gets and brilliant colors are truly beautiful. Plus, the butterflies are attracted to this wonderful plant… my shoots have all ready started and I can not wait until they bloom!
I “liked” Rootstalk on Facebook.
A favourite? How does one choose? I love all my herbs! Chamomile would have to be an all time favourite though. Tansy, dandelion and Basil are kind of dominating my life and yard at the moment.
ps. I “liked” rootstalk on facebook. Wish I could actually attend!
Holy Basil is where it’s at!!! Easy to grow and makes great and amazing tea, tinctures and pesto. Plus it makes me feel great… energy and mood booster!!!
i love mint, its natures non toxic chewing gum! im always chewing it while working on the garden and the kids love it too:) im really loving the idea of a healing garden this is really got my all fired up. hmmm now what shall i plant next?
Wow, there are so many wonderful ones, but I would have to say comfrey is one of my favorites. Also,I liked you on facebook
Wonderful interview! My favorite herbs to plant are feverfew, lemon balm and lavender. I also have many other herbs, especially lots of echinacea.
i have liked on the rootstalk facebook page.
I love to grow skullcap as she is a very good friend of mine. This year, my heart belongs to Elda Mor however while dancing with Elderberry as my ally.
Hey great article..would love to meet this amazing man and learn about herbs etc.
A fav herb of mine to grow is basil…um and oh why only one..thyme, rosemary, lemon balm..:-)
I like ur rootstalk Facebook page..
ys
Hey there! I not only liked rootstalk on fb but everything from mountainroseherbs! i definitely am interested in having more infos from this guy with the magical name…richo cech. i love herbs and gardening and just recently have been guerilla gardening on the ugly spot around the corner. soon, there will be traditional wild flowers blooming around that parking lot. next step is the moss graffiti and if i was in the us i would def. give mountainroseherb a free advertising spot on the wall!
I have ‘liked’ the Rootstalk festival Facebook page and would love to win the book and seeds. I have so many favorites…calendula and borage, lavender and chamomile…dang, there are too many to list.
Horizon Herbs is one of my favorite places to get herb seed and roots! I’ve been buying from them for many years–especially when I need hard-to-find medicinal herbs. So good to learn more about Self-Heal; it is everywhere here, and the tender leaves are just emerging in the mountains.
Choosing a favorite herb is difficult, but Yarrow is strong personal medicine for me. The new plants are just sending up leaves now. I’ll be posting more about Yarrow, and others, at my blog later today at http://henwithpen.com/blog/
[...] you are interested in more herb information, check out the Mountain Rose blog: http://mountainroseblog.com/meet-herbalist-giveaway/#comment-2320. This url will take you to an interview with Richo Cech of Horizon Herbs, one of my favorite herb [...]
This year: Echinacea for sure! Calendula, Lavender, Holy Basil, sage and maybe solomon seal – if I can find some to transplant.
I LIKED Rootstalk on facebook. Just made a lavender violet jelly
Trying my hand all using more mother nature given gifts we are finding on our land.
I love lavender, and I’m excited to learn more about Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris)as well!
I liked the Rootstalk page on Facebook
I love to grow lavender and rosemary in my garden. This year, if spring ever comes, I will expand my garden and plant many more herbs.
“Liked” the Rootstalk Festival on facebook. Wish I could attend.
I “like” rootstalk on FB.
Liked on Facebook! I’ve already planted out my culinary herbs, thymes, basils, rosemary, sage etc. Borage and echinacea are in and calendula, lady’s mantle, hyssop, marshmallow, mugwort and sweet woodruff will be soon.
I’ve never met an herb I didn’t like. Borage and calendula and bee balm are pretty nice.
I also “Liked” the Rootstalk Festival on Facebook.
I would love to be more successful at growing comfrey. That would be a great gift in having Richo’s book so that I would learn more about it.
I grow oregano every year, but am looking forward to planting a slew of new ones this spring. I have a yarrow transplant in the front yard to plant this afternoon. Can’t wait!
Love using Lavender and Peppermint, but this year I have just about everything planted! I already liked “rootstalk”. I hope everyone is having an awesome day
Liked Rootstalk and love the site!
I “liked” the Rootstalk Festival page on facebook!
My favorite herb to grow is lavender. It is great to give as gifts all years around!
It’s difficult for me to pick just one plant as a favorite. But as someone who suffers from severe rheumatoid arthritis, a cup of willow bark tea and honey every night before bed ensures me that I’ll be able to move in the morning.
I grow comfrey……always. It’s my go to medicinal.
I liked the Rootstalk fb page. studying Western Herbal Medicine and loving it and loving reading about all these amazing herbs and their qualities. Want to know more and more and loving this blog site. Thank you and keep up the good work
Being an apartment dweller most of the time I’ve only just started *really* herb growing, so far Chamomile’s my favorite but I can’t wait till the Lavender takes off.
I liked as well! Wish I could have taken my entire family to the festival.
I love to grow Mint because there’s so much to do with it fresh and dried – salads, mojitos, teas. So refreshing.
I like the Rootstalk Page.That is a great page, and I love this blog! I learn so much.
Lavender. It may be trite, but I adore it, for fragrance, for tea, for cooking, for decoration–it’s just perfect!
I started working with Self Heal last year – absolutely love it – I just have to collect it before my husband mows!
Oh, and I’ve “LIked” Rootstalk festival
I Tweeted & Liked the FB page! Enter me in!
I love HERBS.. Its my mission! When I am sick, its my herbal tea’s to the rescue!!
I have followed you on twitter and tweeted about the contest and liked the rootstalk page on facebook. So cool. I have a new homestead where me and my family want to start growing all our herbs, fruit and veggies ASAP. All organic of course! These seeds would be our first seeds we planted on the homestead! It would be so cool to hand them down always with the story of how we acquired the seeds! Hope I win!
So awesome that Tulsi seeds are included I just picked up a box of organic tulsi tea last night for the first time ever. It was so darn good!
I “liked” Rootstalk on FB – wish I was close enough to actually go! I’m really interested in keeping up with developments.
I’m planting Chamomile this year along with many medicinal vegetables and a few fruits. I love to garden but often find myself lacking the resources to continue my learning.
Calendula!! I liked Rootstalk on Facebook…
Mint. I love walking out my back door in the morning to pick fresh mint for my smoothie!
“like” on FB
I liked Rootstalk on Facebook and my favorite herb to grow is plantain. Its a wonder-herb and so easy to grow. I grow it in my garden on purpose and all through my yard without even trying!!! Please enter me!
My favorite herb to plant so far is probably a tie between bee balm and mint! I love the fragrant herbs!
I liked “Rootstalk” on facebook. I wish that I lived close enough to attend, it looks like it would be a wonderful experience!
I liked the facebook page and I’d like to say that peppermint is one of my very favorite herbs for its soothing affect on angry tummies, its calming effect on strained nerves, its cooling effect on sore membranes, and its natural deliciousness. Hooray for peppermint!
Count me in on the Giveaway ! I Liked you on Facebook. What a wonderfully lifting site you have !
My land is abundant in wild herbs from horsetail to gravelroot to chamomile.
I feel very blessed to be surrounded by such healing power. I am trying to make my land edible and healing. Naturalizing more into the mix would be fantastic !
Many Blessings to you all !
My favorite herb to grow in my garden is Lemon Verbena.
I liked rootstalk on fb–fingers crossed to win! My favorite herb to grow is lemongrass–dramatic in a big pot, lovely in teas and soups…
Liked Rootstalk on my facebook! No doubt about it! St. John’s Wort is my favorite herb to grow. I love going our each morning to pick the tiny yellow flowers. The honey bees always buzz around me and we all work together. I take care to leave them plenty of flowers so they can continue on after I’ve left.
My all time favorite medicinal herb to grow is calendula! I love how they look, feel and taste!
I liked Rootstalk on facebook! Looks awesome!!!
Bee Balm is a favorite of mine. A nervine and spiritual up-lifter!
I had already liked rootstalk… 
I blogged about the giveaway and time spent in my garden! =] http://wonderland-farm.blogspot.com/2011/05/wonderful-herbs.html
I always have trouble limiting to one favourite of anything!
Currently thyme is at the top of the list (boy oh boy it helps my body deal with all the pollen!), followed by calendula, teasel, chickweed, dock, comfrey, and dandelion.
I also tweeted!
my new favorite herb to plant is “chocolate Mint.” i discovered this while i was vacationing on lake norman. one of the gift shops had several flavored mints in big barrels outside their store. it was great!
I liked rootstalk, interesting and informational blog. Right now St johns wort is my favorite herb.
Lavender continues to be my favorite herb to grow. There are just so many uses for it!
I “liked” Rootstalk on Facebook.
African herbalism and ethnobotany! So good to hear about someone working on that. As far as herbs to grow in the garden… I love the color of borage, and how it spreads out. Mugwort is definitely a close ally. Calendula, of course, for medicine and to put in salads. Chamomile. Last year I planted valerian, too, which grew beautifully. Do I have to pick just one? Nettles! (And I definitely like you on facebook.)
I “like” Rootstalk on Facebook, and in general!
I love lavender and comfrey to grow in my garden. please enter me in the drawing… thanks.
oops, sorry for the typo’s
I liked rootstalk festival facebook page
The herb I love to grow the most is Basil. The herbs I love to work with the most are; Comfrey (my favorite go to herb love love love this one) Chickweed, Dandelion and Plantain.
My favorite herb is lemon balm – love the scent, it is great for teas and the bees from my hive love it. I also adore lavender in all its many forms and that is my favorite scent of all time!
I love nettles! They help my seasonal allergies tremendously!
I “liked” Rootstalk on Facebook!
My favorite herb is lavender, but followed closely by rosemary. I grow a lot of both in my garden. I’m also loving growing mint & making my own teas.
I “liked” rootstalk festival on facebook.
Calendula is probably my favorite medicinal herb to grow. I “liked” Rootstalk on FB – thanks!
I liked RootStalk on FB a while ago
Great stuff. Thanks for this opportunity!
I “liked” Rootstalk on Facebook.
My favourite herb to grow is pennyroyal. I also like to grow is wormwood and rosemary, but since we’ve moved into a new house, I lost my garden and haven’t been able to start up a new one yet.
I liked the Rootstalk page on Facebook. I also wanted to say that so far my favorite herb to grow has been rosemary, as I have had the most success with it during the drought of summer in my area. I hope to grow more this year, and I planted my first two fruit trees as well.
sorrel is my favorite herb. it reminds me of my grandmother and the fabulous soup she’d make with it.
I liked the rootstalk fb page!
I like Rootstalk on Facebook! I’ve also referred others. Y’all rock!
I “liked” Rootstalk Festival on Facebook
I love growing Lavender — so many uses and simple to use! That said, I absolutely adore nettles and cannot find enough ways to use it
Also “liked” the Rootstalk Festival on Facebook
I also follow you on Twitter (have for some time now)
Liked Rootstalk Festival on Facebook as Daisy Grey.
Well, the only thing I seem to be able to grow well are basil and of course dandlions = )
I have already liked rootstock
My favorite herb to grow is lavender. It’s so wonderful to smell when I’m out in the yard tending the plants and watering them.
Following on Twitter as GardenCitizen.
Commented on your post with the Nettle Garlic Buttermilk Biscuits – they sound wonderful!
I like Rootstalk,now that is an event not to miss, but I am on the east coast, not in my budget, bummer. As far as herbs, favorite one, that is tough. I have been experimenting with many lately. Lavender is always beautiful, helps me sleep at night, eliminates headaches. Motherwort is useful grows all over my yard, made lots of tinctures, hand out bottles to my daughters, Lemon Balm tea relaxes and making a tincture, a lovely green.. peppermint clears the head and sinuses, almost lost my cat this past winter, made a tea for her, peppermint, slippery elm bark and rose petals, thought for sure she was a goner.. but 3 days of the tea, and now she is a happy fat kitty once again. Plantain, love to make up the salves, the kids ask for that medicine that gets rid of the itches.. Made up a spray of Yarrow and 160 proof vodka, going to give it a try see if it works against the black flies in Maine.. heading there next month.
Richo, I love the work you are doing, I have purchased seeds from you in the past and have always been pleased. The tincture calculator is so helpful. I am hoping in the near future to start a non profit on my property in Maine, to help the community become more sustainable, food security and herbal medicines. Planning on planting a lot of seeds next month to let them take off on their own. It is going to take awhile to get things established. Hey, it’s my birthday May 4th..
Wish you well in all you do, win this blog or not I am looking forward to purchasing more seeds over the next couple of months. I just love Spring!!!
I “liked” Rootstalk on Facebook. I am just learning about herbs so will be planting my first herb garden this year! We do have mint growing from past years that we enjoy.
I (re)Tweeted about Rootstalk on my Twitter page, and Like Rootstalk on Facebook (few weeks ago, actually). I’m a great admirer of Richo and his herbs – have been a customer of Horizon Herbs for a dozen years or more, and love the HH catalog – it’s so jam packed with growing info about medicinal herbs that all you need is the catalog and the seed packets and you are ready to GROW. I wrote about Richo on my blog a couple of years ago: https://mcfwriter.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/herb-fair-at-bastyr-university/
I “liked” the Rootstalk page, and share your environmental concerns, especially regarding water.
My favorite herb to grow and use is Rosemary. I had a big robust plant that winter-killed, so need to get a new one. I use the herb almost every day. Fortunately, I had dried a good bit of it before it died, but I’m very sad to lose it.
It’s still Tuesday, Pacific time. I’m in WA.
I can’t choose just one, they all have such unique properties. I love to create salves, lip balms, holistic pet products, tinctures and herbal gift baskets… the list go’s on and on. I could play in my kitchen all day long with herbs. Right now I’m trying to create my own line of holistic pet care products and I bought just about every seed there is from mountain rose a few weeks ago because I figure the best way to learn more about the plants is to grow the herbs, I love to read about there medicinal uses and I a write articles about them through my job.I guess I’ve just always had a passion for the medicinal properties “the vibrational force” The life we think we know is empty and we ill feel empty till we realize we are all tied to the earth and to each other- Like Hippocrates said-“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
My favorite herb to grow is Lemon Balm. Such an easy herb for people to connect with and use.
I “Like” Rootstalk on FB!
I think borage is my current favorite. Also I liked Rootstock, it would be silly not to.
I “liked” the Rootstalk festival on facebook, and look forward to learning about it!
Favorite herb to grow in the garden? Instead of collect from the wild? Hmmm….well, I’m not very experienced with growing non-culinary herbs in the garden, but this year I was hoping to try. I was hoping to try wormwood and hyssop, and I have already sprouted some nettle to start a nettle patch in my yard. We’ll see how it all goes!
I enjoy harvesting plantain and comfrey and jewelweed, which already grows around my home. I need to make a plan to harvest and use burdock, which grows everywhere around me too. I could use the book!!
borage and grindelia!
I “Liked” the Rootstalk page… I’m hoping to go to the festival too… I’m moving from Miami to New Mexico next month, but hopefully I’ll make it back to Oregon in September for this… Thanks for all the great info…
[...] Meet the Herbalist ~ Giveaway! « The Mountain Rose Blog I think we can only continue to protect the wilds and cultivate our gardens. This is the kind of grounded lifestyle that has proven, throughout history, to be most sustainable. And of course, plant Empress Trees (Paulownia I liked the Rootstalk fb page. studying Western Herbal Medicine and loving it and loving reading about all these amazing herbs and their qualities. Want to know more and more and loving this blog site. Thank you and keep up the good work . [...]