Beyond the Bookshelves ~ Discovering my Path as an Herbalist with Help from an Unconventional Teacher

Throughout my journey I have often wondered if formal training was necessary in order to call myself a "real herbalist". Today I want to further explore the idea of becoming an herbalist and how that journey has looked for me.

You can read part one "Can Herbalism be Learned Through Books?" here. Today I want to put down my books and reminisce on the importance of learning herbalism via practical experiences.

I have been so lucky to have had access to multiple community gardens throughout the course of my life. And when I was really serious about becoming a practicing herbalist I met someone who opened the doors to the world of plants and herbs. Oddly enough, this person would never call herself and herbalist. Even more odd, her guidance taught me more about herbs than any herbalist I have ever met!

So, let us flashback to about 5 years ago and let me introduce Alex!

It was my mom who introduced me to Alex when I was visiting home for a couple of months in 2019. At the time Alex was a volunteer coordinator at community farm and I asked if I could tag along. Due to our age difference I think Alex expected me to want to meet guys and hang out with the volunteers my age but, no! I was perfectly happy to be with the smaller group of retired volunteers, and, of course, surrounded by the herbs I was so interested in learning about.

While I focused so strongly on healing myself and growing medicine for other people Alex was (and still is) passionate about growing plants to support the environment. She taught me that not only was it important to grow a diversity of native plants for us humans but also for the animals that share this land with us.

While spending time in her gardens I saw how well flowers (aka pollinator plants) grow alongside the herbs.

Flowers provide the essential nectar and pollen that so many insects rely upon. Planting zinnias, cosmos, and native flowers alongside the herbs that we need for medicine is a small token of our appreciation. It is the work of the pollinators, after all, that makes the reproduction of plants possible. Somehow I never thought of this before Alex pointed it out!

Over the years Alex transitioned from volunteer coordinator at a large farm that grew everything from herbs, to fruits to veggies to owning her own nursery with an adjoined flower garden. Every year while I visited California I spent a few days a week helping out at the nursery where I had access to all kinds of plants that I had never seen in person before. Getting to know valerian for the first time and being gifted a few plants to bring home with me sparked experimentation with the herb in a first hand sort of way that I would have never experienced by reading books or attending a course.

And as the years progressed and I began formulating my own herbal remedies, Alex gave me a space to sell my products alongside the harvest from her garden. It was the first time I had ever vended in person which was equal parts exhilarating and equal parts nerve wracking.

Here is a picture of myself the first time I ran the plant sale by myself. In the basket in front of me is a selection of the dried herbs I was selling at the time and some homemade perfumes too. Besides my humble offerings there were pots of succulents, herbs like parsley and valerian and the option to pick fruit from the small orchard just behind the nursery.

I was smiling in this picture despite feeling a bit nervous because it felt so nice to be trusted. When I was younger I shied away from any sort of roles of responsibility because I felt like I told myself I was dyslexic and slow witted. Or maybe I was told those things and believed them. Working with someone who trusted me with her plants and business gave me the confidence to start a plant-related business of my own and delve into the world of herbalism with confidence.