Local Herbalists

This week while looking at Whole Foods’ tincture selection, I saw they carry (in our local store, all WFs are differently stocked) The Herbalist brand tinctures. The Herbalist is a store I used to visit in Seattle but haven’t gone to in years so I was happily surprised to see their herbal products because it’s always fun to support a local business, plus the blends are unique and very well thought-out. These could have been there a while, I actually don’t buy many supplements at Whole Foods, but it is great to see such a big store stock locally made items so now I’ll have to peruse their supplement aisles more often. I encourage everyone to look into their local herbalists and such because you might be surprised at what can be found in your very own community. It is grounding when you realize your neighbors may be the ones blending up brews of all kinds, and knowing it doesn’t come from some mysterious, far away place and somehow ends up on a shelf near you.

I bought an immune booster called Astragalus Plus because by this time of year I feel depleted. This winter has been especially hard for various reasons, and it hasn’t helped that it’s the rainiest winter season on record here in the Seattle area. It’s been grey, wet, muddy, and harsh. Spring is awfully close though and I’m hoping this immune booster will push me through these last few weeks while we transition to longer days and blossoming trees, and maybe even keep allergies at bay while that happens.

This blend features an array of immune boosters plus cayenne to help those lovely herbs circulate throughout the body. I specifically wanted my immune booster to be made predominantly with astragalus (instead of echinacea or oregon grape for example) because astragalus is also an adrenal tonic and help with stress is always appreciated.

If you don’t know where to start looking for your own local herbalists, you can start by checking out the American Herbalists Guild website. You will find an array of resources there, including how to find an AHG member herbalist in your area. Note these are herbalists that focus on being clinical herbalists. There are others who focus on making herbal products and medicines, and others who focus on growing or gathering the herbs. Those that focus on gathering herbs are also known as wildcrafters, while those that grow theirs are gardeners or farmers, depending on scale.

What are your local treasures, herbal or otherwise?