Personal Legend of a Stay at Home Mom Herbalist
Thank you for visiting my shop and helping me to make my dream as an herbalist come true! Please take a peek at my blog: https://aspiringherbalist.com/ to see my personal journey with discovering herbalism, my love of gardening, and how it all involves my family & our desire to treat the environment and our bodies with care and conscientiousness.
My gardening began when my oldest was 4. It was my way of trying to be healthier, environmentally conscious, and raise him with respect for the food he eats and the natural world around him that provides it. That garden is now at our old house with someone else, but since then I have dug 5 more with my own two hands, fenced, designed, and started seeds for 5 years now; my garden is 80% grown by me from seed to harvest. Then starting this year, I have transitioned to mostly growing herbs.
Herbs became more of an interest for me after being gifted some from a dear friend. She was kind enough--as she prepared to leave her beautiful herb garden behind that she had grown to love over years and years of nurturing it--to dig up and gift me some transplants from it. It was like giving me her babies, so I could continue to love and enjoy them like she had.
As a result, this brought more herbs into my backyard, sparked my interest to research extensively about their benefits, and has led me to my current store opening. After growing, harvesting, drying, chopping & extracting all while growing a deep relationship with a variety of herbs; I want to share their benefits with others!
Every tincture is made in small batches by me. I harvest the herbs, mostly from my backyard, chop them up, cover them in menstruum; organic vodka, or distilled water & vegetable glycerin), cover them with parchment paper (dated & labeled), transfer them to a dark location in my basement, shake daily for 4-6 weeks, strain, and bottle them individually.
For my skincare oils, I hand dry the herbs using the top of my LED lights and then transfer them to glass jars & cover them in organic Sunflower/Olive oil. After sitting in a south facing window for a month, swirling every few days, I strain them; just like the other extracts, and transfer them to amber glass bottles with droppers.
This process is not just something that is done by me but is LOVED by me! This is truly my "personal legend" (The Alchemist by: Paulo Coelho); the thing that fulfills me and makes my heart fill with joy and satisfaction. It is my dream to grow plants & make them into a healing substance for others to use as preventative health care; all while still being home with my family.
My family consists of my husband and 2 children. My children are 10 and 17 and mean the world to me. My father died when I was 15 and this has made me choose my path in life based on the philosophy that: "Life is too short so spend it with the ones you love!" This has forced my husband and I to make many sacrifices, but it is all for the sake of spending as much time together as possible, while we are able to.
My husband, Justin, runs his own online resale/antique business: https://www.ebay.com/usr/broadwayexchangeco,
and I have been staying home with our son and working on teaching myself all about herbalism, handcrafting extracts, & gardening while volunteering, every Wednesday, at my children's school & staying active in the community.
As far as herbal studies go; I have read many books & online directories as well as taken the Materia Medica & Introductory Course at https://theherbalacademy.com/ (Herbal Academy).
This has included documenting as much of this journey as I can on my blog: https://aspiringherbalist.com/
Here are some pertinent posts to read:
Announcement of Store opening:
https://annesherbgarden.wordpress.com/2018/07/18/the-time-has-arrived/
An Amazing Book I Read:
https://annesherbgarden.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-herbs-influence-balance-2/
Personal Story of how herbs have helped my health:
https://annesherbgarden.wordpress.com/2018/10/17/gin-soaked-raisins-preventativehealth-herbalbenefits/
An Herbal Pamphlet I created as a Reference Guide to my Herbal Products:
https://aspiringherbalist.com/2018/10/20/herbal-terminology-basic-herbal-information/
Thank you for visiting and entrusting me with your herbal care needs. It is an honor & you are a critical piece to me making this not just a passion, but something that will empower me as a woman and mother!
Love Always,
Anne
