What happens when we follow one plant deeply enough to uncover its stories, traditions, and medicines?

In this episode, I sit down with herbalist, artist, and folk magic researcher Rebecca Beyer to talk about her lifelong devotion to spicebush (Lindera benzoin)—a plant rooted in Appalachian folk tradition and brimming with story.

Rebecca shares how a difficult illness first led her to herbal medicine, and how she eventually came to see spicebush as her patron plant. We explore its many gifts—from its role in spring tonics and colonial kitchens to its modern uses as a warming, aromatic ally. Rebecca also invites us into her creative world, where her herbal practice meets her art, tattooing, and deep love for regional traditions.

Fresh spicebush berries are notoriously difficult to dry, so Rebecca likes to find other creative ways to preserve their peppery, citrus-spiced flavor. She’s shared her recipe for Spicebush Honey Bounce—spicebush berries infused in honey, plus a little something extra! You can find a beautifully-illustrated copy of Rebecca’s recipe here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why spicebush holds such a beloved place in Appalachian folk traditions, bridging the worlds of food, medicine, and seasonal ritual

► Four medicinal benefits of spicebush

► Rebecca’s trick for drying the fruit so they keep their flavor for years and don’t mold—quite a challenge for these juicy berries!

► Six ways to work with spicebush for food and medicine, from the bark to twigs, leaves to fruit

► Why embracing many teachers—and a community of learning—is key to becoming a better herbalist

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Rebecca Beyer is an Appalachian folk herbalist and magical practitioner, tattooer, author, and crafts woman. She studies and teaches foraging, regional folk medicine and handicrafts at her home in the mountains of Western North Carolina through her school, Blood and Spicebush School of Old Craft, and tattoos at her studio, Pars Fortuna.

This conversation is full of history, heart, and plant wisdom. Whether you’re new to spicebush or already love the plants of Appalachia, I know you’ll come away inspired by Rebecca’s joyful relationship with this fragrant, generous shrub.

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Get full show notes, transcript, and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

You can find Rebecca at BloodAndSpicebush.com.

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author...

Can you believe we’ve made it to 200 episodes of the Herbs with Rosalee podcast?!

Week after week, I get to sit in the host’s chair—asking the questions, guiding the conversation, and shining the spotlight on other herbalists (and the plants we love). Honestly, it’s one of my favorite things to do.

So when we realized the 200th episode was coming up, we knew it had to be something different.

At first, someone suggested I should be the one in the hot seat. My reaction? Hard no. Absolutely not.

But the idea kept tugging at me… and eventually, I caved.

And! If anyone was going to flip the script and interview me, it had to be my dear friend Mason Hutchison from HerbRally. Not only do I love his hosting skills, Mason knows me better than most people on this planet—which meant he could ask the kinds of questions I’d never think to ask myself.

And wow… he did.

We laughed over bloopers, looked back at how the show has grown, and talked about the ways podcasting has stretched me—not just as an herbalist, but as a person.

I shared stories about my ever-evolving plant path—from activism, to my early days with herbs, to how UTIs (yes, really!) shaped my herbal journey in surprising ways. We also pulled back the curtain on what goes into producing this podcast, and chatted about some of the threads that run through my life right now: walking, strength training, friendship, grief, and resilience.

There are also a few surprises in there - one that left me in tears.

But! No spoilers! You’ll just have to watch the show. (And I DO recommend watching this one as there’s lots of entertaining b-roll going on.)

It was one of those conversations that felt both light and deep at the same time. I’m so grateful to share it with you—and to be celebrating 200 episodes together.

Here’s a peek at what we covered:

► Why most podcasts don’t make it past seven episodes—and what it really took for me to reach 200

► How creating a podcast has shaped me as an herbalist and educator

► The behind-the-scenes teamwork that goes into every single episode

► How my dad’s adventurous spirit and my mom’s ethnobotanical work continue to shape my life today

► How getting arrested as a young activist eventually led me deeper into herbalism (and guided me toward a gentler, less in-your-face approach to bringing herbalism to people!)

► and so much more…

For this episode, I also have to give a big shout-out to YOU. Truly, this podcast wouldn’t exist without you listening, sharing, and showing up week after week. Your enthusiasm for the show is what keeps me going.

And a special thank-you to all of my students here at Herbs with Rosalee—you make it possible for us to keep producing the podcast.

An extra-special nod goes to our Podcast Circle members, whose direct support means so much. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you.

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Get full show notes, transcript, and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

You can find Mason at HerbRally.com.

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone...

What happens when a playful kid turns dandelion fluff into mischief?

Spoiler alert—those days of early herbal mischief may just turn into a lifelong passion for the plant world, as it did for my good friend Mason Hutchison.

In this episode, Mason discusses the many virtues of the much-maligned (though not in the herbal world!) dandelion, Taraxacum officinale. From stories of childhood antics to his first taste of this “gateway herb,” Mason shares how dandelion has shaped his path as an herbalist and community builder. Along the way, we taste-test dandelion creations (all delicious, though some are decidedly bitter!), dive into its surprising nutritional and medicinal powers, and celebrate the joy this sunny little plant brings. You’ll never look at a patch of dandelions the same way again!

Along with several other tasty dandelion beverages, Mason and I said cheers over a warm cup of my Spiced Dandelion-Chicory Herbal Brew. This is a new recipe that I’ve never shared before—and a personal favorite of mine!

Check out the beautifully illustrated recipe card here, and enjoy this crowd-pleasing dandelion drink with your own friends!

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How to tell dandelion apart from its many look-alike cousins

► The many nutritional and medicinal benefits of dandelion roots, leaves, stems, and flowers

► One fun way to work with dandelion seeds (aside from the inevitable wish-making, of course!)

► The surprising reason behind dandelion’s French nickname, “pissenlit”

► and so many other reasons to love this humble weed!

For those of you who don’t know him, Mason Hutchison is the founder of HerbRally, an herbal community hub that promotes herbalism education and events. He is also the host of The Herbalist Hour, a podcast and YouTube series where he interviews a diverse array of plant people. Mason is a proud father, avid chess, basketball and ping pong player, spring water gatherer, and an enthusiast in the art of frugal nutrition.

I’m so excited to share our conversation—and plenty of dandelion love—with you today!

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Get full show notes, transcript, and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

You can find Mason at HerbRally.com.

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

What hidden stories of women are tucked inside this humble herb—linking old folklore, a touch of alchemy, and even today’s healing practices?

My guest today, Alyssa Dennis, invites us into the world of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla spp.), a plant whose cloak-shaped leaves hold both practical healing gifts and threads of ancient story. From her experiences in urban herbal sanctuaries to a life-changing encounter on the sacred isle of Iona, Alyssa shares how this humble herb invites us to see plants not just as remedies, but as storytellers and companions on the path of reconnection.

Alyssa’s favorite way to work with lady’s mantle is as a tincture, using just the right amount of glycerin to sweeten it up and draw out the toning, astringent nature of the plant. You’ll find a beautifully-illustrated recipe card for Alyssa’s Lady’s Mantle Tincture here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Why lady’s mantle is such a trusted ally for pregnancy, birth, and postpartum healing

► How the downy leaves of lady's mantle collect dew—and why alchemists once revered this process

► What makes lady’s mantle both an ancient wound healer and a modern digestive ally

► How myth, folklore, and modern ecology can come together to shape our understanding of plants

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Alyssa Dennis is a dedicated earth activist, educator, interdisciplinary artist, and clinical herbalist devoted to the movements of peace, justice, and ecological kinship. Her work has been to reawaken to her ancestral traditions of plant medicine in order to guide her community back into relationship with the living world.

Alyssa has two fine art degrees, advanced training in clinical herbalism, and spent years within the natural building profession. She is the founder of Eclipta Herbal and steward of a vibrant herbal sanctuary in Baltimore City—a living classroom home to over 100 species of medicinal plants (and counting). This space is a heart-centered venture of ecological conservation—of both the human body and the land body—which serves as gathering ground for plant medicine education, community building, earth skills workshops, and collaboration.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

Warrior, healer, and protector—could this common roadside plant be nature’s ultimate ally for both body and spirit?

In this episode, herbalist and educator Carolyn Jones shares about a plant often called the “mother of all wound healers”—yarrow (Achillea millefolium). I was so excited that she chose to discuss this plant, as it’s my herbal ally for the year and one I hold close to my heart. Although I’ve worked with yarrow for many years and already know it well, it’s such a multifaceted herb that, like a dear friend, there’s always more to learn about it.

Carolyn certainly didn’t disappoint, as she went well beyond commonly-known ways to work with yarrow for physical ailments. Her discussion of how yarrow can help to strengthen and heal us both spiritually and emotionally was so powerful and insightful, I know I’ll be mulling it over for quite some time.

The recipe that Carolyn shared with us is such a thoughtful, beautiful way to work with yarrow—with the intention not of getting rid of some challenge or affliction, but instead of calling forth a strength we might want to invoke: courage. You can download a beautifully-illustrated recipe card for her Medicine for the Soul: Courage Blend here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Five herbal preparations for working with yarrow, and the strengths and benefits of each

► How flower essences are prepared—and how yarrow flower essence can help to heal emotional wounds

► Yarrow’s history of ritual use for spiritual protection

► How yarrow’s blood-moving qualities make it uniquely supportive for relieving certain types of pain

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Carolyn Jones is the founder of the Healing Project and serves as the coordinator of the Herbalists Without Borders’ Healing Project Mobile Clinic. A dedicated community herbalist and holistic health educator, she holds certifications in aromatherapy, flower essences, reflexology, and acupuncture detoxification. Carolyn is also an accomplished author and bereavement chaplain. Her published works include Pick Up Your Bed and Walk, a self-care guide for those pursuing a healthier lifestyle through herbal support; Incantations, an affirmation guidebook; and Medicine for Your Soul, which explores the trauma-informed healing potential of flower essences and hydrosols in combination with essential oils.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

What if the “ordinary” marigold in your garden was actually a sacred plant with centuries of healing tradition behind it?

In this week’s episode, Texas-based herbalist Lauren Peterson shares how she first learned about the medicine of yauhtli (Tagetes lucida), an herb hiding in plain sight all around her. Commonly referred to as Mexican tarragon or Texas tarragon, this cheery little marigold is a common landscaping plant in Texas, and yet it has so many medicinal gifts (and it is oh so fragrant and delicious, too!).

There are many ways you can work with yauhtli, but Lauren’s favorite way to prepare it is an infused honey. This sweet, wonderfully aromatic preparation really makes it easy to take your medicine—and it’s so good, it even made my usually-reserved handsome French husband exclaim with delight!

Lauren shared her recipe for Yauhtli Infused Honey with us, and you can download your beautifully-illustrated copy here. (And if you don’t already grow yauhtli, this episode just might inspire you to go out and buy some seeds!)

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Six medicinal gifts of yauhtli

► Three tips for growing yauhtli in your garden

► Why infused honey is one of Lauren’s favorite ways of working with yauhtli (and many other herbs!)

► How yauhtli compares to other marigolds—plus two ways to work with common garden marigolds (Tagetes erecta)

► The importance of forming community and making connections with other herbalists

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Lauren’s passion for plants grew from her desire to deepen her connection with the natural world and nurture relationships that allow healing to take place. She began her herbal studies with Austin, Texas based Sacred Journey School of Herbalism in 2014, and now is a teacher and admin for the school. Lauren founded White Deer Apothecary in 2015 and continues to craft local herbal medicines, teach medicine making classes, guide plant walks, and work with clients one-on-one. Her favorite place is to be outdoors, in the kitchen, and on the dance floor.

I hope this interview with Lauren inspires you to look at the common plants around you in a whole different way. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite herb peeking at you from behind a rosebush in your neighbor’s front yard!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

Have you been missing this amazing and underrated mushroom? Chances are if you’ve ever gone out in the woods in North America, you’ve walked past the mushroom red-belted conk (Fomitopsis pinicola)—though you may not have noticed it. This ubiquitous, yet often-overlooked mushroom may not be well known among herbalists, but it certainly deserves to be! As this week’s podcast guest, Logan Keister, describes, there are so many benefits to working with red-belted conk, from aiding digestion to reducing inflammation, and so much more.

Logan also explains in detail one of his favorite ways of working with medicinal mushrooms: as a long-extracted mushroom powder, full of all the goodness of these amazing fungi. This preparation can be expensive to buy, but luckily it’s really easy to make yourself! We’ve got a beautifully-illustrated recipe card for Logan’s recipe for Mushroom Extract Powder to share with you; you can download your copy here.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► Four tips for identifying red-belted conk (and what to do to be sure the mushroom you’re finding isn’t a lookalike)

► How the red-belted conk interacts with and benefits other species living in the forest

► Six medicinal gifts of red-belted conk—and the type of person who may especially benefit from its support

► How medicinal mushrooms work together with your body to help prevent and heal from cancer

► Why mushrooms are best consumed cooked

► and so many other reasons to make mushrooms a part of your daily diet!

For those of you who don’t know him, Logan Keister is a clinical herbalist, educator, medicinal herb farmer, and permaculture designer, born and raised in the coniferous forests of Noti, Oregon. He has worked with many clients with a diverse range of health concerns over the years and helped them to address their concerns using the vitalist approach to herbalism. He currently resides in Noti, Oregon where he runs his own small business, Noti Botanica, where he sells herbal remedies, offers holistic health consultations, and shares his teachings on herbalism.

Logan received his training in clinical herbalism and botany at the Columbines School of Botanical Studies, the Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism, and the School of Evolutionary Herbalism. He also has a B.S. in Horticulture and a Permaculture Design Certificate from Oregon State University.

I’m thrilled to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book

Once beloved in root beer and medicine cabinets, sassafras was later banned as dangerous. So...is it poison or a powerful plant ally?

In this episode, we’re diving into the wild and winding story of Sassafras albidum—a tree deeply rooted in Southern culture, traditional herbalism, and kitchen magic. From thickening gumbo to flavoring root beer (before it was pulled from shelves in the 1970s), sassafras has played many roles—and stirred up plenty of controversy.

Herbalist Matthew Hunter joins me today to shine a light on this misunderstood tree. He shares his favorite ways to work with sassafras, including his recipe for homemade sassafras root beer (yes, it’s safe—and yes, it’s delicious!). You can download a beautifully-illustrated recipe card here.

Matthew also brings a refreshingly unique perspective. Unlike many herbalists who’ve loved plants since childhood, he started his herbal journey with zero interest in the plant world. He just wanted to “get it over with”—but somewhere along the way, the plants worked their magic. Now he’s a devoted advocate for his local flora and an inspiring teacher in his own right.

If you’ve ever wondered about sassafras’s past, its potential, or how to use it today, this episode is for you.

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► How to identify sassafras trees, both by sight and by smell

► The history of sassafras use in the United States (and a surprising reason why it went out of fashion!)

► Nine medicinal and culinary gifts of sassafras

► Why a cup of hot sassafras tea is so great on a hot summer day

► Tips for propagating sassafras trees – and why harvesting them can actually help more trees grow!

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know him, Matthew Hunter is the founder of Legacy Wilderness Academy, a school dedicated to teaching Southerners how to harvest clean food and natural medicine from local wild plants. Matthew has been foraging for over ten years and is the creator of several online foraging courses, including Medicinal Plants of the Southeast and The Southerner’s Guide to Foraging. He’s currently on a mission to film every major edible and medicinal plant in the Southeastern US. Matthew leads foraging walks in his local area in northeast Louisiana where he lives with his wife, daughter and son.

I’m delighted to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

For more behind-the-scenes of this podcast, follow @rosaleedelaforet on Instagram!

Working successfully with herbs requires three essential skills. Get introduced to them by taking my free herbal jumpstart course when you sign up for my newsletter.

If you enjoy the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, we could use your support! Please consider leaving a 5-star rating and review and sharing the show with someone who needs to hear it!

On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book