Shereel Washington: So you will add your fresh plant to your salt and then you can put it in your blender and blend it. And then what's cool about is that when you do that, you'll watch your salt change color. It'll take on the color of the plant.
Tara Ruth: Oh my gosh.
Shereel Washington: Yeah. So I made some calendula and it turned orange, but feverfew it turns green. And so whatever herb or plant you use, it's going to turn the color of that plant. It's pretty simple.
John Gallagher: You are listening to HerbMentor Radio by LearningHerbs, I'm John Gallagher.
Tara Ruth: And I'm Tara Ruth. Today we're chatting with Shereel Washington. Shereel graduated from the California School of Herbal Studies Clinical Program and has completed over 1200 hours of herbal craft making training. She is an instructor in Scarlet Sage's Community Herbalist program and in the Land Of Verse Apprentice Herbal Certification program, as well as in herbal classes and intensives at the Northern California Women's Herbal Symposium. She also teaches dance and Xi Gang at the Deep Root Center for Spiritual Studies' MOVE: Spirit & Rhythm Cultural Dance Program in Oakland, California. You can follow her on Instagram at Ixalted Natural Body, which is spelled I-X-A-L-T-E-D, Natural Body.
John Gallagher: Welcome, Shereel. Thanks so much for joining us.
Shereel Washington: Thank you so much for having me. It's such an honor to be here. Thank you, Tara. Thank you, John. I am so honored to be here to share with you all today. Thanks.
Tara Ruth: Oh, thank you. I'm really excited to get to chat with you as well. We both went to the same herb school, but we didn't overlap, but I've seen you pop up on the alumni Slack thread a lot. I was like, "Wow, this person is just doing so much and they're always answering people's questions," and then I saw these classes you were teaching and I was like, "I really want to talk to her."
Shereel Washington: That's awesome. I mean, I have to say, just to kind of jump in about the school, I mean, the school has been really impactful, and I remember when I was deciding to go to herb school some years ago and I found out about the school, and when I visited this campus, that really was the closer, I was like, "I got to be here for this," because I wanted to be close to the plants and it's such a beautiful place. And before I had never heard of the place, so it's just to be at the school and to be surrounded and so immersed in the plant learning and the plant life was just a real blessing. And so the school definitely holds a lot of love. I hold a lot of love for the school as well, for all of the training and the good training that I've received there. So I'm so glad to hear, Tara, that you too have experienced that school as well.
Tara Ruth: Yeah. There's something about... And the school, it's the California School of Herbal Studies, and there's something so magical about that place, getting to study in person in a forest.
Shereel Washington: Yes. Essentially, yeah. That's what it is, it's like you're right there. When I first attended, I was in the long term program in the herbal crafting and the body systems, and I would only come one weekend a month, which I looked forward to every month because the drive was beautiful, it was kind of like a moving meditation, if you will. And then I completed both of those programs, and then I decided to come back last year to complete the CHP, the Community Herbalist Program for their clinical training. So it was definitely a little bit different because I was going twice a week as opposed to one weekend a month, so that was definitely a shift to commute that much.
Tara Ruth: It's a commute.
Shereel Washington: Yeah, it was quite a commute, it definitely took a lot out of me, but I feel that it was worth it because I wanted to just go further in my training and so it was definitely well worth it.
John Gallagher: So Shereel, one of your passions as an herbalist is perpetuating herbal traditions and preserving herbal practices. Could you talk a little bit about what this means and why it's important?
Shereel Washington: Well, it's important for so many reasons. I'll start by saying that one of the things that I began to advocate for a couple of years after initially completing the first two terms at herb school was to really advocate for the clarity in the term Western Herbalism and what do we mean by that? And I think a lot of people have an association that is just herbs of the Western hemisphere, but there's some missing pieces in terms of the people groups and so are we talking about Europeans? And that's fine if that's what it is. But if we're talking about here on the North American continent, then I believe that we have to do it a little differently to really acknowledge the influence that other cultures have contributed to herbalism and herbal learning and herbal ways here on this continent. And so that's something that I began to speak more to on different panels that, "Let's be really clear about what we mean."
John Gallagher: With African American, African Herbalism, have you explored this from your own family and heritage, or were herbs not talked about much and this has been your journey and you have looked in various places? Where's that journey taken you?
Shereel Washington: Well, to go back, my journey with my own cultural herbal learning began with my grandmother. And my grandmother, she died August last year, 2022, she lived to be 100 years old. And so she was born in the 1920s, she was born in 1922. And so she was born in Warden, Louisiana. And so she was raised on a ranch, and so she really took to herbs because also her mother was a midwife. And so she was a master gardener and she was really big on... She was a naturalist. And so one of her herbal books that she actually let me read was Jethro Kloss' Back to Eden. She had one of the original prints, and so I still have a copy of his book, but that was the book that she really referenced a lot, plus she had another book called The Vitamin Bible.
John Gallagher: Really?
Shereel Washington: Oh my gosh, yes, she was doing all that stuff. None of us drank it, but she did because she really wanted... And she just looked always years younger than she actually was, and she just took really good care of herself. But with that was also what she embodied was just the ways in which African Americans practiced herbalism. And so now I'm able to make that connection and in light of the research I've done, but also having that familial connection, starting with my grandmother, having that around me definitely has given me a reference that now I can put together also in comparison to the research that I've done.
Tara Ruth: When you talk about preserving herbal traditions, I'm thinking about preserving the traditions themselves and then also the ways in which herbalists cook with herbs and literally preserve herbs and other plants with fat, with honey and alcohol and more. And you're talking about watching your grandma really embody her herbal practices in the kitchen and drinking oat milk way before it was trendy. And I'm curious, what are some of the ways that you've really woven working with herbs in the kitchen into your life and maybe woven in some of the practices that your grandmother taught you and preserving those traditions by preserving herbs?
Shereel Washington: Yes. Well, definitely what come to my mind immediately is molasses. I've definitely, since researching and also teaching, I've definitely have brought more of molasses, using that also as a solvent to make herbal medicinal syrups more so, and it's just given me an opportunity to just also talk about the nutrient value of molasses. And so that's something that she actually worked with quite a bit. We didn't like it, like I said, we didn't like the taste of it as kids, but she would use it to sweeten tea or if she make pancakes, she would use it for that, or sometimes she would just take just a teaspoon of it for the iron content and the calcium benefit as well. So that is also, I've brought that into some of my herbal tincture plans for clients to bring in that also as a flavonoid to help round out the taste, but again to also add a nutritive benefit to the tincture formula as well. Other things I do like to work with, been working with more is also the process of salt. Is being able to use, take fresh herb material and use that to blend or grind into salt to make a herbal salt. And so traditionally salts was used not just to cook with, but also to put in a foot bath. And the herb that comes to me immediately into mind there is the mullein flower was used as a foot bath that added to salt for babies and for children in particular. Also, it was used to help quell pain or discomfort a foot ache. So that's something that with that inspired me to do more herbal infused salts to cook with. And to also, I had a client who was experiencing some high blood pressure, but also lacked trace minerals in his diet. And so I've made him a small herbally infused salt of feverfew to help encourage that a little bit more.
Now feverfew is also a nice bitter, and also it's a plant that we interacted with as well. But also it's just sometimes having a bitter flavor with salt can be a savory taste depending on what you put it on to help boost a savory flavor or a palate to what it is you're trying to cook. But also you get some really good benefits from the trace minerals of the sea salt as well to help add and help to create a healthy gut activity and to help the polypeptides to help form so that you can digest your food well. And so that was something that he really appreciated as well to have that. And so really working with herbal infused salts is something that I do bring into my practice. And then also animal fats. I definitely, I teach a class about animal fats, and so I'll use my salves, I'll add some animal fats like beef tallow or maybe some pork lard, all ethically raised and harvested animals. But using that, because traditionally fat was used as a way to get herbs into the body. Fat's also highly absorbent. And so again, it's just one of those resourceful opportunities that if you're... You use what's available. And so animal fats is definitely one of those resourceful things to use because you don't, it doesn't require beeswax. It'll harden, solidify at room temperature and you just slowly add your herbs and let it infuse either over a Crockpot or a double boiler or in a pot itself, which probably back in those days it was done an over open fire over a pot, and you would let it slowly infuse, strain it, and then you have your salve ready in about an hour, so after it solidifies. So I do add a little bit of that to my salves for clients who need support topically for skin related issues. So using those things, that for me is very helpful. And also if I teach it, then I also ought to, I have to do it too.
Tara Ruth: It turns out, yeah.
Shereel Washington: Do what you teach. But certainly it's been a real blessing to be able to bring more of that into my own practice and also share with people that this is also, that these approaches that I have is also extending into my ancestral line as well.
Tara Ruth: I love that feverfew salt idea.
John Gallagher: Yeah.
Shereel Washington: Yeah.
Tara Ruth: I haven't thought about putting feverfew in a salt before and I definitely want to try that now. Thank you for naming that.
Shereel Washington: Of course. Yeah, in general, I mean, I experiment a lot with that during the summer. So this is while first while I was finishing up school, "I need the experience with, experiment with salts," and so I just kind of went to town and went cold, fresh, all fresh use fresh plant.
John Gallagher: Yeah. Do you crush the flowers up and put them and mix them with salt or with the fresh plants, or?
Shereel Washington: You do it simultaneous. Fresh plant, you do it simultaneous. So you would add your fresh plant to your salt and that you can put it in your blender and blend it. And then what's cool about is that when you do that, you'll watch your salt change color. It'll take on the color of the plant.
Tara Ruth: Oh my gosh.
Shereel Washington: Yeah. So I made some calendula and it turned orange, but feverfew it turns green. And so whatever herb or plant you use, it's going to turn the color of that plant. Maybe you might use Clitoria, the butterfly pea. So that's going to turn that beautiful purple color. And then you would spread it out on a baking sheet and let it dry because you don't want it to keep it wet, you want it to be dry. And then add it to your salt shaker or package, and there you go. It's pretty simple. It's very effective. It is another way of getting herbs into the body through seasoning, but also for medicinal purposes. If people need to get more trace minerals plus the minerals from the plant, they have that double benefit as well.
John Gallagher: I could probably go on with-
Shereel Washington: No, please go. That's what we're here for.
John Gallagher: ... with these kitchen remedies. I just love this. So have you tried St. John's Wort? Does it turn purple?
Shereel Washington: I have. Yes, I have. St. John's Wort is great. It turns a nice... the crimson does come out, doesn't come out probably as deep as it would with the alcohol, a solvent or even a glycerin or even when you let it solar infuse. But you do pick up some of the hints of the pink, which is nice. And interestingly enough, St. John's Wort, again was another plant that African Americans interacted with in a form of either a tea or foot bath. Yeah.
John Gallagher: Hey Tara.
Tara Ruth: Hi John.
John Gallagher: This is the part where we talk about things that are in between .
Tara Ruth: Mm-hmm.
John Gallagher: Actually, I don't know how much we need to, I don't want to go on too long in the part here because I'm just so fascinated and engaged in this conversation with Shereel. It is just... Has me, yeah, I don't know. How, I mean, you know what I mean?
Tara Ruth: I do know. Yeah. I'm really grateful to get to talk with her and excited for the next part of the conversation.
John Gallagher: Yeah. But it's coming to me is how creative Shereel is with recipes and just during this, she's been talking about the salts at the feverfew and all. Yeah, just makes me remember that you can be really creative with it. I mean, that's a fun part of maybe learning some of the basics of making remedies first, because any art, you learn the basics and maybe the quote, unquote rules, and then from there you can go off and explore and make your own thing and find your own voice.
Tara Ruth: Absolutely. Just getting that hands-on experience and playing around in your kitchen with herbs. That's one of my favorite parts of being an herbalist. Maybe I see a recipe or there's one in my family and then I try it out, but then I also play around and experiment.
John Gallagher: Yeah. And on HerbMentor, that's what I really like about the Rosemary's Remedies course. Rosemary just shows you her remedies, kind of like, "Here's ones from my book," and does nothing the whole time but encourage you to find your own voice. And of course there are so many ideas and all in there too, recipes all over the place on our events or in videos and whatnot, that you could get your basics and then learn to be creative because that's, that's why I do this. I just like it because there's no end to what you can do and experience. I mean, right. When you were in herbal school, how long did it take you, Tara, from learning those basics to the point when you were just out there experimenting, finding your voice?
Tara Ruth: It took me a little while because I was a little nervous at first. I didn't have a lot of confidence, but once I got over that, just that little hump, I was like, "Oh, there's no rules actually."
John Gallagher: Yeah.
Tara Ruth: There can be a lot of more creativity in the kitchen and I can follow my intuition with how I work with these different recipes and remedies.
John Gallagher: Yeah. Just don't eat anything poisonous and don't pick a bunch of things that are endangered and you should-
Tara Ruth: Exactly.
John Gallagher: So there's more to it than that, but then you'll learn. So anyway, and if you're interested in checking out our mentor or community there and all the gosh, the plant profile, the monographs and the courses, the 15 plus courses, all of the resources, the community, you can just go to the URL for this podcast, which is herbmentorradio.com, because we put a little thing there for listeners, a little special secret offer where you can just check it out for a week and see if it's for you and give you an awesome rate for that offer, for that membership. So yeah, I think anything else, Tara? I think we should just get back to Shereel.
Tara Ruth: Let's just get back. I want to keep listening to her.
John Gallagher: Yeah, absolutely. So, what about honeys, what's your favorite honey to make?
Shereel Washington: You mean my favorite herbal honey?
John Gallagher: Like herbal honey, yeah.
Shereel Washington: I really love making herbal honeys with cinnamon, with rose, with lavenders, with clove. With the carminative spices, I love tasting that in my honeys. And so I definitely have done that. I've done an elderberry honey with those spices, so I definitely have a love for your cardamoms, your cinnamons, your cloves, I love those spices with honey, it pairs really well. I've even done it with dried ginger. I've done those types of different honeys too as well. Now, honey wasn't something that during the time of slavery, it wasn't a time that, honey wasn't something that was easily procured. And so that wasn't something that too many of us, too many of our ancestors had access to until much later, going into more contemporary times. But things like sugar or brown sugars, and again, molasses was probably closest to honey. And that was where things like asafoetida been infused, which I have made asafoetida molasses, which I have in my own personal home of apothecary here, and that was used to administer to children.
Tara Ruth: Can you talk a little bit more about asafetida? I've barely worked with this plant, I feel like I've just scratched the surface, and I'd love to hear more about your work with this beautiful plant being.
Shereel Washington: Yeah, asafoetida, it's commonly known as giant fennel, and it is believed to be originated in somewhere in the Middle Eastern parts of the world in the Middle East. And so I believe the way that it's harvested is the resin from the roots part of the plant is what they use to help make the resin or the gum resin. And so that actual resin is extremely pungent. And it is popular in a lot of Southeast Asian dishes and in some other parts of Africa as well and Middle East. And in those places they use it to flavor food, but they also use it medicinally well for a myriad of literally health issues. So African-Americans, that was one of the plants that are, that African-Americans used to treat a myriad of issues. That was the one plant, it was for the nervous system, it was for the immune system, for the digestive system. It was for a bunch of different systems, but it was really noted to thwart off illnesses. And so traditionally, and I remember my grandparents talking about it, they used to call it asifidity bath or asifidity. And so basically they would take the resin and put it in a sack and you would tie that sack around the neck. And for children you would tie little sacks around the waist. Because it was so pungent, it would literally thwart off illnesses. Well, there is a science to that, the actual smell of the aromatherapy, it works by way of your olfactories. It actually would get inside of your respiratory system by way through your olfactories to literally help push out or to destroy harmful pathogens that were airborne.
Tara Ruth: Wow.
Shereel Washington: Yeah. So they were tied in around the neck of adults and the waist of children. And that would be a way... And there would be, sometimes they would sing different songs around it because you would smell so bad, so everybody would keep their distance. And so it was something that even my husband, because he's from the deep South, he's born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, so that's what it was used for, but also it was infused in molasses. Molasses had a sweet taste. It does not taste good as a tea, I know because I've made it and I wouldn't recommend it, don't do it, do it in molasses. Do it in molasses. And so nowadays you can get asafetida in a powder form, which is what I recommend. And in powder form, it definitely pairs well with your things like onion and garlic. It kind of has that onion, garlicky kind of taste.
Tara Ruth: Wow. I have a little bag of asafoetida just sitting in my herb, I don't know this pile of herbs that I have, and I've been eyeing it been like, "I don't know exactly how to work with this one," but, so I'm really grateful just hearing you talking about all these different ways to work with it.
Shereel Washington: You can. And you make a honey with it too. I mean, the honey will be well. It's just, again, molasses to me, it's not as sweet, but it just has so many other benefits, especially the iron and the calcium content and you know, can also get it, a molasses that's unsulfured, so doesn't have that sulfuric taste. So I would recommend that you use either honey or molasses as your solvent and infuse it with that. And you can make a tea by adding either the honey or the molasses to your tea about maybe a teaspoon, and then take that. Or if you have a fire cider that you're making, you can add that to kind of round out the taste from the apple cider vinegar.
Tara Ruth: As you're speaking Shereel, I'm feeling a lot of gratitude for all of the hands-on experience of working with all these different herbs that you're sharing with us. We just like you talking about, maybe you could read about asafoetida tea and be like, "Yeah, sure, take that." But you know, since you've tried it that it doesn't taste as good that way.
Shereel Washington: No.
Tara Ruth: And just so thinking and all of this, making the calendula salt and just all of these beautiful remedies that you're talking about, I'm just imagining what it must be like to be your client and to receive a beautiful calendula or feverfew salt from you, rather than, we can get so used to in this world, you go to the pharmacy and you just get kind of standard thing in the orange bottle. And it's so beautiful, and that's great too, but to have this beautiful handmade medicine that's made with so much story and care and that's so beautiful, this beautiful salt. I'm just imagining how amazing that must be to get to work with you and just a lot of gratitude.
John Gallagher: And you just mentioned story, Tara. I'm wondering Shereel, in your research, how much and how much has story played in the preservation of information in the handing down of how to not just use the herbs, but approach how to use them in a way that's healing? Because it sounds like you have such just a beautiful way of sharing herbs with your client.
Shereel Washington: Well, yeah. I mean, when we look at story in herbalism, I mean, that's in so many cultures. And so that's even when we look at example Chinese Medicine where if you go to acupuncturist and they give you a formula, and if you go and look up the combination of herbs that's in that formula, you'll see that while that exact same formula may have been created in the 13th century under, in this particular dynasty for this particular thing, and it's the same formula that was created then and it hasn't changed. But then there's a whole story there about what was happening historically at that time as to why that particular formula was created. It was created for this emperor because their kid was sick or because they got sick and that's how they got it. Or maybe the emperor got sick and the emperor told people, "Well, if you guys don't do this, then this is going to happen," or whatever. But it was created and there's this backstory to give you a fuller context as to the conditions in which that formula was created to help do two things; this is how long it's been around, and then also another historical landmark that this is how this came about. So similarly, if in our traditions there's a plethora of historical events, and then within each family there's different stories that each family has around how they came to interact with these certain plants and herbs. And so in my research, there's definitely that picture of historical events that shaped why certain plants were used. And the one that comes to my mind immediately is cotton. Cotton is becoming more popular and people are hearing about it. But the reason why, at least on this continent, it really came to the surface was because African American herbalists, that was one of the, that was just another one of the plants rather, that we were noted for because we used it to do a couple of things for reproductive health and if also for an abortifacient.
Tara Ruth: Thank you so much for presencing these stories, it makes me think about one of the first things you said in the beginning about problematizing and unpacking the term Western Herbalism and really thinking about what is this term, what stories and what ancestral legacies is this term obscuring? And how important it is to really presence those stories, especially if you're entering into, in this lifetime a new relationship with an herb, really asking yourself, who are the people who've been working with this herb for generations? And what stories do they hold really sacred in relationship with this herb? And how can I honor that legacy? Or is this even an herb I should be working with, et cetera?
Shereel Washington: Right. Yeah.
John Gallagher: Yeah.
Tara Ruth: Yeah. Just feeling really grateful for you bringing those stories, pieces to all of this.
Shereel Washington: Yeah, and again, just to be clear that there's, I'm speaking more of the cultural event type story, but like I said, the individual family stories are different that I don't know them all. I just know maybe in my own family, our own stories, but just in a larger cultural context, there are those stories that are in the context of an event or a condition that occurred.
John Gallagher: Using the whole plant.
Shereel Washington: The whole plant, nothing really goes to waste. And I know, again, story time, my grandmother, oh my God, she loved putting salt on her watermelon. She loved doing that, and I loved doing it too. I just put a little bit of salt to give it a sweet, salty taste. And it's so refreshing and very hydrating because I'm adding more trace minerals to it. And it's one of those fruits that I just eat during the summer, hot months, but adding that little bit of salt, it gives me extra layer of hydration and it's just so good. And so that was something that I definitely continued on because she just loved adding just a little bit of salt to her watermelon.
John Gallagher: Wow. I'm going to try that.
Shereel Washington: Yeah.
John Gallagher: For sure.
Shereel Washington: It's quite good.
John Gallagher: Shereel, something that just came up for me is, earlier you were talking about appreciation versus appropriation, and you've told all these amazing stories and with stories and with how we use these plants and how we teach about these plants, how do we in different cultures, in different... Appreciate versus how not to appropriate? Because this was something, of course, we've been really, as a culture have been talking more and more and more about these last few years. And when I started working with herbs and I started LearningHerbs, it was something that I wasn't as aware of that I have become more aware of and that I really want to make sure that I'm doing. And from your perspective, when you're teaching, how do you share with people appreciation versus appropriation?
Shereel Washington: Yeah, well, appreciation is really anchored in knowledge. Knowledge of that other culture. So for example, you go to, well, I've been in a lot of space. I definitely will speak and I speak, I've been into a lot of circles where there's land acknowledgement. We're going to acknowledge the land that if you were in Oakland, we're going to acknowledge that this is Oakland or Ohlone peoples. And then I thought, "Well, what else? What else, what else?" And so then I began to think, "Well, is it enough for me just to acknowledge, and I don't know much about this particular group of people, or what research or homework have I done?" And so while the act of land acknowledgement is certainly a step, but then I want to go further, I'm like, "Let me go further and learn or get, ask questions and find out more so that I can appreciate by knowing who they are."
Tara Ruth: Thank you for sharing, Shereel.
John Gallagher: Yes, thanks.
Shereel Washington: You're welcome.
Tara Ruth: Talking with you and learning and just hearing all about how you've really been learning about traditional and historical herbal practices and just how you weave them so much into your life, I'm curious how they've shaped your own practice as an herbalist, whether it's as a clinician or just every day in your kitchen. And you've already kind of answered this, but yeah, I'm just curious if there's anything else that's present for you with how these practices shape you and your herbal path.
Shereel Washington: Well, I mean, they shaped me in being able to bring more of my full self to the practice and be able to bring the legacy of those who came before me, because I'm here because of them. In that what I'm doing now, I'm the answer to their prayers. I'm an answer to their prayers. And so it's like I have so much gratitude for that. And so I feel there's this deep obligation for me to do it, not obligation from a place of pressure, but in order for that legacy to continue, then I need to bring it forward. And so when I get a client and I'm able to now bring in something like asafoetida, and I don't always say, "Well, this is a herb that African Americans use." I don't always say that, because I'm not always in this space to just say that, it's not always relevant. But the fact that it's available for me to do it, and I can on their information sheet and their ingredient sheet that I give them, I can list the actions and I can list how it will support the body.
John Gallagher: Well, Shereel, this has been astoundingly enlightened, amazing conversation, and I've learned so much, just a deeper understanding and the stories and cultures of herbalism, and I really hope that we can have you back and work with you more. I really, really appreciate everything. It's just so from the heart and so beautiful.
Shereel Washington: Well, thank you. And there's certainly more in terms of areas to cover around African American, or the term that I use is Black North American Herbalism in addition to our herbs and formulations and remedies and a little pathophysiology and approach to treating. And those things can be discussed as well. Food, our biggest medicine, different food preparations. I know in classes they love when I give recipe for making collared greens or making pickled okra, those things that are gems that our first medicine is food.
John Gallagher: The HerbMentor community is thirsty for what you have to share and would love for you to share more.
Shereel Washington: Yes.
John Gallagher: So Tara, where again, can everyone listening follow Shereel's, comings and goings?
Tara Ruth: Well, you can follow Shereel on Instagram at Ixalted Natural Body, and that's spelled I-X-A-L-T-E-D, Natural Body.
John Gallagher: And I would say too, that eventually Shereel, that website is going to be updated, and I'd like to know, do you know the URL of this site you're updating, so someone of them could try seeing if it's ready yet, because someone might be listening to this in a year.
Shereel Washington: Yeah, so right now we are looking at, it's www.teasandtincturess.com. I hope I'm right, but we'll just go with that, I'll hopefully get the right one. It's teas and tinctures or teas and herbs, one of those two.
John Gallagher: Yeah, we'll make sure we put it in the description for sure.
Shereel Washington: Yeah. Again, it's not, like I said, they're not going to see much of anything. But that is the, it's either it's www.teasandtinctures.com or www.teasandherbs.com. One of those two. It's, but yeah, it's not up yet, but you can put it there as a placeholder.
John Gallagher: All right. Wonderful.
Tara Ruth: Well, thank you so much for chatting with us, Shereel. It was so sweet to get to talk to you and learn from you, and I'm just really grateful for you taking the time to chat with us.
Shereel Washington: Thank you for having me. It's been great. I hope that I answered all of your questions and I really-
Tara Ruth: Oh, you did.
Shereel Washington: Okay. And it was really great, really great to go back the memory lane to some of these things and to also be able to share in this context. So it's always an honor to be able to share with such a wider audience. So thank you for this opportunity, John and Tara, thank you so much.
John Gallagher: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't go quite yet, folks. We have a brand new thing to share with you on HerbMentor Radio, a brand new feature. And Tara, I was wondering if you could tell us what it is.
Tara Ruth: Oh, yeah, I would love to. So this brand new thing is Herb Notes.
John Gallagher: Yes.
Tara Ruth: And Herb Notes are basically just a little introduction to an herb with three simple ways to work with that herb. And they're just a very inspiring way to get introduced, meet a new plant, and then offer you a few different ways to start working with that plant. Start bringing it into your own kitchen, into your life.
John Gallagher: Yes. And you might see on your podcast, feed Herb Notes will sometimes be by themselves. So you can just listen for a couple of minutes and learn about a new herb, or learn a little more about an herb that you've already been learning about or like just a little pause in your day, right? Just to reflect upon the amazing herbs that are out there. And for a little while, we're going to make it a part of HerbMentor Radio podcast, too. So we're just playing around here. And hope you enjoy Herb Notes.
Tara Ruth: Yes, enjoy. Welcome to Herb Notes. I'm Tara Ruth from LearningHerbs. One of the questions we get a lot at LearningHerbs is what is yarrow used for? So let's break it down together.
John Gallagher: HerbMentor Radio and Herb Notes are 100% sustainably wild crafted podcasts written, performed, and produced by Tara Ruth and me, John Gallagher, sound Engineering by Zach Frank. Visit herbmentorradio.com to subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and to find out how you can be part of HerbMentor, which is a website that you must see to believe. HerbMentor Radio is a production of learningherbs.com LLC. All rights reserved. Thank you very, very, very much for listening.
