From HerbMentor.com, this is Herb Mentor Radio.
You are listening to Herb Mentor Radio on HerbMentor.com. I'm John Gallagher. My guest today is Rebecca Altman.
Rebecca is an herbalist, writer and proprietor of Kings Road Apothecary in California.
She runs an herbal CSA called the Monthly Surprise Box. Box. The Monthly Surprise Box. And you can find out about the Herbal CSA and all kinds of really cool stuff at kingsroadapothecary.com and you can follow Rebecca on Twitter at twitter dot com slash k r apothecary or Facebook at slash kingsroadapothecary.
Welcome, Rebecca. Doctor.
Hello, John. Thank you. Doctor.
So we are hanging here at formerly known as the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference and is now the Medicine of the People something? Doctor.
Herbal Resurgence.
Herbal and you go to herbalresurgence dot org. Yep. We're actually here like as live as you can get. We're not usually I'm on the phone talking to folks and I'm actually hanging out here having a good time. So I am excited to have Rebecca here because I watched her online, good writer, post lots of cool stuff, seen her articles posted in Plant Healer magazine, and some of them have been on herventor dot com.
And she have to have this table, right? This table at the event and and this it really is a fantastic, herbal market there.
It really is amazing.
It's like one of the best I've seen. It's a great place because we're at this, we're in Arizona at this. It's like it's almost like this old west town.
Mhmm.
It's all converted and It's even got a saloon.
It even has a saloon. Mhmm. Yes. The sign says, outside population fifty to five thousand or something like that. But, but there's it's it's great atmosphere, lots of, you know, wood inside and nice lights and stuff, and all kinds of great folks selling cool stuff, some of the best herbal. So, but I walked by and I was really struck by Rebecca's stuff and I and I bought some immediately.
And I wanna talk about that in a in a little bit, because I was really fascinated, just kinda how she goes off the beaten path in her work and if you start you know following her on the internet there you'll kind of see what I mean. But Rebecca you are from Scotland correct?
I'm from Scotland from Glasgow.
From Glasgow. So how the heck did you get to LA?
Well, when I was sixteen, my my parents retired.
They wanted to move to Palm Springs, California. And, you know, they sat me down and said, we're moving to California. You can stay here and finish school on your own, or you can move to California with us.
Mhmm.
And it wasn't really much of a choice. And I'd always wanted to move to California.
Right. I'm imagining because you had visions of being on Baywatch.
Yeah. And being a cheerleader. I really wanted to be a cheerleader.
And so how did how did the visions of cheerleader end up to visions of, herbalism? How did how did how did you get into this in the first place? Did were were you a nature kid in Scotland?
Or Oh, you know, I I was. I didn't really have very many friends growing up except for my brother. And we, although we lived in Glasgow, which is, quite a big city in Scotland, there, where we lived, there were lots of little woods around our house. And I, from a really young age, I would just I'd pack a backpack full of, well, you know, candy, and go off into the woods and I'd make myself a little fire, and I'd stick the candy on a stick and I'd toast it on the fire.
And I, I mean, I single handedly decimated the Wood Sorrow population of Southern Glasgow.
It was delicious.
So I was visiting, and that's why I could have found it.
You can blend with sorrow probably from, you know, nineteen eighty six to nineteen ninety seven. And, my mom's always used homeopathic.
Mhmm.
So it's it's kind of very normal in our family to reach for herbal remedies for things. And, when I was gosh, how old was I?
When I was eighteen Mhmm. I got very sick. And I I ended up, you know, going the Western medicine route. I think this is a very common story in the herbal community. Yeah.
Yeah.
I went the Western medicine route.
Right. I ended up on a cocktail of medications, and I was just getting worse and worse. And I I was really lucky. You know, my mom called me. I was in college, and I was I was just really ill. And she said, look, Move home. Let's get you off these medications, and we'll figure it out from there.
Mhmm.
And so I moved back home, and I, you know, I stopped taking all the medications, and I started doing, yoga.
Yeah. You know, because the the sweating and the consistency of it, it it just it really helps to kind of it helped me to kind of make a new, path for myself, I guess.
Mhmm.
And one day I walked into class, and this man looked up at me and he said, Do you want a job?
And I said, Well, what do you do? And he said, Well, I run a health food store. I was like, oh, okay.
So I started working for him, and he was a herbalist. He he did Chinese herbs. He was a, you know, he was a Chinese herbalist. He'd studied in London.
And, he although he he had a health food store with a, you know, full line of supplements, but he basically, people would come into the store, and he would, you know, take their pulse and read their tongue and give them formulas. And so he you know, I just followed him around, and he taught me how to read pulses. -Wow. -He taught me how to look at tongues. And then, you know, and then he started quizzing me on the spot, which was, of course, painful and embarrassing.
And I mean, I was really, really lucky. And he also spent a lot of time hiking out in the desert.
And he gathered a lot of his own herbs, and he basically just taught me. And I have no idea still why the hell he looked at me and said, do you want a job? But there's not a day that goes by that I don't thank him.
Because that just started everything for him.
It started absolutely everything. Wow. I'm sure it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't I mean, of course it wouldn't if I hadn't gotten sick because I wouldn't have moved home, but I think that there's definitely something about being sick that allows you to understand healing.
Yeah, that's true. It's There's a couple of common stories and I think the two most common stories of folks who make their life as an herbalist their path is either exactly what you just said or they grew up in the woods somewhere and they always knew this and their grandfather passed it on or whatever, their mother, whatever. But more than not, your story is but you kind of have a little bit of both. So you were decimating with sorrel populations, Got sick and then met and met a great Chinese medicine person who took care of his way.
I obviously wasn't wasn't raised by, Bostonists because I knew nothing about preserving plant populations.
Film Courage: You do now though.
Film Courage: I do now.
I do now.
Film Courage: That's a good thing.
So thanks for sharing that because I think it's just really inspirational and people see different stories and also people often see themselves in other people's stories and you never know how something's gonna happen. You know? Yeah.
Yeah. You're right.
That's pretty how long ago was the did all that start happening with your I guess, what should I call it? An apprenticeship?
Was that it was in I was twenty, and now I am, what, thirty?
Ten years?
I I don't know. Thank you for reading. No.
I don't I mean Sorry.
You asked me linear questions. They get very confusing. It was ten years ago.
Interviewer, So wow, wow you've been on the path.
I was taking a look at your article that you wrote in Plant Healer magazine called The New American Food Culture. It was in the compendium there. I was putting through it today. And you really kind of focus in on kind of really getting to know the herbs of your area and you you say, well you say it how you say it, Herb de Californi.
Herb de Californi?
What what do you mean by that? What is that?
You know, I'm sure you cook with Herbes de Provence. It's, you know, it's a kind of traditional French herbal mix.
It's I think it's it it varies from mix to mix, but it's often got thyme, lavender, Well, I think as Kimberly.
As Kimberly. I I would almost guarantee that you've got it in your cupboards.
And when I, you know, I started getting into the bioregional stuff, well, you know, pretty early on because I I was hiking and gathering plants where I was, but it was really when I started studying with Kiva that I started to realize how unbelievably important it is.
And, and it just it was kind of a natural progression from using herbs as medicine to getting to know the taste of those herbs because you can't help but know the taste of those herbs to wanting to cook cook with them and incorporate them in everything I did. It just I guess it seemed, like, artificial to be using herbs that grew in my area and then cooking with herbs that I bought at Whole Foods.
Mhmm.
So it was a natural progression, really. And I I it was one day when I, you know, I picked up my jar of or de Provence, and I was like, wait a minute. Mhmm. This is just a French local mix.
Why the hell don't we have this for every single region Mhmm.
In the world? It would be so cool to be able to just, you know, taste different places.
Right.
So that's it. I've been to California.
I put together all of my favorite herbs and What's in it?
This year. It it it changes from year to year because it, you know, it's ever evolving, I guess. This year, it was a white sage, black sage, rose petals, sumac, a little bit of desert lavender, and bee balm.
Wow. Wow. That sounds good.
It's it's delicious.
And and then and you just put that on, whatever you're cooking and Yeah.
Yeah. Like you would any kind of herb mix. It's great on chicken. It's fantastic on roast duck, roast potatoes. Doctor.
Film Courage: Roast anything again.
Doctor.
Film Courage: Yeah, it's really good for roasting.
And so in that article too you are talking about how yeah I mean that a lot of people think American food culture is hamburgers and milkshakes but in reality we can kind of create this American food culture with the actual foods that are growing right in your eyes.
Mhmm.
Do you see that happening more and more?
I do. I really do. Mhmm. I yes. In lots of different areas, people are starting to notice more of what grows around them.
Mhmm.
And, I think it's I mean, it's becoming really trendy in the kind of the food culture now for people to write to make fancy recipes using something that they found in the wild and so I think it's only a matter of time before it becomes quite normal. I hope it's only a matter of time before it becomes normal.
And you're taking a bit of in your own hands in your work to make that happen. You say you have an herbal CSA monthly surprise box. I wanna hear what's in some surprise box. How did this come about?
This came about because I gather so much and I, you know, I come home and I potter around in my kitchen and I make things.
Mhmm.
And, you know, I sell my products at a farmers market on Sunday morning. And at the farmers market, I sell basic herbal remedies. You know, I sell a ton of elderberry elixir and a lot of comfrey calendula and plantain salve. And it's really, you know, basic things because I'm just trying to get people to understand that herbs work.
Mhmm.
And, so when it comes to the fancy things, people aren't very interested if they're not into herbs at all because they're I I don't actually know why. Maybe it's it's just it's foreign or I don't know.
But so I end up with a lot of these fancy concoctions that, basically, I couldn't get through.
Mhmm.
And I know that, in the herbal community, at least, we're all really fascinated with bioregional herbalism.
And, so I started it basically because I like making things.
And I like making what I feel like making.
Right.
And so every month, is really nice to see.
So you don't wanna keep making the same product over and over again?
Yes.
Okay. I'm with you. It's you know, sometimes the repetition takes the magic out of it a bit. And getting to really just, be inspired by what's around me all the time, it's almost like dancing, if that makes any sense.
It's just it's kind of It's art.
It's art. That's exactly it.
Self expression.
It's art.
It's fun.
It's self expression. Yeah. And and so, yeah, it's, it's different every month.
What was last month?
Like, what what Okay.
Last month last month, I made a it was it was a themed month because it was really, really hot.
I I mean, I was I was having a horrible heat wave and complaining constantly, so I assumed everyone was having a horrible heat wave and complaining constantly, so I made a Not where I live.
Sorry. Go ahead.
I made a seaweed and rose, kind of face and body cream. It was just it was really light and slippery and that kind of soothing Mhmm.
Usage that seaweed provides because I was sunburned.
So I assumed everyone was sunburned.
This are you assuming that we're all have that we're all Scottish people living in California?
You're not?
There's no cloud cover. Well, because I'm an Irish person living in sales. Yeah. Cloud cover.
Yeah. Cloud cover. So there was that. There was a a rose a rose sunburn spray.
Mhmm.
And just I mean, it works really well for burns in general, but there there was a running theme.
A heat relief tincture, which had rose, Meyer lemon peel Mhmm.
Wow.
Peach pit, and evening primrose.
Because it's you know, the they're all cooling and healing. I mean, the the peach is really moistening. The evening primrose is really moistening and healing to the GI tract, and people often get GI tract stuff at the end of the summer.
It it and it was just kind of calming in general and clears heat from the top of the body.
Mhmm.
What else? A herbal salt blend.
Is it all in one surprise box? Yes. Oh my goodness. Now keep going.
A herbal salt blend, it was, you know, Himalayan rock salt mixed with a few local herbs. It's, you know, good for grilling. It's great sprinkled over portobello mushrooms on the grill.
There was one more thing.
There there was It gives us a good idea.
Okay.
I can't remember what the last thing was. So, like, do you is this for people that are local to you or is this something you should shift to?
I started it for people who are local to me Mhmm. Because I thought that was who would be interested in it. And I've got quite a few local customers. But for the monthly herbal surprise box, I'm getting a lot of people from around the country, and I hadn't thought about Uh-huh. It's yeah.
It's actually, because at first, I said this is for, you know, locals only, and then people kept emailing saying, but But but but would you possibly ship to Ohio?
And, so I yeah. Now I ship everywhere because it, it hadn't occurred to me that people would be interested in other places.
You sound like me in my business, the things that don't, you know, don't occur to you and stuff like, oh, I didn't realize that. You know?
Yes. So so, yeah, I ship everywhere.
Fantastic.
I just shipped one to London last month.
Wow. Getting close getting back to Glasgow.
Yes.
So so, might as well just say kingsroadapothecary dot com to find out about the monthly surprise box. So if we're in, December, January, I mean, is it all every month you're doing?
Mhmm. Every month.
I I take orders the month before just so I know how many I've got because it takes a while to gather this stuff and make it.
Right. Mhmm. And, and so what would be what would be something that you might do in when did you start it, by the way?
I started it three months ago.
Three months ago.
So you Yes. No. It's not long. It's not been long.
So so you haven't even gotten to, like, the holiday season yet?
Oh, no. I haven't. But I think I should probably start preparing.
I think this episode we should start coming out with some ideas. I wish we had callers.
Oh, I wish we had callers.
Online too. We have, we have, Evangeline from from New Mexico. What would you like?
I want an herbal surprise box.
She wants an herbal surprise box.
She wants an herbal surprise box.
We have some folks. She wants a monthly Yeah.
Being here in person so So we can we can fake people calling in.
We can fake people calling in. Can can you do voice impressions, Evangeline? Because we can have other people come up with ideas.
Alright.
So, thank you.
Alright, I'm coming to hang up on this caller now.
Click.
Click. Alright, Got some more of the cider. It's really good cider though.
Isn't it delicious? Yeah.
It's very good. It's, from this is the advantage of of of being, you know, live in person doing an interview as well.
And of, you know, interviewing a Scottish person who will always bring Quality cider.
Yes.
Because it's important.
It is very important.
Have you made your own cider?
And No.
I haven't.
It's something you could do.
I could. I've made my own wines. Mhmm. I made an elderflower wine, an elderberry wine. I made a plum wine last year with plums that I gathered in Colorado after the traditions in western herbalism conference.
Mhmm.
And I made plum wine and plum mead, and they both turned out horrible because I left them for too long.
I mean, they were just too sour, but they smelled so good that I use them in my incense blends now.
Oh, incense. Let's talk about incense. Did you have incense with you that you were you got?
I did. I sold out with I I sold out.
You're amazing. Your tables nearly sold out of it.
I mean I bought so much.
Are you making other vendors, Jones?
I I I don't know. I haven't thought about that.
But I did. I brought so much, and I I wasn't, I wasn't expecting to sell out, but I I mean, I would have brought more.
How the heck do you make incense? I mean, we all all incense, most people think of as sticks, you know, like.
It's you gather a bunch of plants, you grind them up, you mix them together with something binding.
What is something binding?
Beeswax, propolis, mead, different resins Mhmm.
Are really binding, and you you mix it all together. There are different methods. They're, you know, the the ancient Egyptian method, they ferment it for a while, And I do that with a couple of mine. Mhmm.
That's pretty hardcore, so you really get into those incensing. Now do you have information on how to do this yourself on your site?
I don't, but I can give you people who do have information because there are other people who make them.
Kiva Rose Kiva guys.
Has an article on her blog.
It's I think it's called Holy Smoke, her article.
I read it quite a few times when she wrote it.
Probably on her mentor too.
Is it it must be. It must be.
I'm guessing.
And then, and then there's a woman in British Columbia, Sarah Lawless, and she makes amazing incense. And it was actually because of her that I started making it because she just completely inspired me. It hadn't occurred to me that people could make incense.
What what what was in the blend? Your most popular blend you were selling with me?
My most popular one was, it was made with all of my favorite trees. I'm really big on trees right now. I I get kind of obsessed with plants, and then I just I won't let it go. I'll cook with them.
I'll, you know, eat them and sleep with them under my pillow. And Interesting. It I I well, you know, I I get I get I I kind of have a single-minded focus. So right now right now, it's conifer.
And, so it's a conifer blend. It's, there are a cup a couple of different species of pinyon that I like.
There's a single leaf and then the four leaf pinyon.
Jeffrey pine, ponderosa pine, juniper, white fir, white fir resin, ponderosa resin, pinyon resin.
It had a bit of that mead. Mhmm. Honey. Oh, it was, pine infused honey.
Beeswax, propolis.
I think that's it.
Wow. That's incredible.
So I think that's it, as if that was only a few things.
But I think we just discovered what's going to go into the monthly surprise box come the holidays.
Don't give it away.
Oh, I'm sorry, it wouldn't be a surprise.
He's just kidding. He knows nothing. Talking about. You didn't hear a thing?
Didn't hear a thing. So, I was interested in some of your, remedies and, you know, for example, one that I got was the white fir pine pitch salve.
And, I mean, yeah, this has okay, many of the things you were just saying is incredible. So, why, you know, tell us about this blend and why this is helpful in the salve and what this is because a lot of people just, you know, they do salves, they often will start learning by a simple salve, let's say, in our kit, which is a very, you know, great one in doing a calendula, comfrey, plantain salve, a great way to start. But I just really want folks to get creative and think outside the box. So, tell tell us about the inspiration behind this and also what you know about these herbs that you're in.
The inspiration behind this is my recent obsession.
There Jeffrey Pine, I I I don't know if it grows outside of California, but I know it definitely grows in California, and it is very similar to ponderosa. If you know ponderosa pines, they smell like butterscotch.
And Jeffrey Pine is a stronger smell than Ponderosa. It's really incredible. And when you're walking around the hills, the aroma in the summer when the sun is warming up the resin, it just it completely fills the air, and it's absolutely incredible. And it's somewhat intoxicating. I mean, not actually physiologically intoxicating, but just the the aroma.
It, it's magical. And so I started out just wanting to make something that smelled like the mountains that I love wandering around in.
But the, you know, the medicinal, it's it's really useful medicinally because pine pitch is fantastic. It's a counteracting, so it like, it'll pull out splinters.
I mean, it's it's a really useful kind of general salve to have around anyway.
Mhmm.
But quite honestly, I put it behind my ears and on my wrist and wear it around with perfume.
Oh, I'm gonna do that too.
People will just be wondering why ice smells so good.
They will. Which will make a nice change.
Well, you know, it reminds me a little bit, Rebecca, of oh, oh, oh, oh, back up here. This is what happens when you hang out with someone for a couple of days and you've had a glass of cider while you're recording.
Hey.
I don't always drink while I do these interviews. Actually, this is maybe the first time.
So but it's just a glass.
So, anyway, that reminds me of, you know, that's a good thing that I'm actually the producer of the show, so no one will fire me.
That's good then.
Which is a good thing.
So, anyway, you know what it reminds me of Rebecca is one of my favorites around where I live up in the northwest is we, it's a cottonwood rhinestone. So, I just simply, you know, infuse those in oil and then beeswax, that's it.
Yeah.
It's the simplest thing.
It's amazing.
It reminds me of a walk by the river between the fall days, so, like, it's a medicine of your place.
Yeah. Totally. Cottonwood's one of my favorites. I use that in busted joint ointment.
Oh, busted joint. So what's that in that one?
I think this is in that one.
I don't have it right here.
That's, that's Solomon's Seal, cottonwood, goldenrod, alder, and horsetail.
The the Solomon's seal, it obviously isn't local to me. I have a friend. He's a shaman, and he lives in Wisconsin, and he gathers it for me, just because I get injured more than anybody I've ever known.
And I have a lot of friends who are yogis, and they get injured quite frequently because despite appearances, yoga is not that gentle.
And, my husband does martial arts, and all of his friends, they they're all injured constantly. So it, you know, this one, it developed over time with lots and lots of, you know, testing and refining and perfecting and trying to make it as good as possible. And, the Cottonwood, it's such a huge part of it because it, you know, it moves moves the pain.
And, yeah, didn't Rosalie come up yesterday? She had a she had a hurt butt knee?
She she'd had a sore knee for, I think, two months, and it had been really hurting. And she put the buster joint ointment on once, and the pain hasn't come back.
Wow.
She she bought me a drink. She was really happy.
We do more than just drink at these conferences.
We promise. We do.
We have to understand there's a lot of classes and you have to relax after a long time.
And there is there's also dancing.
There's dancing.
There's dancing, but there's a lot of learning. It's work.
It's a lot of work.
It's a lot of work.
Classes all day long. It's amazing classes. I mean, gosh.
We have Matthew Wood and, Sevensong. Sevensong and, of course, Kiva and Jim McDonald, Rosalie.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's a really good lineup.
Elliot, a lot of your favorite characters are your mentor right there. And, so yeah, it's awesome.
And when you did the bus to join, like did you just like, how do you formulate that?
Is it information you're reading or experimenting with or is it a little bit Yeah.
I just you know, I I read about herbs, and then I try them out, and I try them out on their own, and then I try combining them. It's I mean, it's really useful to have a lot of injured people around.
And, yeah, I just keep trying things. And every time I would see someone walking with a limp, I mean or, you know, like, someone I I knew slightly, I'd be like, hey. Hey. Will you try this? Mhmm. It just, I I guess I I didn't have that that fear thing when I started out with this stuff about, oh, I'm, you know, I'm not ready to try it on other people. I just kind of lept in and was like, you, take this.
But I get that about your personality in general.
I kinda jump in.
I can see that.
Well it's good you know, it's good to play to your strengths.
You use rose a lot like wild rose elixir.
Yes.
So tell us about rose, you know, and your relationship with rose. Now, the other thing about that is that because you mentioned Rose, you mentioned peach before, sage, like it seems like some maybe you have better relationships than others with maybe perhaps. And how important is that of establishing a relationship with a plant and how do you do that?
Oh, God, it's so important. Yeah. Because you can have so much book knowledge. Mhmm. And I I truly believe that plants work for you.
Mhmm.
I mean, not that they not that you're the boss of them, but that if you have a relationship with a plant, it will do something that might not be written in a book.
I I guess that sounds very esoteric, but they're you know? No. No. They It's like It's fine. I mean, there are some herbalists who only use one or two herbs and, you know, it'll work for absolutely everything. I think it's of the utmost importance to really have a relationship with a plant because then also if then you know it and you know it in your body and in your heart, and so you you know what it can do.
And if somebody says to you, well, it doesn't do that, you you can know absolutely that it does and not be swayed by, you know, know, anything that you read or anything anybody else tells you. I think it really I think it's important to have this information inside, and to form a relationship with a plant, I just spend time with it.
Mhmm.
You know?
If I can, I'll plant it in my garden just so that I can get out there often. Because I live in the middle of the city. It takes me about an hour to get to the wilderness, which I try and do two or three times a week, but it's it's, it's still drive. So I, you know, I try and get things in my garden. I had had a bit of an obsession with Angelica a few months ago, and I have, you know, my plants getting quite big in my back garden. So I'd make my coffee and just go and sit there and, you know, just sit by the angelica.
I I don't really I don't Spending time with the plants and and putting it different ways in your life, harvesting, making things, and this is how you establish create them.
I you know, I I if I'm, like, I'm if I'm going through an obsession with something, I'll I'll drink tea. I will, you know, try and make things with it that smell like it, and it's I'll cook with them a lot. If they're remotely tasty, I'll find ways to try and make them tast or not poisonous. Yeah. I'll try and find ways to make them tastier.
And just spending time with it, drawing them.
It I you know, I think a lot of it comes comes from cultivating a quietness inside, and then you can actually hear. And I think that's the same, you know, it's the same with plants and people. You can't truly hear somebody unless your your mind's quiet, and it's the same with plants. You, you know, you can hear them.
Some people actually hear them talk. I don't hear them talk. I just get, you know, little blips of information. But, it's just this quietness and observation.
Anyone can do it.
And that's, you know, again, the way I always think about it is no different than establishing a relationship with the person.
You know? Totally. It's the exact same.
You gotta go hang out with them and go to parties.
Yeah. It's the exact same.
Go out doing things.
You hang out. And, you know, somebody might have a personality, but the more time you spend with them, the more you truly get to know them. And then if one of them if somebody you know came up and hugged you in the dark Right. You would still know it was them.
Right. Oh, yeah. Would you?
Yeah.
That's true. You would, yeah. Just If Kimberly came up and hugged you, you'd be like, oh, hey, Kimberly. Even though it was pitch black, you would know it was her.
Right. Exactly. I hope so.
No, yeah, you're so no that's yeah, that's great. So, you really take that to heart and you really do that pretty hardcore it sounds like.
Yeah. Yeah.
But each how it pays off. Yeah. And it's really simple too.
It's it's simple and absolutely anyone can do it. It's really it's I don't think anyone's born with special powers. It's just, you know, having a single-minded drug.
You're not going to classes.
You're not buying books. You're not spending money. You're you're just outside.
Just outside. Yeah. And it can be anything.
And I think that's, you know, I think that's a problem, like, that with some people, they want to use special plants Mhmm.
And things that are in other places because other places have, you know, exotic and sexy plants. And Right. You know, if whatever we've got is kind of boring. You know?
But But you have a way of making, like, just trees that grow around us sound sexy in your in your in your packaging and everything, you know.
The white fir pine pitch sap caught my eye. I was like, oh, that's cool. It's different.
Well, that's because I think it's sexy. I yeah. I think what's under our feet is unbelievably fascinating.
Right. It certainly is. Yeah. It has not to be something exotic from the middle end. Mhmm.
So tell us about your white sage and mint elixir. That that was something else.
That's really popular.
Yeah. Mhmm.
I, I honestly don't know why I put the two together.
It just I think I was gathering both in one day and maybe by, they came home together. I elixir together.
The white sage is not salvia.
You're not talking it's not the it's not the mint. I mean, it's not it's a sage sage.
Mhmm. Salvia. Salvia apiana.
Oh, it is. Oh, it is that one.
Yeah. It's white sage. It, it grows in Southern California. It's, it's actually got a pretty small growing region, and it's a really popular plant because it got the, the reputation of being a kind of new age energy clearer.
Oh.
So, you know, unethical people will go and rip whole plants out of hillsides and sell them on street corners in college towns all over the country.
Oh. White pigs.
Smudge sticks.
Got it.
Uh-huh.
It's, that's up for debate.
But, as a herb in itself, it's a really truly phenomenal salvia. I mean, it's it's my favorite. Mhmm.
And it's it's it's much more cooling than other salvias, I find, and it really it helps to stimulate digestion like other salvias, and it helps with, you know, assimilation of fats and meats. And the of the mint, it I it was just a natural progression because the mint's great for digestion as well.
But, honestly, the reason that they ended up together first was just that they taste good.
They taste good.
They taste good in combination. And it was after I just mixed them as a nightcap one day that, you know, I started trying it out on people and seeing that they they had a kind of synergistic effect and it it really, it helps to wake people up more. Mhmm. I use it on road trips now almost exclusively.
Wow.
No more coffee.
Oh, boy. Maybe I should try that. Yeah. Mhmm.
Also the white fur infused olive oil, that was really That's Kiva's recipe.
Uh-huh. I have to credit her for that because it was last year at the conference, the the food at Ghost Ranch was, you know, we we weren't very fond of the previous location. Yes. We we weren't very fond of the food. You know, I think a lot of herbalists are really big on nutrition and a lot of us sat outside just feeling very hungry. Right.
It was very cafeteria friendly foods types of things.
So I think yeah. One night, Kiva and I, ran off to the store and got some gluten free crackers and some cheddar and some, I think, a sausage. And she ran back to her room and brought back a bottle of white for olive oil, which just made everything taste incredible. And so I went home and gathered some white fur and made myself a very big batch.
And that is, we've got a massive bottle in our kitchen that is being replenished constantly.
It's it's amazing. You can do it with any conifer, though.
I mean, I I really try and How's the process?
So simple. You go out and gather conifer branches, you know, just the the ends of them, enough to fill a mason jar. And it can be any edible conifer. So the pines, the firs, the spruces, redwoods are incredible.
You stuff them in a jar, and you cover it with olive oil and put it in a warm place for five days. Mhmm. Use a really good quality olive oil because that makes a difference, A big difference.
Mhmm.
And after five days, just pour it out, pour it into a bottle, and drizzle it on absolutely everything.
Yeah. I had some. I was like, wow. This is awesome.
It's it's amazing and it's so easy. I really, I try and encourage my blog readers to do stuff like that.
So in the sunburn relief that I saw there, you have rose in that?
Yeah.
Okay. So tell us about rose and sun because I was really curious about that rose and sunburn.
Rose, it's so cooling.
It's fantastic. In fact, like, in LA I see a lot of rose people. In fact, I make, like, gallons of the stuff because I, like, if I have my way, everybody in LA will have a bottle of rose elixir just because rose is so kind of cooling and calming. But if you look at sunburn, it's, you know, it's irritation. It's, you know, it's it's bright red, it's hot. Right. And it's irritated and Rose is just so cool and calm that it's it's amazing for sunburn.
So you, is this infused in what?
Infused in vinegar and then I combine that with a rose hydrosol. Mhmm.
Are your rose petals infused in vinegar?
Can you combine some rose hydrosol? Okay.
Well, infused in vinegar first, then I combine it with a rose hydrosol. It just it makes a really nice combination. It, you know, you do smell like salad, but it's worth it because your sunburn is relieved and it turns tan.
I should have gotten some of that today because here in my yeah. I was out recording this morning, I forgot to put anything on with me and then I got definitely got some sunburn. I'm feeling it right now. And now that we're talking about sunburn really, I'm like, ow.
Well, you could smell like salad and then cover it up with your white fir and pine pitch salve.
Perfect.
Okay, so here, Rebecca, we've talked a lot about the things that you made and like I said, I've been mentioning this, going through these, not just to, you know, get here and try to sell your goods and stuff, which would be fine if people wanted to do that, But it's really just because I was really struck by the originality and how simple it was and everything like that.
And so, and also, you know, you explain how to do a couple of things, which is great. Now, so let's, like, backtrack a little bit and look at, let's say, the white fir infused olive oil. And you don't have that tree. Like, how can, like, how can someone just go today and do that? Something like that themselves.
I I love this question.
I get a lot of questions about this on, on my blog page Right.
On Facebook, and, we have conversations about it. So say you live in Tennessee and you don't have white fur.
Right.
Go to Google and type in Tennessee conifer species.
Use the Google.
No. Yeah. Well, it you know, it's it's kind of it's scary for people.
Mhmm.
If you don't know what goes nearby and you've never, you know, eaten anything and it might be one thing to, to, you know, use planting from your lawn, but going out into the wilderness and gathering something, if it if you've never done it, it could be quite daunting. But conifers, you know, if you've got a pine nearby, then you've got a really interesting tasting thing. And everybody's is different. You know? Like, the, you know, the conifers you have in the Pacific Northwest, you've got a lot of Douglas fir.
Douglas fir. Yeah.
And that's incredible infused in olive oil. And you what else do you get up there? Oh, you get, food. Yeah?
And and evergreens. Right? You can just get them any time of year.
Any time of year. It's great.
It's I mean, actually, this time of year is best because the staff's running and And this is fall by the early fall folks for the same year.
But, so yeah. So you you type in, you know, Tennessee conifer species, and then you'll, you know, you'll find something on Google and a way to identify them. Then you just go out for a walk and see what you can find and, you know, sniff sniff off little bits and smell them and see if they smell nice. Because for the most part, conifers smell really, really good. And then, you know, you just try it. You know? Nibble on a needle and see if it's tasty, and then go home and make sure you don't die.
I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I'm really, really kidding. You know, pine species are all edible.
Most people know what pine is.
Yes. Most know? Yeah. Most people know what pine is, and it's safe. Exactly. I'm copying what you're saying.
I know, but you see by the copying you're like, you're just, it's like we're making a point.
Yes, Exactly.
And that's cool. Mhmm.
So, yeah, you could go out and and just gather a little bit and make a tiny little bit, and then if you like that, infuse it in honey in the exact same way.
And it's and it's really simple, but just take baby steps and find what goes near you. And, yes, I might make white fur and Jeffrey Pine sound like the best things in the world, but that's just because they're what I have access to. And if I lived in New Jersey and had white pine, I think Yeah. It's true.
Up in New Jersey, we have lots of white pine.
Yeah.
If I lived in New Jersey and had white pine, I would probably be obsessed with white pine.
Mhmm.
If you live in New Jersey, go and gather some white pine.
Pine. They're the ones with the five fascicles.
It's in fascicles, little bundles of five This is a public a share of peace.
A public service announcement from Kings Road Apothecary. Go and gather some conifers.
Go get your conifers today. Yes, exactly. So that actually, there's your action item. Let's give everyone an action item.
An action item.
Wait, wait, wait, we should add some kind of like music, dun dun dun dun, urbans, radio action item, action item, action item.
Can we do that? Yeah. I would love that.
Okay, let's do that. Okay. So we've just done that And then this action item is too.
Google your local conifer species.
Go and find them and gather some and make an infused olive oil. You'll love it. You'll drizzle it on everything. Drizzle it on meat. Drizzle it on dessert. Drizzle it on fruit.
And the word drizzle, I mean, when I'm in a restaurant and it's on the menu, I always wanna order whatever it is. You know, like so and so drizzled with something. Isn't it, you know, like in the menu? Like in the menu? You know? So I mean, the word drizzle in it.
Having never thought about that before, I concede that you may have a point.
Drizzle it, drizzle it a little bit.
Just drizzle it.
That's the phrase of the day. Yeah.
We can make it sound drizzle it. Just a little bit.
We need a Nerminter radio, like, band. We need a band. I mean, you know, Letterman has a band.
We need a we need Letterman has a band. They're a mentor radio band. Yeah.
They're a mentor radio orchestra.
That would be fantastic.
Yeah. You can work on that.
I can play the tambourine.
Alright then. And, and so, and like well, looking at the wild rose elixir or just even the sunburn relief which we already talked about, this infusing in vinegar, the apple cider vinegar, I imagine, right?
Yep, apple cider.
And, the rose that most of us have wild roses around.
Yeah. And if you don't, steal them from your neighbors.
Exactly.
But don't tell them I said that. Or if you do steal from your neighbor, well, make sure it's not sprayed with some Yeah.
Make sure it's not sprayed and just, you know but I actually, you know, some of my favorite roses are across the street from me. I I did. I went and I knocked on their door, and I said, your roses are incredible. It's one of those big rose bushes, and it's a rambling thing.
And I asked if I could harvest some of them. They said take as many as you want. And so, yeah, I make tea with them, you know, once a week because they they are so fragrant. They taste incredible. So just, you know, walk around your neighborhood, smell the most fragrant roses, and then beg.
Well, urban foraging is is the most.
Urban foraging?
I better well, yeah. I mean, how the foraging would be if you were still in Glasgow?
Well, there would be no wood sorrel.
Right.
Actually, there there there's tons of great foraging in Glasgow. I used to I mean, I used to walk everywhere and, I used I would gather blackberries everywhere I went. We used to we used to walk to synagogue a couple of times a year, and, I would just fill my pockets with brambles on the way. So I'd sit there with all my friends in the back of the synagogue and just, you know, stuff my face as the service was going on.
I can see that. No? As a child that you would have done that.
I've done that.
Well, you know, and really what strikes me Rebecca too just, you know, having spent a couple of days hanging out with you and, and talking with you and all is that, a big part of all of this too for folks doing all this is hugely part is the playfulness and you really are good at that, like, keeping that and you really get that you do that and and it really does bring the kid out in all in all of us, which is really important.
I think it is. I think it's something that we lose as adults. And so many of us just spent our childhoods outside running around, playing with things, making things with, you know, sticks and pine cones and forts and Mhmm. I did.
Mhmm.
And I think we lose that as adults. You know, we have schedules, we have bills, rent to make, mortgage to make.
We lose our curiosity in nature.
Yes.
I mean, and that playfulness. And, it's interesting, Doug Elliott, herbalist here, was, speaking about that in a video that actually a video that I taped. I'm sorry. He was speaking about it live and I taped it on the video. And, there's another video on hermentor dot com of one that I taped at a previous conference and I suggest you watch that because he is awesome and just really bringing that playfulness out and with the storytelling and everything.
And, I think that's just really, really important.
So creative, playfulness, being original, learning what's around you, simplicity.
These are all the words I'm getting in your That's exactly And there are other words too that I probably shouldn't say on the radio.
No, I'm just kidding. See what happens here when you're hanging out at the Medicine of the People conference for a couple of days.
So I reckon when you all come to this conference, it's a fantastic conference.
Terrible resurgence. And, yep, in about an hour and a half, we're gonna be dancing.
Yep. And then we have another day tomorrow of classes and lots.
And very hard work.
Very hard work. I'm very hard I'm gonna have a very tough day going around my video camera taping Doug Elliot and Jim McDonald on yet more Earth books. I know. It's tough. Somebody's gotta do it.
I know.
So, your blog is called?
Cauldrons and crockpots dot com.
And just tell me a little bit about it.
I I write about wild things.
Sorry. It's just hitting me now. What? No. Your your title's great. No.
Go on.
I, you know, I I gather a lot of wild things, so I write about things that I make with those, and then I write about, culinary herbs and, how to use them medicinally. But I try you know, I really don't enjoy reading monographs.
Mhmm.
And I I was trying for a really long time to write monographs, and then I realized if I don't enjoy reading them, how could I enjoy writing them?
Exactly.
And so I I scrapped the monograph idea and just started writing about them like they were my friends.
Mhmm.
You know?
So, the culinary herbs that I write about, I try to communicate, I guess, the the essence of those herbs and, but do it in a way where people might not take away a list of indications, but might kind of get an idea of how that herb is or how it works.
I guess, you know, like describing a friend, you might not describe what they do, but you'd say, oh, you know, they're a really sweet, caring person and really likes football or something like that. Well, that's how I try to describe the plants when, you know, cooking with them so that people might, you know, just remember and start to think, you know, when they've got a little time left over. Mhmm. Oh, wait a minute.
Time. That's you know, it's it's really hot, and it moves things, and it's great when it comes to lung mucus. I'm gonna make some syrup since I've got it here and, you know, the rest of it would go to waste anyway. So that's what I try and do in the blog.
It's it's a combination of that and just cooking with wild things. There's a a lot of acorn stuff coming up because it's fall and I'm obsessed.
And another great way to learn too at besides playfulness, add blogging. You can go in there and share your experiences and it gets you experiences and it gets you gets you learning.
I love sharing.
And you can, of course, probably access it through kingsroad apothecary dot com.
Yep. There's a tab that says blog. Mhmm.
And again, that one, kingsroadapothecary.com. And and, I'm sure you can follow, you can find the Facebook you. You know, I know you had a busy day and long day taking all these glasses and having such a tough time and sitting behind your booth talking to all kinds of really cool people.
I saw that.
Selling out all kinds of products.
It's fun talking to you. It is.
Absolutely. So thank you. So I appreciate it. I'm honored to have you here and I can't wait to be tiny again.
Dun dun dun.
You could leave it there, but I should say, Rebecca Altman, thank you very much for joining us on Herb Mentor.
Thank you for having me, John.
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