Is that a worm in my apple or certified organic herbs?
Foreign material found in Nettle Urtica dioica (L.) Image Copyright: ACHS This blog is co-authored by ACHS Founding President Dorene Petersen and Natalya Shepeleva, QA and GMP Coordinator at ACHS Have you heard the joke? Question: “what is worse than finding a worm in your organic apple? Answer: “finding half a worm.” This may be […]
DIY Stocking Stuffers: Sweet ‘N’ Spicy Holiday Sachets
DIY Stocking Stuffers: Sweet ‘N’ Spicy Holiday Sachets We’ve all been there. It’s December 23. All of the gifts are wrapped and tucked away. The phone rings and … you have eight more guests coming for your holiday get together! Time for a last-minute DIY gift making spree.
Why Latin Binomials are Important for Herbs
What’s in a Name? Why Latin Binomials are Important As every ACHS student of herbalism quickly learns, the use of Latin terminology in herbalism is essential. Common names for an herb may be used for several quite different herbs. The only way to determine that you have the plant you want is by the Latin […]
Winter Wildcrafting: 5 Pro Tips for Off-Season Foraging
There’s something so rewarding about gathering your own medicinal plants. It’s exciting to actually have a hand in your medicines, seeing where the plants grow, their natural surroundings, and deeply connecting with the plants on a personal level. Foraging is something of a lost art these days, but getting outside to connect with not only […]
2016 American Herbalists Guild (AHG) Symposium Recap
In the beautiful setting of the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, hundreds of herbalists converged to re-connect with their true roots of herbalism at the 2016 American Herbalists Guild (AHG) Symposium. As a lucky recipient of a scholarship provided by ACHS, I was among the hundreds of proud herbalists.
21 Must-Have Natural Travel Kit Basics | ACHS
21 Must-Have Natural Travel Kit Basics For many families, warmer weather means play time! But when kids are out running around for the summer and fall, bumps and bruises are bound to occur. That’s why you need a natural first aid kit. There are many different ways to make them, but today I want to […]
Herbs for Women: Coping with Women’s Health Issues
Are you familiar with this scenario? You go to the doctor’s office with a health issue unique to women. You get prescribed a synthetic hormone or some other pill only to find it has undesirable side effects. You are concerned, but you’re not sure what to do. Women are faced with these difficult decisions every […]
5 Facts About Capsicum
Happy HerbDay! May 7 is the 11th annual HerbDay, a day dedicated to celebrating all things herbs and herbal products. HerbDay is aimed at educating and sharing ideas about how these wonderful botanicals enrich our lives and benefit our wellbeing.
Top 5 Tips for Reviving Your Holistic Health Habits
Spring season is centered around growth and change. Life has been in its dormant winter season phase, building potential energy. And now is the time to start using it. Did you craft plans and dreams for the new year during the cold months, but now figuring out how to implement those plans and dreams seems […]
All About Adaptogenic Herbs
Stress, it seems, is our constant, contemporaneous companion. We’ve become so accustomed to it that (many times) it no longer keeps us from sleeping, from eating, from getting on with our days. A good thing, right? Adaptability! I’m not so sure about that… Maybe our lifestyles have allowed us to adapt to stress, but at […]
5 Soothing Herbs for Peace and Calm
Feeling overwhelmed lately? Perhaps you feel stressed out and frustrated. Stress is a natural side effect of life. Some stress is good for us; it can relieve boredom and keep us on our toes. But it can easily get out of control. Everyday life is filled with stressful situations, so it’s important to have tools […]
Memories Matter: 6 Easy Tips for a Healthy Brain
Have you thought about the health of your hippocampus lately? Probably not, and you may not even know what or where it is! The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped (hence the name) area of the brain located just above the left and right ear, and was traditionally thought to be part of the limbic system. Recently, […]