Resilient Roots

11/10/2025

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is an evergreen shrub native to North Africa, Middle East, India. On the BUF, we grow starts in our greenhouse, transplant in May, and harvest the roots before a freeze. The ground or finely chopped roots can be taken as a powder, tea or tincture. Ashwagandha is widely used in Ayurvedic medicine to address stress, anxiety, and poor sleep. We recently harvested the last of our 2025 crop, and have a small amount of roots (see picture) left. If you know how to process and use these roots, we will give them to you. If you would be interested in growing some next year, we can grow a few starts for you.

10/15/2025

Mullein harvest today!

I am tincturing the leaves and roots separately and I'm most excited about the ROOTS and their potential to support the SPINE. The only upside to my chronic back pain is the ability to test out the effectiveness of various remedies!

I love listening to jim macdonald talk about mullein root for back pain - there's a great Learning Herbs article about it.

Doctrine of signatures - the root is spine-ish with the rootlets givin off nerve vibes....

Another thing mullein root works for is urinary inflammation. And Ms. Poppy, with her chronic UTIs, just took a piece of root out of the basket and started eating it!

Last pic is the bright green leaf tincture.

PS: holy hell the hairs on the leaf are NO JOKE! It's been a few years since I last harvested and I forgot. My arms are super itchy!

10/06/2025

Workshop reminder! 10AM-noon this Saturday.

The topic is herbal support for perimenopause...the workshop will include info, herbal formulas, and medicine making with vitex/chasteberry tincture.

Happening on my farm and in the garden in Berea, KY.

Register here: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/GVPRK0Q2A7NPY/checkout/X63L7VD7TJLMOIPJ5UJ6EKJR

09/26/2025

THIS SUNDAY! We have a great lineup for you - everything from deep dives on digestive health and hormones to basket and incense making, plant walks, plant-themed crafts, movement, and medicine making.
Hope to see you!

Special thanks to and for sponsoring!!

09/10/2025

Hey y'all, check out my latest newsletter linked below for the scoop on upcoming herbal workshops you won't want to miss!

The Goldenrod Gathering is Sunday September 28th!

08/08/2025

the butterflies and pollinators give me so much joy. I am so glad I gave more planting space to flowers. Bad for business but great for these beautiful beings that need all the help they can get!

Some of my fav plants for pollinators:

Hops: always find interesting caterpillars on here.

Mexican sunflower: butterflies LOVE it. I recommend planting multiple plants together, it attracts more butterflies that way. Easy to start from seed.

Compass plant: honey bees and native bees are all over it all the time, in addition to the butterflies. A great native for areas where you need to fill some space! Very easy to start from seed or transplant.

Milkweeds: finally seeing some monarchs!

08/05/2025

Bring the kids and let's make some tea on Thursday Berea Kids Eat!

Check out our programming this week!

Meal Service Tuesday & Friday with the Berea College Forestry Outreach CenterBerea College Forestry Outreach Center and a Mango Lassi Program on Friday.

Marshall Pediatric Therapy on Wednesday along with a snack!

Back to School Herbal Teas with Resilient Roots on Thursday from 10-11 AM at Glades Garden 530 Glades Road!

07/15/2025

Purple medicine!
1. Blue vervain at perfect stage for harvest. I have a hard time cutting it because it's so pretty, but I'm out of this extremely helpful medicine for calming nervous systems and cooling type A personalities, so into tincture it goes!
2. Aronia berries, the most antioxidants of any berry, as indicated by their deep purple hue
3. Vitex, the star of my July garden. Not a native but the bees love it! We will harvest the berries at my perimenopause workshop in October

06/28/2025

next up in "periods, perimenopause, and plants" aka my hormone and menstrual wellness series - Saturday August 16th - Liver Love! learn how to support our main detoxification organ and how that can improve hormone health.

This workshop will be held at the Home Sweet Home Midwifery office in Berea, so we will be out of the heat!

learn more/buy tickets here: https://www.resilientrootsky.com/p/herbal-wisdom-workshops-hormone-and

06/23/2025

Please mark your calendars (and buy tickets) to join me this Fall at the beautiful Holler Home farm in Irvine, KY for a day of plant magic! We have a wonderful lineup of folks sharing their plant skills and everyone is welcome! I am so thrilled I get to plan and host this event alongside so many of my herbal buddies!

EVENT SCHEDULE
11 AM >> Arrival, market open
11:30 - 1 PM >> Activity 1
1 - 2 PM >> picnic style lunch, market open
2 - 3:30 PM >> Activity 2
3:30 - 5 PM >> market open, demos, refreshments

Activity 1 Options:
- mindful movement tea ceremony with JB Pitts
- freeform kudzu basket making (Part 1) with Tootsie Jablonski
- digestive health and immune function with Andrew Ozinkas
- plant walk with Melissa Calhoun

Activity 2 Options include:
- traditional Thai yoga bodywork and herbal compresses with Leah VanWinkle
- Using herbs to support your hormone cycle with ME!
- plant walk with Isabel Cochran
- bioregional handrolled incense with Lucy Olive
- kudzu basket making (Part 2) with Tootsie Jablonski

Please buy your tickets in advance here: https://amongtheoaksfarmstead.com/pages/events

06/13/2025

Some sweet farm scenes from early June.
1 - clearwing moth
2 - the garden turtle with a bite out of its shell (last year, from Daisy) that continues to find a way into the garden after multiple removals. Loves the berries!
3 - stubborn chicken
4 - lightening bug on anise hyssop
5 - oats almost milky
6 - black cohosh flower buds
7 - coral fungi
7

06/12/2025

What do all of these plants have in common?

Anise hyssop, lemon balm, bee balm - they're all in the mint family, and they all contain the chemical Rosmarinic Acid, which means they're also highly medicinal! Rosmarinic acid has been shown through research to:
benefit the immune system (can even kill cancer cells!)
Improve memory
Protect the mitochondria
and so much more!

While I generally don't get nerdy on specific chemicals, this one has fascinated me for years. Fun fact, our weedy Prunella vulgaris (aka "Heal-all" or "self-heal") is super high in this chemical. It is excellent for sore throats, skin health, killing viruses, and has even been studied in breast cancer treatment!

https://www.resilientrootsky.com/p/have-you-had-your-mint-family-plant