Bloom Institute of Holistic Living & Learning

This is going to be a great herbal event for education and community connections! I'll be offering a workshop along with other great local herbalists.

Alcohol Based Preparations - herbal workshop

Thursday, July 23, 6:30 - 8 pm
Blue Forest Shores, Head of Jeddore

Learn how, and which herbs to use, to make tinctures, herb infused wine, fruity herb cordials and liniments for external use on aches and pains.

We'll use herbs fresh from the garden to make a tincture, and we'll sample several preparations - for pleasure and health.

Register via my website. $25

Herbs build traditions and friendships.

Just back from my annual fireweed harvest near Annapolis Royal, NS — a wild magenta patch that grows by the home of my dear friend and fellow herbalist, Maryna Floren. Six years now we've been doing this together.

It was a perfect day for it: warm ocean wind, mosquitoes kept at bay, bees humming.

We compared notes on how we each use it — both drawn to its strong astringency for wet, mucous conditions. My most common use: nocturia and prostate enlargement. It's helped my clients enormously — less wakefulness, better quality of life.

I balance its drying nature with other herbs in formula. But my favourite way to drink it is for pleasure, Ivan Chai style — an old Russian tradition of hand-rolling and fermenting the leaves as they dry for a fuller, malty cup.

My fireweed medicine comes through being immersed in a wind-swept wild place, on a summer day, with a dear herbal friend.

Marshmallow marshmallows!

Thirty years on the plant path, and I only just tasted my first marshmallows made with the herb marshmallow—thanks to one of my students!

In our Holistic Herbal Wellness program, each student spends the full year getting to know a single plant through research, personal experience, and a creative project. During our final classes over the past few weeks, they shared the remarkable relationships they had cultivated with their chosen herbs.

I was deeply touched by the connections they made and inspired by the creativity they brought to their presentations.

Some of the highlights included: homemade marshmallows, a mugwort dream catcher, a handcrafted teapot and cup, a birch moose caller, a catnip bookmark, framed St. John's wort artwork, a dandelion picture book, a painting of evening primrose, a guided rose journey, carved basswood spoon, pineappleweed cookies, wintergreen lipbalm, nettle juice and a nettle doll, a poem praising Japanese knotweed, and a striking hawthorn metal sculpture.

Their projects were a beautiful reminder that the deepest learning about herbs doesn't come only from books—it comes from spending time with the plants themselves.

🌿 Medicinals Disguised as Ornamentals 🌸

What if some of your favourite garden flowers were also powerful herbal medicines?

Join me for an evening herb walk through the spectacular 20-year-old gardens at Harbour Breezes Daylilies, where we'll uncover the medicinal stories hidden among the ornamentals. We'll also meet a few of the "weeds" growing along the paths and discover why they deserve a second look.

💜 The foxgloves are in their full glory—this alone is worth the visit!

Learn how to make herb infused wines, and sample some, along with a tea made from the herbs we meet.

📅 Thursday, July 9
🕡 6:30–8:30 pm
📍 Harbour Breezes Daylilies
10099 Hwy 7, Salmon River Bridge

Register with Allan C. Banks here on Facebook.

Come see your garden with new eyes.