Our Favorite Herbal Blogs, Podcasts & YouTube Channels
Written by Meghan Gemma
Photography by Juliet Blankespoor
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The internet can be a fantastic place to learn about herbs—with a significant caveat: anyone can share any sort of information that they want, free of qualifications or checks and balances. That’s why we’ve coralled our most-trusted online herbal resources for you to peruse. Materia medica, plant identification, recipes, research articles—it’s all here.
Granted, we had to draw the line somewhere, and plenty of high-quality sites probably didn’t make it onto our list. If you have a favorite that we neglected to mention, feel free to leave a link in the comments at the end of this article! You can also check out the original herbal roll call compiled by Rosalee de la Forêt—it’s the most comprehensive directory of herbal blogs that I know of.
By the way, if you feel equally compelled by wild foods and foraging, we’ve got another bumping list ready to go: take a peek at our Top Herbal and Foraging Blogs, Podcasts, and YouTube Channels.
(Note: some of these sites are the work of our friends, but we’re not being paid to promote a single one—we simply think they’re stellar.)
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Herbal Medicine Blogs
A Modern Herbal Online
The online, searchable text of Maude Grieve’s classic book: A Modern Herbal. I love this resource, which features loads of European physiomedical and folk wisdom, and herbal history.
Avena Botanicals Blog
The personal blog of Deb Soule—the founder of Avena Botanicals, a handcrafted herbal remedies company that grows nearly all of their own herbs on a certified biodynamic farm in Midcoast Maine. Deb is also the author of How to Move Like a Gardener: Planting and Preparing Medicines from Plants.
Aviva Romm, MD
Dr. Aviva Romm—an MD, herbalist, and midwife—writes specifically about women’s and children’s health. Topics include hormonal health, vaccines, stress, supplements, and sexuality. If you’re looking for a blog that straddles western medicine and holistic health, this is highly recommended.
Battle Ground Healing Arts Blog
The smart and well-researched blog of Dr. Jillian Stansbury, an MD who specializes in natural medicine. If you like academic discussions that still retain the folksy roots of herbalism, you’ll like Dr. Stansbury’s writings. She discusses herbs for common ailments, cancer, and heart health—plus she takes on the more esoteric topic of plant intelligence.
Bevin Clare’s Blog
Bevin Clare is an herbalist, nutritionist, and professor at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. She’s an herbal traveler whose writing blends her knowledge of traditional uses of plants with modern science and contemporary healthcare strategies.
Blog Castanea
Our own personal blog! Come join Chestnut School queen bee, Juliet Blankespoor and friends, for a hearty dose of botanical beauty and wisdom. Our blog is brimming with herbal anecdotes, plant monographs, gorgeous photography, and wild food recipes—all written with cheeky humor and true plant passion. Juliet is a writer, teacher, forager, photographer, and plant-human matchmaker who lives in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. You can also connect with her on Instagram for daily doses of herbal wit and cheer.
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Foraging & Feasting
One of my favorite herbal and wild food blogs, impeccably written by Dina Falconi and illustrated by Wendy Hollender. Dina shares seasonal recipes for herbal beverages, greens, savory dishes, and desserts, along with engaging writing on gathering and preparing wild foods. She frequently includes excerpts and master recipes from her book, Foraging & Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook (which is highly recommended and can be purchased directly from the author here). I use recipes from Dina’s blog and cookbook more than any other! Dina is also a recipe contributor in our Online Foraging Course.
Gather
An absolutely fabulous blog on herbal food, magical cookery, and seasonal celebration. You’ll be treated to recipes for wild foods and drinks that range from simple to decadent, and there’s always an accompanying story. This is home-style, creative wild foods cooking with a mythic twist. The blog is written by Danielle Prohom Olson and Jennifer Aikman, who live and gather in British Columbia, Canada. Their recipes and writings are applicable to the temperate world and will soon have you taking part in wild, nourishing, and enchanting food traditions.
Ginger Tonic Botanicals
Penned by clinical herbalist and licensed nutritionist, Lindsay Kluge, this blog is a sweet steep in legit herbal miscellany: medicine making, plant profiles, holistic nutrition, wildcrafting, organic gardening, and botanical beauty. Her Botanical-Infused Hair Oil for Long Strong Locks is a personal favorite.
Gingertooth & Twine
You’ll want to feast your eyes on this herbal recipe blog written by Spencer L.R. McGowan, featuring fantastic seasonal treats—ghee and nettle crackers, anyone? Or how about adaptogenic banana pancakes, backyard herbal shakshuka, or coconut rose petal ice cream? If you’re on the fence about culinary herbalism, this blog will convert you faster than you can say “floral spring rolls”.
Gold Roots and Threads
Writings on the triangulation of herbal medicine, theory, art, and praxis in the wildlands of Cascadia by Renee Adele Davis—a clinical herbalist, educator, and board member of the American Herbalists Guild.
Green Path Herb School Blog
Elaine Sheff’s blog—the clinical herbalist and co-director at Green Path Herb School—featuring lots of herbal articles and herbal and body care recipes.
Henriette’s Herbal
Henriette Kress is an herbalist and writer who grew up in Germany and Swedish-speaking Finland and who now practices herbal medicine in Helsinki. Her blog is a wealth of brief but useful herbal monographs that include information on plant identification and medicinal use, plus occasional recipes. Because her blog features a mix of English, Swedish, and Finnish entries, use the search engine in the upper right corner of her page to find information on specific plants.
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Herb Geek
An educational resource for natural healing featuring articles on wellness and alternative medicine with a strong focus on herbal medicine.
Herb Society of America Blog
A blog written by members and staff of the Herb Society of America—an organization dedicated to “promoting the knowledge, use, and delight of herbs”. How lovely! You’ll find plant profiles, recipes, cultivation tips, and research on all things herbal.
Herbal Academy Blog
This is a diverse and easy-to-read blog written by a number of contributors via the Herbal Academy, an online school of herbal medicine. Excited about DIY herbal projects? Wanting to expand your herbal recipe index? Ready to learn a bit about dozens of medicinal plants? This is for you.
Herbal Roots Zine
A delightful herbal e-magazine for children, whose charm won’t be lost on adults. Each issue focuses on a single herb and includes medicinal info, plant characteristics, recipes, and activities. Plant a seed of knowledge for a lifetime of herbal wisdom!
Herbaria: A Plant Healer Newsletter
A free monthly newsletter published by Kiva Rose and Jesse Wolf Hardin, who live in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. Every issue varies, but frequent features include herbalist interviews, plant profiles, recipes, and herbal editorials. Kiva and Jesse are the same incredible folks who publish the quarterly Plant Healer Magazine and host the annual Good Medicine Confluence—one of the most enchanting herbal gatherings in North America.
Herbcraft
The online home base for jim mcdonald, a self-taught Michigan herbalist who has an utterly charming and humorous approach to writing and teaching about herbs. jim shares some excellent herbal monographs on his website (occasionally accompanied by videos) that frequently include material you just won’t find anywhere else. He’s also compiled a fantastic Master Herbal Article Index, which features a gold mine of selected writings from herbalists on all kinds of topics. Highly recommended.
Herbs with Rosalee
One of my favorite blogs to share with herbal newcomers. Rosalee de la Forêt is a heartwarming online presence, and she writes extensively about herbs for health and food-as-medicine. Her articles are conveniently arranged in alphabetical order, and she has an index featuring her recipes—which are typically easy to prepare and ultra nourishing. Rosalee also shares a list of Sustainable Herb Farms and Ethical Wildcrafters in the United States and Canada, if you’re looking to purchase high-quality herbs. Rosalee is the author of Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies that Heal and a recipe contributor in our Online Foraging Course.
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The Enchanter's Green
The wild and weedy blog of Kiva Rose, a splendid writer and folk herbalist who has published a phenomenal number of articles on traditional herbalism, wild foods, foraging, and weedivory. You’ll find fantastic herbal monographs, personal stories, clinical wisdom, wild musings, and wonderfully creative recipes on her site. Kiva lives in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico and is a recipe contributor in our Online Foraging Course—sharing her rambunctious take on wild, herbal soul food.
Mountain Rose Herbs Blog
One of our favorite herbal suppliers also has a wonderful blog—featuring medicine making and natural body care recipes, herb harvesting tips, plant profiles, DIY herbal projects, and so much more.
Of Sedge + Salt
This blog is a treasure! Herbal writer, artist, and photographer Kelly Moody offers unusually in-depth profiles on a number of precious medicinal plants. This is a great place to nerd out on ecology, ethnobotany, wild edibles, herbs, and botanical musings. Kelly is a former student of the Chestnut School and we continue to be deeply impressed by her knowledge of and passion for plants!
Plants For A Future
An extensive online database featuring more than 7,000 edible and medicinal plants, many of which can be found growing wild throughout the temperate world. To make the most of this site, you really need to use the Search tool to find specific plants. Profiles include identification, medicinal use, edibility, cultivation, and information on related species. A charitable organization, Plants For A Future was originally founded by Ken and Addy Fern in Cornwall, UK.
Michael Moore’s Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
Michael Moore was one of the herbal greats of our time (and one of Juliet’s primary herbal teachers), and he’s left behind a wonderful online legacy, where many of his tongue-in-cheek teachings are now available for free. If you’re a serious student and can handle the screen time, his Materia Medica (available through this link) is highly recommended. He’s also the author of a number of books that are invaluable for herbalists and foragers in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States.
Northeast School of Botanical Medicine
The blog of dear friend, teacher, botanist, herbalist, and comedian 7Song. This generous guy shares his teaching handouts online, which include spring and fall wildcrafting lists for the northeastern United States, plus a review of botanical field guides for much of the country by region. His blog features detailed plant monographs (with identification tips), tales of his travels, and lots of writings on first-aid herbalism. 7Song is the director of the Northeast School for Botanical Medicine and the Ithaca Free Clinic in Ithaca, New York. He hosts an apprenticeship program through his school and takes students on service-based trips throughout the country and abroad.
Old Ways Herbal
This home-style blog features “farmcraft” wisdom from Juliette Abigail Carr, a clinical herbalist and gardener in Newfane, Vermont. Juliette’s writing zeroes in on herbal gardening tips and medicine making tutorials.
Queering Herbalism
An essential resource for links to queer, trans, and POC healers compiled by herbalist Toi Scott. This is also a great place to find resources on race, gender, and sexuality—including books, articles, and blogs.
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Seed & Thistle
A series of monographs, recipes, and interviews by Lara Pecheco, a Taíno Boricua Latinx herbalist and mamita who dials in on ancestral medicine, BIPOC herbalism, and traditional cultures.
Sistah of the Yam
The blog of Taylor Johnson-Gordon, a plant food educator, vegan mama, herbalist, and home cook whose mission is to help Black mothers nourish themselves and their families through real plant-based foods and herbal remedies. You’ll find loads of recipes, plus a 28-part feature on traditional Pan-African foods.
Sustainable Herbs Program
Created by writer, plant-lover, and anthropologist Ann Armbrecht, the Sustainable Herbs Program shares the stories of the people and plants behind herbal products. Their goal is to create a movement supporting high quality herbal remedies, sustainable and ethical sourcing, and greater transparency in the herbal supply chain. You can read more about their work here.
Take Care Herbals
Herbalist Rae Swersey’s blog, whose focus is radical health care and community clinical herbalism that supports LGBTQQIA and underserved populations. You can expect to find lots of goodness along these lines on their blog.
The Plant Path
A blog/podcast from the School of Evolutionary Herbalism that touches on the fascinating topics of traditional alchemy, medical astrology, clinical herbalism, and Ayurveda. The founders of the school, Sajah and Whitney Popham, describe their niche as “ancient teachings for the new paradigm of plant medicine”. I find their work to be captivating!
Tieraona Low Dog's Blog
Dr. Tieraona Low Dog is an award-winning author, herbalist, and integrative medicine practitioner who writes an accessible blog that highlights herbs and supplements for natural health.
Todd Caldecott's Blog
Todd’s writings blend herbalism, Ayurveda, and nutrition for a big-picture look at how we can address health concerns. Todd is a medical herbalist, practitioner of Ayurveda, and Executive Director of the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine.
Way of the Wild Heart
The beautifully written blog of Gail Faith Edwards, an elder community herbalist and founder of the Blessed Maine Herb Farm. Gail’s writings weave together myth, history, and plant-based wisdom—they seem to come from a dreamier era. She is the author of Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs.
United Plant Savers
The mission of United Plant Savers is to protect the native medicinal plants of the United States and Canada (and their native habitat) while ensuring an abundant renewable supply of medicinal plants for generations to come. They contribute an incredible body of research and education and tend a botanical sanctuary that is open to the public in Rutland, Ohio. Check out their Species At-Risk List before wildcrafting any native plants!
WiseWoman Healing Ways
The blog of Robin Rose Bennett, an elder herbalist and writer whose teachings are infused with earth-based spirituality and intuitive wisdom. She writes about many temperate-climate wild herbs, but you won’t find a great deal on identification, so be sure to reference a reliable field guide when foraging. You’ll also want to check out her Plant Medicine Series on video. Robin lives in New Jersey, is the author of The Gift of Healing Herbs: Plant Medicines and Home Remedies for a Vibrantly Healthy Life (one of my favorite herbals), and is a recipe contributor to our Online Foraging Course.
Woolgathering & Wildcrafting
Get ready to be charmed by this herbal blogger—Asia Suler is simply one of the most enchanting, tuned-in medicine women I know. Her blog is a treasury of herbal musings, recipes, earth magic, beautiful writing, and photography. I promise you will find a rare depth in her teachings. You can also connect with Asia on YouTube and by subscribing to her newsletter, which delivers heart medicine and herbal offerings to your inbox every month. Asia is the herbal concoctress at One Willow Apothecaries and is one of the primary instructors in our Online Herbal Immersion.
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Herbal Podcasts & YouTube Channels
Deb Soule of Avena Botanicals on YouTube
The videos on Deb Soule’s YouTube channel are a joy to behold, as she truly loves and connects with plants. She shares real wisdom on both garden-grown and wild herbs, including medicinal uses, harvesting, and preparation suggestions. Deb is the founder of Avena Botanicals, a handcrafted herbal remedies company that grows nearly all of their own herbs on a certified biodynamic farm in Midcoast Maine. She also writes a fantastic blog and is the author of How to Move Like a Gardener.
Herbal Radio
A series of intelligent and interesting herbal podcasts hosted by Mountain Rose Herbs that features some of today’s most iconic herbalists. The episodes are all free and can be streamed through iTunes.
HerbMentor Radio and HerbMentor on YouTube
A wonderful radio podcast (the real gem here) featuring interviews with a fantastic collection of herbalists, naturalists, and foragers including Doug Elliott, Rosemary Gladstar, Jon Young, Thomas Elpel, Dina Falconi, James Duke, Emily Ruff, and Wildman Steve Brill. The YouTube channel is also worth checking out and includes a modest selection of videos on identifying, gathering, and preparing wild plants. HerbMentor is part of an online herbal learning community cofounded by John and Kimberly Gallagher, who also facilitate LearningHerbs.
Medicine Stories Podcast
An intriguing herbal podcast hosted by Amber Magnolia Hill that can quickly plumb some significant depths. Each episode features an interview with a compelling herbal voice and addresses hearty topics like motherhood, birth, ancestral healing, plant magic, and psychedelics.
Mountain Gardens
Joe Hollis’s YouTube channel shares an incredible collection of videos on wild woodland and meadow medicinals alongside other Western and Chinese herbs that can be cultivated in the garden. Mountain Gardens is Joe’s home and a botanical paradise featuring the largest collection of native Appalachian and Chinese medicinal herbs in the eastern United States. Joe sells plants and seeds, shares a self-serve library and herbal apothecary, and offers plenty of incredible classes, which you can check out here.
Mountain Rose Herbs on YouTube
An excellent collection of videos on medicine making, herbal materia medica, aromatherapy, plant walks, herbal folklore, and recipes. Features some noteworthy guest speakers.
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Natural MD Radio
A weekly women’s health podcast hosted by Dr. Aviva Romm—an MD, herbalist, and midwife. Topics include children’s health, vaccines, stress, supplements, and sexuality—but the focus is on a wide range of women’s health issues and how to address them with natural therapies. Highly recommended.
Real Herbalism Radio
A weekly herbal radio show hostessed by Candace Hunter and Sue Sierralupé. Topics range from current herbal news to herbal first aid to medicinal mushrooms—it’s easy to find something you’ll enjoy with this one! You can also check out their blog.
The Herbal Highway Podcast
A compelling herbal podcast to keep you company in the car. Hosted by Karyn Sanders, who discusses important topics like grief, Indigenous land rights, and Native American traditions alongside contemporary herbal medicine.
The Plant Path
A blog/podcast from the School of Evolutionary Herbalism that touches on the fascinating topics of traditional alchemy, medical astrology, clinical herbalism, and Ayurveda. The founders of the school, Sajah and Whitney Popham, describe their niche as “ancient teachings for the new paradigm of plant medicine”.
We know there are plenty more fantastic herbal resources on the web.
If you have a personal favorite, we’d love to hear about it (especially from our friends in Australia and New Zealand)! And if you enjoy following herbal writers online, check out the blog roll of Rosalee de la Forêt: A Complete List of Herbal Blogs.
Meet Our Contributors
MEGHAN GEMMA is one of the Chestnut School’s primary instructors through her written lessons, and is the principal pollinator of the school’s social media community—sharing herbal and wild foods wisdom from the flowery heart of the school to an ever-wider field of herbalists, gardeners, healers, and plant lovers.
She has been in a steady relationship with the Chestnut School since 2010—as an intern and manager at the Chestnut Herb Nursery; as a plant-smitten student “back in the day” when the school’s programs were taught in the field; and later as a part the school’s woman-powered professional team. Meghan lives in the Ivy Creek watershed, just north of Asheville, North Carolina.
JULIET BLANKESPOOR founded the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in 2007 and serves as the school’s primary instructor and Creative Director. She's been a professional plant-human matchmaker for close to three decades. Juliet caught the plant bug when she was nineteen and went on to earn a degree in Botany. She's owned just about every type of herbal business you can imagine: an herbal nursery, a medicinal products business, a clinical practice, and now, an herbal school.
These days, she channels her botanical obsession with her writing and photography in her online programs and here on her personal blog, Castanea. She's writing her first book: Cultivating Medicinal Herbs: Grow, Harvest, and Prepare Handcrafted Remedies from Your Home Garden. Juliet and her houseplants share a home with her family and herb books in Asheville, North Carolina.
Want to take a deeper dive into medicinal herbs and their uses?
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