December 13, 2021 | By Pat Kenny
The name comes from the French, pomme d’ambre, pomme for apple, referring to the round shape of the early scent balls. Ambre is derived from …
November 8, 2021 | By Matt Millage
After a brief email exchange with a colleague last fall around this same time, I set off to collect some fallen treasures from the forest floor …
September 27, 2021 | By Amy Forsberg
I had what seemed like a simple question: How and why did cardamom, the spice native to southern India, become such an essential and beloved …
August 9, 2021 | By Keith Howerton
Making baklava, or baklawi/baklawa/ba’lawa, as it’s generally called in Arabic-speaking cultures, is a real pain in the…well, everywhere. Pain …
March 8, 2021 | By Susan Belsinger
(Adapted from her article, “Exploring Rainforest Spices at Villa Vanilla,” featured in the 2019 issue of The Herbarist, the annual journal of …
February 22, 2021 | By Susan Belsinger
(Adapted from her article, “Exploring Rainforest Spices at Villa Vanilla,” featured in the 2019 issue of The Herbarist, the annual journal of …
January 7, 2021 | By Jen Munson
Chocolate: food or medicine? For centuries, chocolate was consumed primarily as medicine. Cacao, from which chocolate is derived, was the basis …
December 14, 2020 | By Amy Forsberg
I was visiting my mother just a few weeks before Christmas in 2017. She had recently moved to a wonderful small family-run assisted living home. …
December 7, 2020 | By Maryann Readal
Cinnamon is the name for several plant species in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is a small tropical evergreen tree with aromatic leaves and …
September 14, 2020 | By Erin Holden
The first time I smelled balsam of Peru essential oil, I was hooked. The word that keeps coming to mind is decadent – deep, rich notes of …
July 24, 2020 | By Kaila Blevins
While on a volunteer trip in Orlando, Florida, I was desperate for bug spray. In the middle of December, the mosquitoes nibbled on any exposed …
June 29, 2020 | By Amanda Dix
(Blogmasters’ note: Experiencing craft beer is a high point for many connoisseurs these days. While beer in its various forms has been around …
February 10, 2020 | By Maryann Readal
In 1753, it was Carl Linnaeus who gave cacao, The Herb Society of America’s Herb of the Month, its botanical name: Theobroma cacao, from theos …
July 23, 2019 | By Jen Munson
Did you know many herb flowers are also edible? Experience for yourself the dimension that flowers can add to your meals. To start with, flowers …
July 15, 2019 | By Kathleen M Hale
Once upon a time, about 1098 to 1179, there was a little girl named Hildegard. She was the tenth of ten children. Her parents were “minor …
March 6, 2019 | By Kathleen M Hale
New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus americanus, is an Herb Society of America Native Plant of 2019. A member of the buckthorn family its common names …
February 6, 2019 | By Beth Schreibman-Gehring
“No wonder that cheek in its beauty transcendent,
Excelleth the beauty of others by far;
No wonder that eye is so richly resplendent.
For your …
October 31, 2018 | By Beth Schreibman-Gehring
Come dance under the moon with me tonight.