River Kennedy is a Eugene-based herbalist specializing in the intuitive art of formulations. When we decided to make our own line of handcrafted combination tinctures here at Mountain Rose, we were honored to have River come on as our extract formulator. She is the owner of Terra Firma Botanicals, as well as a certified mediator, a certified practitioner of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), a health & wellness counselor, and the mother of two. She has been a practicing herbalist and medicine maker since 1982.
We hope you enjoy this interview with River!
I was 16 and living in New York back in the 1970’s when herbalism and healthy eating were almost an unknown. I was passionate about organic foods, living and health, so when our local college offered an herbal beauty class by the author Dian Dincin Buchman, I jumped at the chance to learn anything that I could about herbs. I was hooked!
I mentioned Dian already and she was my propulsion into the wonders of herbs. I am for the most part self-taught. I read Back to Eden, Hygieia and Culpepper’s books and practiced on myself, friends, and family for many years.
I found this book, Hearts-Ease by Mrs. C.F. Leyel in a used book store and was intrigued and completely absorbed by the knowledge and descriptions from this book from the 40’s. She deeply delves into herbs for the heart, glands, viscera, nerves, brain and alterative herbs.
I use Turmeric and Milk Thistle for liver health. I mostly use my formulated combination tinctures for bladder health, circulation, adrenals. The list is endless!
I believe that plant medicine should be made only when one is in a loving and healing place. These gifts from our Earth should always be made with reverence and with good intentions of healing. Of course, using high quality herbs and making tinctures (extracts) as potent as possible is also very important. These ideals, to me, are by far the most important aspect of making plant medicine.
I would love for herbalism to go back to its roots, but in lieu of that, I would hope that integrity and human compassion remain more important than the massive streams of paperwork that we are now required to fill out.
Nicholas Culpepper, Mrs. C.F. Leyel, Jethro Kloss, David Hoffman, Michael Moore, Colette Gardiner.
Make sure you that you have properly identified the plant and its uses before dispensing to friends, family and the public.
This sounds cliché but really … Do it for the love and not for the money!
We are expanding our syrup and elixir line to include some fair trade dark chocolate herbal elixirs. First one out is called River’s Rhapsody and is a blend of Orange-infused honey, fresh Hawaiian Kava, Maqui Berry and Chocolate.
Borage is my absolute favorite herb as it brings courage to me and others in these tumultuous times. It helps dispel sorrow and grief and is amazing at strengthening the adrenals. You really can’t ask for more!
Topics: Herbalism
Over the last three decades, the Mountain Rose Herbs Team has created and recreated thousands of recipes. This article is the result of many of our staff's combined herbal expertise and passion for herbalism. We hope you enjoy these time-tested recipes.
River Kennedy is a Eugene-based herbalist specializing in the intuitive art of formulations. When we decided to make our own line of handcrafted combination tinctures here at Mountain Rose, we were honored to have River come on as our extract formulator. She is the owner of Terra Firma Botanicals, as well as a certified mediator, a certified practitioner of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), a health & wellness counselor, and the mother of two. She has been a practicing herbalist and medicine maker since 1982.
We hope you enjoy this interview with River!
I was 16 and living in New York back in the 1970’s when herbalism and healthy eating were almost an unknown. I was passionate about organic foods, living and health, so when our local college offered an herbal beauty class by the author Dian Dincin Buchman, I jumped at the chance to learn anything that I could about herbs. I was hooked!
I mentioned Dian already and she was my propulsion into the wonders of herbs. I am for the most part self-taught. I read Back to Eden, Hygieia and Culpepper’s books and practiced on myself, friends, and family for many years.
I found this book, Hearts-Ease by Mrs. C.F. Leyel in a used book store and was intrigued and completely absorbed by the knowledge and descriptions from this book from the 40’s. She deeply delves into herbs for the heart, glands, viscera, nerves, brain and alterative herbs.
I use Turmeric and Milk Thistle for liver health. I mostly use my formulated combination tinctures for bladder health, circulation, adrenals. The list is endless!
I believe that plant medicine should be made only when one is in a loving and healing place. These gifts from our Earth should always be made with reverence and with good intentions of healing. Of course, using high quality herbs and making tinctures (extracts) as potent as possible is also very important. These ideals, to me, are by far the most important aspect of making plant medicine.
I would love for herbalism to go back to its roots, but in lieu of that, I would hope that integrity and human compassion remain more important than the massive streams of paperwork that we are now required to fill out.
Nicholas Culpepper, Mrs. C.F. Leyel, Jethro Kloss, David Hoffman, Michael Moore, Colette Gardiner.
Make sure you that you have properly identified the plant and its uses before dispensing to friends, family and the public.
This sounds cliché but really … Do it for the love and not for the money!
We are expanding our syrup and elixir line to include some fair trade dark chocolate herbal elixirs. First one out is called River’s Rhapsody and is a blend of Orange-infused honey, fresh Hawaiian Kava, Maqui Berry and Chocolate.
Borage is my absolute favorite herb as it brings courage to me and others in these tumultuous times. It helps dispel sorrow and grief and is amazing at strengthening the adrenals. You really can’t ask for more!
Topics: Herbalism
Over the last three decades, the Mountain Rose Herbs Team has created and recreated thousands of recipes. This article is the result of many of our staff's combined herbal expertise and passion for herbalism. We hope you enjoy these time-tested recipes.
