Spring ahead.

​I have been quiet this winter. The winter that didn't feel like a winter. Winter is for home, tucking in, re-grouping and rest. While I have done a lot of home and tucking in, there has not been so much rest. Last fall I completed my master herbalist and then after that I completed my Aromatherapy Certification. I spent most of the fall and early winter working on case studies and writing research papers. Meeting with people and making products. I was lucky to have the best case study mentor - she is an author and scientist I really respect and I felt it really allowed me to take off in my interest which is the in-depth organic chemistry and chemical profiles of essential oils. I love plants and botany and soil and growing things. But I also love facts and data and science. I love looking at a problem and scanning my brain for all matching components and the chemicals present in plants that make them work so well with our bodies. They are quite amazing, actually. So I went down the rabbit hole of organic chemistry, physiology and GC-MS reports and I am now out the other side.

Which brings me to the non-rest portion of the winter. I really love making custom products for people and working directly one-on-one to create unique products for specific issues. And I love creating and making. I am lucky to have a wonderful space to have my own herbal studio and I've been planning planning planning. I am launching my aromatherapy and herbal health consultations practice with custom blending for each individual, as well as launching a general aromatherapy product line this spring. I've been designing, planning, calculating, testing testing testing, working. And it is getting close. So close! When I combine that prep work, garden seed starting, and some design projects I have taken on, there has been no time for the winter blues. Which is exactly what I had planned. 

And speaking of garden planning!!!! I am very interested in hydrosols and I am hoping to distill my own hydrosols this summer. Small-scale, of course, but still! A still! Something small and portable and that is in my backyard percolating away. I can't wait. I have so many plantings planned for this summer (both for my own herbal cabinet as well as food plants for the food pantry) that I know I will have enough to experiment and learn about the process of distillation of hydrosols. One thing I love is learning new things.

And design! I volunteered with Herbalists Without Borders International and I just finished re-designing the website and will continue to do website and print work for them as we go along. HWB is a great group of people and I have really enjoyed working with them - it inspires me to do more with my own knowledge to commit to find more ways to support my own community. I have been a designer for so long and I have always continued volunteering with my skills and have enjoyed working with small businesses who are environmentally conscious, community focused, and justice oriented - it is a good fit for me and works well with our life and family vision. 

I cannot believe it is almost spring. Spring is the time for new beginnings, coming out after a long winter and new life. It is the perfect time to launch Wholly Rooted handcrafted botanicals. So keep an ear and an eye out. I have a lot of good stuff coming soon and I am excited to share! ​
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