Welcome to the first edition of this virtual marketplace for Australian and New Zealand herbalists and herb growers to share their wares in a space liberated from the limitations created by algorithms, capacity or desire for social media platforming, industry hierarchy, stage of business or scale of offerings. No offering is too big or small for this cosy, welcoming virtual village square.
This marketplace is focused on whole-plant remedies (i.e. essential oil-free) made by small to medium-scale community and folk herbalists as well as growers of organic and spray-free plant material.
The content here is provided by the herbalists and growers themselves and is lightly editorialised to highlight offerings that are especially unique in the context of this marketplace. In many cases sellers have a broader range than what is included below which can be explored through connecting with the seller and through future editions of this almanac. Items listed below are available in the month of March.
Method and terms of contact, payment and trade are entirely in the hands of the two transacting parties. The seller has provided how they can best be contacted for purchase, whether it be via email, website, social media direct message, text or phone (Gasp! Some of us could actually talk on the phone! How radical…)
This almanac will always be free to the public, however I invite you to consider becoming a paid subscriber to support my work in putting this resource together. In the future, paid subscribers will have additional access to discounts, giveaways and other perks. A downloadable pdf of each edition will also be available to paid subscribers at the end of the listings.
Disclaimer: this almanac acts as a bridge for herbaceous folk to meet and share resources. My role is not to mediate relationships or transactions, and I do not assume responsibility for the actions of any party. None of the information below is intended to act as or replace medical advice nor seeks to diagnose, or make claims in relation to the treatment of any medical condition.
MARCH SPOTLIGHT:
Kathy and Martin of Leuca Creek Waterlilies (Margaret River, WA)
Did you know that nearly all Waterlily tea and tinctures are imported from overseas? Leuca Creek are the only Waterlily flower farmers in Australia and the Herbaceous Almanac is delighted to highlight their story in our first edition’s spotlight segment.
Kathy and Martin of Leuca Creek Waterlilies have been growing Waterlily and Lotus flowers for the Australian cut flower market for twenty years. Their farm is tucked away in the rolling landscape of the Margaret River region amongst the beautiful coastal bush of the southwest of Western Australia.
In 2014 they started a sister farm in Bali and as soon as flowers started opening the local farm manager started drying them for tea. Unfortunately this venture wasn’t a financial success, but learning about the tea prompted Kathy to dry her flowers that opened prior to picking back in Margaret River. Kathy and Martin tried the tea themselves and were so impressed from their experience that they started to sell it at their well-known stall at the Margaret River Farmers Market. Now Kathy’s Waterlily “Blue Lotus” tea is becoming more than just a side hustle for the business.
The Blue Lotus was misnamed by early colonial explorers. The botanical name for Blue Lotus - which is actually a waterlily- is Nymphaea caerulea, and the Lotus is genus Nelumbo, which are never blue!
To clarify, the beautiful and mythical “Blue Lotus” flower that grows on the banks of the River Nile and was used by ancient Egyptians to focus their minds for ceremony is Nymphaea caerulea - the Blue Waterlily. Both aquatic plants contain the alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine. All nymphaea species and colours are known to contain these compounds so your Waterlily does not have to be blue!
These two compounds calm and focus the mind to encourage a more restful nights sleep (without making you drowsy), help reduce intrusive thoughts, and have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects which can assist with ailments such as painful joints. It’s like mindfulness in a cup! It is also famous for lucid dreams that you can remember the details of the next day.
The Waterlily “Blue Lotus” tea that is grown at Leuca Creek is farmed to produce a consistent and clean product with no use of biocides. The whole process from preparing the ponds in early spring and after the winter rains, planting and growing the flowers as the weather warms up into summer, then picking, dehydrating and packing the tea all takes place on their family farm in Margaret River.
Kath and Martin recommend that care is taken when preparing the tea to achieve the best results and suggest that you steep the flower for ten minutes at first. If this isn’t strong enough to get results you desire, then increase the steeping time by two minutes. Consume two hours before bed to aid sleep, or in the morning for a calm approach to the day.
For lucid dreaming, allow the flower to steep for twenty minutes, again increasing the steep time if you don’t achieve the desired effect - everyone’s constitution is different.
Excitingly their first batch of Waterlily “Blue Lotus” tincture is macerating as this article is being published. After testing it will be available for sale on their website along with their tea.
Contact
To buy Leuca Creek Waterlily tea and tincture (coming soon) visit their website www.leucacreek.com.au. You can also find Leuca Creek Waterlilies selling flesh cut flowers at markets listed here.
Learn more about the story of Leuca Creek Waterlilies via their instagram @leucacreekwaterlilies, on episode 8 of the Visible Farmer and ABC’s Landline.
HERBAL REMEDIES
Handmade, whole-plant preparations
ACT
Samantha Haylock - Centre Strength Hypnobirthing (Canberra)
I’m a mum of one and passionate about all things pregnancy, birth and natural living. I offer support as a freebirth doula and 1:1/group childbirth educator.
Love Tallow - Whipped tallow cream. Organic and pastured beef tallow is rendered, purified 3 times and infused with rose petals and vanilla beans before being whipped to create the most divine multipurpose cream. Perfect for pregnant and postpartum bellies, nappy cream, eczema relief and my personal favourite, a hydrating facial night cream.
Contact: www.centrestrengthhypnobirthing.com / @centrestrength
NSW
Bec McGuire- Wild Earth Herbs (Southern NSW)
I’m a radical herbalist, with a science background who learnt about herbs from schools and teachers in North America over the course of 12 years. I live on an off-grid permaculture farm and work out of my hand-built apothecary on Thaua country in the Yuin Nation. I run CSH (Community Supported Herbalism) now in its 6th year. Growing and making high-quality plant medicine has been my passion and focus for almost 2 decades. Questions about my broader range welcome.
Milky Oats Tincture
Hawthorn Berry Tincture
Contact: www.wildearthherbs.com / @wildwoodslane_apothecary
Elila-Rose Mkakanzi - HAVAHMotherOfLife (Mullumbimby)
Created by a mama for the mamas in the rolling hills of Northern NSW, I create nourishing, hand crafted, herbal balms and oils for the mama-baby duo using organic herbs and olive oil, locally sourced beeswax and Byron Bay Manuka honey.
Baby Bottom Balm - calendula, chamomile, plantain, tulsi and yarrow infused olive oil with locally sourced beeswax and Manuka honey
Perineal Massage Oil - calendula, plantain, red clover, yarrow, comfrey, rose, mullein and tulsi infused olive oil
Baby Body Balm - calendula, rose, lavender, chamomile, tulsi and yarrow infused olive oil with locally sourced beeswax
Contact: Etsy shop / @HavahMotherOfLife / havahmotheroflife@gmail.com
Isabella Reilly - Calyx Ma (Awabakal land, Lake Macquarie)
Learning and working with plant alchemy has been a reflection of inner journeys for me. Calyx Ma is the slowly germinating portal through which I hope to offer creations dedicated to the remembrance that connection with self and with the earth are one and the same. I offer small batch, seasonal tinctures, teas, herbal oils & salves with a focus on supporting motherhood & connection with self.
Apple blossom flower essence - Vibrational extract of apple blossom flower into rainwater, spring water and whiskey for preservative. Apple blossoms have a special affinity for the fertility of new beginnings - they are the first tree to blossom after winter, stimulating the pollination cycle. Key words for Apple blossom: patience, tenderness, clarity, wisdom of cycles, fertility, growth, grace amongst change & transition. Apple Blossom essence is a great energetic ally for pre-conception, pregnancy and early motherhood. A useful accompaniment for anyone experiencing grief from change, or feeling a deep stuckness or uncertainty about the future. Apple Blossom imparts a graceful and gentle tint on one's circumstances and nudges one towards seeing the promise of new light. A beautiful reminder of our own internal innocence, purity and the transformational cycles essential to new growth.
Post-Partum elixir - Goji berry, Cinnamon bark, Ginger, Red date, Mugwort in vodka with local honey
Bluegum clearing salve - Eucalyptus Pulvurulenta in organic olive oil trace amounts alcohol, local + Bolivian beeswax
Natural deodorant - organic coconut oil, organic shea butter, organic Arrowroot powder, organic bi-carb soda
Contact: @calyx.ma / isabella.reilly9@gmail.com / www.calyxma.com.au (website coming soon ).
(*ME*) Lou Hardwick - Gumbaynggirr country, Nambucca Valley.
Due to recent illness, all my schedules and deadlines got pushed out by a week or so. So while I had planned to have a listing here for my March shop update, it’s actually ending the same day as this edition hits subscriber inboxes. Such is life! But I still wanted to put up my hand and say hello for anyone here who I’m not already connected with.
I’m a folk-herbalists remembering and reclaiming the collaborative relationship between plants and people. I grow and craft my herbal remedies from my home while performing my primary role as single mother to my soon-to-be six-year-old daughter. My online apothecary opens every 4-8 weeks (life and season dependent) and features fresh plant tinctures and elixirs, vitamin and mineral oxymel, herbal honey, body oils and salves and broad-spectrum medicinal mushroom extracts. I’ll include a few product listings in the next edition of the almanac. In the meantime feel free to connect and peruse my work via the channels below.
Contact: www.louhardwick.com / @lou_hardwick_
QLD
Bryony Rundle - Lala Luna Herbals (Goring Gooreng country)
Mothering and herbalism go hand in hand. My mothering helped me remember the herb lore that had been asleep in my bones for decades. Now as a mother and herbal crafter I've never felt quite so much like myself.
Parasite Cleanse Tincture (wormwood, black walnut husk, cloves and paw paw seeds)
Herbal Smoke - The Dreamer (mullein, marshmallow, mugwort, damiana, passionflower and lavender).
Fire Cider (apple cider vinegar, raw local manuka honey and seasonal produce)
Contact: bryony.rundle@gmail.com / @lala_luna_herbals
Emma Entwistle - Emma Rose Herbs (Toowoomba)
Since I can remember I have had a deep love and curiosity for plants. After studying visual art, becoming an artist and having children I dived deeper into the world of how to heal my family through plant medicine. Herbalism is like my passion for art and plants meeting together. It is such a beautiful, creative, and loving process which I have seen benefit my family hugely. My dream is to see whole plant medicine made more accessible to everyone. I offer fresh plant, wildcrafted and self-grown folk medicine.
Herbal ghee (Ayurveda method)
Baby Teething and Tummy Pain Tincture (no alcohol)
Tropical Thirst Quencher Oxymel
Contact: emmaroseherbs.etsy.com / @emmaroseentwistle
Holly Grace - The Wild and Her (Gooreng Gooreng country/Agnes Water)
I’m a freelance writer, herbalist and mother of three. I specialise in crafting words and herbs that are predominately for mothers and their children. My focus is on herbs that strengthen emotional and mental health. I weave ceremony and ritual into each of my blends and teach the art of doing the same. The herbs I blend do not fix or cure, for you do not need fixing or curing. Sometimes you just need a herb to hold your hand and walk you back to yourself. This is what I offer you.
Bush flower essences
Whole-plant body oils for emotional regulation and strengthening connection between parent and child
Herbal bath blends for postpartum and heart health
Contact: www.thewildandher.com / holly@thewildandher.com
Kaja Skraskova - Herbae Thylacini (Brisbane)
I’m passionate about finding local and native alternatives to imported exotic herbs and ingredients. I specialise in crafting topical herbal remedies for sensitive skin, eczema, wound healing support and allergic reactions. I work in collaboration with Australian farmers, growers and fellow herbalists to source locally grown organic herbs.
Gotu kola & St John's Wort ointment (small wounds recovery, scars)
Calendula & Gotu kola cream (eczema)
Mandarin & Tea Tree Daily Moisturising Cream made from seasonal locally distilled hydrosols
Contact: herbaethylacini.com.au / @herbae_thylacini
Tiffney French - New Mother Offerings (Mackay)
I'm a Mum of 4, birth and postpartum doula, birth keeper and placenta encapsulator with a love for herbs, plants, homesteading and everything homemade. I focus on small batch offerings for the healing for women and babies postpartum.
Calendula, yarrow, lavender infused organic jojoba oil with tallow. Tallow sourced from a local farmer where cows graze in lush pastures with a peaceful end of life. Tallow is wet rendered and purified 5 times.
Calendula and chamomile salves - whole plant infused organic jojoba oil with locally sourced beeswax from our regions farmers. Good for cuts, stings, babies skin/nappy rash and mothers nipples for breastfeeding.
Contact: @newmotherofferings / newmotherofferings@hotmail.com
VIC
Kelly - Dawn Rise Farm (Central Victoria)
I’m a curious animist farming and foraging on Taungurung country. Deeply enamoured by the natural world, myth, majik, plants, fungi and the occasional human.
Facial Mask and Scrub - Oats, Aloe Vera powder, Tasmanian mountain pepper leaf, Yarrow, Damask rose, bentonite clay, Tremella fuciformis. Use this fine powder as a scrub or a mask by combining with water, aloe, or facial oil. Ingredients home grown and foraged (save Bentonite clay).
Passionflower, Oats, Hops Tincture - sleep aid and nervous system reset.
Feverfew, Rosemary & Meadowsweet Tincture - ally for migraines and to ignite bitters receptors.
Get in touch with Kelly for her extended offerings available this month.
Contact: @dawn_rise_farm / 0457 575 558 via text message to contact outside of social media.
WA
Michelle Troop - Perennial Herbs / The Shed (Witchcliffe)
I live in the Margaret River Region where I make several small batches of herbal products each year under my brand Perennial Herbs that I sell directly through my shop, “The Shed”, in Witchcliffe.
St Johns Wort Oil - 30ml and 50ml bottles.
Comfrey and Hemp Salve - 45g jars
Contact: @theshed_witchcliffe / theshedwitchcliffe@gmail.com
NEW ZEALAND
Toyah Hicks - Rose Womb Steaming (South Island)
Kia ora, my name is Toyah and I offer 100% organic healing herbs for yoni steaming and postpartum care! I’m devoted to sovereign, woman centred care that is accessible to all! Here for the remembrance of our sacred rites of passage, particularly throughout the childbearing continuum.
Yoni steaming blends for menstrual discomfort through to birth/postpartum and menopause
Postpartum peri heal blend for use in a bottle and sitz baths in postpartum and beyond - for tears, grazing and haemorrhoids/fissures
Contact: www.rosewombsteaming.com / @rosewombsteaming / toyah.hicks@gmail.com
I hope you found herbal remedies and herbaceous folk to weave into your life here. Please continue to help spread the word about the almanac so that it may grow and strengthen connections between those making and seeking the herbs we know and love.
For anyone who is interested in having a listing in the next edition/ has plant material or herbal remedies to share in the month of April, please email me directly at lou@louhardwick.com.
Thank you for being here.
Lou
