This month, we are honored to present Nina Nelson, a student herbalist, wellness educator and author who has secretly always wanted to be the village wise woman. Nina lives in Central Oregon with her husband and their four children where she spends her free time doing CrossFit, playing with herbs and giggling at miniature horses.
What are you contributing to Rootsy in June?
Simple Natural Health is the eBook you need if you want to be more intentional about your family’s health. This book isn’t just another dogmatic “what not to do” that will make you feel awful for past choices. Rather, it’s a holistic approach to health – of mind, body, and soul – with a lot of money and time-saving tips thrown in.
You’ll love the comprehensive guide to using herbs, tips for saving money on nourishing whole foods and simple approach to a naturally healthy lifestyle.
What aspects of herbal healing most interest you?
I really love keeping herbal remedies as simple as possible. Being able to create one salve that takes care of a multitude of problems makes me giddy. I suppose this is where my interests intersect; I’m a minimalist who loves herbs. My apothecary is tiny, I only grow a handful of herbs, and I make a minimal number of remedies. I love teaching others how to keep this simple so they don’t get overwhelmed and can feel successful right away.
What was your inspiration or push for this lifestyle?
My healthy living journey began almost a decade ago when my husband and I decided to get out of debt. We cut expenses by making food from scratch, going natural and focusing on living more sustainably. When I discovered herbal remedies, I knew they would fit in nicely with our intentional way of living; they are non-toxic, affordable, and effective.
Plus, being able to handcraft remedies myself fulfilled my desire to nurture my family naturally.
How did you pick up your herbal skills?
I read everything I could, tried recipe after recipe and sought wisdom from people who knew their herbal remedies. I made a lot of mistakes, like burning my herbs and stinking the house up for days, but learning the processes has always taught me something new.
Eventually, making natural remedies became second nature. I learned how to tweak recipes based on what I needed and started making up my own. Soon, I discovered that not only could I use herbs to nurture my family, but I could also do so simply with a fraction of the ingredients I had originally purchased. What’s more, I’ve learned to trust my intuition as my family’s healer and feel fully confident in my ability to know what to do when the need arises.
I’ve done research over the last ten years in the form of blogs, books and herbalist courses and I also sought mentors who knew a lot about herbs. My dad is a wealth of herbal knowledge, due to his upbringing with herbal remedies and his experience as an herb farmer. He’s taught me a lot. Today, I pass on what I’ve learned so you can nurture your family naturally without the learning curve (or stinky kitchen).
How does one avoid overwhelm when getting back to their roots?
Know your why. Why do you want to start using herbs? Is it so you can make a few remedies here and there or do you want to completely change up how you approach your health? Of course, many people will fall somewhere in between. Either way, I suggest choosing 3-5 herbs to learn more about and experiment with those. More than that will lead to overwhelm and detract from your why. Having a purpose helps you know what you’ll want to learn and where to start.
If you could give just one piece of advice on your herbal pursuits, what would it be?
Keep it simple! Don’t go crazy buying every herb out there. It’s tempting, I know. Especially when your dad runs an organic herb company … Instead, I recommend choosing a few herbs to get started. Which ones? Well, if you have a resource you’re using, you’ll probably see a few herbs mentioned several times in recipes. Start with those.
Be sure to visit Nina at these links:
On her blog ShalomMama
On Facebook, Twitter @Shalommama, Instagram, and Pinterest
…and check out some of her most popular posts
5 Essential Tips for The Budding Herbalist
Homemade Shampoo with Essential Oils
Lavender Mint Lip Balm Recipe
Homemade Herbal Bar Soap
Top 40 DIY Projects for Natural Living
ROOTSY HAS ALL THE INFORMATION YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!
There’s no need for you to search for online articles or videos and wonder if the information you’re getting is correct or safe. Here at Rootsy, we are firm believers in returning to the basics and simple living of homesteading the right way.
Whether it’s canning foods, learning herbal remedies, being sure your family is prepared for an emergency, or keeping backyard chickens, Rootsy has what you need! Become a Rootsy Member today and get access to classes, printables, ebooks, webinars, and the Homesteading Library, which is chock-full of all the information you need to live a more self-sufficient life!
