Herbalism has never really been about doing everything yourself. It is about knowing what is worth growing, what is worth sourcing, and how to use both well.
A good garden teaches that quickly.
Some plants grow readily. Some take years before they are worth harvesting. Some will not grow well in a particular place no matter how much I want them to. Others grow so well that planting them carelessly becomes its own kind of problem.
That is one reason herbalists have always had to be practical people.
I try to grow what makes sense for us in our garden. At Mad Scientist Goods, we source what we cannot reasonably grow. We learn the plants. We learn our land. We learn which family traditions are worth preserving, which claims deserve a raised eyebrow, and which plants are best respected from a distance.
Looking at you, poison ivy.
Even the old names can be a little ambitious.
I learned many of them as a child. I had a somewhat unusual upbringing, spending much of my summers with my grandparents at our family cabin, away from the noise of suburban life. Plants were not just decoration there. They had names, habits, uses, warnings, and stories attached to them.
Thyme is a good and useful herb. Self-heal has its place. But no herb carries the whole burden of healing.
So I coined this little phrase as a reminder, and as a way to tie old learning to current knowledge. I am no Latin expert, but I think this one does what I want it to do. See if you can spot the quiet joke hidden in it.
Nec Thymus tempus sanat, nec Prunella omnia vulnera sanat; solus Christus est remedium aeternum.
Herbs are good gifts. They can nourish, soothe, support, and serve. Their goodness is real. But real goodness does not mean unlimited goodness.
Some medicines have good uses too. Neither old remedies nor newer ones should be accepted or rejected without study, knowledge, and discernment.
Unfortunately, a great deal of that study is difficult to find. Some folk remedies are dismissed because they lack scientific evidence. Others are dismissed too quickly, often because there is little profit in studying them properly. Sometimes the old-fashioned preparation works remarkably well. Sometimes it has downsides people forget to mention. Sometimes the modern version is better. Sometimes it is not.
The honest answer is rarely found in sneering at one side or blindly trusting the other.
Trust, but verify.
When we understand that, we can work with herbs more honestly. We do not have to pretend every plant is a cure-all. We do not have to accept every expert opinion without question. We do not have to grow everything ourselves to be legitimate. And we do not have to turn herbalism into performance.
We simply need to be careful, truthful, and grateful.
We grow what makes sense.
We source what does not.
And we use everything with respect.
Thanks for reading!
~The Mad Herbalist