2/15/2026

Happy Sunday!

How was your Valentine's Day? Ours was spent recuperating from travel....

We attended a business conference in beautiful Sedona, Arizona last week for business, and I learned SO much.

But my favorite part of the trip was spent exploring the native plant life in the Sonoran Desert, where Sedona is. WOW!

Here are some of the plants I identified, and I know there are hundreds more I didn't even see out there!

• Juniper trees (Foraging Juniper Berries and What to Do with Them)
• Pine trees (Foraging, Harvesting and Using Pine for Wellness)
• Cottonwood trees (Poplar Buds and Balm of Gilead Formula)
• Horsetail (great for hair, skin, and nails as it's high in silica and other minerals. It's an ingredient in my herbal tea blend, Sensuous Skin and Healthy Hair)
• Mormon (Brigham) Tea (full of tannins, and excellent for supporting respiratory and digestive health) I grew up chewing on the leaves as I rode my horse through the Mojave Desert in the Las Vegas area.
• Prickly Pear cactus (helpful as food and medicine; supports skin health) I love making nopales!
• Yucca (Supports immune function and the musculoskeletal system) These days you can find the root in some grocery stores.
• Creosote, more commonly known as chaparral (Foraging for Chaparral, Benefits & Uses)
• Ocotillo (lymphatic congestion and helps reduce inflammation)
• White sage: Mainly spiritual use (smudging), but is also helpful for the respiratory system

I found all of those on the property of the resort or the nearby trails except for the chaparral, which grows in its own special ecosystem at a bit of a lower altitude. I saw a lot of Brittlebush, too, and this is a wonderful desert plant for toothache and pain relief! I saw some really healthy gems of both plants driving back into Phoenix.

There are many, many other medicinal plants found in the Sonoran Desert too, that I didn't see. I wish I could have stayed longer to better explore. Maybe one day Mr. V. and I will visit again....I hope so!

This trip once again underscored for me that God is so GREAT! He literally put exactly what we need for our health right at our fingertips. That's why my mission in life has become to proclaim and teach this to all who will listen.

Herbs saved my life. Literally. I can't imagine where I'd be at this age right now if I hadn't made the decision to forge forth into truly natural health and lose the Big Pharma drugs so many years ago (and also do my best to eat God's whole foods).

I would probably be dead right now if I hadn't made the decision to invest in my health and learn herbalism as if my life depended on it....because it did.

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Medicinal Herbs as Food

I was thinking about all the ways I use herbs on a daily basis. These days, I have some pretty automatic herbal routines that have become subconscious, as I've used them for so many years.

One of the ways I LOVE using medicinal herbs is in the food I cook for us. I liberally use certain herbs at every single meal, and because they taste so delicious, we have not used salt or sugar for any recipe in years now.

Would you be interested in learning more about how I use medicinal herbs in the kitchen sometime? If so, reply and give me a thumbs up, a big YES, or whatever you like. 🥰

Here's a recipe for my Turmeric-Honey:

Turmeric Honey

Using one cup of raw honey, add 3 tablespoons of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of ginger powder, and 1 teaspoon of cardamom powder, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper, mix the ingredients together.

Allow to infuse for a week or more, or you can just use it right away, since you'll be consuming the powders.

Add it to a beverage of choice, like warmed almond milk or regular milk. Coffee, teas, and other beverages will be upgraded with this honey too.

NOTE: You may be wondering about the addition of the black pepper. Well, the active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. However, it's not very bioavailable (your body can't readily uptake it). But by adding some black pepper, which contains piperine, the bioavailability is substantially enhanced, giving you the best chance of reducing inflammation when used consistently over time.

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Special Invitation: Spring Gardening Summit-2026!

Are you ready to get your garden going like I am?

My fingers are itching to get into the soil this year! We have a LOT of seeds planted in the Quonset hut on the property right now. They're getting SO big!

My friend, Audrey, at Audrey's Little Farm (a wonderful resource) is hosting a Spring Gardening Summit, and you're invited!

I'm speaking on Growing a Skincare Garden, and there are many other amazing speakers and topics, too! **And my special bonus for the summit is my updated Herbal Oils, Butters, and Balms book. It was one of my top sellers for years, and it's been retired for awhile....hence the update. And it's FREE for anyone who attends the summit. You'll find it in my speaker area.

​Save your seat HERE. The Spring Gardening Summit is FREE, and I'd love to see you inside!

Please forward this newsletter to a friend who might want to attend.

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I'm writing this note REALLY late today, and I promised Joe I'd finish quickly so we can take the dogs for a ride in the side-by-side and inspect the pond area. Therefore, I must sign off for today.

I hope you found value in today's note, and I hope to see you in the Spring Gardening Summit, coming soon!

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace." ---Numbers 6:24-26

Hugs, Health, and Herbs

Heidi

P.S. I forgot to tell you! Our Herbal Medicine Making Basics course has been completely overhauled! It's now called the Herbal Medicine Making Methods: Cold and Flu course and contains additional videos and information.

IMPORTANT: If you're a student in Ditch the Drugstore or the Family Herbalist Certification, we've upgraded the sections in those courses for you. No need to purchase this cold and flu course!

If you own it already, get logged in and enjoy! If you don't own it yet, you can find it HERE for a whopping 75% off:​