The Crafty Herbalist

21/06/2026

The St John’s wort has come into flower along the lanes here, right on cue for Midsummer. It always seems to know 😉💕

Today is the day I open the doors to the Academy for the summer.

For anyone who has been wanting to learn herbal medicine properly - not scattered posts and half-finished books, but a real path through the plants, with science, tradition, remedy-making and the seasons woven together - this is the way in.

I teach it all myself, mark every piece of work myself, and you learn at your own pace alongside a community of people doing the same.

The doors are open until midnight on Tuesday 7th July, and then not again until the autumn.

Link in the comments, or find it on my page. I hope you will come and learn with me 🥰🍀

21/06/2026

The academy doors are open for summer enrolment 💕🌸 do have a look and let me know if you have any questions at all ☺️

Kristine x
Medical herbalist & educator

20/06/2026

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THE ID OF YOUR OWN PASSIFLORA BEFORE INGESTING! I ONLY RECOMMEND PASSIFLORA INCARNATA - NOT THE ONE IN THIS VIDEO

This grows in my mum’s garden, and I loved spending some time with it while I was there this weekend 💜☺️ it’s not the medicinal one, but still gorgeous 😏

Passiflora is such a strange, almost theatrical plant 😃

At first glance it looks like something made up - all tendrils and filaments and that extraordinary crown in the middle of the flower.

And then you learn its story. The name passionflower has nothing to do with romance. It comes from the Passion of Christ, because Spanish missionaries looked at the flower and saw the crucifixion in its structure - nails, wounds, whips, and a crown of thorns. Once you know that, you can’t really unsee it…

But in herbal medicine, we also know passionflower (Passiflora incarnata is the one we use medicinally) as a beautiful nervine - often used where there is tension, restlessness, irritability, looping thoughts, or that very specific sort of tiredness where the body is exhausted but the mind will not come down.

We use the aerial parts - the leafy vine, tendrils and flowers - usually gathered while the plant is in flower.

It isn’t a “knock you out” herb. It is more subtle than that. More like a plant for the person who is holding too much. The jaw tight and shoulders up. The thoughts still rummaging through drawers at bedtime….

This is the kind of thing I love teaching inside The Crafty Herbalist Academy. Not just “this herb is good for sleep”, but the actual plant - its story, its chemistry, its energetics, its traditional use, and the kind of person it may suit 🥰

Doors are open now if you’d like to learn herbal medicine in this deeper, more rooted way.

19/06/2026

This is a lovely workshop all about the Rose family, coming up at Amersham Museum 🥰 Well worth a visit!

Part 1 May 16th In partnership with Wild Amersham, these 2 workshops for adults offer a relaxed introduction to the concept of a ‘Plant Family’, by exploring the Rose family, […]

17/06/2026

You can smell a linden in flower long before you’ve even worked out which tree it’s coming from - that warm, honeyed scent hanging over the pavement while everyone walks past with shopping bags, school bags, phones, dogs, all the usual life clutter 😏💕

And then suddenly there it is. The tree is humming with bees, the flowers are open, and you realise you’ve got about five minutes before the whole thing is over for another year 😃.

So I made linden flower syrup with honey. It’s one of those simple remedies that feels almost too easy, but that’s often where the best herbal medicine begins. A tree you’ve walked past for years. A handful of flowers. Honey. Some lemons. A jar. A little bit of time.

Linden has a long tradition of use for hot, tense, restless states - the sort of frazzled summer exhaustion where everything feels a bit too much and your nervous system could do with being spoken to gently.

I’ll use this in tea, over yoghurt, maybe just straight from the spoon when the day calls for it. I’ve definitely had a few of those days of late - and I find this remedy so helpful 💕

This is exactly the kind of thing we explore inside The Crafty Herbalist Academy - not just “what herb is good for what”, but how to actually know the plants, catch them in season, make things properly, and understand why you’re using them.

Doors are open now for the summer intake if you’d like to learn herbal medicine in a deeper, more grounded way.

And if you’re local, I’ve also got my summer herbal medicine day coming up, where we’ll be foraging and making seasonal remedies together.

All links are in my bio - and do feel free to reach out with any questions x

14/06/2026

I hope you’ve been able to get outside and enjoy a bit of this lovely sunshine!

The linden flowers are just beginning to open here, and that always feels like a proper early summer moment to me - that soft, honeyed scent in the air, and the trees suddenly humming with bees.

We’ll be working with linden blossoms, along with other seasonal plants such as St John's Wort, mugwort, rose, meadowsweet, pineapple w**d, marshmallow, and much more, at my next in-person herbal day at Where Inspiration Blooms on Friday 3rd July, 10am to 4pm.

It will be a full day of foraging, remedy-making, chatting, tasting, and learning together - with summery herbal preparations such as hydrosols, glycerites, summer first aid remedies, and a few other seasonal herbal preparations.

There are only 5 spaces left now, so if you’ve been thinking about coming, this would be a lovely time to book your place.

I have added the link in the comments - feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, it's going to be such a lovely day 🥰🌿

13/06/2026

I went to the school carnival with my little ones and found some midsummer medicine under a tree 🥰💕

The linden trees here in Chesham are just beginning to flower - that soft, honeyed, almost impossible-to-describe scent drifting through the air before you’ve even properly noticed the flowers.

In old Europe, linden was a tree people gathered beneath. A tree of village life, love, peace, protection, judgement, shelter. The kind of tree that belonged to everyone.

And then, of course, there is the medicine. Linden flowers contain flavonoids, mucilage and volatile oils, and herbalists have long used them for hot, tense, restless states - the kind where the body is holding too much and needs softening, cooling, unwinding.

This is what I love about herbal medicine.

The folklore is not separate from the science.
The old stories are not separate from the chemistry.
The bees, the scent, the village green, the teacup, the nervous system - it all belongs together 🥰

And sometimes the best herbal lessons arrive when you are not prepared at all, but carrying school carnival chaos and suddenly realise the trees are teaching you something anyway.

If you’d love to learn herbs in this way - through science, folklore, energetics, remedy-making, seasonal practice and real-life plant connection - The Crafty Herbalist Academy is open for summer enrolment.

And if you’re local, I’m also running a full herbal medicine day near Amersham this summer, with foraging, remedy-making and plenty of plant conversation.

Links are in my bio, or send me a message if you’d like the details or feel free to reach out with any questions ☺️

Kristine x
Medical Herbalist
Chesham, Chilterns

04/06/2026

Most people who come to herbal medicine are not short on information.

They have books. Saved posts. Screenshots. Dried herbs in jars. A half-used notebook. Maybe a herbal planner they downloaded with great intentions and then forgot about when life got full.

The problem is not usually lack of interest.

It is knowing what to do next.

Which herb do you start with?

How do you know what is safe?

How do you move beyond “this herb is good for that symptom”?

How do you build actual confidence instead of collecting more bits and pieces?

That is really why I created The Crafty Herbalist Academy.

Not as another pile of content to keep up with, but as a clear, seasonal path through herbal medicine. Something you can return to slowly and properly, with guidance along the way.

The Academy opens again for the summer intake on 21st June.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more of what’s inside, how I teach, and who it’s for - so you can get a proper feel for whether it’s the right place for you.l ☺️

04/06/2026

The Herb Society's new website is now live at herbsociety.org.uk!

The project has been a year in the making, with the Society's trustees, support staff, web developer and volunteers working hard to make the new site a reality. This is just the beginning - as they will work to add new content and new features as they move into their centenary year in 2027.

Visit the new site to learn more about herbs and join if you’re not already a member!
Individual membership is £40 annually, and includes some great benefits:

🌿Herbs, the Society’s acclaimed magazine

🌿Archive of past publications

🌿Regular e-newsletters

🌿Exclusive Member benefits including special offers and discount codes

🌿Reduced fees at Herb Society events

🌿Write articles for our website or Herbs magazine

🌿Free listing on our online Find A Speaker resource

🌿Free online listing for your events

🌿Volunteering opportunities

🌿Herb Society Book Club

🌿Student Group

🌿Write book reviews for our website

The Herb Society

02/06/2026

Summer is not short of herbs 😏🌸

The hedgerows are currently so abundant, the flowers are out, and everything feels slightly overflowing - roses, elderflowers, yarrow, calendula, lemon balm, plantain, all of it asking to be noticed.

On Friday 3rd July, I’ll be teaching a full day of summer herbal living at Where Inspiration Blooms in Penn Street.

We’ll be working with the plants of the season in a very hands-on way - making beautiful, useful herbal preparations to take home, while exploring the medicinal, emotional and traditional side of summer herbs.

Expect flowers, scent, jars, practical remedy-making, proper herbal teaching, and definitely some lovely herbal cake and herbal seasonal treats 🥰

This is for you if you want to feel more confident making your own herbal remedies at home, without needing to know everything first.

No experience needed - just curiosity and a love of plants.

Friday 3rd July 2026
10am - 4pm
The Pavilion, Penn Street
£165, all materials included

You can book here:

https://www.whereinspirationblooms.co.uk/product-page/the-four-seasons-of-herbal-living-summer