Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism

Matthew Wood Institute of Herbalism MWIH is an herbal education Institute, dedicated to the highest standards and helping bring understanding of herbalism to the masses.
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It’s Sunday, so here’s something free to explore.Botany and herbalism go hand in hand. Half of learning plants is learni...
08/31/2026

It’s Sunday, so here’s something free to explore.

Botany and herbalism go hand in hand. Half of learning plants is learning the terms: what a plant family is, why identification starts at the flower, and what people mean by umbel or opposite leaves. Everyone assumes you already know it.

Our free Botany Starter Set is fifteen reference cards covering exactly that. Matthew Wood, MS and Jolie Elan, MS explain why botany is worth an herbalist's time. It's free and it stays yours.

Comment BOTANY and we'll send you the link.

Goldenrod is in bloom right now, and these next two weeks are the time to gather it if you're going to.Take the flowerin...
08/30/2026

Goldenrod is in bloom right now, and these next two weeks are the time to gather it if you're going to.

Take the flowering tops just as they open, on a dry morning after the dew has burned off. Strip them from the stem, spread them somewhere shady and airy, and let them dry all the way through before they go in a jar. The tea is warm, slightly bitter, and has a surprisingly light anise scent.

And if you've been avoiding goldenrod because you think it sets off your hay fever, the culprit is ragweed. It's a plain green plant blooming in the same ditch, and nobody notices it.

Matthew Wood, MS, is teaching this October at the Living Earth Herbal Gathering. Four days at Mandala Springs, outside A...
08/29/2026

Matthew Wood, MS, is teaching this October at the Living Earth Herbal Gathering. Four days at Mandala Springs, outside Asheville in North Carolina, October 1 to 4.

Meet him in person.

The gathering is organized and hosted by Julie Hatch of Wild Heart Medicinals. Registration and all event enquiries are handled by the organizers, and the hosts have announced 10 remaining spots.

Comment EVENT and we'll send you the details.

Two of our teachers took the same herb and came away with opposite answers.In Thursday's panel, someone asked what andro...
08/29/2026

Two of our teachers took the same herb and came away with opposite answers.

In Thursday's panel, someone asked what andrographis is like energetically. Dawn Lacska-Tommerdahl, RN said it was a little warming, a little drying, a little bitter. Phyllis D. Light, MA had taken it herself and found it so cooling that it was almost uncomfortable.

How is this possible? Phyllis gave the reason in three words: constitution, constitution, constitution. Dawn put it this way: we can tell you what an herb is used for, and how it makes us feel, but it lands according to the person and their constitution.

That's the part a monograph can't hand you. A book tells you what a plant has done for other people. Only your own body tells you what it does for you.

So when you read that a plant is warming, hold it loosely. Take time to notice how you react, and write it down. Your own notes on one plant are worth more than a chart.

The recording is free to watch through Monday. Comment PANEL and we'll send it over.

Starting in one hour! At noon CT (Chicago) today, Matthew Wood and MWIH teachers go live, free, on fall herbs. One plant...
08/27/2026

Starting in one hour! At noon CT (Chicago) today, Matthew Wood and MWIH teachers go live, free, on fall herbs. One plant each, straight from their own practice, and your questions welcome.

Can't make noon? Register anyway and you'll be notified when the recording is ready. It's free to watch through Monday, August 31.

Comment PANEL and we'll send you the registration link.

Today at noon CT (Chicago). Matthew Wood and six other MWIH teachers, one hour, fall herbs, free.If you've ever stood in...
08/27/2026

Today at noon CT (Chicago). Matthew Wood and six other MWIH teachers, one hour, fall herbs, free.

If you've ever stood in front of your apothecary shelf in September wondering which herb is the right one, this is the hour that answers it.

Comment PANEL and we'll send the registration link so you're in the room.

08/27/2026

Two plants bloom in the same ditch in the same week. One of them is making you sneeze, and it isn't the one you're looking at.

Goldenrod's pollen is heavy and sticky, and it needs a bee to move it. Ragweed blooms right beside it, a plain green plant nobody photographs, and it throws its pollen into the wind by the million. Goldenrod takes the blame, and ragweed does the damage.

Goldenrod is the most misunderstood plant in the field, and this is only its first problem.

Comment PANEL for Thursday's free class, Before You Grab the Echinacea, where Matthew Wood and six other MWIH teachers each bring one fall herb.

08/26/2026

Ask Matthew Wood what to take for a cold, and he'll ask you a question back.

That's the difference between grabbing a famous herb and practicing herbalism. Someone who's starting to feel better has different needs than someone who's getting sick again soon after. Reading which pattern is in front of you is the skill, and it's learnable.

Thursday at noon CT (Chicago), Matthew brings six other MWIH teachers with him, one fall plant each, and takes your questions live. Free.

Comment PANEL and we'll send you the registration link.

Every autumn the same advice goes around: grab some echinacea.There's nothing wrong with echinacea. There's something wr...
08/25/2026

Every autumn the same advice goes around: grab some echinacea.

There's nothing wrong with echinacea. There's something wrong with making one plant the answer to a whole season, when what helps depends on where you are in the illness. Staying well is one job. Catching the first hint of something coming on is another. Both are different again from the week you spend getting your energy back.

On Thursday, Matthew Wood and six other MWIH teachers each bring one fall plant or one idea from their own practice, then take your questions live. It's free, it's an hour, and it's the class we teach instead of telling you there's only one herb for fall.

Comment PANEL and we'll send you the registration link.

This one's for next June. St. John's Wort's harvest window has passed for the year, and that's exactly why now is the ti...
08/23/2026

This one's for next June. St. John's Wort's harvest window has passed for the year, and that's exactly why now is the time to put this in your calendar.

The famous red oil: fill a jar loosely with fresh flowering tops picked at the height of summer, on a dry day, when crushing a bud stains your fingers red (that's the sign the plant is ready). Cover with olive oil, set it in a sunny window for four to six weeks, and watch it turn ruby. Strain, and you've got the classic oil herbalists have made for centuries.

Set a reminder for mid-June. Future you, standing in a patch of yellow flowers with stained fingers, will thank you.

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Minneapolis, MN

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