Spring Awakening
April 2025 NewsletterThe snow seemed to melt almost overnight. We went from our biggest snowbanks in years to bare squishy soggy lawns. Snow storms to rain storms. A few warm sunny days, but this is a transition time that
starts off cold, wet, and raw and gradually warms. Pack your layers and your umbrella... you never know.  Pretty soon the plant babies will begin to pop up. Perhaps where you are, they already have. First the tiny magneta hazelnut shrubs bloom in the woods, then eventually serviceberries, cherries, mayflowers, violets, nettles, tiny goldthread,
wood anemone, and dwarf ginseng.... Canada mayflowers and grass push up to wave their green flags, heralding in the green season.  For herbalists and gardeners, this is an exciting time of year. We are dewy with joy and anticipation, planting seeds, hauling dirt, exploring the landscape with fresh faces, dreaming of our plant relationships and harvests for this coming season.  In this newsletter, I'm sharing some of my favorite springtime activities:Â
learning or resuming wildflower plant identification and harvesting nettles. I've also got a super special-this-year series starting in May where we cover advanced health concerns including menopause, gut healing, the art of
formulation this spring, and then pick back up in autumn for more advanced health concerns topics from me and special guest teachers. Details below! New & Seasonal in This Email- Plant ID 101
- Nettle and Spring Plants
- Advanced Health Concerns ~ Starts Soon!
- Beyond the Home Herbalist Series this Summer - In Person & Livestream
- Upcoming Community
Classes & Summit: The Healing Power of Plants
What I'm Up To: Book deadline crunch time!  This is my last month and a half until this book is due so I'll be mostly "going dark" to finish that including limited communication and no new clients until June. |
  Plant ID 101Every new spring wildflower bloom is a cause for celebration and a wonderful chance to sleuth out a new plant ID! Can you identify wild plants with 100 percent certainty? If you plan to ingest it or give it to someone else, you need to! The ability to “key out” and identify plants is a crucial skill for any herbalist or wild food forager. Nothing is quite as powerful and healing as picking a plant yourself, turning it into a remedy, taking it, and feeling that plant infuse you with its vital energy. But (to quote Spiderman),
with great power comes great responsibility. Most of us did not grow up learning to identify plants, so we rely on field guides to help us figure it out.
Fortunately, learning how to identify plants can be incredibly fun. A new plant that you don’t already know becomes “the next Great Plant Mystery,” and the process of sleuthing out its identity helps you look more closely at and connect with each
plant.Â
See my blog to learn more!  Stinging Nettle & Spring Virtual Plant Walk One of Many Spring Plants!  You may curse stinging nettles when you walk through a patch of them, but they are one of our most useful weeds. Nettle tea
makes a great base for any nutritive tea and blends well with mints; it is particularly high in calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron. Simmer nettle greens to get the most out of its nutrient content. Nettle greens may also reduce seasonal allergy symptoms when taken regularly as food or in freeze-dried capsules. Nettle is diuretic and may help eliminate uric acid. Like many leafy greens, nettle is used as an alkalizing beverage.  How I Make Nettle Ice Cubes1. Harvest young spring nettles (be sure you have accurately identified 100%!). I like to get a nice big basketful. You can wear long, heavy pants and shirt sleeves and tight-woven gloves  to reduce being stung, but I simply approach carefully and use my scissors to transfer my herb from
the plant to the basket. (Getting stung can give you some medicine - you may notice reduced inflammation in the area once the nettle hives eventually go away.) 2. Process: If they're small babies with young tender leaves, you can just put them right in a pot. If the stems have gotten tough, remove the leaves from the stem. (Again, you could use gloves or use kitchen equipment to transfer, or let yourself get stung.) 3. Gentle cook down in a large pot with a little water (maybe a cup or so?) until the volume is dramatically reduced and stung is gone. 4. Let cool (hot things can explode in a tightly sealed blender) 5. Puree in a good blender until smooth. Pour into ice cube trays. Freeze. Once
frozen, pop them out and into a tightly sealed freezer bag or container for storage. You can add nettle cubes to smoothies, soup, stew, sauces, etc. They keep well in the freezer for at least a year. This form of nettle is great for nutrition especially calcium and vitamin K. Â I also love making fresh nettle leaf tincture for allergies and taming histamine response. (Tincture is great for the fresh constituents for allergy support but will NOT provide nutrients b/c they are not very alcohol-soluble.) Â Learn more
about Nettle and other spring plants HERE. Advanced Health Concerns Series
Starts May 20th! SPECIAL THIS YEAR ONLYExpand personal and clinical herbal skills with advanced health topics. Better understand complex health concerns and body systems including herbal and natural support options. Â 36 core class (plus at least 21 hours optional/bonus class) hours of core live streamed webinars!
All classes will also be recorded and available for replay with no deadline to watch.
Hundreds of pages of class notes and full color slides. Â Are YOU Ready for this Course? While
this course is designed for intermediate/advanced level students, many of the pre-requisite topics that you need are included as bonus classes with the series. If you're a total newbie, this series will be a bit overwhelming, but for those of you with *some* herbal foundation (the body, herbal actions, common herbs) will likely do great!  Class Topics &
Teachers
Taught by Maria Noël Groves & Guest Teachers ~12 Core Live Streamed (& Recorded) Classes
• May 20: Art of Formulation & Protocol Tips w/Maria
• Jun 3: Advanced Gut Repair w/Maria
• Jun 10: Menopause w/Maria
(break for summer - the Summer Beyond the Home Herbalist Series is great prep for fall classes.)
• Sep
9: Fatigue Differentials with Thomas Easley
• Sep 16: Nervous System, PTSD & Trauma Support for Herbalists with Amy Branum
• Sep 30: Herb-Drug Interactions w/Maria
• Oct 7: Thyroid w/Maria
• Oct 14: Lyme Disease & Coinfections with Debbie Mercier
• Oct 21: Herbal Cancer Care with Ember Peters (5-8 pm)
• Oct 28:
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) & Histamine Intolerance Overview & Herbal Approaches with Mel Kasting
• Nov 11: Death and Dying Workshop for Herbalists with Suchil Coffman-Guerra
• Nov 18: COVID Considerations with Maria  PLUS BONUS CLASSES!
Optional but included with your
registration – series students will also be able to DROP IN on *select* live streamed topics in Maria’s Home Herbalist and Beyond series Live Streamed & Recorded/On Demand:
• Mar 11: Stress, Adaptogens | Making Tinctures - now on-demand
• Mar 18: Relaxation, Sleep, Mood | Making Flower Essences  - now on-demand
• Mar 25: Digestive System Basics | Making Topical Herbal Oils - now on-demand
• Apr 8: Blood Sugar Support | Making Herbal Salves
• Apr 22: Immune & Allergy
Basics | Making Elderberry Syrup
• Apr 29: Reproductive System Basics | Making Bodycare Remedies
• Jul 22: Holistic Pain Management | Making Topical Pain Rub
• Aug 26: Autoimmune Basics | Making an Electuary   OPEN FOR REGISTRATION
BEYOND the Home Herbalist Series
Tuesdays June 17th to August 26th, 6-9 pm EST
Limited Remedy Kits AvailableThis series may not run live next year and won't be in person again for several years.  Deepen your understanding of herbalism and the human body past the fundamentals with this beginner/intermediate course. Each class covers a body system and at least one remedy. For each body system or health concern, you'll learn how the body should work, how things get
out of balance, and how to use herbs, diet, and lifestyle changes to bring it back into balance.
9 CLASSES Live Streamed TUESDAY NIGHTS 6-9 pm Eastern Time
And all are also recorded and available for replay at your own pace with no deadline.
 Continue and deepen your education beyond the basics. In the nine classes, we cover a body system and a remedy making technique (building on new topics not covered in the beginner Home Herbalist Series). Each 3-hour live class is accompanied by detailed class notes, full-color slides, and access to all the class recordings.Â
Prior attendance of the
Home Herbalist series is encouraged but Â
not essential nor required.
Develop core skills as a home herbalist ~
also a great launching point for future clinical study Live Streamed (& Recorded) Class Topics
Class 1: Backyard Medicine | Tea Blending
Class 2: Herbal Safety | Herb-Infused Broths
Class 3: Longevity & Vitality | Cordials, Elixirs &
Oxymels
Class 4: Brain-Boosting Herbs | Brainiac Bonbons
Class 5: Strong Bones | Nourishing Infusions & Seaweed Snacks
Class 6: Managing Chronic Pain | Gin Raisins or Topical Pain Oil
Class 7: Strong Lungs | Herbal Cough Syrup
Class 8: Healthy Skin with Herbs | Flower Water & Herbal Exfoliant
Class 9: Autoimmune Support | Electuaries Student perks include… Lifetime access to online course materials Bonus on-demand class and herb walk video recordings 1 year American Herbalists Guild student membership Exclusive discounts to local and national herb farms, shops, and books Certificate upon completion of the
series/homework Limited $100 value optional remedy kits available (USA only) Upcoming Spring & Summer Community Events Backyard Medicine: Garden Herbs & Helpful Weeds
This class is co-hosted by the Chichester NH Gardening Club and
Chichester Town Library.
In Person Only
Wednesday, May 21, 6-7:30 pm
at the Chichester Grange Hall, 54 Main St, Chichester, NH
Learn about the medicinal benefits of a variety of herbs that can be grown right in your backyard. We will discuss my top garden herbs and their multifaceted healing properties. From bedtime teas and immune support to brain boosters and wound healers, you can grow your medicine easily!
FREE and open to the public! No registration necessary – just
drop in. Â Herb & Garden Day Hosted by the New Hampshire Herbal Network IN PERSON Saturday June 7, All Day At
the Mount Kearsarge Indian Museum, Warner, NH I’m excited to speak once again for this beloved local event! My class will be on Strong Bones, and many other great herbalists will also be teaching on other plant topics including herb walks. Lovely vendor market featuring local herbal and artisan goods (I will *not* have a vendor booth this year, though I *might* have a few books for sale with me
after my class - you can also use the code HERBDAYPICKUP to preorder books via my website for me to bring for you that day - this code removes the shipping fee and lets me know to bring your book that day). Food will be available on site as well. Most of the event is outdoors, rain or shine. Details and registration
here. Growing & Using Peaceful Herbs Hosted by the Newbury Public Library
In Person Only Monday, July 14, 6-7:40 pm at the Newbury Public
Library, Newbury, NH Learn how to grow herbs that promote sleep, boost mood, quell anxiety, and encourage calm energy. We will discuss some of Maria’s favorite local herbs that can be grown in any size garden. FREE and open to the public – no registration necessary. Just show up!  STARTING SOON:Â
The Healing Power of Plants Online SummitFree Online Airing April 15-18th I’ll be joining Lauren Almquist for the first time, and this year’s
theme is plant connection. The interviews will vary from practical to a little woo, and my talk with Lauren focuses on Herbal Drinks for Relaxation, Stress Resilience, and Sleep that you can make with homegrown herbs. Many other beloved herbal speakers will also be interviewed on various topics by Lauren, including Robin Rose Bennet (Nature as our Guide), Jade Alicandro (Connecting with Land Through “Invasive Plants”), Salima Charleston Lust (Receiving Plant Wisdom), Mel Matterspaugh (Connection
and Relationship), Deb Soule (What We Can Learn from Plants), and Pam Montgomery (Plants as Guides), among others! This is a free event for those who watch live (recordings are available for a brief time) or you can upgrade to the all-access pass for bonus items and forever access. Click here for details
and registration.* this is an affiliate link |
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