Experience the abundance of spring "weeds" Soothe spring allergy symptoms Classes, appointments, recipes, and MORE!
May snow showers bring..... more Dandelions!!
This time of year is so exciting for plant lovers! The plants are poppin' and there is plenty of fun-work to do while enjoying the smells and feels of spring! While working with plant medicine, it's important to ensure that the plants have been grown and nurtured in healthy conditions. You can do this by growing your own, foraging sustainably, and shopping at a reputable herb store like Vervain! We've written about growing and foraging before if you want a recap on how that can look for you. And for those times when you don't have space, time, or desire to grow or find the herbs you love, Vervain is here for you! We have 200+ jars of dried herbs from well-respected companies, including the incredible, family-owned and local Purple Sage Farms.
Peruse our list of herbs online, and if you'd like you can submit a pre-order to save time waiting in the shop! Please also let your holistic health care practitioners know that we do custom tea and tincture orders for patients & clients!
Herb of the Month- Meet Dandelion #vervainHOTM!
"Dandelion is, I'm convinced, one of the greatest tonic herbs of all times. The entire plant is restorative and rejunvating" - Rosemary Gladstar
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) What is Dandelion?
Often thought of as a "weed" to lawn warriors, yet this plant is an abundant source of powerful healing properties.
Dandelion Uses & Benefits
All parts of the dandelion are useful and easy to turn into plant medicine. Young leaves are a nutritious salad green packed with minerals including calcium, magnesium, and iron as well as an abundance of vitamins A and C.
Both leaves and roots of the dandelion are powerful medicine. One of the safest and most effective diuretics, dandelion nourishes and tones the kidneys while also acting as a mild stimulant, thereby increasing the flow of urine and aiding in proper water balance.
Dandelion is also a major alterative, or blood cleanser, providing an abundance of nutrients that are essential to a healthy functioning liver. Both the root and leaves can be used as alteratives, although the root is sometimes considered more potent. The sunny yellow blossoms are also edible and medicinal! The petals can be sprinkled on a delicious spring salad for some color, and of course, you could always try your hand at making dandelion wine or mead!
Identification & Harvesting
It would be hard to find someone not familiar with dandelion’s bright and sunny yellow flowers consisting of a composite of many individual ray florets. In mild climates (especially the PNW) there is year-round growth but around here, they are prolific Spring through the Fall.
Suggested uses: Fresh young greens are delicious in salads, pesto, juiced, or sauteed and added to eggs. Flowers are great slightly dried and used to infuse oil for salves, balms, and lotions. Sprinkle flowers on a salad and use the dried roots and leaves for teas and tinctures.
Ready for more Dandelion?
Vervain carries Dandelion in many forms! We have four preparations available in our bulk herb section: dandelion leaf, dandelion root (raw & roasted, as well as powered), and dandelion root from Purple Sage Farms! We carry dandelion root tincture in bulk as well for use in custom formulas or alone, as well as these fantastic herbal formulations:
Bonus recipe!
Dandelion jelly recipe from our beautiful and talented herbalist & shop steward Erika.
If you'd like to learn more about springtime foraging, check out these great resources:
As always, follow the Black Forager on Instagram! @blackforager & youtube
Books you can find in the Book Nook at The Vervain Collective:
Mountain States Medicinal Plants book
Practitioner Appointments Available!
Book an appointment with one of our Practitioners at The Vervain Collective!
Join Us for Class!
We are constantly adding more amazing classes, teachers, and events to our calendar! Click her to view the calendar and to register online. If you're interested in leading a conversation or teaching a class, you can find our application form on the same page! Up next:
With Lindsay Kolpitcke Vervain Classroom $25 The brain consumes more calories than any other part of the body--roughly 20%--so eating brain-healthy foods isn’t only necessary for cognition, but imperative for those of us with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. What you put in your mouth provides all the raw materials for building the structure of your brain cells and keeps all the communication systems running coherently, so you can think, emote, learn, and remember. Simply put, food provides brain power. Learn what foods, herbs, and nutrients best support the brain.
Home Brewing with Idaho Kombucha: June 1st 5:30pm- 6:45pm Vervain Classroom $30 includes a SCOBY and starter (kombucha culture) Join Terri & Mike Landa, owners of Idaho Kombucha Company, for an introduction to home brewing. You will learn the science of kombucha, primary and secondary fermentation including flavoring ideas, and bottle conditioning techniques. You will also get to sample Idaho Kombucha flavors and leave with the knowledge, recipe and authentic culture to brew kombucha like a pro! TAT: Tapas Acupressure Technique: Thursday June 2 from 5:30pm-6:30pm With Sukoshi Rice We all carry beliefs from our past that inform our present. Often we are not even aware of what our subconscious holds, yet it can steer our lives and color our decisions. TAT is a gentle and effective way of uncovering and dissolving those beliefs so we can be happier and more present. This will be a group session. Please bring pen, paper and a bottle of water. You will learn a basic format for using this technique, safely and easily, to defuse emotional situations. Lastly, our Rosemary Gladstar Science & Art of Herbalism Course is FULL this go-around. However, we are adding folks who are interested to a waitlist for upcoming herb classes and next year's Science and Art of Herbalism course! If you are interested, send us an email with your contact information!
In case you missed it: Are Allergies Getting You Down?
We were recently featured in Totally Boise's Blog: Take On Spring Allergies The Vervain Collective's Holistic Approach. You will find our favorite go-to remedies to ease this rough time of year! Check it out as well as this blog post by our good friends at Vitam Boise chock full of helpful methods to decrease your allergy symptoms this spring.
You can find a treasure trove of past Vervain blog posts here. Let us know what you think!
Please NOTE our Hours! The Vervain Collective apothecary is open Tues-Sat 11-7, and Sun 11-5. Our online store is open 24/7 for shipping and pickup.
We can't wait to see you!