S06|14 - Creating Your Own Herbal First Aid Kit with Clinical Herbalist, Mel Mutterspaugh

Mel Mutterspaugh is a clinical herbalist, environmental educator, and homeschooling momma living in the foothills of Mt Hood Oregon. She's got a crazy passion for teaching more moms to use plants as medicine in a safe and effective way so that they can take better care of their family and ultimately, we all take better care of our planet!

Mel is also the host of The Herbalist's Path podcast, and founder of Apothecary Momma & Medicine Makin' Momma online programs. She's on a mission to inspire a movement where there's an herbalist in every home... AGAIN!

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Today you’ll hear:

• Mel’s almost 20 years of learning and education about herbs and how to use them
• How we are tuned out of the knowledge surrounding plant medicine that we used to use in every home and how we can become our own family’s herbalist again
• What plants you use to create a first aid kit to take on any family adventure and keep your family safe
• What herbs to use and when for things like fevers, burns, snake bites, sprains and more

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Episode Transcript

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Hi, I'm Crystal The Parenting Coach. Parenting is the thing that some of us just expected to know how to do. It's not like other areas of your life where you go to school and get taught, get on the job training, or have mentors to help you, but now you can get that help here.

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Creating Your Own Herbal First Aid Kit with Clinical Herbalist, Mel Mutterspaugh

 

What Mel Mutterspaugh does

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Mel Mutterspaugh is a clinical herbalist, environmental educator, and homeschooling momma living in the foothills of Mt. Hood Oregon. She's got a crazy passion for teaching more moms to use plants as medicine in a safe and effective way so that they can take better care of their family and ultimately, we all take better care of our planet!

Mel is also the host of The Herbalist's Path podcast, and founder of Apothecary Momma & Medicine Makin' Momma online programs. She's on a mission to inspire a movement where there's an herbalist in every home... AGAIN! 

 

Hello everyone. Welcome to today's podcast episode. I am excited to bring you my friend Mel from The Herbalist Path. She's going to introduce herself in a minute but I found her on Instagram and we're both in a Business Mastermind group coaching thing. So, we found each other there also. 

And as soon as I started checking out her Instagram, I was like, 'Oh, I want to her on…I have so many questions to ask her, and I have so many things I want to learn from her.' 

I love things like-- I love natural things. I love things like energy healing. I love minimalism. I have so many different things that I love, and I love to have people on that also do those things so that I can learn more about them. So, I'm excited to learn more about herbs, especially as moms, and how we can use them in our family. So, thanks for joining me today.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Oh my gosh, Crystal, thank you so much for being here. I'm so glad that we connected. It's an honor. And you will soon find out that I absolutely love talking about herbs, specifically talking to moms about herbs because I'm on this mission to help there be an herbalist in every single home again. 

And I think that the best people to start that with are us mamas. Yes, daddies too, but like we tend to be the nurturers and the caretakers; and then we can spread that wisdom onto our kids. And it's fun; and it's a never-ending wonder and learning and empowerment. So, super happy to be here, and to share all this.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: I love how much you love it too. I'm like, this is going to be a good conversation. I already know it.

 

Mel’s almost 20 years of learning and education about herbs, and how to use them

Crystal The Parenting Coach: So, how did you get into doing this?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah, you know, it was kind of accidental; way back in the late 1900s, I was studying Environmental and Experiential Education and Outdoor Leadership. And I love to be outdoors and connected to nature, and I just wanted to spend my time teaching other people about the power and the wonder of nature.

And I later became a backpacking guide and wilderness therapist. And so, my job was to take people to beautiful places and show them around, and also do some pretty intense therapy with at-risk high school kids. 

But what I found while I was doing that is that all of these people carried backpacks and camping gear and first aid kits full of toxic, nasty crap. 

And it really chopped my hide because one; like the stuff I knew, it was harming their bodies – it wasn't great for their bodies – but more importantly to me is that they were polluting the very places that they were paying me hundreds of dollars to walk them to. 

And so, at that moment, I'm like, 'Gosh, wouldn't it be great if I could just create this natural first aid kit that would get into the backpacks and camping gear of outdoor adventure seekers everywhere?'

And so, I started collecting books and making these little products out of the books; and I would hand-write my labels and Mod Podge my labels on, and pass them around my community. 

And everybody was loving them. And I was like, wow. You know, I had just really been going on other people's recipes; I didn't really know what was going on. And I'm like, what does that mean? 

Like, I had been looking into plants and how they were used traditionally – and with the natives – and had awareness of that kind of stuff. But then I was like, 'Wait, the very plants we're hiking by, are the ones that can ease those sore muscles and those broken bones…or the ones that can stop bleeding in a heartbeat if you cut yourself while you're cooking dinner out at your campsite or what have you.'

And that just really made my curiosity go and go and go. And a very, very long story short, remember this started in the late 1900s – I love to say that because it's crazy that I can.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: I feel it sounds so dramatic.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: It does. But I just started diving into more books. And I took an online course in the early 2000s, which was horrible; and obviously they've been increased-- improved since then. 

And I started going to herb conferences, and I started learning from everybody I could. And I went to my first like in-person herb school where I got to learn about the plants, and what grows around me, and the ideal time to harvest them – and harvesting them in a sustainable and ethical way that ensures they come back for future generations. And that was cool. 

But I was living in the mountains, and I had to go to the city to learn this stuff; and they'd be like, 'Here's how we commune with nature.' 

And I'm like, 'I live surrounded by 64,000 acres of wilderness, and I drove to you in the city to get to this.' 

So anyways, that left me wanting to know more about the clinical aspects of herbalism. So, I am a clinical herbalist. I do look at herbalism from a very scientific aspect, but also understanding that science does not necessarily want to pay for all the studies for us to be empowered and know how to use Plant Medicine. 

And some things are just like, 'Wow, this has been working for thousands of years…and this used to be passed down from generation to generation.' And it's only stopped in the last like, I don't know, half of a minute of our human timeline since the pharmaceutical industry came into play; and they wanted us to forget all of this empowering knowledge. 

So, that's really only changed since the mid-1800s; and it's time that we bring this awareness back into play. Long, long, long story; that herbal first aid kit though-- I'm just going to like cut my long--   

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: -story because it goes forever. I did run an herbal product line and an herbal apothecary for quite a few years in my community where we focused on using food and plants as medicine. 

And my herbal product line sold in naturopathic physicians' offices and health food stores around the US. And I made that herbal first aid kit get into REI, which is like EMS of Canada. So, like, I think it's EMS, right? I think it's Eastern Mountain Supply or something. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Oh, yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: But anyways, REI is a huge outdoor sporting goods thing in the US. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Right. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: And my first aid kits and my Tees got in there after like 18 years of this dream being seeded-- 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Wow. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: -way before. So, that was pretty cool. It's fun to think about like sometimes to create the reality that you want in life; it may take a little bit longer than you ever imagined. Yeah.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Wow. That is such a cool way of getting there in the end, and how successful it was in the end too. I was just thinking; I was just at a market…my kids love to go to markets and they sell their goods. They create things. 

And I met an indigenous herbalist there. So, if you are listening and you're local and you're wanting to purchase, I don't think she like teaches or anything – but you can buy her local indigenous herbs. It's called Little Herbs of Healing. So, make sure you go check her out. 

And I was talking to her actually about how she learned, and she said that there was like no medicine women in their tribe anymore. So, she's been just like researching and trying to find all this information to kind of bring it back into their tribe, and then to share it with everyone. 

And I was-- I just loved everything that she made; and I was like, 'I want to learn more about this.' Like, I wanted to have her come and just like teach me all of these things that she was doing. 

 

What plants you use to create a first aid kit to take on any family adventure, and keep your family safe

Crystal The Parenting Coach: And so, then when I connected with you, I'm like, 'Oh, I really want to learn more about herbs and how we can use them.' 

Especially like you said…how can we use them in our own lives preventatively and then also like reactively when things happen so that we do feel more empowered to be our own kind of first aid kit, our own little first responses to our families – little injuries and things that happen? So, going back to that herbal first aid kit, what would be in that? Like if you got to choose all the things that you'd put in a first aid kit, what would that be?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: There's a few of them that I'm going to stick with. But I actually just got done teaching a class on this very thing; I teach it a lot. 

 

1. Plantago Major

Mel Mutterspaugh: Number one thing that I would absolutely recommend that everybody with miniature humans around teaches their miniature human how to do is to identify plantain. 

And I'm not talking about the bananas; it's Plantago Major, M-A-J-O-R. Plantago is P-L-A-N-T-A-G-O. 

You could also do the Plantago Lanceolata. It's a weed, and it grows everywhere; and it's begging for us to use it as medicine. It grows in your sidewalk cracks. It grows in your yard. It grows at the edge of a road. It grows at the park where kids are falling and getting ouchies all of the time. And it's phenomenal to ease the inflammation, the itch, and the stinging from bug bites and bee stings. 

You could utilize it as a poultice if somebody were to be bit by a poisonous snake or spiders or something that's going to cause a major reaction. It has got this incredible ability to draw out venom and other things as well, including splinters. 

I've used it for a back blackberry thorn that I had in the back of my leg. Like I was out on a hike and meandering among whatever, maybe I was off the trail a bit and something pricked me in the back of the leg. I didn't think anything of it. 

And like a couple of weeks later I'm like, 'Gosh, it's kind of painful in the back of my leg,' but it was the back of my leg so I don't look there. And I finally look; and it's just like red and swollen and kind of like a little pusy circle. And I'm like, what in the world? 

And so, I took some Plantain Tincture and put a little on a cotton ball and just put it over-- put a Band-Aid over it to hold it in place. And about 10 to 15 minutes later, I took that off and this huge blackberry thorn – like half an inch, big, long – came out of the back of my leg--  

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Wow. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: -where that spot was. So, that's pretty amazing.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Plantain is actually the only one I even have experience with because my sister-in-law also loves learning about herbs. And we were out at an outside, I think it was like an outdoor kind of museumy thing. 

And one of my kids got stung by a wasp, and she was like, 'Wait a second.' So, she's like looking in the cracks; and I'm like, 'This is not going to work.' In my head, I'm like, why? We're grabbing like--  

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Crazy lady.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: -some weed from a sidewalk crack. And then, she mixed it together with some water that we found and some mud or something. And then, she put it on. And like, no joke…15 minutes and no red, no swelling – nothing. Like, it was like, it was magical.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: It's so cool. It's so cool. And I love like watching those kinds of revelations happen with people…like, this is real, this really works. Yes, it so does. It's so beautiful to watch. So, then, plantain has so many more medicinal benefits beyond that. But like first aid friend, hack and a, you must have it.

 

2. Yarrow or Achillea Millefolium

Another must-have is Yarrow or Achillea Millefolium. And Yarrow is an absolutely brilliant plant for the many things that it can do for you and your family. Number one for first aid purposes is it's aseptic, so it's going to stop bleeding. So, I have utilized Yarrow numerous times to avoid trips to the ER. 

If you're out camping or playing and somebody gets cut, however – and they're bleeding all over the place – find some Yarrow near you. It does grow in the wild where I am. I also cultivate it in my garden just out of respect for the plants and keeping them regenerating for future generations, and simplicity and ease. 

You can use the leaves of it and make a little poultice, probably like what your sister-in-law did. And just mash up those leaves. You can chew them up if you need to, use some rocks to bang them in between each other; and put it on the cut or the wound, and that bleeding will stop. It's amazing. 

The other great benefit to it is it's got some excellent antimicrobial properties to it. So, it's going to fight off any bacteria or foreign pathogens that may be trying to get into the body through that cut skin and cause an infection, and increased inflammation and redness around that area. So, it's like stopping the bleeding. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Awesome.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: It's keeping the wounds clean. It's so good. 

 

How Yarrow herbs are used for fevers

Mel Mutterspaugh: The flowers are phenomenal during cold and flu season to support the body during the fever process and help when the time comes. Like fever is a pretty darn beneficial and amazing process of the immune system. 

But there may come a time when you're like, 'Can we just push this along and get this out of here?' Mm-Hmm. And Yarrow flowers are a great diaphoretic, so it promotes the release of heat of the body through the skin by sweating. And it's amazing that way.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: How would you do that if, say, it's been a couple days, your kid's still favoring or whatever, it's getting a little intense…what do you do with the flour?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Make a tea. So, you can blend it with some other yummy herbs that are also diaphoretic and supportive during the fever process. So, that's-- One of the things I like to specialize in is teaching moms how to make Plant Medicine so it's yummy…because if it's not yummy, nobody's going to take it and then the herbs don't work.

So, you can make a little tea, maybe some peppermint is something that kiddos tend to love – ginger also, both of those are going to be great allies as well because they do have some antiviral properties. The ginger also antibacterial properties so they can support the body during the fever, but also fight off whatever's causing the infection and support that immune system as it's raising the temperature to kick those bad guys out.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Oh, I love that. I'm just imagining my new kitchen now with like a newly fresh things like drying everywhere because you take the flowers when they're budding, and then you could dry them and then use them in the future or whatever?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Exactly. Yeah. You can also dry the leaves for later use. You can make a tincture out of it. You could then dilute that tincture and put it where it needs to be to do its job. There's a lot of ways that you can make herbal medicine. 

It's really fun when you start to get into it and you start to understand the various things that these plants can do for you. I think that's one of the most empowering things is when you discover one plant and the fact that it can do many, many, many different things…then you don't have to have an apothecary with hundreds of plants. 

Like honestly, in my, well over, 20 years of doing this, I know hundreds of plants, right? Because that's what I've dedicated my life to studying. But really, I come down to using 10 – maybe 20 plants over and over and over. 

So, there's a saying, I like to teach my students because they get in there and they're like, 'Yes, I want to learn everything…tell me everything in, like, next week.' And I'm like, 20 years…20 years in this brain that I'm sharing with you. 

So, take a deep breath and understand that a great herbalist doesn't know 40 plants and how to use them. A great herbalist knows how to use five plants 40 different ways.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: That's so good. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. 

 

3. Comfrey

Crystal The Parenting Coach: That's so good. Okay. What else? There's plantain Yarrow. What else would you--  

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Let's go with Comfrey. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Okay. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: So, Comfrey is something that you can grow in your garden. It will take over the garden if you are not careful, but it does happify the bees and it also makes a great compost for the rest of your garden. 

You can sometimes find it out in the wild along the sides of roads, but do be cautious of like what you're around, and be aware of the health and everything else of the land around you because if you're taking your medicine from areas where other plants are dying, you might want to wonder about why those plants are dying and what is going into the medicine you're trying to create. 

So, all that being said, Comfrey is fantastic for sprains and strains, for broken bones – for skincare, wound healing and those kinds of things. So, for sprains and strains, like I live in an area that's filled with a bunch of adrenaline junkies. I'm on Mount Hood in Oregon; and it's a ski industry, outdoor epic mecca for people. Right? 

And everybody that lives up here either works in the restaurant industry to take care of tourists or they work in the ski industry; and on their days off they're skiing, they're hiking, they're rafting, they're doing all the cool things right? And they hurt themselves. 

And then they're like, 'Oh no, Mel, I'm out for six weeks because I sprained my ankle doing this really, really cool thing…crap, what do I do?' 

And I give them Comfrey, and I have them apply it topically because there are some liver toxic properties for internal consumption. But I have them apply it topically and never fails, every time. Somebody comes back to me or I see them at work two weeks later, and they're like, 'Oh my God, what did you do to me?'

Kind of what plantain probably did for you with the wasp sting.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Well, what did-- 'What kind of sorcery are you doing here, Mel?' And it is amazing. And their doctors are blown away. 

Like, 'Wait, you were seriously supposed to be off your feet for six weeks and now you're back waiting tables or whatever.' 

Yes, I add some other herbs sometimes to really increase the benefits, but it's amazing that way. It'll also help to set broken bones really quickly. Word of caution; don't use it until the bones have been set in place because it will speed that healing process so quickly that you don't want your bones to grow back crooked and then deal with chronic pain for the rest of your life.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: How do you apply it topically? Is it like a-- Is like a flower or something that you--  

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: So, you could do it as a poultice – much like, yeah, I was talking about with the yarrow…if you have it fresh, you could also do it dry. You would just wet the dried plant material and make it like a tea and put it in some cloth – and place it on the sprained or bruised, badly bruised area. 

And then you can also make an oil with it. So, I make Comfrey oil every year, and use that as a massage oil. You could turn it into a salve; you could do all kinds of cool things with it. Super fun.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yes. I love that. It does sound fun. It sounds like something you just get into and be like, 'Oh, what else can I use this for?'

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Oh, it's such a bless. I love it. And then the other great thing about Comfrey, I just realized this the other day. I was in my Medicine Makin' Momma program teaching them about herbs and about different ways to make medicines.

 

4. Aloe

Mel Mutterspaugh: And I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I use Comfrey every single day because I use it in my own facial care and skincare products,' because it's really rich with this stuff called allantoin, which is a constituent inside of there. If you think about it this way, allantoin sounds like another plant. Does another plant come to your mind, Crystal, when I say allantoin? 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Allantoin?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Aloe.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Oh, I was thinking aloe, but I'm like, 'I don't know if that sounds similar enough.'

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah, it does. So, aloe, if you think about like the inside of an aloe leaf fillet, it's got like this kind of gelatinous slimy kind of goo. And that's the goo you put on the sunburns and all of the other things because it's rich in allantoin; and it's repairing, and regenerating skin cells. 

And Comfrey does that same thing; if you break the Comfrey stock, you'll feel that same slimy ooey-gooeyness. And that is the medicinal goodness that is wonderful for speeding the healing of wounds and skincare issues. And for ladies, as we get older, eliminating some of the beautiful wrinkles that we earn in our wisdom.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Okay. I had never-- I forgot about aloe. Aloe is something that I've used my whole life. Like my mom would grow it, and then we'd use it on burns and itches and stings and all of those things. And I remember it being like, the only thing that made a burn feel better. Like we'd try all these other things and that was like the, the best, for sure.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. It's amazing.

Crystal The Parenting Coach: And I love the idea of having like a natural first aid kit. Like instead of like going up into the mountains with all your, I don't know, all of the other things you might have. Like I love the idea of having these in there too.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. It's really important. And they're so incredibly effective. Like they really, really are. Yep. I've been using them for many, many years; and I still-- Like I said, I closed my product down-- product line down in May – so I could just live more life and be with my family, and release a lot of excess cortisol and stress in my life.

It was a hard decision to come to, but I still to this day, like every week it never fails. Somebody's reaching out to me like, 'I need this product, I need that product. Can you make this for me? Help!' And I'm like, oh--  

 

Why Mel currently loves teaching about herbs rather than making herbal products for people

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Do you still do that? Do you still make products for people?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Not really. I have an abundance of herbs and things, but I really love teaching; and it lights my soul on fire, and I hate packaging stuff up to ship it.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: I can't stand it. So, if somebody's--   

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: You're like, 'I'll just teach people how to do it on their own now.'

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: That's kind of my jam. I have a blast teaching, and it feels really good. I do love to formulate and create. And I'm sure that once I'm like more settled into like not doing this as a huge product line and wholesale across the country and whatnot, once I am even more settled into that, I'll get back into like the fun craft of it and not being such a chore.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah. Yeah. Totally. I think that that happens often when we're like, our passions turn into this thing that balloons; and then we're like, 'Wait a second, this is happen and now I'm burnt out.'

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. That was part of why I went to like teaching because I get to be creative again in the formulating process, and that's one of my favorite things to do. I'm really good at formulating different remedies, but I wasn't able to because I had my products. 

They were the products that I sold to all these places; and their formulas were brilliant, and I created them like 15 years ago now. But where's the room to continue to grow without having to invest in new label designs and a new product launch and all the hullabaloo. So, now I get to formulate and create for all these mamas, and inspire them to formulate and create on their own as well.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: On their own, I love that. Okay. So, before we wrap up, what-- I'm going to ask you, I don't know if this is maybe going to be a super difficult question because you love so many plants.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: What is like your--

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: I know you're going to ask the question I ask on my podcast, that's impossible to answer.

 

5. Echinacea

Crystal The Parenting Coach: I was thinking your Desert Island products, if you were only could bring one or two, what would that be for you? Would that be the ones you already mentioned – plantain, yarrow, Comfrey – or would there be something else?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: I mean, there's definitely other herbs I love a lot, but hands-down plantain and yarrow are going to be the two that I'm going to get the most medicinal benefit out of. 

I love to think about maybe Echinacea in there as well. And Echinacea's like big claim to fame is for her immune support benefits, which she's great, but she does so many other fantastic things as well.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Okay. Tell me about that because I didn't know, I only know the immune system.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Oh, there's so much. I mean that's a whole other, beyond a podcast. But some things to think about, like you could use echinacea…if you have an echinacea tincture, you could dilute it in water. It's got antimicrobial properties too, so it can make a really great wound-wash for you and your kiddos if somebody gets a cut or scrape or something along those lines. 

It is also a great lymphatic herb, so if they're stuck in swollen lymph tissue, it will help to get that released and moved and drained and all of that kind of stuff. 

I mean, I use Echinacea and some pretty powerful mouthwash formulas that I create for people dealing with tooth and mouth infections. And every time I do it, they're like, 'Holy crap, what'd you just do to me? It worked.' You know, I think that's one of my favorite joys of sharing the world of Plant Medicine is just watching people be like, mind-blown.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah. It does-- It does feel magical when you're like, 'Wait a second, how is this working so well?' 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: I love that. 

 

How to connect with Mel Mutterspaugh

Crystal The Parenting Coach: I love all of the information you've already given us. I think that that will be already a lot for us to go home and dig into more and learn. But if there is somebody listening that's like, 'I actually want to learn more about this and this is something that really interests me,' how can they work with you?

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Yeah. I have two ways that I welcome mamas into my world. I have a membership that is, I call it Apothecary Momma. It's an online herbal mentorship where I teach you all of the things from pregnancy to emptying the nest – colic, teething, acne, oily skin, ADHD, anxiety, all of these things. 

I teach you different lifestyle choices after you learn what's going on in the body. And then, I also teach you what kind of herbs you can turn to. So, that's a pretty amazing and powerful program. We also do live Q&As and I bring in guest teachers every month; it's amazing. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Perhaps too amazing for what it is right now. Like I need to--

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: That is amazing.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: -work on my end of the amazing. And then, I also have Medicine Makin' Momma, which is a program where I teach you the scientific methods to extracting plant medicines and the folk methods. 

I see a lot of people out there trying to create medicines on social media; and they're like making a tincture with a plant, and they think that it's going to help them with their respiratory health. This particular plant would be marshmallow or althaea officinalis; and the constituents that they're trying to extract aren't soluble in alcohol. 

And so, understanding those kinds of things is really important if you want to start making medicine that actually works and learn how to make medicine that tastes good – because, again, if your kiddos aren't going to take it, it's not going to work.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: So, yeah, Medicine Makin' Momma and Apothecary Momma. I have a podcast, theherbalistspath.com; and I have a cool guide that I'm actually just about to put out at the time of this podcast recording, it'll be out.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: It'll probably be done by the time we get this out. Yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Exactly. So, I'll give you links to that. But it's all about the top herbs to grow in your medicinal herb garden.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Ooh. Yeah.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: And I think that's really important stuff to know too.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Yeah. Okay. This all sounds so good. I'm excited, I'm excited to dig into learning more myself too. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Awesome. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: So, thank you so much for coming on and answering all my questions. 

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Oh, my goodness. 

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Thanks for being here.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Thank you so much for having me. It's so much fun. I will herb-nerd with anybody anytime they give me the chance.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Thanks, Mel.

 

Mel Mutterspaugh: Thank you, Crystal. Bye.

 

Crystal The Parenting Coach: Thanks for listening. If you'd like to help spread this work to the world, share this episode on social media and tag me – send it to a friend, or leave a quick rating and review below so more people can find me. If you'd like more guidance on your own parenting journey, reach out.