What if becoming a good herbalist wasn't about knowing everything, but about slowing down, staying curious, and building a deeper relationship with the plants around you?

In this episode of Homestead & Heal, we're joined by longtime herbalist, educator, and plant enthusiast jim mcdonald for a beautiful conversation about making herbalism accessible, reconnecting with the natural world, and embracing the lifelong journey of learning from plants.

Jim shares how his herbal journey began with a book left behind by a roommate, the plants growing around his Michigan farmhouse, and a curiosity that never went away.

Together, we explore what it means to truly know a plant beyond memorizing its medicinal properties, why firsthand experience is such an important part of herbal education, and how we can release the pressure to know it all before sharing what we've learned.

We also dive into the mentors who shaped jim's path, the importance of learning at your own pace, sustainable wildcrafting, and the ways our relationships with plants continue to deepen and evolve over time.

In this episode, we explore:

• How jim discovered herbalism and developed a lifelong connection with medicinal plants
• Why herbalism should be accessible to everyone, not just experts
• The difference between memorizing herbal information and truly understanding plants through experience
• How mentorship and community can shape our growth as herbalists
• The beauty of wildcrafting and developing an intimate relationship with the land
• Why you don't need to know everything to become a knowledgeable, confident herbalist
• How slowing down and staying curious can transform the way we learn
• Passing down a connection to plants and herbal traditions to the next generation

Whether you're just beginning to explore herbalism or have been working with plants for years, this conversation is a reminder that there's no finish line when it comes to learning from nature.

The invitation is simply to stay curious, trust your experience, and keep building relationships with the plants growing all around you.

Connect with jim mcdonald:

Website: https://www.herbcraft.org

Explore jim's herbal writings, classes, educational videos, and online offerings through his website.

Connect with Lindsay & Scott:

To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net

Follow Homestead & Heal: https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/

Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/

Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!

What does it actually mean to have a healthy relationship with food?

In this episode, Lindsay and Scott sit down with Katrina — farmer, mother, food lover, and the woman behind Meaty Mama — for a conversation about food that goes far beyond what we should or shouldn't be eating.

Katrina shares her journey from growing up between Colombian, Finnish, and Canadian cultures, to studying geochemistry, landing on an organic farm, moving to France, and eventually building a farm and family of her own.

She also opens up about the evolution of her relationship with food — from years of plant-based eating to embracing meat and nutrient-dense foods, experimenting with more extreme approaches, and eventually realizing that eating the “right” foods was only one piece of the puzzle.

Because our relationship with food isn't only about what is on our plate.

It's also about how we feel when we eat.

The guilt. The restriction. The comfort. The pleasure. The stories we've inherited. The signals coming from our bodies. And the amount of mental space food can take up in our lives.

Together, we explore what it can look like to come back into a more connected, nourishing relationship with food — one rooted in quality ingredients, body awareness, pleasure, moderation, family culture, and the land itself.

We talk about:

• Katrina's Colombian + Finnish roots and the food memories that shaped her
• Going from a city girl in Toronto to farming in the French countryside
• Her evolution from plant-based eating to a meat-centered approach
• The difference between nourishing yourself and obsessing over food
• Emotional eating, restriction, guilt + learning to listen to your body
• Why food quality changes the experience of eating
• Raising children with a grounded relationship to food
• Creating a family food culture without perfection or rigidity
• Slowing down enough to actually experience our meals
• Simple “slow fast food” and making nourishing meals realistic
• Fermentation, meat stock + foods that can't simply be bought
• Learning to love the foods that make you feel good
• Why small, sustainable shifts can be more powerful than changing everything overnight

Katrina also shares about her new program, Reclaim Your Love Story With Food, where she'll bring together nourishment, body connection, cooking skills, microbiome health, and family food culture in a small, intimate group experience.

This conversation is an invitation to look beyond the rules and ask a deeper question:

What would it feel like to be truly nourished by your food — without having your life revolve around it?

Connect with Katrina on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/meaty_mama

Connect with Lindsay & Scott:

To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net

Follow Homestead & Heal: https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/

Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/

Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!

What can seeds teach us about our bodies, our relationship with the Earth, and trusting the timing of our lives?

In this episode, Lindsay and Scott sit down with clinical herbalist, integrative health educator, bodyworker, and Herbal Womb Wisdom podcast host Kay’aleya Hunnybee for a winding conversation about plants, womb wisdom, seed keeping, and what it means to live in deeper relationship with the Earth.

Kay’aleya shares the unexpected path that brought her from growing up in New York City with very little relationship to plants, to farming in India, studying birth work and midwifery, practicing herbalism and bodywork, and eventually spending years immersed in the world of seed keeping.

Together, they explore the magic held within a seed, the parallels between seed keeping and midwifery, the wisdom of our bodies and the Earth, and why sometimes the most important thing we can do is slow down enough to listen.

In this episode, we explore:

• Kay’aleya’s journey from feeling disconnected from plants to building a life deeply rooted in relationship with the Earth
• How farming in India transformed her understanding of plants and agriculture
• Her path through birth work, midwifery, herbalism, and bodywork
• Seed keeping as a form of “seed midwifery”
• The ancestral and cultural stories carried through seeds
• Trusting the timing of seeds, bodies, and natural cycles
• Allowing ourselves to experience fallow seasons
• Why observation and listening can be some of our greatest teachers
• Letting go of the pressure to move quickly and remembering that it’s okay for things to take time

Connect with Kay’aleya

Instagram: @herbalwombwisdom
Website: herbalwomb.com
Podcast: Herbal Womb Wisdom

About Kay’aleya

Kay’aleya Hunnybee, M.S., is a clinical herbalist, integrative health educator, and bodyworker whose work centers menstrual, hormonal, sexual, and reproductive health. Her background includes herbal medicine, massage and bodywork, doula work, and midwifery studies. Through her work and the Herbal Womb Wisdom podcast, she helps people deepen their relationship with their bodies, plants, and the wisdom of the Earth.

Connect with Lindsay & Scott:

To learn more about our retreats: www.homesteadandheal.net

Follow Homestead & Heal: https://www.instagram.com/homestead.andheal/

Connected with Lindsay: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaycourcelle/

Connect with Scott: https://www.instagram.com/alchemygardens/

If you loved this episode - it would mean so much to leave us a review!