TOANO Amanda Carpenter, owner of the Herbalist Garden LLC, aims to share the benefits of having a local herbalist in the community.
The Herbal Garden launched in October, focusing on herbal tea blends as well as botanicals for skin care. Carpenter grows most of the herbs for her teas, and this is where her love of herbalism began.
“By buying the herbs locally, formulating them myself, crafting the items myself, I’m able to bring something that’s high quality and handcrafted and really supports the ethos of herbalism,” Carpenter said. “When you talk to herbalists, they’ll say they believe in local herbalists using local herbs to support local people.”
The American Herbalist Guild describes an herbalist as someone who dedicates their life to working with medicinal plants. Examples are native healers, scientists, naturopaths, holistic doctors, researchers, writers, herbal pharmacists, medicine makers, wildcrafters, foragers, herbal farmers, even your grandmother or grandfather. It’s a definition that aligns with her personal path as a grower and medicine maker.
Carpenter explains that there are many different degrees that can be used with herbalism, including certified, clinical, community and master herbalists. She is a certified herbalist, having completed training with the American Herbalist Guild.
“I always like to point out that there is no US federal regulation that defines herbalism,” Carpenter said. “There’s no legal set of standards. So when you meet someone who’s a certified herbalist, that’s someone who’s gone the extra step to get formal education.
Carpenter acknowledges that society demands credentials as a way to show they know what they’re talking about, but also stresses that it’s not the only way to gain knowledge, as herbalism is “the people’s medicine.”
The seed of his journey was planted by his love of the outdoors. Carpenter said she has moved and traveled a lot throughout her life and everywhere she went she started a garden.
“I think the more you garden, the more you want to learn what it is you’re doing,” Carpenter said.
She credits an illness in 2019 as the catalyst for doing what she could most with herbs, having reached a point in her life where she was ready to do something for herself. He decided to get formal certification and make herbalism more than just a hobby.
At The Herbalists Garden, Carpenter uses non-GMO seeds that she germinates, transplants and grows herself using organic, pesticide-free gardening methods. But she is not limited to what she is able to grow herself, as some of the ingredients she uses are not native to the area where they are obtained.
Carpenter travels to various local farmers markets to sell her teas and skin care formulas, as well as her online store.
“What I like [about the farmers market community] I live here in the area. So before I started the farmers market I was already seeing clients so it was a great way to meet clients and neighbors that I already had and it was for me to offer nourishing teas and endocrine disrupting skin care . community But it’s also been a great way for me to tell them that they have an herbalist in your community,” Carpenter said.
Currently, some of the markets that can be found at The Herbalist’s Garden are the Toano Open Air Market, Yorktown Market Days, the Hopewell Farmers Market. Each month a schedule is sent through the company’s newsletter.
For more information about The Herbalist’s Garden, visit their official website.
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