Black Toad Herbals started in 2006 as a neat name for the herbal preparations I began making for my family, pets and friends. The black toad herself is a very large toad that lives in a tree stump in our yard in the summertime.
The toad is also a regenerative symbol of the Goddess of Old Europe.
I grow all of the herbs that are used in my salves and creams. My favorites are calendula, yarrow, comfrey, lavender and St. John’s wort. The lavender, comfrey and calendula are grown with organic gardening methods. The yarrow grows wild around the yard and the St. John’s wort planted itself in my garden last year! I also wild gather (from the yard and garden) chickweed, plantain (broad leaved and narrow leaved), violet leaves and various other plants. We don’t use any yard chemicals and never have so all these plants are pesticide free as well. Other plants I grow include nettle, garlic, walking onions, parsley, cilantro, basil, Echinacea purpurea, chamomile, thyme, hyssop, lemon balm, sage, chives, mint, yellow dock, catnip, bee balm, mint and tansy. I also grow strawberries, blueberries, elderberry, raspberries, wild blackberries.
I strive to produce high quality hand-crafted herbal medicine. I hope to provide you and your family with herbal products to keep you healthy as well as medicinal herbs to use in the event of a cold, flu or other mild illness.
Education
Studying herbalism never has an end! I have been studying herbs off and on since 1991. In 2005 I started making salves for friends and relatives as Christmas gifts. They worked wonderfully and everyone who used them was quite pleased, including me. In 2006 I felt a definite call to be an herbalist and began formal study in July 2007. I chose to study herbal medicine as practiced in European wise woman tradition so I started with a course with Susun Weed, which I finished in 2008. I am currently apprenticing with Gail Faith Edwards in her three-year community herbalist program. My graduation date for this apprenticeship is 2011. I also attend workshops and conferences to learn as much as I can. And, let us not forget the plants! They are the best teachers any of us can have. I’ve always spent a lot of time outdoors and have the greatest respect for nature, for our Earth Mother Gaia, and the green beings that make our life on earth possible.
I also hold a B.A. in Anthropology from Kent State University in Kent, OH where I graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors in 1991. In 2000 I earned an MBA from Bryant College (now Bryant University) in Smithfield, RI.