I write about herbs online. I share my own pictures of the plants and their medicinal properties with the hopes that people will be inspired to use these herbs in their healing journeys. So yeah, I am a big proponent of utilizing digital technology for herbal education.
And at the same time. I think we are all missing out if blog posts and books are our main way of learning about the herbs.
We also need herb walks.
An herb walk is as it sounds. You walk, with friends or alone, and get to know the herbs in your area. This can be in a park, in a neighborhood, or even a forest trail. The best herb walks are with other herb enthusiasts. That way you can trade knowledge and lore about the plants you see along the way. I first started going on herb walks with friends in my college town of Eugene, Oregon. That is how I first learned to identify many of the herbs that are staples in my own apothecary to this day.
It was on a herb walk that I was introduced to ginkgo while on a walk with a friend back in 2015. He pointed out the ginkgo trees that lined the sidewalk of our neighborhood. He reached up and grabbed a few leaves to make a tincture with, alongside rosemary, for memory support.
That is something that I really admired about this friend. That he didn't feel the need to buy herbs or forage them from a pristine source.