256: Tammi Hartung on the Versatility of Plants.
Discovering amazing uses for herbs, weeds and other common North American plants.
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Tammi is the author of several books including the national bestseller Homegrown Herbs, The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener, and her newest book Cattail Moonshine & Milkweed Medicine, Published by Storey Publishing.Don’t miss an episode! Click here to sign up for weekly podcast updates
In This Podcast:
Curiosity about the uses and benefits of plants led Tammi Hartung to do some pretty interesting research. She has a significant knowledge base to pull from since she loves plants and has over 1200 varieties on her farm, yet she wanted to know more and shares a little of what she found. There are some amazing surprises that blew our mind, let us know if you think so too.
Listen in and learn about:
- Desert Canyon Farm and her love of plants
- Her 1200 different varieties of plants and how she thought it was only 800 until they made a list
- How her varieties are available to be purchased
- Starting out in the medicinal plant market
- What an ethnobotanical herbalist does
- Some of the uses of the plants she grows
- Willow and some of the uses over time
- Working with nature to manage the garden space
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Harvesting santolina
- Working on her newest book and selecting plants for the chapters
- Some amazing uses for cattails – you will probably be surprised!
- And uses for milkweed – including oil spill clean-up
- Glazes for pottery from plants like cottonwood
- Prickly pears with and without their wicked spines
- How she grows her potatoes and gets 30 lbs. per barrel
- Celebrating 21 years for her organic farm
- A description of her property starting with her pollinator hedge and the variety of wildlife that coexist on her land
- Hosting school groups with lessons tailored to their learning objectives
- The influential people in her life, including her great aunt, Rosemary Gladstar, and Gary Nabbin
As well as:
- Her failure – Trying unsuccessfully to grow chives for two full years by over analyzing the whole process
- Her success – Earning her livelihood doing something she really loves, and always learning more
- Her drive – Sharing the information with others and being inspired by nature
- Her advice – Think like a plant, not like a person; and if you fail, so what, move on
Producer’s note: Greg calls this advice out as Epic!
Books written by Tammi:
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Cattail Moonshine & Milkweed Medicine: The Curious Stories of 43 Amazing North American Native PlantsGrowing 101 Herbs That Heal: Gardening Techniques, Recipes, and Remedies
How to reach Tammi:
You can read Tammi’s blog at desertcanyonfarm.wordpress.com
UrbanFarm.org/CatTailMoonshine