This conversation with Julie Caldwell was such a joy! It brought me back to a time when I was just a baby herbalist studying in Santa Cruz, California, where the surrounding mountains are home to countless towering redwood trees.

The redwood forest where Julie lives is a few hundred miles north of Santa Cruz – but as she pointed out, the entire northern hemisphere used to be covered in redwoods, and those of us who live on this part of the earth are connected by the land’s memory of these ancient beings. These trees and their connections to the surrounding ecosystems are a beautiful reminder of our own connections to our community – including the community of plants and other beings in the world around us.

Speaking of community, Julie loves to bring people together around food that sparks conversations about the important trees in their lives, and the recipe she shared with us is a delicious way to do just that! You can download your beautifully illustrated recipe card for Julie’s Redwood Pots de Crème here: https://bit.ly/423UzGF

By the end of this episode, you’ll know:

► The unique ecosystems that exist high up in the canopy of the redwoods

► Seven ways of working with redwood and other conifers – including simply going for a stroll!

► What makes redwood so great for your respiratory health

► How working with redwood can help you release long-held grief

► A fascinating way to access the medicine of old-growth redwoods even if they don’t grow where you live

► How community was essential to the building of Julie's herb store, Humboldt Herbals

► and so much more…

For those of you who don’t know her, Julie Caldwell lives in the Pacific Northwest coastal mountains of northern California among the ancient old growth redwood forests and the wild Pacific coastline. For the past 27 years she has happily tended her vibrant retail herbal apothecary, Humboldt Herbals, where many powerful relationships between people and plants have been cultivated. Julie is a long-serving member of the Visioning Council for the Organization of Nature Evolutionaries, an educational non-profit dedicated to co-creative partnership with nature, and is deeply committed to amplifying communication with nature consciousness and our brilliantly beautiful wild Earth.

I can’t wait to share our conversation with you today!

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Get full show notes and more information at: herbswithrosaleepodcast.com

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On the podcast, we explore the many ways plants heal, as food, as medicine, and through nature connection. Each week, I focus on a single seasonal plant and share trusted herbal knowledge so that you can get the best results when using herbs for your health.

Learn more about Herbs with Rosalee at herbswithrosalee.com.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild and teaches many popular online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.