Bluestem Herbal Community Learn, Share, Explore

We want to create a place for you to feel welcomed, not judged. Supported, not put down. A community that is open, not dogmatic.

Intended for those with some herbal experience, whether through Barefoot, other herbal programs or self-study, Nurse+Herbalist+Herb Farmer Linda and guest speakers will be hosting weekly and monthly events for members only.  We will guide members through round table discussions of current herbal research, monthly case studies, herb walks and for those interested in farming or gardening, shared garden planning documents, tips and educational videos. 

We will all be learning together!

We believe that there is good to be had in every system of medicine (although we are biased in that we think herbs are awesome!).  We strive to seek out the best of how our various systems and approaches can work together to promote health for people and planet.

 Ideas for community driven boards include:

• Recipe Roundup 
• Herbal Resources Sharing and Bartering
• Teahouse Meet and Greet

This community is intended to support learning and is a place for self-exploration among the safety of others on their plant journey. Members may participate as little or as much as they would like, but language perceived as putting down one person's experience, understanding, cultural, ethnic, religious, or other group or identity over another will not be tolerated.

Our community platform will be host to discussion groups, live and recorded classes and meetings, as well as shared files and documents. All events will be recorded for later viewing.

Ongoing schedule of events (starting March 1, 2022)

Tuesday Weekly Lunch and Learn (12-1PM) 

• First Tuesday: Herb of the Month Discussion
• Second Tuesday: Case Study (Hosted with herbalist Katie Moxham)
• Third Tuesday: Herbal Research Review
• Fourth Tuesday: Farm Update and Field Walk

First Friday Herbal Happy Hour (4-5PM)

• Topics to be announced and will include guest speakers throughout the year.

Members will have first notice of:

• New products
• Fresh harvests
• Dried herb availability
• Scheduled on-farm and online workshops

More events to be added over the season as interest demands and membership builds.

About Linda Shanahan, MSN, RN

Linda Shanahan is an herbalist with a foundation of knowledge that sprouted in the forests of Oregon over twenty years ago. After studying with amazing teachers in the Pacific Northwest and later in the Northeast over the next decade, she supported her herbal way of life by working as a nurse in critical care, hospice and community health. Since 2008 she has operated Barefoot Botanicals, a small certified organic herb farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with her partner Eric VanderHyde. It is here that she feels all of her worlds come together where she grows plants, makes herbal extracts, sees clients and teaches classes in apothecary building and herbal community health.

The mission of Bluestem Botanicals is to connect people to plants for food, for medicine and for a more resilient collective future for all beings. Linda and Eric work every day to make sure that this mission remains front and center, guiding everything that they do.

Are you tired of poorly vetted herbal information, judgmental responses to your experience or understanding, or a dogmatic view of how an herbal practice or "natural" way of life should look?  We believe that there is good to be had in every system of medicine.  We strive to seek out the best of how our various systems and approaches can work together to promote health for people and planet.

All of the members of our community who have believed in us and supported this little farm all along the way.  We are grateful for the generosity and abundance of the land upon whom we farm and create amazing herbal medicine every day.  And we honor the people upon whose unceded territory we stand: the Lenape Nations and the water from which they and we drink: the Neshaminy Creek and the Delaware River.