Richo's Blog

Pressing Herbal Tinctures—Lessons Learned And Questions Answered

Early disasters. Pressing tinctures was my first herbal job, and I approached it quite enthusiastically, but soon realized the benefits of—finesse...

Tulsi (Holy Basil) Type Comparisons

How does one disambiguate a subject so complex? Holy Basil, a plant that is gentle and healing to body, mind and spirit should bring happiness, not confusion! The commonality of all types (species/cultivars) is that the leaves may be eaten fresh, used in cooking, or best yet picked, dried, and made into tea.

Growing True Comfrey From Seeds

The flowers of True Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) are generally very richly arrayed and colored dark purple. The leaves are lance-shaped and not so broad as those of Russian Comfrey. True Comfrey is really the nicest of the Comfrey clan in my opinion.

White Sage: Planting, Growing And Harvesting

White Sage (Salvia apiana) seed harvest has begun, the giant plants lifting their aromatic fronds to the summer sun. I hurry to get a hit before the birds do the job for me!

Growing Mandrake — Beyond The Basics

Growing mystical plants requires a certain amount of consciousness on the part of the gardener, and for best results one allows the plants to call the shots. This is only to the extent of one’s willingness to let go of control. One never really knows where it will all go. Simply wishing the plant to do well seems to be the best approach.

Where And How To Grow An Herbal Groundcover

The urge to muck about and create plant habitat goes hand-in-hand with the urge to grow more and more species of plants that need individualized growing conditions. As your species list increases, you will probably feel motivated to prepare specific plant habitats. After all, making your plants happy is a way to spread a groundcover of happiness into yourself.

A Deeper Look at Forest Roots

Sandy loam, a substance created by the breakdown of minerals (rock) mixed with the breakdown of carbon (tree or grass detritus). Sandy loam is what we all want, because it is the best all around substrate for growing the plants we love the most...

Extremely simple seed planting techniques

Learn from the plants. Do it. . . for the plants. — Richo Cech For those of you who simply cannot get a medicinal or culinary herb seed to germinate, despite…

Wild Lettuce, Spontaneous Generation in the Garden of Diversity

We like to leave our best plants to produce seeds, seeds that may be harvested and set aside to plant at a later time, or seeds that fall spontaneously to the…

Pressing Herbal Tinctures—Lessons Learned and Questions Answered

Early disasters. Pressing tinctures was my first herbal job, and I approached it quite enthusiastically, but soon realized the benefits of—finesse. The press was a handmade affair, bolted to the wall,…

strictlymedicinalseeds

Organic growers of medicinal herb seeds, medicinal herb plants, organic vegetable seeds and organic garden seeds.

Sempervivum (Hen-and-Chicks) "Always Living" roof

One thing I've learned is, if you want a plant to

Squirting Cucumber (Ecballium elatarium) has caugh

Greek Mountain Tea planted to the outside edge of

Post-harvest drying of seeds (this is what 14 lbs

The simplest herbs do the most work and when one e

Echinacea sanguinea now in full flower. Thank you

New fig tree doing well after digesting a topdress

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About

Richo is an internationally recognized expert on the cultivation, processing and usage of medicinal plants. He is the author of the popular herbal, Making Plant Medicine. His life-long interest in seed saving lead to extensive travel and plant exploration, largely in the USA and Africa but also in South America, China and Europe. This collection of seeds, including numerous unique introductions and rare plants as well as many common medicinal plants and permacultural trees, is currently conserved and multiplied in his greenhouses and gardens.

Strictly Medicinal, LLC is the name of this organic seed company and nursery based in Williams, Oregon. The mission is to sow seeds worldwide for the benefit of people, plants and the planet.