Support me as I launch myself as an Herbalist and Herbal Medicine Maker!

Very recently I started a small company named Red Turtle and the Plant Spirits. Through this venture I am devoting myself to sharing what I have learned and continue to learn about plants and their healing spirits and to producing high quality, organic botanical remedies.
I am raising funds to help me with the start up costs of this venture.

A little bit about me:

I can’t imagine life without the enchantment of gardening, growing, touching and being touched by plants. There is a photo of me as a very young child crouched in a meadow picking flowers. Another photo taken last year in a meadow near Mt. Hood in Oregon is almost the exact same pose. Among leaves and flowers with hands in the soil I’m home, relaxed and at peace.






I have been a registered nurse for 28 years. The past eight of those years have been spent in a large, metropolitan emergency room where day after day I am witness to the chronic mental, emotional and physical ailments that afflict our families, friends and communities. This is what I know for sure: people want to be well. Every human who shows up embodied on this planet wants to feel physically at ease and emotionally balanced. Yet despite all this desire, the reality that manifests is one of immense chronic mental and physical suffering. Western medicine has been very adept and invaluable at saving people’s lives during times of acute infection and trauma, however in the face of chronic, degenerative disease, the results have been less satisfying. We are looking at a population that is hooked on more and more pharmaceuticals that at best suppress symptoms and at worst debilitate with their side effects. Disasters are kept at bay for a time but no one really feels healthy and vibrant, nor are chronic disease states really cured.
Imagine my dissatisfaction.

Some ten years ago I set out on a more spiritual path leading deeply into the Native American ceremonies of sweat lodge and vision quest; and the ancient, plant-based ceremonies of the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon.

One of the most meaningful realizations I‘ve received on this journey is my intrinsic connection to all things. In particular I feel the remembering of an ancient bond between humans and plants. We have coexisted since the beginning of time in a symbiotic relationship that historically was honored at every turn.

With the industrialization of food and medicine this relationship has faded into relating to plants as objects, “natural resources” to exploit and manipulate. And I feel how this loss contributes to the illnesses of the human race and our planet. Like every living thing each plant has awareness. They breathe and offer a particular energy signature enlivened by the sacred spark of life.

My calling is to help us remember this ancient relationship. I can see that this love of plants and soil have been there since the beginning.

This calling has now blossomed into a passion for crafting medicine; harvesting and wild crafting plants into tinctures and ointments. I am very clear this is not my medicine, but a gift shared by the plant spirits.

The herbal products I offer have been prayerfully prepared, with gratitude and attention to honoring this gift of life. My hope is these preparations bring healing into your life and rekindle relationship with the green friends all around you.

The photo below shows just a sampling of some of the tinctures I have made. The labels are homemade and will hopefully be replaced very soon by professional ones.

I am in the process of developing some tincture formulations that will offer support around some of the biggest issues I see: stress, insomnia, depression and anxiety, digestive disorders, immune support.
I also produce herbal salves that help with wound healing and muscle pain.
Please visit my ETSY store to see some of my current products:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RedTurtlePlantSpirit?ref=hdr_shop_menu





I live with my husband in the beautiful, green city of Portland, Oregon. We are surrounded by the Cascade range to the east and the NW Coast range to the west where many medicinal plants thrive in profusion.

I completed an extensive two-year program at the School of Traditional Western Herbalism in Portland, Oregon. Many well-known and exceptional herbalists contributed to my education, including Hanna Jordan, Chris Smaka, Jim McDonald, Paul Bergner, Elise Krohn, 7Song, Chanchal Cabrera, Scott Kloos, Larken Bunce and Debra Frances.
My training and learning are ongoing. I continue to pursue workshops and classes whenever time and money allow. As with most things in life, the learning never stops! And the greatest teachers are the plants themselves!

Very specifically I need funds to help with two things:

First and foremost, the completion of an herbal studio located behind my house. My husband, who is a licensed contractor, has erected the basic structure and the roof has been completed. We still need windows and a door and siding for the exterior walls! The interior needs to be completed in such a way that I can safely, cleanly and legally produce herbal supplements. This means in addition to insulation, drywall, electricity, a gas line and some basic plumbing, I will need fixtures such as commercial stainless steel counters and sink, a refrigerator, and storage shelves with doors to protect dried and tinctured plants from light and heat.
My dream is to also be able to see clients in this space in the future.

Secondly, I am raising money to help with the cost of graphic design, label creation, web design and marketing.

I am grateful beyond words for your help. Knowing that this venture is not something I undertake alone, but with the support and participation of my greater community, opens my heart wider every day. And I can see that the more spacious my heart becomes, the more room I will have to hear what the plants have to say and to pass this wisdom on to a world that is longing for it.