In conversation with Herbal Elder Blaine 'the Herb Man' Andrusek.

In this episode we cover knowing your herbal chemistry to make substitutions; how the herbs are always growing where you need them; the ins and outs of gout including how it happens and the foods and herbs you can take to remedy; benefits and ethical harvesting of colostrum; herbal first-aid stories and more! 

Want to join us at our upcoming class on Sunday April 28th? A whole afternoon with Master Herbalist Blaine Andrusek in a class we're calling Alternative First Aid: Learn the Herbs & Natural Remedies to Help You At Home & In the Wild.

Register here: https://lightcellar.ca/products/alternative-first-aid

This was chat number 23 in the Wild Wisdom & Storytelling series of interviews with Blaine Andrusek by Malcolm Saunders of Light Cellar.

What would you like to hear Blaine share his perspective on? Get in touch by email, info@lightcellar.ca.

Let us know what you thought of this episode, and stay tuned and subscribe to this podcast for more.

About the Herb Man: Blaine Andrusek grew up in north central Saskatchewan where he spent a good deal of time in his beloved Boreal forest. By the age of 14, Blaine was regularly hunting and trapping and had a keen interest in native traditions and all that the forest had to offer. At 18, Blaine ran off with a few provisions and adequate gear to survive minus 27 and five feet of snow and ended up spending nearly four months living mostly off the land. Although he didn’t understand the concept of ‘totems’ at that time, Blaine had many experiences with Owl, who told him that his mission, this time, was to never stop learning and to teach.

When Blaine returned to Calgary a few years later, he met Terry Willard, who had just started his practice and founded the Wild Rose College of Natural Healing. Blaine was one of the earliest graduates of the Master Herbalist program, and by the Spring of 1981 began teaching. Although mostly a hobby interest at first, ten years later, Blaine gave up other interests in favour of becoming a full-time teacher, public speaker, and practitioner. A focus on essential oils captured his interest, and Blaine was soon formulating and supplying fellow herbalists, aestheticians, and massage therapists from coast to coast, and speaking to eight to ten audiences a week.

From children’s summer camps to Elder Hostel, numerous massage schools, television work, and eventually keynoting national and international conferences, Blaine has had an extremely diverse and rewarding career and has been honoured as an herbal Elder. He is the creator of and namesake behind Blaine Andrusek Phytotherapeutics, a line of high-quality essential oils. As well as the author of the forthcoming autobiography: Child of the Boreal: the Story of a Young Man.