Catherine Hunziker has spent decades at the intersection of herbalism, advocacy, and deep respect for the natural world. In Episode #117 of You Are A Big Deal, host Becca Jay sits down with the naturalist, master herbalist, formulator, and president of WishGarden Herbs for a rich conversation about plant energy, radical herbalism, and what it truly means to work with whole plants.
Catherine shares her journey studying with herbal renaissance pioneer Michael Moore and Feather Jones, her cross-cultural exploration of Indigenous traditions around the human-nature relationship, and her lifelong commitment as an environmental crusader and advocate for women's rights and the midwifery resurgence. The conversation weaves together botany, philosophy, and practical herbalism. It touches on specific plants like Yerba Santa, Yerba Mansa, and Witch Hazel, and the WishGarden formulas born from real-life situations.
Episode #117 covers:
- What it means to be a "radical" herbalist and why it matters
- Working with plant energy and the distinct personalities of individual plants
- Why whole plant medicine offers something isolated compounds cannot
- How plants transform sunlight into matter and what that means for healing
- Tuning in to what your body needs and learning to read its responses
- Catherine's studies with Michael Moore and Feather Jones, and cross-cultural Indigenous traditions
- Herbalism as advocacy; women's rights, the midwifery resurgence, and reclaiming women's health
- Spotlight plants: Yerba Santa, Yerba Mansa, and Witch Hazel
- What being a formulator really means and how WishGarden's formulas are born from real situations
- Gratitude, intention, and giving back to the land
- WishGarden's commitment to organic, sustainable, fair-trade sourcing from family-owned farms
