Welcome to

We are a small, family-owned business dedicated to helping people learn about the nourishing and healing qualities of plants.

John and I started LearningHerbs in 2004 just after our daughter, Hailey, was born. Our son, Rowan, was five at the time. John had been studying herbs for several years, and as a young family, we were excited about all we were learning about herbs. We would gather plants together and turn them into food and medicine for ourselves and our children.

LearningHerbs was born out of our desire to share what we were learning with other families. We are continually developing simple, creative ways to connect people with plants – like our Wildcraft! board game and HerbMentor, our membership site.

As our little home business has grown, we have been able to hire an amazing team. We have dedicated ourselves to developing a work culture where everyone is thriving, hiring people for positions they are passionate to fill, and prioritizing vibrant health for all our employees.

We believe that everyone should have access to the healing herbs that grow around them. We do this by nourishing our growing community of home herbalists.

Our Vision

We envision a world where…

The healing qualities of herbs become common knowledge once again
There is an herbalist in every home
Every child learns herbal skills as they grow up
Everyone has access to herbal wisdom that is safe and trustworthy
Herbs empower people to stay healthy and connect to nature. Healthy people who are connected to nature create thriving, resilient communities that honor and care for the earth.

Core Values

Gratitude: This is the foundational principle underlying everything we do. We are grateful for the plants and their healing qualities, for our elders and mentors, for the gift of life, and for each and every opportunity to effectively serve our vision and mission.

Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability: This company was born out of a deep love for the earth and life on earth. We believe that making herbalism simple empowers people to stay healthy using herbs and connects them to nature. This leads to healthier people and a healthier planet. Many of our products are made with FSC certified or recycled papers.

Whole Plant Remedies: Plants, in their whole natural form are nourishing, healing, and easily assimilated into our bodies. For this reason, we focus on teaching about the healing and nourishing qualities of plants as food and remedies like herbal infusions, salves, and poultices or compresses that involve minimal processing of recently harvested plants.

Vibrant Health: We are committed to the vibrant health and well-being of our LearningHerbs team, our customers, their communities, the natural world, and the generations of the future.

Simple, Hands-On Learning: We are committed to providing the highest quality, most accessible, simple, fun, creative, hands-on learning experiences possible. We want our customers to feel inspired, delighted, and empowered.

Whole-Hearted Leadership: As leaders in herbal education, our team takes the responsibility of providing safe, reliable information seriously. We operate from a foundation of knowledge and care and are generous with our offerings, always keeping customer satisfaction as a top priority.

Social Justice: We are committed to everyone having access to herbal wisdom. As small business owners, we feel a responsibility to seek out ways that we can help shift our culture so that it becomes more socially just. We are currently involved in training to help us understand how we can most effectively use our resources in this way. Two questions we are currently exploring are:

What work do we need to do within ourselves and our organization to make LearningHerbs a comfortable, accessible, inspiring place for BIPOC home herbalists to learn and grow?
How can we most effectively support BIPOC herbalists within the greater herbal community?

Our Team

John Gallagher

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

Favorite plant ally: Dandelion

Favorite blog post: The Earth Shake!

Hobbies: Guitar, Hiking

Kimberly and I started our family in 1999 with an intention of creating a culture of nature connection, natural healing, passion-based learning, community and creativity. We sometimes joke that LearningHerbs is our "third child," as our company and family have always been intertwined. This all started for me in 1991 when I joined Jon Young to grow Wilderness Awareness School into what it is today. From there, I trained in herbal schools, became a five element acupuncturist, taught herbal medicine and in 2004, created LearningHerbs right before our daughter was born. Over the last two decades, it’s been an honor to help thousands of people make healing herbs part of their family story.

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Kimberly Gallagher

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

Favorite plant ally: Chickweed

Favorite blog post: Self Care Secrets: How to Create an Herbal Bath

Hobbies: Dancing, Knitting, Sailing

Co-CEOing at LearningHerbs is a privilege and a pleasure. I love working with this amazing team to help connect people to the healing herbs in all sorts of creative ways. This work emerged organically as we pursued herbalism as a family to nourish and heal ourselves. Sharing our learnings with the wider community felt like a natural extension of our wonder and excitement. I feel truly blessed to get to do work that is so personally fulfilling and also feels like such a positive contribution to the world.

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Tara Ruth

Communications Director

Favorite plant ally: Elecampane

Favorite blog post: How to Make Violet Syrup & Violet Health Benefits

Hobbies: Writing, Gardening, Hiking

I am incredibly grateful to be part of the LearningHerbs team. As a total herb nerd, it is a dream to help facilitate peoples’ connection with healing herbs. One of the most striking commonalities I have noticed among herbalists is their generosity—generosity of time, energy, resources, and more. I see this generous spirit reflected in every facet of how LearningHerbs structures its company, and it is truly a gift to be part of this team.

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Jenny Barandich

Graphic Designer / Content Manager

Favorite plant ally: Elderberry

Favorite blog post: What Wildcrafting Has Taught Me About Sustainability

Hobbies: Knitting, Tending Kids, Garden, Kittens, Cooking

LearningHerbs values family, family time, and a healthy balance of life and work. I appreciate the positive focus of LH's mission and the way its soul reflects on all the daily tasks. I believe in the work we do and am feeling proud getting it out into the world. I feel valued, my contributions to the team are honored and encouraged. I also really enjoy the flexibility.

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Our team and customers are an extension of our family. We are so glad you are here! We hope that our family inspires your family to do amazing things in this world.

Warmly,

Kimberly Gallagher
LearningHerbs Co-Founder