Herbal Wisdom
Join Martina from Blue Petal Botanicals for a garden stroll in this fortnightly show. She shares practical garden tips and explains how herbs can be used in daily life. The show also explores the importance of bees and the wisdom of herbal remedies. Each episode offers a cheerful and informative look at natural gardening and plant-based living.
Episodes
Spring Awakening: Bitters, Cleansing & Liver Tonics
Ever feel like winter stagnation is holding back your energy and vitality?
As spring arrives, our bodies naturally seek a gentle reset. This week on Herbal Wisdom, your host Martina Murray explores the science and folk tradition of spring bitters, liver tonics and lymphatic cleansers.
Discover why the modern diet has a "bitter deficit," how bitter taste receptors trigger your body's digestive casc
Herbal Bio-Stimulants: Unlocking Living Soil 🌿
Want to supercharge your garden this spring without synthetic chemicals? 🌿In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, your host Martina Murray shifts the focus from human health to living soil health, exploring how natural botanical brews act as powerful bio-stimulants for your garden soil. Learn simple recipes for fermented plant extracts (comfrey and nettle), how to build a hot compost heap and how to har
Herbal Wisdom: The Inner Fire: Stoke Your Mid-Winter Core
Description of the episode:
Ever feel like a cold winter stagnation is weighing down your mood and your mind?
This week on Herbal Wisdom, we step inside the body to map out the magnificent, looping highway of the Vagus nerve. Discover the fascinating science behind the gut-brain "two-way street," learn how a hurried pace throws your digestive system into a state of defence, and find out how sim
Herbal Wisdom: The Inner Fire: Stoke Your Mid-Winter Hearth
Feeling stuck in a mid-winter slump?
This week on Herbal Wisdom, we unlock the hidden circulatory medicine hiding right inside your kitchen spice rack. Discover how everyday pantry staples can act as your internal central heating, learn a quick morning ritual to wake up a sleepy winter metabolism and find out how to loop your spicy kitchen leftovers back into the garden soil.
Step out of the frost
Wired but Tired? Living by the Orchard’s Clock
Let’s break down the true "anatomy of rest" and why your body - just like a dormant winter orchard - biologically requires a deep, uninterrupted pause to ensure your coming spring abundance.
You'll learn practical, down-to-earth tools to manually flip the switch on a chronically stressed Vagus nerve using a simple ear-massage ritual while your evening tea is steeping, alongside a clever garden-lo
Herbal Wisdom: Winter Coughs and Kitchen Defenders
When the winter chill sets in, your best line of defence isn't far away—it is waiting right inside your spice rack!
In this episode, we dive into the simple science of pantry wellness and explore how everyday heating staples can protect your airways. Discover how ginger acts as a natural muscle relaxer for tight chest spasms, why a pinch of black pepper drives your remedies deeper and the exact wa
Herbal Wisdom: The Internal Sun: Fire, Spice and Circulation
Are your hands and feet always the first to freeze when the winter chill sets in?
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina Murray from Blue Petal Botanicals takes you deep into the world of traditional culinary medicine to awaken 'The Internal Sun.' Discover how to use the blistering summer heat stored inside garlic, ginger, chili, and local Taranaki kawakawa to stoke your digestive fire, banish
Herbal Wisdom: Igniting the Internal Hearth
Can you taste the sunshine in the middle of a Taranaki frost?
As the mountain mists settle in, we shift our focus from the roots in the earth to the light of the hearth. In this episode, Martina explores "Nature’s Logic" for the colder months—showing you how to "unlock" the solar energy stored in your summer harvests to keep your internal heater glowing.
Herbal Wisdom: The Root of the Matter — Deep Winter Roots & Sleep
When the world above ground goes quiet, the real power moves beneath the surface!
In this episode, Martina Murray explores the "care-taking through retreat" strategy of the winter garden. From the mineral-mining taproots to the grounding rituals of oxymels and "internal brakes" like Valerian, discover how to align your biological engine with the season. If you’ve been trying to run a summer schedu
Herbal Wisdom: The Root of the Matter — Deep Winter Roots & Sleep
When the world above ground goes quiet, the real power moves beneath the surface!
In this episode, Martina Murray explores the "care-taking through retreat" strategy of the winter garden. From the mineral-mining taproots to the grounding rituals of oxymels and "internal brakes" like Valerian, discover how to align your biological engine with the season. If you’ve been trying to run a summer schedu
Herbal Wisdom: HONEY as a High-Speed Delivery System
Why does plain water sometimes "flush" right through you, leaving you parched even after glasses of hydration?
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina Murray from Blue Petal Botanicals deconstructs the "Intelligence of the Hive." From the high-altitude "dehydration paradox" to the microscopic "Enzyme Factory" hidden in every jar of raw honey, we explore the engineering of resilience. Discover w
Herbal Wisdom: The Insight to the "King of the Mountain" Seasoning
Ever wondered why some heat burns the tongue while others warm the soul?
In this episode, host Martina Murray of Blue Petal Botanicals takes us into the "Blue Petal Lab" to deconstruct the Mount Horopito Mix. From the 65-million-year history of the "Māori Painkiller" to the antibiotic bite of garden Nasturtiums, we explore the engineering behind the "creeping heat" of our native Taranaki herbs.
The Science and Stewardship of Kawakawa-Ginger Oxymel
Can a hole in a leaf be the secret to high-performance wellness?
Join Martina Murray as she bridges the gap between engineering and the Taranaki bush. Discover how the "nibbled" leaves of the Kawakawa plant trigger a natural biological response that creates the legendary "Internal Glow."
From the 350m ASL shelter-belts of a former dairy farm to the chemistry of the New Zealand Food Awards, learn
Herbal Wisdom: Blue Petal Revealed: Ancient Oxymels for Modern Life
From petroleum engineering to "Martina’s Lab," discover the science behind Taranaki’s best-kept herbal secret. This episode reveals the 2,400-year-old tradition of Oxymels and how these honey-and-vinegar elixirs support your "second brain" and the Vagus nerve. Martina explains the "engineering" behind her NZ Food Awards finalist products, the importance of herbal "activators," and simple rituals t
Herbal Wisdom: Walking the Food Forest with Dee Turner
Late summer hums with abundance as autumn quietly approaches. In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina speaks with Dee Turner from Korito Education about food forest, permaculture and living in rhythm with the land. A grounded and inspiring conversation on growing, sharing and aligning with nature’s cycles. We also discuss the upcoming Korito Open Garden on March 9th and the powerful act of openi
Herbal Wisdom: The Summer Rhythm: Harvest, Hay and Healing
Join Martina for a soulful conversation with healer and herbalist Clair F. as they explore the "Spirit of Equilibrium"—the physical and emotional alignment found through gardening, herbalism and a life lived close to the land. From the grounding work of the soil to the intuitive wisdom of plant allies, discover how to balance the body and spirit within the vibrant, busy rhythm of the summer harves
Herbal Wisdom: Beyond the BBQ: How to 'Air Condition' Your Body, Eat Your Weeds and Prep for Back-to-School
Today we will be sharing essential herbal strategies to thrive this summer. Learn how to achieve Internal Air-Conditioning and peak hydration, unlock Culinary Medicine by eating your backyard "weeds," and get key tips for Immune Priming now to avoid the stress and sickness that comes with the return to school and work. Your guide to staying cool, vibrant, and healthy!
Herbal Wisdom: Gentle herbal re-set for body and mind...
Join Martina from Blue Petal for a Gentle Herbal Re-set to kick off the new year in a kind way. We start with The Body Fix, using cooling Carminatives and mineral-rich tonics like Nettle to ease post-holiday bloating and support your filtering organs. Then, we transition to The Mind Fix, using invigorating Rosemary and calming nervines like Passionflower to clear mental fog and set clear, sustaine
Herbal Wisdom: Herbs, Seeds and Seasonal Magic - Finishing the Year with Blue Petal
Join Martina from Blue Petal for a cozy, end-of-year Herbal Wisdom special. Explore twelve festive herbs that bring flavour and cheer to your holiday season, then discover the hidden magic of seeds — tiny packages of hope and renewal — as we look toward the New Year.
Herbal Wisdom: The Full Cycle of Herbs: Grow, Harvest, Heal and Flavour
This episode provides a comprehensive guide to integrating herbs into your daily life, starting with the Foundational Power of herbs, where we explore how to use them for both flavour and health, including the specific knowledge of choosing warming or cooling herbs to balance the body. We then transition into the Practical Cycle, offering essential tips on starting your home herbal garden, ensurin
Herbal Wisdom: The Art of Simple Living – Nature as Our Teacher
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina from Blue Petal explores The Art of Simple Living – Nature as Our Teacher.
Through stories from the garden, gentle reflections, and practical herbal wisdom, discover how slowing down, paying attention, and connecting with the natural world can bring balance, creativity, and peace into daily life.
Herbal Wisdom - Echoes of Romania: Traditional Wisdom, Global Wellbeing
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina welcomes Elena, who grew up in Romania surrounded by home-grown vegetables and traditional healing practices. From poultices and foot soaks to everyday kitchen remedies with lemon, honey, garlic, and ginger, Elena shares timeless wisdom for nurturing health the natural way. A warm, inspiring conversation about simple practices that connect us back to natur
Herbal Wisdom - Living Off the Land – A Conversation in Self-Sufficiency with Steve Garside
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina visits Steve G., a Taranaki homesteader whose 6.5-acre property is a thriving example of living off the land. Together with his family, Steve has built a self-sufficient lifestyle rooted in seasonal growing, animal integration, seed saving, and preserving the harvest. From chickens and pigs to tunnel houses and subtropical orchards, this conversation explo
Herbal Wisdom - Two Sustainable Gardens – Blue Petal & Lil’ Slice
Join Martina from Blue Petal and Stu Watson of Lil’ Slice for an inspiring chat on sustainability, simplicity, and community. In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we dive into creative ways to repurpose resources, keep gardening low-cost and low-maintenance, and embrace green networks for swapping knowledge and produce. Plus, practical microclimate tips straight from Stu’s experience! A perfect liste
Herbal Wisdom - Wild Pear Kitchen: Food, Community, and the Magic of Herbs
Today at Herbal Wisdom, we’re welcoming Chere from Wild Pear Kitchen. Discover the story behind this beloved Taranaki food hub — from its roots in community and sustainability to the love of seasonal, local ingredients and herbs. Chere shares her journey, challenges, and dreams, along with insights on food as a connector, a healer, and a creative force. Expect inspiring stories, practical tips, an
Herbal Wisdom: Bit by Bit: Alina’s Journey Back to the Garden
Today at Herbal Wisdom, we’re joined by Alina, originally from Romania and now living in Taranaki, who shares her inspiring journey of rediscovering a love for growing and using herbs—one small step at a time. From childhood memories of vibrant gardens to life’s modern challenges, Alina reminds us that even the simplest actions can bring us back to nature and ourselves.
Herbal Wisdom - Detox – A Seasonal Reset
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we explore the body’s natural detox pathways and how herbs can gently support elimination through the liver, lymph, kidneys, skin, and gut. Featuring plants like dandelion, burdock, cleavers, red clover, and nettle, we’ll learn how to restore flow, lighten the system, and prepare for the seasonal shift ahead.
Herbal Wisdom - Breath of Spring: Garden Prep, Bee Care & Respiratory Herbal Allies
As winter loosens its grip, Martina invites you into the early stirrings of the new season. In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we explore late winter gardening tasks and its view through a biodynamic lens, check in on the hives with seasonal beekeeping tips, and look into the respiratory system support -with trusted herbal allies. Featuring Blue Petal's Lemon-Ginger Infused Honey and a deep dive in
Herbal Wisdom - The Wisdom of Roots: Nourishment, Stillness & Protection For The Season Ahead
As the season turns inward and the air grows cooler, we journey underground to explore the nourishing, grounding power of herbal roots. In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we dig into the traditional uses and energetics of dandelion, burdock, elecampane, marshmallow, and licorice. Learn how to harvest and prepare these potent allies through decoctions, syrups, and infused honeys — and discover how,
Herbal Wisdom - Keeping Bees Well: Club Know-How, Legal Tips & Hive Health
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, Martina Murray is joined by Chris Halton — a passionate beekeeper and teacher of beekeeping. The pair have a good chat about what it really takes to keep bees well, and talk about club support, legal must-knows, honey extraction, and even what to plant to keep your local pollinators happy. Whether you're new to bees or just curious, this one’s full of down-to-eart
Herbal Wisdom - The Wisdom Of The Roots
Join Martina from Blue Petal Botanicals for a stroll around the garden. In this fortnightly show, learn from Martina as she shares garden tips, how herbs can be used, the brilliance of bees, and bushels of her 'Herbal Wisdom'
Herbal Wisdom - Inflammation, Immunity & Healing Naturally
Inflammation is our body’s way of healing — but when it sticks around, it can undermine our health. In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we explore what drives chronic inflammation, how stress, poor sleep, and lifestyle contribute, and simple, natural ways we can ease it. From healing foods and gentle movement to powerful herbs, we’ll learn together how to calm the fire within and enable our bodies t
Herbal Wisdom - Winter Comfort: Herbal Warmth For Body & Soul
Join Martina from Blue Petal Botanicals for a stroll around the garden. In this fortnightly show, learn from Martina as she shares garden tips, how herbs can be used, the brilliance of bees, and bushels of her 'Herbal Wisdom'
From Bark & Buds to Bee Vemon
Join Martina from Blue Petal Botanicals for a stroll around the garden. In this fortnightly show, learn from Martina as she shares garden tips, how herbs can be used, the brilliance of bees, and bushels of her 'Herbal Wisdom'
In The Quiet Season: Herbal Nourishment From Garden To Hive
Join Martina from Blue Petal Botanicals for a stroll around the garden. In this fortnightly show, learn from Martina as she shares garden tips, how herbs can be used, the brilliance of bees, and bushels of her 'Herbal Wisdom'
Breathe Easy: Herbal Support For Respiratory Health, Seasonal Allergies & Wintering The Bees
In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we take a deep breath and explore the incredible world of herbs that support our lungs, ease coughs, and help us manage seasonal allergies. From the warming power of thyme and ginger to the soothing properties of marshmallow and goldenrod, we look at how herbal infusions, oxymels, and honeys can be simple yet effective allies during autumn and beyond. Finally, we
Grounded in Autumn: Garden Care, Herbal Infusions & Hive Remedies
As Autumn settles in, it's time to nurture the soil, warm the body, and support the hive. In this episode of Herbal Wisdom, we explore best practices for soil enrichment, the comfort of warming herbal infusions, and the immune-boosting power of bee remedies like propolis and bee bread. Tune in for practical tips to stay grounded and resilient this season!
Herbal Wisdom: Autumn Immunity & Resilience: Strengthening Body & Hive for the Season Ahead
As Autumn sets in, our bodies and beehives prepare for the seasonal shift. In this Herbal Wisdom episode, we explore practical ways to support immunity and digestion while taking inspiration from nature's rhythms. Through three engaging segments, we'll uncover herbs, foods, and beekeeping insights to help transtion smoothly into the cooler months.
Herbal Wisdom: Wisdom in the Garden, the Gut, and the Hive
As summer transitions into Autumn, it's the perfect time to reflect on seasonal rhythms in the garden, our wellbeing, and the hive. In this episode, we explore the art of pruning, taking cuttings, and planting for future abundance. We dive into the world of probiotics, discussing how herbs like elecampane, burdock, and yacon support gut health - and how these principles connect to Blue Petal's o
Herbal Wisdom: Gather Preserve And Protect
Best practices for harvesting & Monty's surprise. Supporting our well-being in changing seasons. Post-harvest beekeeping - supporting the hive into Autumn.
Herbal Wisdom: Summer Herbs, Drinks and Beekeeping
Summer herb care and harvesting. Creating Summer herbal drinks. Post-harvest Hive Health and Varroa Management.
Herbal Wisdom: Capturing the Summer Flavours at Peihana Farm
Maria, of Peihana Farm, joins Martina from Blue Petal Botanicals to talk about their collaboration in Feastival Taranaki Summer events. Maria shares her experiences of living off the land
Herbal Wisdom: Crafting Wellness
James Smith, from Monkey Puzzle Farm, talks with Martina about plantain, calendula and comfrey, and his use of these herbs to make natural soaps and salves
