Check out the new blog!

This blog continues, integrated, on the new Boline Apothecary site.

Catch our latest posts, products, and classes there!

One Year Anniversary!

Boline Apothecary has had its doors open for a year now, and we decided to celebrate! Party! Woo!

Coal Fired Bicycle played music

Let's look at our growth this past year:
We have grown mightily in this past year to include many new in-house products. (Last year at this time we did not have a nipple cream, a lymphatic massage oil, a Urinary Tract tincture, nor a Wrinkle Serum.)

We also have expanded our locally made offerings to include more men's grooming, mineral makeup, bath bombs, aromatherapy candles, and hair care. We continue to favor local over nationally distributed products, because they are better for you (no shelf stabilizers, excessive preservatives, and homogenizers needed when your lotion isn't trucked over the continent exposed to temperature fluctuations and the like! We also lessen our reliance on fossil fuels and add to the local economy when we shop local and choose locally made.

Schwag bags being taken!

We have had dozens of classes and workshops and attendance and demand has increased each month.

We have increased our bulk offerings each month and have many hard-to-find medicinal herbs as well as tea blends, smoking blends, and other items in bulk.

After the looming sale of our retail storefront's building threatened, we moved to a newer (and better) location and are thriving in our new spot.

We have a lot to celebrate! You can celebrate with us by taking advantage of our anniversary sale! Come on down between now and Friday!

Business update!

The building as it is now.

Since we successfully moved from Beechwold to Clintonville, we have seen a marked increase in foot traffic an expect that trend to continue, especially when the Clintonville Farmer's Market, which takes place outside our door, starts. We are blessed!

We have started making the new building our own- the inside has been painted, new flooring installed, and we had a utility sink installed as well. We are getting a dishwasher for sterilization hooked up in the next week.

Our corner sign, so people know where to
turn to find us. Isn't it lovely?

When the weather improves, the outside of the building will be painted, we will get new awnings, and the rest of our building signage will go up. We even have beautification projects planned that include murals, raised beds of flowers, and mosaics by local artists!

We are also teaming up with more instructors this year, giving more to charity and the community, and joining more farmer's markets to expand our reach. Lily has started writing a regular column for Fit magazine (her first article, on bitters, is available here).

We will be expanding our efforts to bring you medicinal seeds and seedlings from local growers this spring and have started to create a line of tools for herbalists (starting with our percolation cone set for tincture making). Our tonic club already has regular members and the offering there are expanding and changing with the seasons.

Now is the time to expand our product offerings, too and make our store more meaningful to herbalists and herb enthusiasts alike.

The apothecary looks even better now.

So we are seeking a silent partner. A small investment in the business will allow us to get more product lines into the shop, get a permanent bookkeeper, expand our essential oil offerings (arguably already the finest lines in the city- now we need to carry more oils in the lines!), and get some more signage and retail furnishings to make the shop grow and develop.

I have created a simple plan that I can show interested parties that asks for a 5K investment in return for 15% of the business. At the end of two years, if both parties are amenable, more of the shop can be purchased (and revenue shares begin). Conversely, if we wish to part ways, the initial investment turns into a loan with pre-defined re-payment terms. Either way, an investor is helping this unique business grow at a crucial time without losing the initial investment.

Are you interested? Email Lily for the partnership agreement and to set up an appointment to talk!

Foundations of Western Herbalism Class

Starts January 2016! Enroll now, class is limited to 10 students.

People’s Medicine
Interested in herbalism? Becoming an herbalist or owning an apothecary? A holistic practitioner of some sort wanting to add to your healing repertoire? This class is for you!

The Curricula
Theories of healing and the body

Systems of the body

Health conditions and their symptoms

Herbal classification and actions in the body

Cultivation and wildcrafting

Harvesting and processing

Medicine making

Materia medica (learning about individual plants)

and an introduction to other overlapping systems of healing: TCM, Ayurveda, aromatherapy, homeopathy, flower essences.

In this class, we will balance hands-on time outdoors (in the warm months) and in the apothecary with "book learning”.

The Commitment
We will meet monthly, with independent studies in between (and students can feel free to contact me or come into the store in-between at any time). 


Currently we are looking at Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday evenings and will decide on a specific day each month when the students enroll.

The class would involve 2 hour class sessions every month as well as homework and independent study. It would also involve intermittent classes not on regularly scheduled days (weekend days in gardens or wildcrafting, for example). These days would be scheduled in advance with students present to make it possible for a good attendance. (This course is designed for working adults with life commitments.)

The Cost
I firmly believe that herbalism is folk medicine- that is, it a skill that belongs in the hands of the people. To that end, I am working to make the cost of the class as affordable as possible- both to students investing in their education and to me, giving lots of time and attention to the class.

The cost of the class is $1000, which includes a binder of information we will cover (handouts are accumulated as we go into each unit) and you will work from, class instruction time and outings, guest lecturers, and a 10% discount in the store (to help pay for extra books, herbs, and materials).

Payment Options
For some, the class can be paid for in full. For others, installments are necessary. We have a few options for you. A non-refundable deposit of $200 is required to hold your space in the class.

After the $200 deposit has been paid, you can choose to pay in three, five or seven installments:
3 installments: $200 deposit plus 3 payments of $275
5 installments: $200 deposit plus 5 payments of $175
7 installments: $200 deposit plus 7 payments of $150

Payment for the class must be made in full by the third class (March 2016).

Choose your option:

Payment in full:

Name of Person Attending Class

Deposit, and a note about which payment option you choose:

Name of Person Attending Class

3, 5, or 7 Month Plan?

A Note about Herb Schools
There are plenty of schools out there that promise a "master herbalist certification", but there is only one objective certification that is nationally recognized by everyone: Master herbalist certification from the American Herbalists' Guild. They are focused on standards of education to train clinical herbalists (people who treat patients one-on-one). They have a list of schools on their website that meet their criteria- all of these schools have clinics attached for you to do internships. If the school is not listed on their website, it does not meet their criteria and has not been certified. There are no AHG accredited schools of herbalism in the state of Ohio. There are however, several qualified teachers. This class is not focused on teaching you to be a clinical herbalist, but instead prepares you to be a community herbalist, one who feels confident treating friends and family, learning about the amazing human body and plant world and how they support one another, or perhaps going on to a Master's Degree from a healing school that does have a clinic.

Required Texts

Medical Herbalism, David Hoffman
Medicine Maker's Handbook, James Green
Earthwide Herbal (Volumes 1 & 2), Matthew Wood
Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Midwest, Matthew Alfs

You can get these books on your own or use your 10% discount and get them through the shop.

We are moving! Help!

Well, the search and angst is over- after months of searching, I have signed a lease. On February 1, 2015 Boline Apothecary moves into its new digs at 15 W. Dunedin Road. We are busy up until the day before the move, teaching classes running events, and attending farmer's markets. So we need your help to make this happen smoothly!

How can you help support a fledgling business make this important move?

1. Sign up for the email list to find out when we are back open for business. We hope to only take 3-4 days, but as we are doing this on a shoestring, we may have to take longer! Email list signup is on the right here on the blog.

2. Come buy things from our clearance table- things left from the holidays or discontinued items that we do not want to move.

3. Drop off boxes in the shop prior to January 31. We will be packing, packing, packing and can use them!

4. Volunteer to pack or help us move! We are packing starting at 1 PM on Saturday, January 31, and moving all the boxes Sunday, February 1st. We need folks with strong backs and vehicles to help schlep boxes from place to place on Sunday the 1st. We also need handy people with tools to help us install our shelving in the new shop February 2!

5. Donate to our crowdsourcing campaign! We need to set up new accounts, print new collateral with the new address, paint the building, install new signage, and a lot more. Your contribution will help us (and get you some pretty nifty schwag)!

What Does the Herbalist Do when Sickness Threatens?

Last night, I got home later than usual (The shop closes at six, but last night I gave a talk at the Columbus chapter of the National Herb Society!). My four year old was already in bed, asleep. As I sat downstairs, I heard him cough, over and over. Eventually, it woke him up and he hollered downstairs, "Daddy? Is Mommy here yet?" I yelled back, "Yes, I am- come downstairs, sweetie!"

He scrambled down his ladder (he is the bunk bed king) and downstairs and came running for a hug. "I'm coughing a lot, Mommy." I responded, "I know, hon- I bet it woke you up, too. Does your throat hurt? Are you sick anywhere else?" We determined that he was congested, but it was the common seasonal congestion that is not (yet) an infection, clogging his sinuses and making him cough up phlegm. (If you didn't already know, the color of your mucus is one way to tell if you have an infection or not- seasonal allergies and congestion will be clear, but infections will be yellow or green.)

The winter weather has been weird here in Ohio this year. One day it will be in the 60's, then below 20's . Many people get sinus pressure and congestion with the seasonal changes in air pressure, and if you nip it in the bud, there's no reason for it to get any worse or turn into an infection. So as an herbalist with lots of natural remedies at my disposal, what did I do with my 4 year old?

First, I gave home some Elderberry and Horehound syrup that I made for us. I tend to make an Elderberry Thyme mix for the shop called Stop the Crud, which is an all-around good anti-microbial. But he and I both are susceptible to sore throats and earaches. So we always have this syrup (Horehound is awesome for sore throats) and Earache Oil in the house. Since he had been hacking for well an hour, the coughing was slow to stop, as his throat was sore and irritated.

Next, I put on the kettle. He loves his Sick Kid Tea. (Yes, it is a tea that I first made for my son, and now I sell it for all kids. It is safe and gentle, even for infants (for babies, serve at room temp with a syringe for tiny ones).) I added some local honey to his tea and while he waited for the kettle, I did one more thing.

I always keep a jar of honey in the cabinet that has a large amount of cinnamon mixed in (it is thick and brown and delicious and it is great for sore throats). I gave him a spoonful (and who wouldn't want to eat that?!) which stopped his coughing, stat. He loves licking that spoon. I make cinnamon and elderberry honey seasonally, called Purple Paste that kids love.

Then he drank his tea while I stroked his hair and we shared information about our days. The tea lulled him into drowsiness again and then we went to bed at the same time. The tea helps with calming sick kids down as well as with yucky symptoms of illness. So it works like a charm.

This morning, just to be sure, I gave him another dose of Elderberry Horehound syrup and a dose of Lemon Balm Glycerite in some juice. No infections will be able to survive now!

Holistic Links of Note

I have collected a few links here that are interesting to people who like to read about herbalism and holistic healing and health.


Gingko Supplements may interfere with HIV medication (efavirenz, aka Sustiva).

Curcumin may help depression, too! Is there nothing that Turmeric cannot do?

"Chasing Fairies" in herbalism Defending multiple viewpoints in herbalism.

Natural pain relief in childbirth So many methods!

Herbs or Essential Oils? Which one should I use? I like this article, because so many people only look to one method, cutting themselves off to the full spectrum of plant healing.