Meet our Resident Herbalist
Jo-Anna Cassino has been a Shewatuck Fellow since the start of the 2020 season. In that time, she has established a robust herbal growing operation within our greenhouse and this past year, planted the first succession of an outdoor herbal garden in the crisp New England spring .
In addition to her budding growing operations, Jo-Anna has also brought her distillation skills to the farm, processing and preserving her seasonal herbals just a few yards from where they were grown.
In this Fellow’s Spotlight, we spoke with Jo-Anna on her experiences in the world of herbal medicine.
QUESTION: How long have you been interested in herbal medicine? How did you get started?
Jo-Anna: Herbalism has always been a part of my life and my lineage, especially under the guise of food as medicine. I started studying Herbal medicine more academically in 2005 and continue studying and practicing, as it is an evolutionary process. Even the plants change and evolve according to the environment. It's a lifelong and joyous journey to learn them and work with them.
2022 was your first year growing outdoor herbals at the farm. What surprised you about that experience?
Jo-Anna: The biggest and most pleasant surprise was watching the medicinal herb gardens practically double in size in a very short period. The land is fertile and healthy, and the plants are thriving in a way that I thought would have taken longer.
What are you looking forward to next year in your garden?
Jo-Anna: Planting a wide variety of new plants, expanding on what I already planted, planning workshops and classes on the farm.
How do you connect herbal medicine with your organic hair care?
Jo-Anna: I harvest the plants, make a variety of extractions in different menstrums (bases) and then formulate a variety of self-care products with those extractions that are then used in the salon and in my Herbal practice.
What is something you would like to share from your experiences in Herbal Medicine that you think should be general knowledge?
Jo-Anna: Everyone should have a baseline in identifying and knowing how to best use the pants and Herbs that grow around us in order to better take care of themselves and their families. There are so many ways to use Medicinal Herbs are they really are a fundamental way to supplement overall well-being.
What is the most gratifying thing about your practice?
Jo-Anna: All of it. Watching the plants grow from seed to then going to seed again, to creating all of the wonderful things I create with them, to studying their chemistry, lore and historical uses. I love every aspect of working with the Herbs/Plants and I absolutely love formulating and making beautiful products, teas and extracts. I also absolutely love my fellowship with them, being a good steward to them, planting, harvesting, praying with them. All of it. The farm is literally my Heaven on Earth...my Eden.
In addition to being the resident herbalist at Shewat1uck Farm, Jo-Anna owns and operates at Flipp Salon in Providence, Rhode Island’s first plant based hair salon & herbal apothecary. Her Botanic label offers a variety of products and dried herbs, much of it grown directly in North Kingstown. Learn more here.