64: Medicine on the Mountain with Alpine Botanicals founder, Kate Miller

Thyme in the Studio: Art & Wellness

Curious about how to create a tropical greenhouse in the mountains of Colorado at 8500 feet? i was too! Listen for more info and we also talk about the golden handcuffs of instagram, what it has been like for her being pregnant, pivoting to doing more online business due to the pandemic and how that has shifted the business in some surprising ways. Kate also shares some very personal stories about her experiences with being pregnant and how Lyme disease and autoimmune conditions brought her to herbalism. We talk about her love for permaculture and formulation and how opening the shop has been a way of creating a community of wonderful witchy women who support each other. We also discuss the difficulty of slowing down in this culture and the beauty and balance of asking for help and setting boundaries as we navigate new terrain.

(Bio from the website www.alpinebotanicals.com)

Kate Miller is the founder of Alpine Botanicals Artisan Apothecary in Nederland, Colorado. She is a Certified Herbalist, Biodynamic herb grower and Permaculture Designer & Teacher with a focus on Dry-land & Alpine Farming, Western Herbalism, Mountain Ecology, Ethical Wildcrafting, & Habitat Restoration.

She began her studies in herbal medicine and holistic nutrition as a teenager to cope with chronic physical illness, including Lyme disease and autoimmune conditions. She is currently exploring how various modalities in alternative medicine, such as Indigenous European and Traditional Chinese Medicine, are complemented and enhanced through Anthroposophical approaches to healing. Kate actively explores her ancestral medicine traditions from her Celtic, Ukrainian, Germanic, & Mediterranean roots.

Her apothecary’s mission is to encourage personal agency over one’s health through knowledge of and access to regeneratively grown herbal medicines. In addition to offering a full service herbal apothecary, Alpine Botanicals includes a community clinic space, a licensed herbal production kitchen, and a 900 square foot attached tropical forest greenhouse & nursery.

Kate was introduced to Biodynamic farming methods in 2010 during an internship at Growing Garden's in her senior year at CU Boulder. She received her degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on International Sustainable Agricultural Policy. She has been intensively learning & practicing biodynamic and regenerative farming methods at the Alpine Botanicals herb farm site located in East Boulder since 2015. Our house product line features many of these biodynamically grown herbs and flowers.

Kate has taught on alpine ecology, agroforestry, herbal medicine, garden strategies, fermentation, Biodynamics, and more at Permaculture Design Courses throughout Colorado including the Boulder PDC, Denver PDC, and Sunrise Ranch PDC , and Permaculture Action Days.

When she's not at the shop, working in the greenhouse, or crafting the Alpine Botanicals product line, you'll usually find Kate hiking with her husband and dog, playing in her herb garden, or recipe testing edible and topical creations in her kitchen. She lives in a 100% off grid home just minutes away from her shop and cherishes the nurturing quiet and beauty of living on the edge the Rocky Mountain Wilderness at 8500ft.

Alpine Botanicals

https://www.alpinebotanicals.com/

https://www.instagram.com/alpine_botanicals/

https://bookshop.org/

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Music by Aaron Travers!

@aa.travers