Monica Pastrana spent years working inside the healthcare system, watching caregivers, providers, and patients all circling the same frustration. The system was expensive, overwhelming, and nobody could quite fix it. She kept trying to improve access, streamline processes, and educate patients so the system wouldn't keep collapsing under its own weight.

Monica didn't grow up with herbalism. No herbalist grandmother, no family remedies passed down. She found the plants as an adult, in rural Wisconsin, while working full time in healthcare. So if you've ever felt like you came to this path late, this episode is for you.

Then she stumbled into herbalism, took a course, and made some remedies for colds and flu. She handed them to her family and they worked. And she thought, why is nobody talking about this?

That was the beginning of Bellebrook Botanicals, a small herbal product line she runs out of her five-and-a-half-acre homestead in rural Wisconsin. Monica has been learning with us since 2022, when she joined Medicine Makin' Mommas. 

She's studied with several wonderful herbalists along the way, and in January 2026 she joined the Community Herbalist Certification and Mentorship Program for deeper support and mentorship as she continues to grow her work as an herbalist. This conversation is one of the best ones we have had on the show.

Start Simple, With the Herbs and Remedies People Actually Need

Monica built her product line with a clear intention: simple, approachable remedies for everyday life. The kind of things people are currently running to the drugstore for, or calling their doctor about, that can often be handled at home first.

Her first three products were fire cider, a ruby red cider for people who find fire cider too intense, and elderberry syrup. All food-like, all familiar enough that even someone who has never touched an herb before wouldn't be intimidated by them. From there, her product line grew as people started asking for more. Do you have something for cuts? My mom has dry skin. Can you help with that?

That is a great way to build a product line. Let your community tell you what they need.

The Herbs That Helped When She Chopped the Tip of Her Finger Off 

Monica was standing in her kitchen early in the morning, cutting yarrow to infuse into oil for her Wound Warrior Salve, a blend of calendula, yarrow, plantain, and comfrey. And she chopped the tip of her finger right off.

Being the herbalist she is, her immediate thought was: well, now I get to see if this stuff works.

She grabbed a handful of the yarrow she was already cutting, chewed it up, and pressed a big poultice directly onto the wound. The bleeding stopped and the pain eased significantly. A couple of hours later, she cleaned the wound with her farmer's market goat milk bar soap and applied the salve.

Nobody thought she'd grow her nail back. It had been cut through the nail bed. She didn't go to urgent care. She didn't use Neosporin or bacitracin. And now you can't tell anything happened.

Yarrow is one of those plants that doesn't get nearly enough credit. It stops bleeding fast, it's antimicrobial, and it supports tissue repair in a way that is hard to believe until you've watched it happen.

Burdock Root and Her Acne-Filled Skin That Cleared Up

In her late thirties, Monica's skin broke out worse than it ever had as a teenager. She was in the middle of cleaning up her diet and lifestyle, which she acknowledges may have contributed to the upheaval, but her face was a mess and she didn't know what to do.

She started drinking burdock root and dandelion root infusions daily. She made a simple burdock tincture and stayed consistent with it for three to four months. Not every single day, but consistently. Long, slow overnight infusions on the roots with boiling water poured over them, then left to sit and drunk throughout the next day.

Her skin cleared completely. She didn't go to a dermatologist, didn't use any steroid cream and had no antibiotic prescription. Just burdock & dandelion, used consistently, over time.

When someone comes to us with a skin condition, we go straight to the liver. Burdock is a deeply supportive herb for liver function, and the skin almost always reflects what is happening underneath. This is not complicated herbalism. It is simple herbalism done consistently.

The Bonfire Analogy Every Herbalist Needs

When someone comes to Monica asking for herbs for inflammation, she sits down with them and has a conversation.

If we keep putting logs on the inflammation bonfire, whatever she makes, whether it's a tea, a tincture, or a tonic, is just a squirt gun. Maybe a big super soaker if she does her job really well. But a squirt gun against a bonfire doesn't put out much fire.

The real work is talking about what's feeding the fire in the first place. Diet, movement, stress, sleep, the chemicals in the house, the food sensitivity nobody's tested for. And while that work is happening, yes, herbs can provide support in the immediate. They can knock down enough of the fire to give someone the capacity to take the next step.

That is the balance that we need. What can we do right now so you don't keep suffering, and what do we need to change so the herbs have a real chance to work?

Working in Healthcare and Being an Herbalist

Monica still works three days a week in the healthcare system alongside running Bellebrook Botanicals. She has what she calls a work apothecary, and when people come into her office and start asking questions about the tinctures or teas they notice, she talks to them. But she doesn't lead with it.

She waits for people to come to her. And when they do and she helps them, they go tell other people. That is how you build a reputation in a professional setting where people have strong beliefs about medicine. You let the herbs do the talking.

Monica is also the student I talked about in our episode on FDA inspections and elderberry safety. If you make or sell herbal products, or dream of it someday, this is an episode I highly recommend you tune into: Elderberry Safety and the FDA: What Herbalists Need to Know

What's Coming at Bellebrook Botanicals

Monica is taking the next steps on her herbalist’s path, and opening her property for a seasonal herbal product making series. She’ll be running her classes from June through October, each tied to the season and what's happening in her garden. She’s even incorporating yoga for the ultimate self-love event. 

If you come to all of her classes, you will watch her garden move through the seasons and understand firsthand when to harvest different plants and why timing matters. That is the kind of education that sticks.

Parting Words To Hold Close

Monica's advice to anyone wanting to get into herbalism: just do it. Make the salve. Make the tincture. Try it. If it doesn't work, nobody knows but you. And you will learn more from doing than from any amount of reading.

And if you already know something about herbs, share it. You don't have to know everything to share something. If someone is stressed and you know chamomile might help, say so. The more people are talking about this, the more commonplace it becomes, and the better off we all are.

Connect with Monica Pastrana

Find Monica and all of her products at bellebrookbotanicals.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Instagram at Bellebrook Botanicals. To register for her seasonal herbal making classes happening on her Wisconsin property this summer, check her website and socials for links as they go live. You can also reach her directly at [email protected].  

This post is for educational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. Always properly identify plants and learn how to use them safely.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Bellebrook Botanicals: website | Instagram | Facebook
• Monica's seasonal herbal product making classes, June through October on her Wisconsin property (registration links via her website and socials)
• Related episode: Elderberry Safety and the FDA: What Herbalists Need to Know
• Nathan Wright, Indigenous wildcrafter and educator in Petoskey, Michigan
• Community Herbalist Certification and Mentorship Program