113. Mullum Herbals: Val Iswaszko on Herbal Education

The Elder Tree Podcast

Today I interview the inspiring Val Iswaszko who set up the famous Mullum Herbals in 1996 with his wife Annette Morgan. Mullum Herbals has been incredibly influential in the herbal medicine community in Australia, and has been mentioned on many occasions in this podcast.

In this interview, Val gives insight into how Mullum Herbals was created and shares about the motivations behind this valuable business. He shares about the internship/clinic supervision opportunities that he generously offers to university students.

We discuss the power of Andrographis, patient compliance VS dealing with bitter/foul tasting brews, the downfall of the industry mindset VS the community mindset in information sharing in Australia.

Val shares about percolation tinctures and how naturopaths and herbalists can be running a more affordable dispensary by dispensing their own tinctures. We discuss the importance of sourcing local herbs and if importing herbs then ensuring they are high quality. Val reveals that is has been difficult to find local herbal medicine growers to supply his dispensary (get in touch if you are interested) although he would like to supply more local herbs than what he does currently.

Together we dream weave a future where plants are the people's medicine, and everyday people are educated and educate each other about the medicine growing all around them. We envision more grassroots herbal education spaces and Val shares his plans for creating a 'Mums and Bubs" group which meets regularly under the guidance of a naturopath and receives empowering information which creating a support network.

It was an honour to interview this herbal elder which I have heard affectionately referred to as the "grandfather of herbal medicine in Mullumbimby". He has created a wonderful legacy for future generations.

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