Hello David, Thank you for having the meet and greet. That was AWESOME! QUESTION: You mentioned a past student who was knowledgeable and did their student project on Amish herbal tradition, I believed the tradition started with a B_____, but I am not sure. What is the name of the tradition, and is there any way I can get access to the student project? COMMENT ON THIS MENNONITE COMMUNITY: I am getting all sorts of inspiration for my project on Herb use in this Mennonite community. It is an interesting group - very different from Mennonites in the US, Canada and even nearby Durango. The Mennonites are Anabaptist as are the Amish and the (Schwarzenau) Brethren that you mentioned. For whatever reason, this group has lost a LOT of their traditions, unlike other Mennonites I have met. They don't breastfeed and are not that interested in natural birth. Very few folks use herbs or home remedies. As I continue my investigations I am hearing of a person in an outlying area or another older lady who dabbles with making tinctures, and someone who has stories about her grandmother. As far as I can figure out there is little collected about this. I was interviewed by a Canadian group two years ago about my experiences here and hope to reach out to them and see if they have anything in their oral histories on herbalists. In any case, I think I will need an introductory section talking about this particular group of Mennonites and how they are very different from other groups. Everyone I have mentioned it to is VERY receptive to learning how to use these herbs for other than their traditional noodle soup. Thank you for giving the project assignments - this would not have happened if I was waiting for copious free time!!! Thank you in advance, Katia

I enjoyed it as well. The name is Braucherei, also known as powwowing. There are lots of books on it. It’s not just an herbal tradition, it’s also folk magic. You can find lots of things on Google as well.