From Garden to Apothecary: A Herbal Journey Rooted in Love, Land & Learning
13 June 2025
A Herbal Journey Unfolding in Mexico & the UK
In the volcanic soil of Mexico and under cloudy UK skies, a beautiful herbal journey is unfolding—one rooted in deep respect for plants, ancestral traditions, and a growing desire to connect people with natural healing. At the heart of this project are Rut and Oscar, inspirational young people with a deep connection to plants and nature.
We first met Rut and Oscar in the summer of 2024, at the Power of Plants Festival run by the National Institute for Medical Herbalists (NIMH), where Nature’s Laboratory had a stall and James gave a talk on honeybees and propolis. Through a connection with a mutual friend, Jason, who works with the Ruskin Mill Trust, we invited all three to stay with us in Yorkshire and come to the Nature’s Laboratory Discovery Day.
Mexico is Rut and Oscar’s native land. They told us:
“Herbalism is very alive in Mexican culture, it’s an everyday thing.”
They began in Mexico with a tiny medicinal garden, where they nurture and grow herbs to harvest, in addition to wild harvesting some herbs. They care for the plants from seed to herbal medicine, mainly making tinctures and seasonal offerings like fire ciders and herbal teas, which are available online or in health shops and yoga studios.
Growing More Than Herbs
From seed to apothecary, every step is done by hand. Rut and Oscar grow the herbs and then manage formulation, branding, packaging, distribution and a number of evolving collaborations— all while renovating a small herbal apothecary in Mexico City.
"It’s been an intense time. In the beginning we were constantly in the garden. Now, we’re also encompassing behind-the-scenes work—website, social media, finances. But we try to bring the same love to all parts of the project.”
They are committed to a circular economy model—mirroring the garden’s natural cycles through every level of their business. Care for the earth, for the plants, for each other, and for their growing community.
Rut told us “I don’t feel like I’m the important part of this project. I’m just the facilitator. The plants shine through everything.”
Herbalism as Ancestral Memory
Rut’s story began long before the tinctures. Her female lineage were gardeners, and herbalism was part of everyday life.
“I didn’t realise I could make a living from it—it was just life. Later, I met a wise woman, a traditional teacher of herbalism, and began learning more intuitive ways of working. That led me to study clinical herbalism too. This project wasn’t about making a business—it was about sharing something meaningful.”
Oscar’s connection to plants was quieter at first but always present.
“Even as a teenager I would talk to the trees. Nature gave me comfort. I never imagined I’d work with plants. Now I see them as colleagues.”
Rut explains: “Even if you are not physically working with the plants I think they are working through you or with you in ways that you don’t even know… it’s a privilege to help people, to be a catalyst for people’s awakening, the plants do everything, they don’t need us but if we are here, it is in service to that.”
Rut and Oscar’s different paths have fused into a shared vision—to bring plant medicine to others with honesty, simplicity, and reverence.
A visit to the UK
Having recently spent time in the UK, Rut and Oscar are exploring new ways to connect with a wider community. At a discovery day hosted by Nature’s Laboratory, they were fascinated hearing James, the CEO of Nature’s Laboratory, speak of his long-term deep connection with honeybees and propolis, an amazing substance that the bees make. They were also moved by the passion of others working in plant medicine.
“It felt like visiting a chocolate factory as a child—but for adults! A place where stories and science met. We left with new ideas, inspiration, and hope.”
Speaking about their visit to the UK, Rut explained “In the UK it’s been super beautiful, I don’t have Lady’s Mantle back home and here you can find it everywhere and also Chicory, and St. John’s Wort, I feel like I’m in a playground! I think there is a tenderness in plants here that is very special, there is a gentle thing about plants here, very subtle, so I’m really enjoying visiting them and getting to know them. Sometimes you recognise a plant but slightly different from your home and it has different properties. I feel that I have an intimate relationship with some plants here, I feel very close.”
Rut’s UK trip was also deeply shaped by a workshop at the Goetheanum in Switzerland, with Simon Charter, and her studies in water dynamics and flow forms—bringing spiritual and scientific insights into their formulations.
“To enliven that part of the process was really interesting to me. What you want from that plant or from that formula is what’s behind the physical form of that plant, the vital energy of everything, that signature. It happens with water. I was very interested to be able to do that in a more structured way with more tools in the lab, which led me to come to the UK.”
Herbalism without Borders
Rut dreams of a future where herbalists across the world can collaborate more closely—creating a global web of wisdom rooted in local traditions.
“I think the herbs you need are the herbs that are growing in front of you... that’s beautiful about herbalism, it’s empowering, it’s for everyone, it’s a gift, everyone can benefit from it. It’s local but also, I think there is common ground globally, in wisdom that has been developed throughout history, we have been living with plants forever. Throughout the world it’s very important to have connections and networks, to find the similarities and peculiarities, it’s like forming a net. In every part of the world, we have our own special language, but it’s a common language, the language of plants, this is a huge tool, we come from different backgrounds but we speak the same language and can communicate.”
Oscar imagines a world where talking about plants becomes as common as talking about aspirin.
“We live in a challenging time, but also in a very interesting and exciting time. Modern medicines permeate the whole world, so you can talk about aspirin, which is quite recent, here and in Mexico, and South Africa, it’s common and normal. I ask myself why we can talk about aspirins and vaccines and medicines you can buy in a pharmacy and supermarket but we don’t talk the same way about plants? We need to empower everyday conversations about herbal medicine. Plants are the oldest companions we have.”
Looking forward
Rut and Oscar are now working again from Mexico, but we hope they will visit us in the UK again soon with their new baby daughter.
Perhaps, in a small way, through our friendship we will be able to sow the seeds for a global network of herbalists.
We look forward to sitting again around the kitchen table and speaking of herbs, friendship and the future!
NAMES: Rut, Oscar
NAME OF THE PROJECT: savia sabia
WEB: www.savia-sabia.com
SOCIAL MEDIA: @savia__sabia
CONTACT: hola@savia-sabia.com