November December '26 Essential Herbal

25 years ago my (very temporary) partners and I were working furiously to finish up the first issue.  We all worked full time doing other things, and we all had different degrees of dedication.  It was the only issue they worked on, turning the magazine over to me when it was clear we weren't going to be an overnight success.

For the first 5 years I worked alone with the enormous help of contributors from all across the country, and sometimes beyond.  It was hard.  I was still working full time, raising my daughter alone, and it often felt like beating my head against the wall.  Everything about running a magazine was learned along the way, and I can't even express the horror when, near the end of the first year, it dawned on me that subscriptions would be expiring soon and I hadn't kept track of who expired when!

Then Maryanne offered to do the layout.  That part was hardest for me, but she enjoys it (although right now we are having some serious trouble with the program). 
In 25 years we have met so many wonderful people, both readers and contributors.  We've had a blast traveling around to conferences and festivals.  We were invited to speak all over the place.  It's been fun.  Those things are not as easy as they once were, and there are droves of new herbalists who have come along after us, eager to do those things.  We're happy to pass them along and do the things we absolutely love.  All in all, I wouldn't change anything.  Well, maybe I would have started earlier.

Here's the current issue.  We had a couple bumps in the road for this one.  Hopefully we'll have the program back in tip-top condition, and it will probably require a computer upgrade.  Oh well... as one of my favorite bosses often said, "nobody said it would be easy."

Table of Contents
Crossword Puzzle, Another Year Ends
Field Notes from the Editor, Tina Sams
Photos from 25 Years
About the Cover  
Wintering With Herbs: From the Kitchen to the Craft Room, Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
Epsom Salt Soak  
A Call for Cumin, Kristine Brown RH(AHG)  
Tranquility Tea from the Autumn Garden, Amy Jeanroy 
 I’ll Not Be Blue Thinking About These Recipes, Alicia Allen 
 Excerpt, The Essential Home Apothecary Handbook  
A Simple Herbal Comfort for Stuffy Winter Days, Connie Byers 
Winter Wonderings Wordfind 
Equisetum and the Dinosaurs, Barbara Steele  
Interesting Ways to Use Herbs, Maryanne Schwartz  
Choosing a Base for Your Herbal Concoctions, Susanna Reppert Brill
Our Daily Muffin  
Our Contributors
Puzzle Answers 

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One of our adventures included being extras in Molly's senior project, a zombie movie.  
She kept us stepping back in those days.  Always something interesting going on.  Oh, this was herbal too.  We thought long and hard about how we could save ourselves with herbs, but alas, it was obviously too late.