If you were after an example of someone making a career from their passion, Caroline Parker is an excellent candidate. Owner of The Cottage Herbalist, a business based in the town of Barry’s Reef, that specialises in hand blended and herbal tea and holds workshops in herbal medicine and foraging, Caroline has seamlessly combined things she’s trained in – Western herbal medicine and visual arts – with the passions she’s been drawn to since childhood. 

“Tea was my in,” she says. “I have a cottish dad who was an avid tea drinker so I’ve been making tea since I was old enough to be trusted with a kettle. Then I have a hippy aunty who always liked jasmine and peppermint tea which intrigued me, especially when I worked out that I could grow plants – something I’ve always loved to do – that I could make tea with. I could grow it and then drink it. I was sold.” 

Caroline is from a family of health professionals – her mum and sister are nurses and there are physiotherapists in the mix too – but it wasn’t until she was introduced to the world of herbalists and naturopaths while working in an organic café that she realised her love of tea and gardening offered her a chance to work in the wellness space too. 

“After I studied herbal medicine,I began to see my own clients and always proscribed teas that I blended myself,” she says.“It was an accessible and easy way for people to learn about herbs and whodoesn’t love a good cup of tea? I just added the bonus of introducing a wellness element, whether that’s physical, mental or emotional.” 

There’s an aesthetic side of the equation too. Caroline’s training in the visual arts have given her an eye for the beautiful so her tea blends include floral elements like calendula or cornflowers that she grows and dehydrates to make the tea look visually appealing. But it’s about how it tastes too, so she includes ingredients that mask some of the more funky, earthy, grassy flavours that medicinal herbs often have on their own. Good looking, good tasting, good for you. 

The Cottage Herbalist started when Caroline noticed that some of her clients were asking her for blends they could give to their friends. Some of these blends – an immune system booster called Elderberry Blush that includes elderberry, hibiscus, rosehips, cinnamon and echinacea and a hay fever blend of sencha green tea, nettles, eyebright and calendula called Bless You – are now a permanent part of her range. 

Caroline also includes ingredients that she forages from wild plants that grow in and around the Wombat Forest region where she lives. Her foraging workshops introduce people to how they can find and use ingredients themselves like yarrow, hawthorn berries, dandelions and elderberries. 

She also has a book coming out this year called The Medicinal Gardener, which will be published by Thames & Hudson in August. 

“It’s a snapshot of 40 herbs, what they can do and how you can grow, nurture and harvest them to use in herbal remedies, tea and cooking,” says Caroline. “Foremost is the wellness effect, even if that’s just about slowing down to brew the tea then taking a moment to drink it and collect yourself. It’s all part of my philosophy: not always telling people what not to do, but rather adding something good to their life in a simple and tasty way. It’s not all woo-woo; it can just be about enjoying a cup of tea.” 

The Cottage Herbalist
thecottageherbalist.com.au 
@thecottageherbalist