Why I Went to Herbal Medicine School

I was studying fine art in New York City and was interested in using plant-based pigments to make paintings with. As I experimented and became more interested in other aspects of plants, particularly their medicinal qualities and nourishing dimensions.

Soon, I was looking into herbal medicine school and attended the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in upstate New York. The founding teacher, 7Song, is a practicing clinical herbalist, which is very rare to find because herbal medicine is more of a folkloric tradition here in the United States. What I mean by that is it’s difficult to gain clinical experience with patients alongside other medical doctors in a formal space.

In my two years as an apprentice in school I would work the gardens and harvest according to best practices -- assessing plant population to harvest sustainably: never gathering plants if there wasn’t an abundance or if they weren’t highly regenerative. Portions of our harvest would become tinctures, while others became oils or ointments.

My idea for Roots Rose Radish was that if people could experience products that were 100% plant-based, and designed to emphasize medicinal qualities, they would be won over by the quality.

I hope you try our products and see the difference for yourself.

• Founder, Christian Toscano