Episode Details

Have you heard of herbalism? What about Biblical Herbalism? If you’ve ever wondered whether herbs belong in a Christian home—or worried that “natural remedies” somehow tip into New Age territory—this conversation is for you. Felice Gerwitz sits down with Camila Johnson of The Eden Institute to talk about reclaiming plant knowledge for the glory of the Creator. Learn about the curriculum she built so moms can learn right alongside their children, one plant at a time.

Biblical Herbalism: Learning God’s Design with Your Kids

I raised five kids across a wide age span. I’ve reached for simple kitchen remedies when medicine made me feel worse. And I’ve watched too many science videos that never once named the Designer. Camila’s approach puts the glory back where it belongs. It is important to teach our children that they are important to and the world they belong to has so much to offer.

Biblical Herbalism ~ Episode 588

Camila is a former middle-school English teacher, a mom of four (two still at home), and the creator of a K–12 biblical herbalism curriculum. She grew up with Brazilian grandmothers who reached for peppermint tea and honey-lemon without calling it anything fancy. Later, she spent years studying plants on her own because the formal courses she found either ignored spiritual health entirely or leaned heavily into Far Eastern mysticism.

She decided to build something different: a curriculum that names the Holy Spirit, honors the Designer, and treats plants as provision rather than objects of worship.

Why This Matters for Homeschool Families

Most of us were never taught how our bodies actually work or how the plants growing nearby can support them. Schools aim at tests. Life requires stewardship. Camila’s curriculum starts with that gap.

Each week focuses on one plant. The history lesson shows who used it and how. Geography shows where it grows and why the climate shapes its “energetics.” Science is pure observation—smell it, draw it, label the parts. Bible opens the week (sometimes a short original story about the Eden family, sometimes straight Scripture). Character grows through waiting for longer preparations, such as glycerites and tinctures. Art, language arts, and even a little Latin show up naturally because everything circles the same plant.

Younger children (Sprouts, K–2) make same-day teas and cold infusions. Third through fifth (Seedlings) begin the slower medicines. Middle and high school levels go deeper into constitutions and matching plant patterns to people patterns. The whole thing is designed so mom learns too. You do not have to arrive as an expert.

You Do Not Have to Grow a Garden

Camila has turned her backyard into a food forest, but she is clear: you can source every herb in the curriculum from reputable suppliers. She partners with Mountain Rose Herbs. The lessons work whether the plant is growing in a pot on your windowsill or sitting in a mason