For most of her life the founder, author and tutor of The Home Herbalist courses, Belle Gibbons, has been practising medical herbalism and making her own herbal medicines and remedies from the herbs she grows in her garden. Her unique connection with nature inspires all those who come in contact with her.

For Belle, making herbal remedies is a very special process indeed. No remedy is made unless the moon is in a suitable phase, all remedies are organic, and rarely is a bug killed in the growing and harvesting process. She believes that all creatures, great and small, have the right to life and that there is plenty to share. When she sees grasshoppers eating her comfrey leaves she knows that more will grow in time for her to harvest them for ointment making. 

Belle is passionate about herbalism, life, the environment, animals, and the sharing of knowledge. She has passed on her love of herbs to her two daughters who are Home Herbalists and when her two grandchildren were small nothing gave her more pleasure than to teach them, by example, how herbs heal the sick. Having grown up with herbs her grandchildren now take herbal medicine of their own accord to prevent illness such as when the flu is going around or when they are travelling.

Belle says that most of what we learn about herbal medicine today has been passed down from one generation to the next over many centuries if not thousands of years and it is up to those of us who are involved in herbalism to continue this tradition. She believes the more we learn about living in harmony with Mother Nature and using the gifts she has given us, the more we too can pass down to benefit those who will still inhabit our home after we are gone.

The Home Herbalist online courses were established in 2006 after many requests from those who had heard about Belle teaching herbalist courses in person and couldn’t attend because of demographic reasons. Belle is highly respected in her field and is a compassionate, dedicated, and thorough practitioner, who passes on these qualities to her students.

Her qualifications include diplomas in Professional Herbalism, Professional Counselling, Bowen Therapy and she is an accredited member of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society; member 4763.