Community Herbalist

I’m India “Ian” Wardell, a community herbalist and the founder of Tender Offerings. My work is rooted in a simple belief: plant knowledge should feel accessible, practical, and like something we have a right to know.

So much of what we call herbalism today isn’t new. It lives in the remedies our elders reached for, the plants growing in our yards, the seasonings in our kitchens, and the ways our families have cared for one another. I’m especially interested in creating spaces where we can remember those connections, ask questions, learn with our hands, and feel confident making this knowledge our own.

Tender Offerings grew out of that kind of community care. I began by creating herbal care packages for people in my community—small offerings made to help someone feel tended to during a difficult season. Over time, I realized I didn’t only want to make things for people. I wanted to help people understand the plants, make their own remedies, and leave feeling more confident in their ability to care for themselves and the people they love.

That realization shaped Tender Offerings into what it is becoming today: a space for seasonal herbal education, hands-on making, community, and remembering.

My Herbal Education

My herbal education has unfolded through years of study, practice, mentorship, and community learning, but it began much closer to home. I was looking for ways to care for my family using the resources I had on hand. Books, plants, kitchen remedies, and the knowledge I could access became places I turned to again and again.

When I was ready to tend to my own needs, I began studying Sacred Woman by Queen Afua as part of my journey toward better reproductive health. That experience left me wanting to understand more. I didn't just want to know that a plant was considered beneficial—I wanted to understand why, how, and the traditions that shaped the ways people worked with it.

That curiosity eventually led me to study with Kate Bodmann of Land of Milk and Honey Herbs. During my first year, we grounded our learning in Rosemary Gladstar's The Science and Art of Herbalism curriculum. Over the following year and a half, I continued studying with Kate, expanding my understanding through Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda while deepening my relationship with Western herbalism.

As my education grew, another question became increasingly important to me: Where does my own culture show up in the world of herbalism?

That question led me to Indigigolden, where I completed a year-long online course centered on Indigenous and BIPOC relationships with plants and plant wisdom. It gave me another lens through which to consider herbalism, culture, ancestry, and the many ways plant knowledge has been carried through communities.

For the past two years, I've continued deepening my education through Wild Roots People's Clinic, including a clinical internship that gave me the opportunity to learn in a community-centered setting and put herbal knowledge into practice.

My education has taught me a great deal about plants, but it has also continued to bring me back to where I started: home, family, community, and the knowledge we carry forward.