HANNAH MORANO
(formerly Jacobson-Hardy)
Hannah Morano, founder of Sweet Birch Herbals, is a holistic health coach and clinical herbalist devoted to providing high-quality plant-based medicines that are locally grown and sustainably wild-crafted. She specializes in women's health, adrenal fatigue, sleep disorders, immune issues, anxiety, depression and tick born illnesses.
Hannah offers hand crafted herbal medicines and workshops on her farm in Ashfield, MA. She creates custom blended formulas for her clients and provides specifically tailored protocols that include nutritional guidance and lifestyle suggestions.
She trains over 30 apprentices in person every year and leads retreats on her farm. Hannah has been in business for over 10 years and when she's not in her apothecary, she enjoys hiking, gardening, tending her chickens, goats and cooking nourishing meals with her family.
EDUCATION
OUR PRACTICES
Sweet Birch Herbals is a community herbal medicine company located on three acres nestled in the hills of Ashfield, Massachusetts. At the farm, we grow over 100 varieties of medicinal and culinary herbs for our products and for sale in our farm apothecary store.
Everything is grown organically without the use of any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Our honeybees would certainly not approve of those practices and nor do we! Our chickens and goats, also fed organically, provide fertilizer for our fields each spring and fall. They appreciate the herbal treats and good lovin' from our farm in exchange for all the hard work they do. Our practices are aligned with the moon, always asking the land to guide us, and listening for directions from the spirits of the land.
We give thanks and bow our heads to the land stewards and ancestors who came before us.
Our medicines are harvested after asking permission and offering gratitude. We grow a few varieties of tobacco for offerings to the plant spirits and animals of the land which give us life, a practice Hannah's teachers have shared with her since she began her studies as a medicine woman.
HANNAH'S STORY
My journey into herbalism and farming began when my mother plopped me down into the garden while she weeded the carrots and kale. By the time I was a teenager, the garden was the last place I wanted to be because it meant getting dirty and crouching over in the hot sun. But, in some roundabout way after leaving for college, I found myself craving the sweet smell of soil and ripening tomatoes paired with the aromas of basil and garlic in the kitchen while my mother made fresh pesto.
I came home one summer and declared I was going to plant the entire garden. "Ok, Hannah," my parents said, "Sounds good to us." Digging the beds, planting the seeds, watering the parched Earth, it all felt like the only sane thing to me as I spent most of my time in classrooms, reading lofty books, and wondering how all this writing was going to get me a "real" job.
I refused to go back to college after the first semester, which my parents did not answer as supportively as my gardening declaration. So, I negotiated with them. I will finish my undergraduate studies if I can transfer from the private school near NYC to our local UMass Amherst and study Sustainable Agriculture. They smiled and agreed to the proposition.
While at UMass I discovered the power of herbalism. When I fell ill one semester, a friend who was studying to be a Clinical Herbalist offered her services with a comprehensive consultation, teas and tinctures. Within a few weeks my health was back to balance and my curiosity of natural healing grew to the point of directing my course of studies toward a program with a local herbalist.
After 7 years of studying intensively while finishing my degree, it was time to launch my own business. I sat in the woods filled with sweet birch saplings one day, meditating on the name for my budding business and suddenly a black bear walked across the path in front of me. The black bear is the keeper of the medicine ways, so I took it as a blessing.
Sweet Birch Herbals was founded in 2014 inside my tiny home apothecary and eventually outgrew the kitchen pantry. I now have a small farm where I grow over 50 varieties of medicinal the herbs with the support of several staff and a generous local community.
Sweet Birch Herbals is deeply committed to living in a world of justice, peace and equality for all people. I am deeply grateful for the medicine people of every culture that have kept their practices alive. I give thanks to all of my teachers.
Black Lives Matter
No Human is Illegal
Love is LOVE
Woman's Rights are Human Rights
Water is Life
All Genders Are Whole
Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere
ALL PEOPLE ARE WELCOME HERE
I am committed to growing herbs on the land in Ashfield with the highest vibration of love and healing. When I purchased the 3 acres in December 2018, I offered a prayer to the land immediately upon arrival. I shared with the land that I release all ownership even though I will refer to it as "my home, my land" and the bank will consider me the "title owner." My home is on stolen land from the Indigenous Peoples (Pocumtuc, Nonotuck Mohawk, Nipmuc, and Mohican) and I apologize for any suffering, racism, genocide and harmful actions taken place here. I pray for forgiveness. My hope is to work in conjunction with the Spirit of the Land for guidance as I grow herbal medicines, raise goats, chickens, honeybees and food for the community infused with love, every step of the way toward a more just and peaceful world.
With gratitude,
Hannah