Hi, I’m Brenda Grate, PH
Herbalist/Coach
Natural healing has been a passion my entire life. It began when I was a child, even though I didn’t know it. I was raised by a hippy mother from California who believed that sugar came from the devil. She wasn’t far off the mark, but I didn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to eat the same food all my friends were eating. When I had my first child at nineteen and developed hyperthyroidism, I finally understood. That’s when I reached out for a cure that didn’t involve irradiating my thyroid or taking medication for the rest of my life.
I didn’t have the benefit of internet searches, so I headed to the local library and did my research. I came up with a couple of ideas that made sense to me. This is something I tell all my students: herbalism is practical and makes sense. Use both your intuition and your common sense. I found a wonderful book that I use to this day: Dr. Abravanel’s Body Type Diet and Lifetime Nutrition Plan. I don’t believe in diets, but his insight helped me to understand how the dominant gland in your body affects the way you look, the foods you crave, and even your personality. I have seen this proven with many patients over the years.
Use both your intuition and common sense.
The next thing I discovered was that kelp, seaweed, has natural iodine in it. The doctor spoke of wanting to give me radioactive iodine, so I thought, why not try the natural version first? I changed my diet, taking out all stimulants such as coffee and simple carbs. I don’t advocate following a harsh diet consistently, but it’s often needed for a time in order to treat an imbalance, such as a Candida imbalance. My thyroid was highly stressed, and I was feeding it all the “right” things to keep it active, but all I was doing was wearing it out.
It took some months, but I was diligent in following my healing plan. I took kelp daily and stuck to eating a diet that would support rather than wear down my thyroid. I didn’t understand the effects of stress at the time, but now I would add stress management. The other and very important factor was that I made a decision not to be sick. You can’t dismiss the power of the mind in a healing plan. I decided that I wasn’t going to be sick anymore for the sake of the children who needed me. Please understand that this is what worked for me, but we are all different.
My family doctor sent me to an internist for tests. He worried that I had done damage to my body by forgoing conventional treatment for several years. When the internist finished his battery of tests, he sat me down at his desk, baffled. “I’ve never seen this before and can’t explain it,” he said. “Thyroids don’t fix themselves. You are perfectly fine.”
I have since successfully treated other conditions with herbal medicine—conditions that doctors insisted were either untreatable or needed medication. I’ve learned that both allopathic (conventional) medicine and herbal medicine work best in harmony. I respect medical doctors and their training, but neither they nor I have all the answers. I avoid medication if I can treat myself naturally, and when I need something stronger, I go to the doctor.
My journey has been much like a plant’s root system, spread out and going in many directions. I was born in Santa Rosa, California, grew up in Canada, and now live in the Mani region of Greece, where I’m helping my husband restore a beautiful stone house and garden. I’ve been a healer my entire life—raising four children, mothering four stepchildren, and training with Wild Rose Herbal College. I’ve also trained as a holistic health coach, Reiki master, and yogi. I’ve written several books and created botanical artwork.
Today, Mugwort & Meadow is the living expression of all this work. I’m building an herbal apothecary rooted in Mediterranean plant wisdom, drawing from the unique potency of Greek herbs and ancestral practices. I’m publishing my first herbal book, The Mediterranean Herbalist: Stories and Herbal Remedies from Italy and Greece with Book Shelter GmbH in 2026. I offer one-on-one herbal consultations, share recipes and herbal medicine-making tutorials through my newsletter and social media, and create handmade herbal products for my growing community.
My mission is simple: make herbal medicine accessible, practical, and rooted in real experience. If there is anything I can do to support your healing journey, I am here to help.