About Us
Welcome to Our World of Healing and Plants
Herb Whisperer is a family run business by Thomas Avery Garran and Holly Wu. We are committed to help people to become more self-sufficient, managing their health in this resource-limited and fast-developing world, by teaching them how to use and grow herbs. We believe that everyone can make a difference when they are more connected with plants and nature. Additionally, we are excited to help professionals further develop their craft with classes and courses targeted to assist practitioners get better results.
This is what we are about. Started in 2011 after the sudden death of our daughter Autumn Reine, we were inspired to carry forward her legacy by offering herbal and ecological education to children through the Learning Garden started in her honor in Beijing, China. We expanded into a farm (about 17 acres) where we grew Chinese herbs organically, ran a CSA for several years, and taught people how to live a healthier life-style.
Carrying On the Legacy, Creating the Future
After more than 15 years of studying, researching, and living in Beijing, Thomas moved back to the USA with his Chinese wife Holly Wu in 2023. About the time they were considering this move, an invitation came from Michael Tierra, Thomas’s long-time teacher, offering the opportunity to purchase the East West School of Herbology. Herb Whisperer purchased the school in early 2023. We are truly blessed.
Herb Whisperer, Inc. is now the owner of the East West School of Herbology and, aside from that herb school with more than 40 years of history, we offer classes by both Thomas and other teachers; onsite learning (coming soon); an online store with products curated by Thomas; medicinal plants and seeds; and other herb and plant related materials.
So, who are we and what are we about?
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Thomas is an herbalist, teacher, author, and independent scholar. His background in medicine was inspired by his father, one of the first paramedics in the US in the mid-1970s and his grandmother, who was a nurse and who once told him that he had a relative that was a doctor who treated William Shakespeare (unsubstantiated).
He started his education with a vision of becoming a pharmacist but turned to the culinary field instead. He would go on to study herbal medicine with some of the great herbalists and Chinese medicine practitioners of Santa Cruz, California including Michael Tierra, Christopher Hobbs, Roy Upton, Holly Guzman, and many more...
Are you interested in becoming an herbalist?
We are excited to announce our updated course for beginning students of herbal medicine; the Home Herbalist Course.
