Oct 22, 2025 @ 7pm: Suzanne Catty “Potions and Lotions from the Garden”

Location: Peterborough Lions Centre, Burnham St. Ptbo. Guests are welcome for $5.

Suzanne Catty was raised connecting plants with healing and food. Foraging for berries, mushrooms, herbs and other wild edibles was learned from childhood and tied to the seasons. 

After a 16 year career in the music business Suzanne returned to her love of plant medicine and started what has been a 30 year adventure. Working first with both Canadian and US based training organizations on improved standards her research soon took for to spend 5 years developing the first scientific data on the aromatic plant waters called hydrosols.

In 2005 recognizing the rising environmental problems Suzanne’s focus has been on the sustainability of the herbal medicine industry.  Today she says, “If we still want aromatherapy in 10-15 years we must all be climate activists. To be sustainable we must step up to the challenge and become guardians and protectors of the plants instead of simply consumers.”

Catty’s book Hydrosols. The Next Aromatherapy (Healing Arts Press, 2000) was the first book ever written on the subject and by 2024 hydrosols were a $1billion dollar commodity providing direct benefit for plant growers, farmers and end users worldwide.

Ms Catty has taught and worked with people around the world. She has written extensively on plant medicine and health care and has more than 40,000 hrs of clinical practice.

Although the 2025 harvest is over, this talk will take you through a herbalist’s garden discovering the plants you can grow for home health and wellness care.  We will look at well-known, and easy to grow traditionals like lavender and lemon balm but also the amazing properties of Canadian natives like bee balm and goldenrod that are so important in protecting biodiversity. We will look at extraction and preservations methods and recipes for turning nature’s bounty into beautiful products for you and your family.