ABOUT

Unearth Your Everyday Herbal Wellness with
Plant-Based Recipes & Herbal Home Remedies

Fern leaf image | Botany Culture

Botany Culture is a guided exploration through the beauty & wonder of the plant world.

It’s an exploration that focuses on teaching simple ways to weave more nutritive & medicinal plants into your everyday life. It’s a quest that helps us all reconnect to this earth, a connection I believe is an essential part of our true & total wellness.

I hope that what you find here will inspire new perspectives on plant as ally, ​​​​​​food as medicine, & Earth as teacher in ways that will help better shape our collective future in these modern (& over-civilized) times on a planet in great need of our care.

What You WILL Find Here:

Plant-Based Recipes (mostly vegan, sometimes gluten-free)

Herbal Home Remedies

DIY Bath & Beauty

DIY Household

Science-Supported Nutrition & Herbal Information

What You WILL NOT Find Here:

Medical Claims

Medical Advice

Hey there, I’m Sass!

Plant Food & Medicine Educator,
Health & Happiness Advocate,
Kitchen Herbalist, Baker, Earth Lover,
and Chronic Mover & Shaker
makin’ things happen since 1984.

Sass Ayres (Botany Culture)

✺ How I Got Here ✺

I don’t remember my childhood being full of nature. All I remember is that as soon as I was old enough, out into the world I was meant to go. And so I did, driven by curiosity and challenge, and relentlessly captivated by contrast and creation.

I can’t tell you why I was drawn to the natural world in the first place either. There was no single moment in time, and I imagine it’s just been something in me from the start. I’m going to chalk it up to a force greater than us all, an innate remembrance, or a true calling if there ever was one. Whatever it was, something called, I answered, and I’ve been in conversation with it ever since.

✺ Where I’ve Been ✺

I’ve studied the oceans and worked as a marine biologist. I’ve studied human nutrition and dietetics, plant medicine, permaculture, and landscape design. I’ve traveled. I’ve crossed the country on a bicycle by myself. I’ve worked as a fine-dining vegan chef, owned and operated a botanical cupcake business, run restaurants, and managed food and medicine gardens.

I love to learn new things, all kinds of things, practically anything, everything really… and that’s a hard itch to scratch.

✺ Things That Light the Way ✺

I enjoy the finer things in life like nature, truth, and beauty. I appreciate the elegant and graceful as much as the unseemly and graceless. The kind of mystery and magic that makes you question even the most mundane is good fuel for my soul’s fire.

I have great belief in the power of a good cup of hot green tea, the comfort in a chunk of homemade dark chocolate, and the subtle, yet undeniable alchemy of a quiet, solo walk deep into the woods. And all the places that science and art overlap, those are some of my favorites.

My Academic Background ✺

  • Master of Science in Nutrition & Dietetics, Bastyr University
    • This includes an additional 2 years of supporting studies in the Bachelor of Science Major in Herbal Sciences that included courses in botany & ethnobotany, materia medica, herbal first aid, herbal medicine traditions & history, medicine making, pharmacognosy, herb/drug interactions, & more.
  • Certificate in Permaculture & Holistic Landscape Design, Bastyr University
  • Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, Macalester College

Other Formal Herbal Education

  • Taste of Herbs with Rosalee de la Forêt, LearningHerbs
  • Online Foraging Course: Edible and Wild Medicinal Herbs, The Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine

Life goals? I got ’em.


…to have lived life as an in-the-flesh poem of praise & gratitude to planet Earth, one without easy rhyme or discernible rhythm, that shed a brighter light on the vital interconnectedness of people & planet…for people & planet.

Botany Bakeshop - A Botanical Bakery | Tampa, FL

My Sweet Obsession…The Lil’ Botanical Bakeshop That Could

It’s a love story, a passion project, and a continual work-in-progress that’s been following me around like a puppy since 2010. But wherever it’s taken me (or I’ve taken it), it’s always been about bringing the beauty, the food and medicine, and the magic of the plants and this planet into your every day celebrations.

When I’m not touting the good word of the food, medicine, & friendship of the plants, I’m baking them into cake.

✺ Herbal eBooks ✺

Holiday Pies from the (Un)Bakery

Holiday Pies From The (Un)Bakery | 10 No-Bake, Vegan, & Gluten-Free Holiday Pies Inspired By The Classics

This mini-book of holiday pie recipes is for all the pie lovers looking for something a little healthier to share with their loved ones during the holiday season… or anytime, really. Some are recreations of familiar holiday classics like pecan, apple, and pumpkin pie, while others are less traditional, but still created with the classic and familiar flavors reminiscent of the winter season.

Nourishing Herbal Gifts - eBook - cover

Nourishing Herbal Gifts | The Art Of Herbal Gifting & 20+ Simple, Practical, & Delicious Recipes

Gift-giving is a love language! It’s also an art. This is a guidebook in helping you dive into the art of making and gifting herbal products with confidence that your loved ones will find your creations as special as you do. With over a decade of herbal gifting behind me, I’ve learned so much about how to create more meaningful gifts that your loved ones can actually use and I’m so happy to share it with you.

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✺ Let’s Connect! ✺

Thanks for spending some of your valuable time here. I love to connect with other plant and planet lovers out there! So I make sure your message goes to the right place, please use the form below.

Or if you prefer, you can email me directly at:
hello(at)botanyculture.com

And while you’re at it, subscribe to the Botany Culture Weekly, a newsletter to keep you up-to-date on all the latest herbal wellness tips, tricks, recipes, and remedies from the blog.