How do you get started on Herbalism

@LeissaMyst, Outdoor Retreat was the first Game Pack to be released for TS4, so it was several years later that Seasons was released.  And Seasons is your problem in this case since it will make all plants subject to seasonal growth periods including those plants found in Outdoor Retreat. 😞 When OR was released, nobody had to worry about this since there were no seasons to worry about. 😃

You can get a jumpstart on your Herbology skill by reading the Herbology books (start with Volume 1) so that by the time you find some herbal plants on vacation you will already be able to make more things with them! 🙌  And when you do find them, be sure to plant some at home so you can easily find them, since it is kind of a treasure hunt to find them at Granite Falls! 😉

There is a hidden section in Granite Falls that leads to the Old Hermit's cabin where he or she (it changes and is random) will have a small garden with some of these plants. 🤨

You also might be able to download some of these plants (as rooms with just the one plant in them) so you can have them in your game if you still can't find them in the wild at Granite falls.  I don't know if she has all the Granite Falls plants and herbs, but @SheriGR has some plants in rooms that you can download for your Sims's homes if you absolutely can't find them in Granite Falls. 💡  I would use this as a last resort though, since It is usually more fun to find the plants yourself! 😇

This could also explain why my science facility in get to work only has harvestable plants once per save game...the timing anyway...

@LeissaMyst  Yes, ever since Seasons changed how gardening works, you can not harvest any plants at the lab since you are not there at 5 AM.  So you need to bring what you need for serums with you when you go to work there.

@LeissaMyst @PugLove888 If memory serves I think I did get all of the Herbalist plants. Not positive, but you can search my name in the gallery and grab any you want. Have fun! 😊

Can you still buy the seeds to get full plants from the potting trays (haven't checked tbh)? That's what I /always/ did for plants even before installing seasons; because they would never grow even before then :/

Not wanting to reveal spoilers on the public forums but could one of you DM me with the general location of the Hidden Section (Hermit's House) in Granite Falls? Despite looking /everywhere/ I cannot find it and would like to know at the very least what area I should be looking in (I assume it's either the campgrounds neighborhood or the National Park but I'm not sure which but seeing as those are the ONLY neighborehoods on the world map that could be ANYWHERE in the world.)

@LeissaMyst Only certain seeds can be purchased through planters. Some can be purchased on the computer. I think, if memory serves, the herbalist plants all must be found in the wild or the herbalist's garden. There's a wonderful guide with general locations of seeds/plants here: https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/skills/gardening/ 

Linking in the Spoiler tag a Carl's Guide that also has a map with approximate location of the cave opening ["The Sims 4 Herbalism Skill (Outdoor Retreat): Recipes, Ingredients, and the Hermit's Secret Recipe"] :