That sounds like a boast. Maybe it is? I am telling you this because I think that’s one of the few things that sets me apart from many other herbalists and herbal remedy makers.
This is my farm. My entire property is just over one acre and the garden spaces only take up maybe half of that, so it’s just enough that I can handle taking care of it myself. It’s a lot of work! But rewarding.
There are thousands of other herbal product makers who buy their herbs in bulk, whether that’s from Mountain Rose Herbs or someplace else online. Once in awhile, I will admit, I order from them or buy a few specific herbs online that I was unable to grow or I have run out of. But at least 90% of the herbs that I work with are grown either here in my gardens or foraged in the local forests.
I make tea blends in very small batches– usually 10 bags or fewer. Often I’ll experiment with blending herbs together to help myself with some minor affliction (stuffy nose, sore throat, stress, etc). Or what I really LOVE doing is getting a private order from someone (usually one of my One on One Clients or a local person) who needs help managing a specific bodily condition.
That’s when I get my creative juices flowing and make a special herbal blend (either tea or tincture) and get to help a PERSON rather than just their symptoms. Because when I consult with someone, I figure out what their body’s energetics are. Do they tend to run hot and dry, with red cheeks and a flushed complexion? If so, I better not give them any warming herbs as that could just make their condition even worse…
I gather many of my ingredients wild from fields and forests (of course not sprayed with chemicals) so I can not only control the quality of my products from home but also ensure that the herbs I’m blending have a high content of their medicinal components. Wild plants always do!
There was a big conference last year put on by the American Herbalists Guild about sourcing your materials. It’s a pretty big deal in the herbal community; you need to make certain you’re buying the correct herb and getting a good quality herb rather than something that sat in a cupboard for a few years before they sold it to you.
I didn’t even bother attending that conference. Again, I know where my herbs come from because I grow, pick, dry, or tincture them all with my own two hands!
I’m not writing this to boast. In fact, what I do is very hard work and I’m reaching a point in my life where I very much would rather focus on teaching people how to do what I do rather than busting my ass in the garden and shop so much. But it’s something that sets me apart from many of my peers.
I’m not a Clinical Herbalist. I’m definitely not the “best” herbalist out there. But I’m a jack-of-all-trades in my own way, and that works sustainably for me. I grow a LOT of my own food and almost 100% of my own herbs.
That’s why people like my stuff. That and the fact that I make everything wicked strong… lol… But I won’t be doing the “making” much longer. Along with content creation, social media managing, email writing, customer service, running events, and all the other stuff I do, I’m running myself ragged. Get some of my Herbal Remedies before I sell out!
If you’d like to learn how to do all this yourself the same way I do, click below to see my secrets!
Remedies From Nature (includes the Making Tinctures Safely PDF)