Just in time for the holidays, we have two chic new cast iron teapot sets!

The Winter Solstice is just around the corner, and we are slowly adjusting to the mounting darkness. One of our favorite things to do this time of year is to pull up a comfy seat in front of the fire, brew a cup of our herbal tea, and curl up with a good book.

We are excited of offer our new Certified Organic Massage Oils exclusive to Mountain Rose Herbs. These unique blends are lovingly crafted in our body care kitchen from the finest organic ingredients. Our carrier oil bases are solar-infused with organic botanicals for two weeks and hand-blended with organic essential oils. Each oil comes packaged in a 4 oz. plastic amber bottle with a convenient flip cap.

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Alternative wellness philosophies often ask “what is the root cause?” By assessing the root cause, one can take proactive measures towards health and well-being. In the case of Oregon grape, the root of this plant has been used by traditional healers to stimulate the digestive tract. Oregon grape root is classified as an Alterative and a Bitter in the tradition of neo-eclectic herbalism popularized by Michael Moore, Howie Brounstein, and many others.

Fall is my favorite time of year. We find more time to spend with family and friends, indulge in lovingly-prepared meals that feature the abundance of the harvest, and light the first warm, cozy fires of the season. For me, the focus on the harvest extends beyond food and crops: we also gather community, stories of summer, projects, and hopes for the coming year.

We are happy to add Solomon’s Seal Root Powder to our roster of herbs and spices.

Respectfully wild-harvested on the East Coast, Solomon’s Seal is a useful astringent, demulcent, and tonic herb. It is generally made into a decoction, but Solomon’s Seal Root Powder makes an excellent poultice. Historically, indigenous cultures of North America consumed the starchy rhizomes of Solomon’s Seal as a potato-like food to make breads and soups. The young shoots are also edible, raw or boiled for an asparagus-like treat. The plant gets its name from a scar that develops on the rhizome in the Autumn, resembling the ancient seal of King Solomon.

The holidays are the most giving and generous time of the year. They are also the most wasteful. Between Thanksgiving and New Years, Americans throw out about 25 million tons more trash than normal -- a 25 percent increase over the rest of the year. We can change that!

Autumn has returned to the Willamette Valley, and this is a great time of year to get organized and prepared before the cold winds of winter start blowing in. Here at Mountain Rose Herbs, we have simplified the offerings of our container case sizes for all bottles, jars, tins, and spice containers.

We’ve got a lovely new addition to our line of certified organic, steam-distilled hydrosols that we’d like to share with you, our St. John’s Wort hydrosol.

This wonderful St. John’s Wort hydrosol is a subtle beauty to add to your collection. It has a dry herbaceous aroma with flat floral tones. Overall the scent is soft and will not overpower recipes when used as an ingredient.

Earlier this fall, we visited our farm that straddles both Oregon and Washington, interrupted by the blue Columbia River running down its middle. The farm's verdant green fields shone brightly against brown, parched hillsides that stretched as far as the eye could see. The irrigated fields provided relief to the eyes, a soft green that promised healthy harvests yet to come.