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.
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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!
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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.
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I grew up exploring the forest in my backyard, splashing in creeks, climbing trees, and playing imaginary games. Throughout my childhood, we took family hiking and camping trips in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Access to public lands allowed me and countless others to connect with nature. Those experiences shaped who I am.
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As we pass into the seasonal festivities and approach the winter solstice, we are reminded of ritual and tradition. The time honored tradition of storytelling gives gifts of insight, mystery, and allure from a world unknown to us. Since the art and craft of herbalism has strong roots as an oral tradition, we felt it appropriate to share some aural folk tales with you. In the coming weeks we'll release five short videos highlighting a few of Guido Masé’s cherished stories of the Silvani in this mini-series on Herbal Folklore. Guido Masé is a clinical herbalist, storyteller, and author of such books as DIY Bitters.
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Chief Operations Officer, Jennifer, visits with a group of Fair for Life farmers on this intercropped forest farm with yearround harvestability in three stories of the forest canopy.
Increasing demand for spices acquired from tree barks, such as our beloved cassia (a.k.a. cinnamon) is putting many tree species in peril worldwide. At Mountain Rose Herbs, we are passionate about supporting sustainable harvesting that preserves the life and integrity of the tree, rather than killing it. Our Fair for Life Project farmers in India use methods that are unconventional, harvesting only small sections of the tree bark and then allowing the tree to heal completely before taking more.
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A proud Fair for Life farmer shows off our certified organic nutmeg and mace fruits.
The smiles on the faces of the farmers as I handed them organic cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, and clove saplings were ear-to-ear grins. Today, I had the pleasure of hand-delivering the saplings to one of the 60 farms we collaborate with as part of our innovative Fair for Life Project.
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You may have heard about the resurgence in returning to diets higher in fat. Ever since learning about this trend, I’ve been experimenting with ways to add fat back into my diet. I especially enjoy the luxury that a boost of fatty goodness can bring to a cold morning.
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Chief Operations Officer, Jennifer, helps field workers prepare our certified organic turmeric farmland for replanting.
As part of my most recent trip to the Mountain Rose Herbs Fair For Life Project in southern India, I visited the remote agricultural village of Kollegala, based in the foothills of the Western Ghats. It’s a fertile farming land with a dry growing season and heavy summer rains. The community in this area makes its living primarily from the sales of turmeric (Curcuma longa). The turmeric growers here represent the largest farming group in our innovative Fair for Life Project, and they grow turmeric exclusively for Mountain Rose Herbs.
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Chief Operations Officer, Jennifer, in our organic Fair for Life turmeric field post-harvest.
As the Chief Operations Officer for Mountain Rose Herbs, I regularly visit our Fair for Life Project in southern India. Most recently, I traveled to the state of Karnataka to meet our organic farmers and check in on important developments there.
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