There has been an uptick in Female owned farms in the last few year and we are here for it ! Many have chosen to focus on the production of organic herbs. Let’s support these small herbal farms.

Small but Mighty –

     Women in farming have grown over 20% in the last 5 years or so.  Many of those woman owned farms are farming in Medicinal Herbs.  This feels so synergistic, because Herbalism is predominantly female.  Studies show that among herbalist – females make up 68.6% to males 31.4%.  So why wouldn’t we cultivate the medicine that we craft.  In a way it feels like a quiet, but powerful form of activism.  

     Rachel Rodgers states in her book,   “research shows women’s economic participation and their ownership of financial assets speeds up development. Helping to overcome poverty, reducing inequality and improves children’s nutrition, and raises school attendance. Working women invest 90% of their income back into their families and communities, compared to only 35% for men.”  

Shop Local –

     Shop local or localish.  When you shop overseas for herbs it’s hard to know how old those dried herbs might be.  I talked about the energetics of herbs in my post about Raising Your Vibration.  Basically there is an energetic chain of events, from growing, harvest, packing, storage and eventual shipment.  This whole process affects the quality, potency and energy of that herb.  

     I love what Amanda from Locust Light Farm says, “ It is also important to know that herbs we use have been harvested sustainably. Many exotic herbs are over-foraged in other countries or even our own forests or deserts. It is crucial to the future of herbalism that we preserve our natural plant communities. When purchasing herbs that grow in other ecosystems, we have little way of knowing the sustainability of the harvesting practices.”  

For these reasons, I have chosen to consciously shop and support these small herb farms. They are pouring their hearts into working with Mother Earth and I want to do my part to nurture their efforts. Here is a list of a few farms that I have supported.

Herb Farms that we Love

• Foxtrot Farm Ashfield, MA
• Kestrel Herb Farm Leicester, NC
• Zac Woods Herb Farm Hyde Park, VT
• Oshala Farm Applegate, OR
• Reverie Farm Troy, ID

Mountain Rose Herbs is certainly not a small scale operation, they do an amazing job partnering with small, sustainable and organic farms all across the U.S. They are an incredible source of knowledge.

In fact, it was this page on their site that I was able to connect directly with the previous mentioned small farms.

I hope that you feel encouraged to visit your local farmers markets, co-ops or u-pick farms. It truly feels good to know where your food is coming from.