Our garden is in the Pembina River valley surrounded by forest. The garden has always been farmed organically (we were not certified prior to 2002 because our business was too small to support organic certification.) As organic farmers we believe that the soil is a living entity and we do everything we can to conserve and improve it. Two ways in which organic farming protects the soil are by reducing erosion and allowing living organisms such as earthworms to flourish.

We gather several herbs in approved areas of the boreal forest. We use ethical wildcrafting practices to avoid depleting stands of wild plants. Therefore, we collect only a portion of the herb available on the plants so that the plants can easily regenerate. We do not return to a patch until it has fully regenerated. We also do not drive into the patches, and thus do not disturb the forest by making trails; rather, we walk into the patch and carry the herb out on backpacks.

Harvest and Preparation

All the herb preparation is done on our farm, and therefore, we have complete control over the quality of our product. We also sell only the current or previous year's crop. We believe that colour and fragrance are good indicators of potency, and all our preparation practices are designed to preserve maximum colour and fragrance. The herb is hand-picked at the right time for highest content of active principles, and dried in a kiln. Our temperature-controlled drying process ensures that the active principles do not break down and evaporate excessively during drying. We remove the coarse stalks from the herb, and we prepare it by sifting and chopping to get it into a consistency that it can be packaged; however, we avoid breaking the herb down so much that it loses quality.