California Bay Laurel
We use this tree to make our California Bay Laurel soap. It has a strong, spicy scent with a subtle lemony aroma. California Bay Laurel grows in the Coastal Ranges from northern Baja all the way up to Southern Oregon where it is known as Oregon Myrtle. Its fruit is olive-like and so it is sometimes referred to as the California Olive. These trees can live to be 300+ years old. While hiking in the Bay Area one often stumbles upon Laurel groves and the spicy scent is very noticeable and pleasant. Crush a leaf under your nose and the sensation of your sinuses exploding is fantastic. Be careful not to sneeze! The wood from Bay Laurels is often used to make furniture, bowls, and even parts for boats. We use the leaves to make our soap.
Incense Cedar
We use this tree to make our Sierra Cedar soap and our Sierra Cedar smudge sticks. Incense Cedar has a woodsy, summery scent that makes us think of warm evenings sitting near a campfire in the Sierra. Its range spans from the Cascade Mountains in Oregon southward through the Sierra Nevada and Coastal Ranges of California. Incense Cedars have thick, "shreddy" bark and scaly leaves that grow tightly along the twigs. Incense Cedars can grow to be very large and to live up to 1,000 years. The wood is often used to make Cedar chests and for a while it was used to make pencils. We use the leaves of this tree to make our soap and smudge sticks.
Port Orford Cedar
We refer to Port Orford Cedar as Siskiyou Cedar since it grows in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of California and Oregon. We use this Cedar for our Siskiyou soap and sachets and our Cedar incense. It is also sometimes called "Ginger Cedar" for its highly unusual, spicy odor. Port Orford Cedar wood was highly coveted in the early 1900s when it was used to make cedar clothes chests (the scent of the wood is said to repel moths) and for shipbuilding. Today a large percentage of these precious trees are on privately-owned land since these trees were over-logged and are now not nearly as abundant as they once were. This is why our sustainable harvesting methods are so important since they encourage new, abundant growth.
Desert Piñon
Piñon Pine grows in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, and its sweet, piney aroma is the smell of warm desert nights in the mesa and canyon country of the Southwest. We use its wood for our incense and its pitch for our soap (we've had a difficult time harvesting Piñon pitch lately which is why our Piñon soap has been unavailable for so long). Piñon trees grow in a different habitat from their other pine cousins and they favor the hot desert climate. With twisted branches and spiky leaves, this highly resinous tree's cones yield a delicious nut that tastes like a combination of pine, peanuts, and popcorn all mixed together. The pitch was used by Apaches to make their baskets water tight.
Douglas Fir
Douglas Fir can be found from as far north as British Columbia down south through to Monterey, California. We use the leaves and wood of Douglas Fir for our Douglas Fir sachets, the tender spring tips for our tea, and the wood for our incense. Douglas Fir can grow to be over 220 feet tall and ancient trees can be over 17 feet in diameter and live more than 1,000 years. It is the third tallest tree in North America and to enter a grove of old-growth trees is a divine experience. Douglas Fir is used abundantly for timber and for Christmas trees. Carpenters favor it for it's strong wood and many miles of railroad track in the West have ties that are made out of Douglas Fir. Despite its name, Douglas Fir isn't actually a true Fir tree. Luckily, Douglas Fir is extremely fast-growing and regenerative, so they respond well to our pruning. We love them for their citrusy, invigoratingly evergreen scent and taste!
Christmas Fir
The type of Fir tree we mostly use for our best-selling Christmas Fir sachet is Noble Fir, a Fir that is widely used as Christmas trees. Noble Fir is a high-elevation tree that grows in the Cascades and the Rockies. Noble Fir is a variety of Balsam Fir that can also grow to heights of 200 feet and live for longer than 500 years. The smell of Noble Fir and other Balsam Firs is the true smell of Christmas, which is why our Christmas Fir sachets are a little piece of winter-in-the-mountains magic.
Wild Huckleberries
We use two varieties of Wild Huckleberries for our jams, the Cascade Blue and the Coastal Red. Found in the Cascade mountain range (the ecological and spiritual heart of the Northwest) the Cascade Blue Huckleberry is regarded by many wild food aficionados as superior to the better known Rocky Mountain Huckleberry found further inland. Its slightly tart and wonderfully sweet flavor is a staple of late-season hikes in the high meadow country of the Cascades. Conversely, Red Huckleberries are found in the coastal rainforests of the West Coast, from the mountains of San Francisco Bay north to British Columbia. The berries are tiny and sparse, which makes them incredibly time-consuming to harvest, but they are well worth the effort as they have a wonderfully full-bodied, tart, complex flavor.
Western Juniper
Western Juniper covers vast portions of the Southwest in addition to parts of Southern and Central California and southeastern Washington. We use it for our Juniper sachets, soap, and incense. It seems happily at home clinging to small ledges or peeking up between boulders on precipitous slopes and can adapt to any rough habitat situation such as lack of soil and acidic soil. We harvest Western Juniper in Central California where dry rolling hills are dotted by twisty green spikes of Juniper. Juniper wood is too knotty for most construction, but apparently it makes a nice material for fence posts. This particular Juniper has a rich, resinous scent and a bright fruity edge. The incense will transport you to a campfire in the high desert.
Manzanita
We use Manzanita branches in our Mt. Tamalpais wreath. Our Manzanita Berry Cider Tea uses the berries. Manzanita grows in the coastal ranges of California north into Shasta county and southward into the Sierra Nevada. It is ever-present in chaparral areas. Manzanita is an incredible tree, with burgundy-colored smooth branches and trunks and spiky leaves. It's a beautiful sight to find one when out on the trail that is covered in chartreuse lichen. Manzanita berries are very difficult to harvest in large quantities, which is why our Manzanita tea is rarely available.
Mugwort
Also known as Dream Weed for its unique ability to stimulate dreams, Mugwort is found in the mountains of the West Coast from California north through British Columbia. It is renowned as a smudging herb for its subtle, sweet scent and dream-inducing qualities.
Sweetgrass
Sweetgrass is found in alpine meadows throughout the mountainous regions of the West, from Alaska south to the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. It is one of the treasured plants of native tribes in Canada and the American West, who use it ceremonially along with White Sage. When burned, it has a lovely, soft, vanilla-like scent and a centering energy that evokes the ephemeral, shimmering green mountain meadows where it grows.
White Sage
With its incredibly strong, aromatic resins, White Sage is the most highly prized Western Sage. It is found in the rugged mountains of the Southwest, where it is burned ceremonially in purification rituals. Its beautiful leaf clusters and enormous flowering stalks burst forth in the spring, painting streaks of white against the rusty green hillsides and filling the air with the pungent scent of wild Sage.
