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Healthy Living Loves Local: Samhain Herbs

Jill Frink, founding alchemist of Samhain Herbs, calls her work “Guerrilla Medicine…” and for good reason! She and her team of expert herbalists use exclusively local herbs & berries to create their traditional elderberry syrup. They also use the percolation method of tincturing, which is the same way the big herb companies do it, but, as Frink says, “instead of 500 gallon vats and lab coats, I use recycled glass water bottles and common kitchen gadgets.”

After studying Herbalism for over a decade, Jill founded Samhain Herbals on October 31st, 2008.  She began by gathering elderberries near her home in Plainfield, making syrup and selling it locally at  the coop in Central Vermont, and by the quart jar to friends and neighbors.

Before long, the reputation of the medicine spread through nearby villages and towns. For Jill, the most important thing is that the people in her community have good results with the herbal medicine she produces.

She believes that, “local medicine is for local people. I have no desire to outgrow the elder trees, or the local market that Samhain Herbs supports. My apprentices and I gather berries in the fall, and process them out on the porch…The herbs that aren’t wild crafted, come from local farmers in the area. I contract out to small vegetable farmers, and support local herb farms. The honey is also raw and local. Not only do my products hold to my standard of integrity, but I hold myself and my products to the highest integrity of the plant, and all that it has to offer.”

Not only are Samhain products are purely local, they also arise from an understanding, and a relationship with the plants. Samhain produces and shares its magic elixir with a pure heart and divine joy; we couldn’t be happier to have it on our shelves!

Visit the Wellness Department from 12-3 PM this Friday September 27th to sample some delicious Elderberry Syrup from Samhain Herbals, and to learn more about their incredible line of herbal medicine.