Winter Sale At Sister Sage!

Check Out The New Sister Sage Gift Baskets on the Order Page

Discounted Products until Dec 31st!
Tinctures:

1 oz normally $9 Now $8
2 oz normally $18 Now $16

Calendula Calendula, officinalis antibacterial, skin healing,
Catnip Nepeta , cataria eases cramps, relaxing, stomach ache, fun for kitty,
Catnip Glycerine Nepeta, cataria suitable for children
Chamomile matricatra recutita stomach ache, calming, sedative
Chamomile Glycerine matricatra recutita suitable for children
Cleavers Galium aparine lymphatic tonic
Cough it Up! Hysssop, Thyme, Self Heal expectorant
Echinacea echinacea purpurea immune booster,
Echinacea & Calendula echinacea purpurea, Calendula officinalis Use at first sign of flu
Elecampane aster helenium respiratory opener
Feverfew tanacetum parthenium migraine headaches
Holy Mama Holy Basil (Rama), Motherwort, Wood Betony Stress relief
Lemon Balm Melissa officinalis herpes outbreaks
Motherwort Leonurus, cardiaca anxiety, stress
Oats Avena sativa Calming, Nutritious
Rama Tulsi (Basil) Ocimum sanctum adapting to new situations
Spilanthes spilanthes acmella toothache plant (and it works)
Wood Betony stachys, betonica Sedative, neck soreness
Yarrow Achellia, millefolium fever reducer, stops external bleeding, helps circulation

Food and Herb Garden

Check out the latest installation I did this year- My friend and former shareholder from a last year is studying Naturopathic Medicine at Bastyr University. She had me design a garden she could harvest from when she starts her own practice. She has two children who love to play in the garden, and are enjoying the food and know tons about herbs already. They already had the strawberries, raspberries, Camelia, and roses, but everything else is new.

To save money, the client did a ton of prep work, her husband built the food garden beds, and we moved the soil together. After she approved the design, I came out and explained the layout, then they did all that work, then I came back and mixed the soil, watered it all the way through, then planted the food garden. They had scored some free bricks from a neighbor, and had a friends brother do the brickwork- the first time he ever did it! He did a great job- Go Brad From Pocono Mt! The next day she and I dug up the plants from my farm stock together and loaded them into her truck. She had help on the other side unloading, so when I got there the next day all we had to do was divide up the plants and decide exactly where to place them. We did all this in the dead of that last heat wave (86 in September?), so they look exhausted in this photo. I am going for a follow up soon and will report back with more photos.

If you think you want to do any kind of new garden next year, start now, by prepping the area:
In the fall- put cardboard down on the grass (bike boxes or appliance boxes are best), build your raised bed if you want to, and then collect lots of leaves on top. Put a tarp on top of all that -they make brown/green tarps that are not that ugly, or if you don't want to use tarps, put a screen door or something like that to hold the leaves down.... In the spring, you just dig into great soil.

Bastyr Herb and Food Fair - Sat June 6th 10:00 to 5:00

I will have a booth at the Bastyr Herb and Food Fair on Saturday where I will offer my Tinctures, Infused Oils, Salves, and Herbal Soda Pops for sale. Stop by to say hello, grab a product list and discuss options that will improve your herbal practice this year.

Consider giving the gift of a CSA share to a Bastyr student or grad!

I am offering several Bulk CSA options to Professional Herbalists and still have home remedy sized CSA shares to help families build their herbal medicinal chests.

I will also be taking orders for herb plants as well as vegetable plants to be delivered in the next few weeks, and you can check out options for planting food and medicine at your home or office space this summer or fall.

Herb Shares and Food Gardens

Sister Sage Herbs is gearing up for the 2009 growing season, and would love for you to be involved!
I am offering full and half shares of 8-10 bouquets of herbs, flowers and roots per month through the season.
I am also offering a professional products share to herbalists. Imagine the possibilities and potential for nurturing health when you use a local source, visit the plants as they are growing, and create plant based medicines that you and your clients know you can trust.

Good Food Gardens is my newest endeavor with my Vashon Island farmer friend Jenn Coe. We install a beautiful vegetable garden in your yard, tend and harvest once a week, and leave you to nibble the rest of the time! Check it out at goodfoodgardens.com and call soon for a garden installation or consultation!

Fun at the Farmer Chef Connection!

I attended the Seattle Farmer Chef Connection Monday, and had a great time catching up with some cool northwest farmers and chefs! The event was produced by the Seattle chapter of Chef's Collaborative and Portland based eco-trust in an effort to get farmers and chefs to know each other better and learn to look at the world through the others' eyes. In a busy kitchen it is difficult to stop, and have a conversation about the beautiful produce that local farmers grow and deliver, but at these events the pace is slow and the passion is shared. The farmer can learn from the chef by asking how the final product will be used and stored, and the chef learns from the farmer at what stage the product is at it's finest. The event was really fun and informational, and was followed by a beer, wine, cheese, oyster & chocolate tasting. I even scored some oyster shells from Bill at Taylor Shellfish for my chickens! Yum!

I was there to promote my herbs- I sell fresh herbs for infusing in cocktails or vinegars as well as traditional culinary herbs to chefs in the summer, and dried herbs, simple syrups and teas. And I was also with my new business partner, Jen Coe to promote our landscaping business called Good Food Gardens. It is a more veggie version of my Herban Farm Yard idea. We hope to inspire folks to plant their yards in food for themselves and share the excess with their neighbors' for food security. Use your own space or any empty space you can to garden good food, and if you need help at any stage, call us for a consultation. Jayne 206-898-2101 or Jen 206-384-0973

Eat The View campaign!

If you have not been informed of the campaign to turn the White House Lawn back into a food garden, then you have to check out eattheview.org. This website is set up bu Kitchen Gardeners International and is devoted to getting the white house to set an example of urban farming! I love it. This is exactly what I want to see here in Seattle- Edible Streets! Keep up the good works out there, and make a resolution to grow one item that your family can enjoy together this year!
One of the easiest and most satisfying things to grow is Swiss Chard. It is colorful & beautiful at all times of the year, and if you let it go to seed, it comes back the next year. They are easy to transplant, and make great gifts to beginner gardeners. My chard plants have been in a bucket in my front yard through two weeks of snow and I ate them last night for supper! Lettuce is another easy thing to have growing in the spring and fall. Everyone loves cherry tomatoes, and they are very easy. If you do not have a sunny location in your yard, put them in a pot up against a sunny wall. Most of the time I just nibble on mine as I walk by. For some reason, kids love sorrel out in the yard. I think they know it is a wild plant, and it gives them some of the minerals they need. My friend Sadie, when she was 2 or so, would stand at the sorrel plant and eat it; but if her mom tried to put it on her plate as a salad, she refused. That is worth a hundred dollars! Don't forget to vote-

Year End Gratitude

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported Sister Sage this year. Specifically, Wade & Zoe for watering duties & letting me start my herb seeds in their greenhouse; Jim for helping me prepare the soils & acquire the "Tea Shack"; & Marc for endless laughs & love, my Jayne Drops theme song, helping me process our food and helping out with the chickens!

Sister Sage Herb Farm is becoming much more fertile, especially with the addition of chickens to the land. I am growing the herbs for my formulas, and I will expand the herbs that are most popular, and make those herbs into different forms. The herbal sodas were a hit, and I would like to get that bottled in Washington State. I installed one herbal landscape at Dr Denel's , in Georgetown and I will be marketing my Herbal Landscapes to more herbalists and Naturopaths in the Seattle and Vashon Area in 2009. If you are interested in having a healing garden installed, please contact me so we can begin designing it to fit your needs.
Future plans for Sister Sage Herb Farm include keeping bees or attracting bee keepers to the Roseballen Land somewhere, and especially in the medicinal herb field. For instance, I would love to set the hive in a field of Calendula and Echinacea and then infuse the roots of the echinacea plant in the honey later for an amazingly delicious flu fighter... Or a chamomile and holy basil field... Yum, the possibilities are endless.

It has been a great year for me personally, and I am obviously growing most of my own nutritious and medicinal herbs, and getting closer to one of my goals of growing most of my own food. After being snowed in for 10 days, I realized that we didn't put up nearly enough food in 2008. I ate more than I preserved of the blackberries right behind my property, the freezer wasn't that full, and I would like to participate in a dairy share with a farmer...Cheese, yogurt, and butter are the things I enjoy but had to go out to purchase. I do still have lots of pumpkins and squash, and the chard has survived the snow. Since we eat our chickens' eggs, that has been a great way to get protein, and I have improved my omelet skills- the key is having enough butter or oil in the pan! There is always more you can do to become self sufficient, but little by little you learn what you need to do each year to provide for yourself through the long winter.

One thing I have learned this year is the importance of community. My neighbors, some friends and I started a community garden together this year with the help of Zach Zink. He was a great organizer and constant garden worker. He organized the first work party, and always recruited people to work with him on major projects. We had about 10 families participating and lots of volunteers through the season. This project made our neighborhood more friendly immediatly. People who didn't know what was going on stopped by to find out how to join and where the garlic smell was coming from. We will continue with the garden this year, and hopefully we can keep building the community as well as the amount of food we produce. One of my goals is to be able to donate the extra produce we grow to the local food banks, and also to our neighbors. Check out the website for The Longfellow Creek Community Garden to find out what we are up to, and to participate if you live near Delridge and SW Myrtle.

My car is finally out of the snow (though there is still some in my yard), but I have not started the bio- diesel truck yet. I am a little apprehensive about it because I just changed the fuel filter, and I only have bio in it. I might have to go get petro to clear the lines...which reminds me that I am glad to have learned how to fix my isuzu pup, and finding isuzupup.com is a big reason I did. They have helped me through every issue I have had with my truck. I joined the forum, asked questions, and within the day (depending when you ask) someone on the list replied. Hats off to you joeisuzu!

I am grateful for the wonderful clients, friends and family I have as my community. I thank you all for your support and love through the years.