Kootenay Woman
Canada, FRUITVALE
Kootenay Woman in Fruitvale, BC is a one-family operation, from harvest to finished product. We are inspired and powered by our beloved mountains here in the Koots. Mother Nature gives freely, and this small home business is dedicated to honouring the bounty and beauty of Nature.
Main Services:
Wild food, Foraged herbals, Healing herbals, Elderberries, Chaga mushroom, Rosehips, Alder, Oregon grape, Rhodiola root, Fireweed
Here’s how:
Foraging: All plants are foraged on foot in the pristine wild areas, and harvested by hand. The choice to walk rather than use a disruptive truck or ATV is a conscious choice.
Respecting the wildlife: Bears, birds, squirrels and many other depend on the bounty of elderberries, Oregon grape, juniper berries and other herbs and seeds. We choose to harvest from areas with an abundance of fruit-bearing plants, and we never take more than one-third of the harvest from any one plant. There’s enough for all when we live by the rule of respect.
Cleaning the harvest: Bugs and spiders love berries. We mindfully remove and release them as berries are cleaned and de-stemmed. After de-stemming, berries are triple-washed with a gentle apple cider vinegar solution, and rinsed thoroughly before dehydration or freezing.