Herbal teas abound, but here are three businesses that offer other ways to use herbs.
Herbal soaps
The skin is the largest of our organs, so using herbal soap is not only a way to get clean, but also to absorb helpful benefits. We always choose herbal soaps for our kitchen, selecting them for their fragrance and compatibility with food. Lisa Pickett of Farmington Herbals has been making cold-process soap for more than 20 years. Many of her soaps include herbs she grows in her garden in Farmington. Most recently, we’ve been using her blackberry sage soap, made with an infusion of her homegrown pineapple sage leaves and flowers, avocado oil and mango butter. The ingredients sound good enough to eat, and the marbled bar looks pretty in the soap dish. The light fragrance of blackberry, with just a touch of sage, means the kitchen does not smell perfumed. And, the soap lathers like a dream. We look forward to trying Pickett’s rosemary lemon bars, as well as the honey almond.
$6.50 per 4.2- to 4.7-ounce bar of soap. Available at the Athens Farmers Market and farmingtonherbals.com.
Credit: Sandy Perry
Credit: Sandy Perry
Herbal syrups
Sandy Perry, along with her husband Danny and son Will, raises poultry — chickens, ducks, guinea hens and turkeys — on a 28-acre farm in Roanoke, Alabama, just 90 miles from Atlanta. In addition to selling eggs and ethically raised meat, they offer vegetables, honey, teas, dehydrated pet treats, cheese and what Perry calls “wild apothecary” items she produces from wild and organically grown herbs on the farm, including herbal syrups. We have been enjoying her Zen syrup, a remedy she first created to help herself rest, relax and rejuvenate. The syrup tastes fruity, but there’s no fruit in the mix. It includes passionflower, hibiscus, vervain, chamomile, pineapple sage, mullein, mimosa bark, smartweed, clover and more. Perry recommends stirring three tablespoons into a mug of hot water, and then slowly breathing in the steam and sipping the drink. The next thing you know, you’re calm and sleepy. Her respiration preservation syrup is made from ingredients she chose with COVID-19 in mind, and has been helpful for cold symptoms.
$18 per 12-ounce bottle of Zen syrup, $16 per 12-ounce bottle of respiration preservation syrup. Every other week, they travel to the Atlanta area and deliver orders for a $5 fee. Also available at willsedenfarm.com.
Credit: Ben Rouse
Credit: Ben Rouse
Herbal tinctures
Dana Nivens was an organic vegetables farmer who slowly found herself drawn to growing herbs instead on her small farm in Athens. Soon, she began developing a line of products made from fresh herbs, rather than the dried herbs that often are used. A trained herbalist, she offers workshops in making herbal medicine, and, in the spring, she sells medicinal herb plants. She has developed a line of 20 tinctures, each created to achieve a particular effect. Nivens says Sleep Easy, Anxiety Away and Brain Boost are her bestsellers, perhaps reflecting the general state of mind these days. Her own favorite is the Daily Adaptogen. She grows all the herbs in this formula, aimed at helping the body adapt to stress and deal with fatigue. We’ve been enjoying Spirit Lift, a combination of mimosa flower and bark; hawthorn leaves, flowers and berries; and lemon balm, by adding 30 to 40 drops to a small glass of room temperature water and drinking that several times a day.
$26 per 2-ounce bottle. Some tinctures available at Mama’s Bath & Body in Avondale Estates, and all tinctures available at heartsongherbs.com.
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