You gotta love a maker who has such a connection to the ingredients they use and to hear how they got to where they are is pretty incredible. It makes you believe you could do anything if you believe in yourself and your passion! Say hello to Harbor Herbalist!
Where does your passion for food come from?
I have always loved working with plants. My connection to food and tea come from how closely I live with wild and cultivated edible plants. I feel that food and health are innately tied to our sense of place. We live generatively when we are able to have intimate relationships on a daily basis with the herbs, foods, and spices grown in our bioregion.
Tell us about your culinary journey.
I grew up with a natural delight for cooking. I spent most of my teenage years making food for myself and my siblings and used cooking as a creative way to relax and destress. I would just make whatever I could from the boxes and cans of food in the pantry. I was lucky to take my first botany class in high school, which is where I learned how to differentiate hundreds of kinds of plants in Cascadia and I also began to discover that many of our dominant native plants have edible parts. I did not begin a professional career in food and tea making until I was in my mid-20’s trying to work several cooking jobs to pay for grad school. I was living in Hawaii at the time so I was working with perennial tropical plants in the restaurants I worked at. This connection to the food plants of Hawaii helped me connect to the land that I was living on. I learned so much about the history of the Hawaiian Islands through Hawaii-Pacific regional cuisine. When I returned to the Pacific Northwest ten years ago I knew my life would have to include PNW ecology and I would work in food systems. I initially worked in Seattle as a chef but eventually became an ecologist and now I manage a natural farm in Port Orchard that grows many of the herbs in the teas I make. Being a creative chef and tea maker really enables me to continue my passion for the ecology of Cascadia. Through research and learning how to tend plants in Washington I have been able to have a life where I help build environmental resilience and nourish humans at the same time.
Where is your favorite place to eat?
I love eating on my farm. I feel super blessed and lucky to have natural farm. Which basically means I farm using no-till systems and we go above and beyond organic standards. So the herbs and foods that we grow are truly exceptional and flavorful.
Where do you source your ingredients?
I source herbs for my teas from my farm and from other organic farmers in the PNW and from fair-trade organic suppliers when I source herbs from other parts of the world.
Tell us about a new product you are working on.
I am currently working on a new set of teas with a friend of mine. He is Moroccan, so we are creating a line of teas that are inspired from his place of origin and ancestry. It is a fun project to work on because the teas are very different than what I make for my own business. Our first tea is a green tea with Morroccan saffron, rose buds, and ceylon cinnamon.
What will our fans find at your booth this fall?
My booth is beautiful, colorful, and fun. I present all my teas in a way that you can see and smell them. I always have at least two teas to sample and for those who love to make their own teas I will be selling my book Healing Herbal Teas.
What are your goals for your business in the next year?
I want to continue to build relationships with cafes and restaurants. It is fun to see my teas on the menus at local eateries and coffee shops. I love feeling like I am, in some small way, a part of each business that serves my teas.
What was your biggest challenge when starting out?
Starting any small business has huge challenges, but the biggest challenge for me starting out was feeling comfortable talking about my products. I am very good at what I do and I have passion for food and tea, but I never had to do my own marketing before I started Harbor Herbalist. Having to be truly confident about my craft and becoming a public figure were and still are big challenges for me.
What’s your favorite part of this food movement?
I love being involved in the regional food movement from the ground up. I am not just a tea maker, I am also a regenerative farmer and wildcrafter. My life’s work is very much tied into environmental activism, ecology, and food justice.
What’s the best part of your job?
I live and work on a beautiful farm and make products that help the nourish and heal the body.
