While our Southern brethren are anxiously praying for rain we’re feeling fairly hydrated up here at the Northern California-Oregon border. Think rainforest, and the Amazon basin flashes in most people’s minds. For us folks behind the redwood curtain … we’re the real deal, with significantly greater biomass per square mile than our South American friends.
At Alfa Vedic Botanical Gardens it’s pre-spring medicinal herb propagation time. Hundreds of Jiao Gu Lan, Goji Berry, He Shou Wu and Peony starts are already under way. Our signature crop, Jiao Gu Lan, also known as Immortality Tea, will be quadrupled in volume from our first two growing seasons. We’ve learned quite a bit about the personality, and growing habits of this highly tonic herb prized by herbalists and clinicians worldwide.
Traditionally sourced from the Orient exclusively, this herb loves our toasty summers on the banks of the Mattole River. Alfa Vedic’s biodynamic growing practices, and regular feedings of vortex-brewed compost tea finalize a total coup in winning the favor of this Asian medicinal. After years of great results with a Thailand-produced variety, our Lost Coast version is a whole different animal. The vibrancy and potency are incomparable … it’s like falling in love all over again.
Alfa Vedic is proud to announce another of our creations, The Lost Coast Herbal Co-Op. This unique habitat is graced with fertile river soil, long summer days and a variety of micro-environments suitable for a large variety of crops. What we can’t grow at the AV Botanical Gardens will be produced by our neighbors … we’re pooling our resources. This remote area of Humboldt County has been dubbed the Emerald Triangle in honor of the First Lady of herbs grown in these parts. No problem there … we just think bio-diversity of agriculture makes more environmental and financial sense.
Since Alfa Vedic’s very own Director of Sustainable Agriculture, Deb Lando, is the owner-operator of the Lost Coast Nursery & Farm Supply here on the premises, we’ve become quite the educational and resource hub for local gardeners, and growers from afar.
This land is in my blood. My maternal grandfather, and his close friend, writer Jack London, single-handedly pushed the state to save pristine, old growth redwood forests in the area from the perils of the logging industry. I spent my childhood pondering beneath the canopies of these other-worldly giants … they instilled a wonder and respect for the Natural Order that would sustain me for a lifetime. The Alfa Vedic Botanical Gardens and Lost Coast Herbal Co-Op are my way of honoring my Grandfather’s legacy.
Dr. Barre