• yarrow
    Rail Trail

    Yarrow: What It Is, How We Use It

    October 11, 2018 - By 

    You can find it in the grocery store and on the shelves of your local healthfood store too. But did you know you can probably find it in your backyard as well? Yarrow is a “weed” that grows well across the entire northern hemisphere! In the Okanagan, it is common to see its white or pale yellow flower heads in the late Spring/early Summer, but it’s feathery leaves can be harvested almost year-round depending on growing conditions. Those leaves are classified as ever-green, so even if it snows and you know where to look, you can harvest them even in…

  • Pine Needles
    Rail Trail - Stamina Potion Lite - Tea - Valley Hills

    Pine Needles: What They Are, How We Use Them

    September 21, 2018 - By 

    Pine needles, and conifers in general, have a very mixed review of their safety versus toxicity online. When we first began foraging, we brought with us various misconceptions about what was and wasn’t edible. For example, I grew up being told that Mountain Ash was poisonous, but information is coming out saying otherwise and that its great for use in cooking meat! I haven’t tried it yet because I plan to do more research before harvesting that berry. But when you spend so much of your life being told one thing and then another pops up, you have to be…

  • Washed Nettle
    Rail Trail - Stamina Potion Lite - Sun Drop - Tea

    Nettle: What it is, How We Use It

    September 13, 2018 - By 

    Nettle, otherwise known as “Stinging Nettle”, grows all over the Okanagan Valley! This wide-ranging plant, best known for how it makes your skin feel if you accidentally brush past it, has an amazing array of beneficial uses in human daily life. It is best harvested while wearing long-sleeves and long pants or jeans, fully-enclosed footwear and gloves. Garden sheers can help trim only the parts of the plant you want. If you are in a zone where someone absolutely wants the plant gone, taking the entire plant roots and all will help both you and the property owner. Side note:…

  • Pot of chokecherry
    Rail Trail - Tea - Valley Hills - Warm Hug

    Chokecherry: What it is, How we use it

    August 18, 2018 - By 

    The very name of this berry is enough to make anyone stand back three feet and go, “you’re not eating THAT are you???” Yet anyone who has tried the fruit after proper preparation generally enjoys it. So why the scary name?! Chokecherry gets it’s name because of the very tart flavour it has. This tartness is caused by a compound known as hydrocyanic acid. This hydro-cyanide compound is also known as anthocyanin and occurs not just in chokecherries, but in the pits of domestic cherries as well as almonds. In fact, crushing dried chokecherry adds an almond flavour to sauces,…

  • Okanagan Super Foods
    General

    Eat Local!

    August 5, 2018 - By 

    Unless it’s made a splash in the news, the concept of eating local hasn’t really been on too many minds over the years.  Tourism Kelowna is trying to change that with their Farm to Table tour they now do every year.  Raudz Table spearheaded a very deliberate move toward buying and eating local several years ago, and were pleased to recently host government officials who are seeking to aid in the shift of focus.  Eat Drink Local is spearheading efforts to get as many restaurants on board as they can, to purchase their menu ingredients from local farmers and vendors.…

  • company

    Our History

    July 26, 2018 - By 

    Ashtree Wildcrafting began as a business in the summer of 2018.  What had begun with a horse, morphed into the creation of teas that anyone who tried them, loved! HORSE??? Let me back up a bit. . . The year was 2016 and Ashley was desperately trying to get a handle on her horse’s health.  Rain rot and a lump on the spine in the saddle area eventually drove us to start looking up alternative remedies.  On Canada Day that year, we found a herbalist in the Made in Canada Bazaar who made soaps, oils, detergents and other items.  Ashley…

  • company

    Our Goals

    July 26, 2018 - By 

    Ashtree Wildcrafting aims to offer 100% locally foraged and harvested ingredients from nettle and dandelion to berries and fruit grown right here in the Okanagan Valley. Ashtree Wildcrafting aims to offer 100% natural ingredients.  You won’t find any artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives in our products. Ashtree Wildcrafting cares about your health and your environment.  We research everything that goes into our products with the goal of maintaining sustainable, renewable resources both for our customers and our environment. Ashtree Wildcrafting aims to ensure that every product is beneficial to you, our customer.  Research into each ingredient means the creation of…

  • company

    Meet the Team

    July 26, 2018 - By 

    Ashley is the nose behind the concept of Ashtree Wildcrafting.  Yes, I said nose. . . you see, she has a very unique and useful gift.  Once she’s read over, discussed and pondered the health benefits of a given plant, all she has to do when formulating a tea is to smell each plant to know if it should be included or not.  When we stop to examine exactly what her nose said to add to the tea, we generally discover: The plants chosen work well together. The plants chosen have similar or complimentary general health or medicinal properties. The…