Evening Fall glow backlighting Fayston Forager’s Chaga, Japanese Knotweed and Hawthorn tinctures.

With shorter days upon us, it’s a good time to ramp up your wellness toolkit. 

Fayston Forager’s Japanese Knotweed, Chaga and Hawthorn tinctures are wild-harvested by hand from pristine locations in the Mad River Valley/Greem Mountains of Vermont.  These nutrient-dense, mineral-rich products are made with loving intent for the well-being of our bodies and our one precious planet.

Benefits of Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) include:

• Helps fight bacterial/viral/fungal/spirochetal infections
• Eases Lyme symptoms
• Reduces arthritis pain and swelling
• Promotes cardiovascular health
• Promotes cognitive health
• Increases blood flow, especially to heart, joints, eyes, skin

Benefits of Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) include:

• Provides immune support
• As an adaptogen, it helps your body manage stress
• Helps suppress tumors
• Anti-microbial
• Anti-inflammatory
• Helps lower cholesterol
• Helps lower blood sugar

Benefits of Hawthorn (Crataegus) include:

• Helps heart function 
• Helps regulate blood pressure 
• Supports healthy cholesterol levels 
• Can soothe indigestion and gastrointestinal inflammation
• As an antioxidant, can help neutralize free radicals and reduce cellular damage
• Helps calm stress, anxiety, and nervous tension

Consult with your health care practitioner regarding your individual health care needs.

Find Fayston Forager products here: 

Fayston Forager products are also available at von Trapp Farmstead*, The Roots Farm Market*, East Warren Community Market*, 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions.

Remember, ticks become more active again in the Fall, and they especially like damp leaves. Find Fayston Forager’s Natural Tick Repellent at the shops* listed above and at Bisbee’s Hardware. 

Be well!

Everest sprays Fayston Forager’s Natural Tick Repellent on his mom Ramsey’s hat.

When it’s hot and dry, ticks tend to hide in damp leaves.  As the temps cool, and the days are a bit more damp, ticks become more active.  They will remain active until temps drop below freezing and the ground freezes. 

As temps cool down, it’s important to protect against ticks and also to keep your immune system healthy. 

As always, Fayston Forager is here to help:

• Keep your immune system strong with Fayston Forager’s Japanese Knotweed and Chaga tinctures. 

• Support cardiovascular health with Fayston Forager’s Hawthorn tincture. 

• Help repel ticks with Fayston Forager’s Natural Tick Repellent (only sold locally/not available online) or with any natural tick repellent. Be sure to reapply often and check for ticks at the end of the day. 

Find Fayston Forager products here or in the Mad River Valley at von Trapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market, The Roots Farm Market and 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions.  Additionally, Bisbee’s Hardware carries Fayston Forager’s Natural Tick Repellent. 

Be well!

Karen spraying Eric with Fayston Forager’s Natural Tick Repellent.

It’s hard to beat summers in Vermont: cool, clear lakes and rivers; a lush green landscape; access to some of the most amazing local, organic foods; and so much more. 

Oh, and the bugs: mosquitos, black flies, no-see-ums, gnats, deer flies, horse flies, ticks…..  Summer is so short in this more northerly state. The key is to find a way to make peace with the bugs and maximize enjoyment of these precious days. 

Carry natural tick and bug repellents with you; reapply often; shower or swim and check for ticks daily.  Also key is keeping your immune system healthy and strong. 

Fayston Forager tinctures each offer immune-boosting support and are here to help:

• Japanese Knotweed’s anti-microbial properties can help combat exposures to bacteria, viruses, spirochetes and funguses.
• Chaga can help your body manage physical and emotional stresses.
• Hawthorn supports your cardiovascular system.

And so much more!

Find Fayston Forager products here and in Central Vermont at The Roots Farm Market, von Trapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market, 5Th Quarter Butcher + Provisions and Bisbee’s Hardware (Bisbee’s carries Tick Repellent only).

Thank you and be well!

Wild plants from pristine locations are nutrient-dense and rich with trace minerals. Wild-harvested plant medicinals (e.g., Fayston Forager tinctures 😊) are the “crème de la crème.

Fayston Forager’s wild offerings ~~ Japanese Knotweed, Chaga and Hawthorn tinctures ~~ can be found locally at von Trapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market, The Roots Farm Market, 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions and here.

The food that comes from small organic farms fit into that “crème de la crème“ category too. Check out VonTrapp Farmstead‘s award winning organic cheeses, pasture-raised meats, and more.

Fayston Forager wild-harvested plants are tinctured using organic cane alcohol: 

• Old-growth Japanese Knotweed rhizomes, harvested from pristine locations when the plant is dormant, are fresh- processed by hand-shaving only the most potent part of the rhizomes for tincturing, offering anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory benefits and so much more. 

• High up in the green mountains, during the very coldest days of winter, only a portion of slow-growing Chaga is carefully harvested without harming the living host tree, leaving part of the Chaga to continue growing (and it may be ready for harvest again in about ten years). The triple-extraction process maximizes the capture of the amazing benefits of Chaga, the King of Mushrooms. Learn more here. 

• At the edge of an organic cow pasture, Hawthorn leaves and flowers are harvested from the wild hawthorn trees growing there.  Hawthorn supports cardiovascular health and so much more. 

With prices for everything going up and up and up, I’ve been resolved to not raise prices. I know times are tough for many.  If you can, continue to support the small producers who go the extra mile to support 
vibrantly healthy ecosystems, people, and our one precious planet. This in turns fosters resiliency and diversity now and for future generations. 

Thank you for your support. 

Be well!

As we celebrate the mothers in our lives this weekend, let’s not forget to honor Mother Earth too.

If you’re planning an outing, or to get the human mother in your life a gift, there are many ways to incorporate honoring Mother Earth too. This includes shopping locally for the plethora of amazing local, organic, hand-crafted foods, flowers and plants, crafts, medicinals, and more that have been produced with care with Mother Earth in mind.

Sue, a newly minted Grandmother, is showcasing von Trapp tulips and Fayston Forager tinctures.

For a gift of wellness, Fayston Forager products are available locally at vonTrapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market, The Roots Farm Market, 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions or online.

You can also read about Another Mother to Honor (hint: Japanese Knotweed!).

Be well dear people and planet!

Here’s my dear friend Jen by the Covered Bridge in Waitsfield, feeling the good vibes from Fayston Forager tinctures.

Wild-harvested, hand- processed plant material, organic cane alcohol and pure Vermont spring water are the materials that go into Fayston Forager’s Japanese Knotweed, Chaga and Hawthorn tinctures.  

Why does this matter? 

• Only vibrant healthy plant matter, harvested ethically and sustainably when the plant is at its peak time for maximum medicinal value is collected. 

• Plants grown in their natural environment are likely to be more nutrient-dense and pure than their cultivated counterparts. 

• Harvesting, processing, tincturing, bottling, and all aspects of producing Fayston Forager tinctures are performed with intention, gratitude and love. 

From my perspective, these things matter.  A lot. 

You can find these products here or in the Mad River Valley at The Roots Farm Market, von Trapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market and 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions. 

Be well dear people. 

Be well dear planet. 

What’s the buzz about Chaga?

Chaga, the “King of Mushrooms”, offers many benefits:

• Provides immune support
• As an adaptogen, it helps your body manage stress
• Helps suppress tumors
• It has anti-microbial properties 
• It has anti-inflammatory properties 
• Helps lower cholesterol
• Helps lower blood sugar
• and more…

Per this study, “owing to various chemical components including polysaccharides, triterpenoids, polyphenols, and melanin, it has been proven to possess anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and hypolipidemic activity without obvious side-effects by long-term clinical and animal experiments.”

Fayston Forager produces a sustainably and ethically Vermont wild-harvested triple-extraction Chaga tincture which maximizes the capture of the healing potential of the Chaga.

The same care goes into the making of Fayston Forager’s Japanese Knotweed and Hawthorn tinctures.  These tinctures can be purchased online, or found locally at von Trapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market, The Roots Farm Market, and 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions.

Thank you for your support and be well!!

It’s one of those late winter mornings here in Vermont, where the promise of spring can be felt, despite the deep and beautiful snow. 

When harvesting plants for medicinal purposes, each season offers an optimal time for specific plants for capturing maximum healing benefits. 

Chaga is harvested during the coldest part of winter, carefully taking only a portion from a living tree. 

Japanese Knotweed rhizomes are harvested in early spring. (My thoughts are beginning to lean towards this upcoming harvest in a month or two.)

Hawthorn leaf and flowers are harvested in later spring, while the berries are harvested in the fall. 

This past fall, the Hawthorn berries I typically harvest were covered with small black spots and I did not harvest them. Thus, this season I’m only offering a leaf and flower tincture which will soon be bottled. 

The cardio-protective benefits of Hawthorn are abundantly present in the leaf and flower, as well
as the berries.  Per this research, (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7047282/), “With expanding global interest, modern research validated the presence of multiple biological and pharmacological activities in the extracts of hawthorn fruits, leaves, and flowers, including cardiovascular protective ability, hypolipidemic activity, and anti-oxidative capacity (Pittler et al., 2003; Wang H. et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2014). WS^® 1442 is the most studied compound consisting of 20% oligomeric procyanidins extracted from the leaves and flowers (45% ethanol extract) of C. monogyna and Crataegus laevigata (Holubarsch et al., 2008). In the United States and European countries, WS^® 1442 has been recommended for treating congestive heart failure stages I–III based on the classification of the New York Heart Association (NYHA) (Tauchert, 2002; Pittler et al., 2003).”

On another note, after I switched to using the more costly organic cane alcohol, I did not raise prices.  The downside of being a small producer, is the overall much higher cost of materials.

The benefit is knowing that the healthy, healing plant matter is sustainably and ethically hand-selected and wild- harvested from pristine locations.  A smaller dosage of Fayston Forager tinctures is often sufficient as a result of the mindful and meticulous harvest and tincturing processes, adding value to the bottles.  Pure, healing goodness.

With that said, please reach out directly via email as I’m happy to offer a sliding scale for those in need.  As always, I also greatly appreciate when you all help spread the word about Fayston Forager products.  Thank you!

Enjoy these bright, lengthening, late winter days. 

Whether it’s a smile, a gesture, expressed in your work or your care for others, kindness matters. When actions come from a place of love, the ripple effects can be tremendously powerful.  

The fine folks at von Trapp Farmstead, East Warren Community Market, The Roots Farm Market and 5th Quarter Butcher + Provisions: spreading the love!

On this day when we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., here is a reminder that even the small acts of love and kindness matter.

  Be well, be the light.

Best kept secret? The Health Defense 2-Pack is a great way to save year-round! Treat yourself and/or friends and family to the health benefits of Fayston Forager tinctures this season.

Sisu is a Finnish word variously translated as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, resilience, hardiness and more that is used to describe Finnish national character. It occurs to me that the healing plants I’ve been drawn to work with exhibit many of these same characteristics.

Japanese Knotweed is a tenacious, pervasive plant that is packed with Resveratrol.  The “Sisu” qualities of this plant are precisely what makes this plant such a powerful medicinal known especially for its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Chaga, the King of Mushrooms, is a very slow-growing mushroom found deep in higher elevations in northern forests. The lifespan of this mushroom can span many decades. Talk about hardy and perseverance: Sisu. (This winter I will be able to circle back to one of the first trees I harvested from more than a decade ago!)  Chaga is an adaptogen, a tumor-suppressant, and so much more.

Hawthorn: prickly, prolific, hardy Hawthorn.  The leaves, flowers and berries are a rich source of antioxidants and support cardiovascular health.  While this tincture isn’t included in the 2-pack, that is not meant as a slight to this beautiful heart support.

Our bodies can heal (Sisu!) and Fayston Forager’s sustainably, wild-harvested tinctures are here to help.

Here’s to a healthy, happy, heart-filling winter season.

Be well, 

Marge

Fayston Forager