About Us
Winter Harvest 2024 Update:
12/22/2024:
As of today, our most-loved elderberry products have not yet sold out, so our online store will remain open for now.
As products sell out, you will see them marked "sold out" on our website. We will continue to ship our available products on schedule as we spend our days foraging and our evenings packing any orders that you place.
And for the most exciting news: we have already begun our foraging winter adventures and new products are on their way right now! Stay tuned for updates.
12/02/2024:
Thank you all for a busy and fun autumn harvest season! The last day to place an online order this year will be Sunday, December 22. Our online store will be on vacation after this date.
Will our elderberry products return in the new year? That will depend on our foraging finds! We are excited to introduce you to new wild foods which are currently in season in our mountains. Elderberries are harvestable through the winter, and we may be able to restock some of our most popular elderberry products in the new year.
If you’re local and hoping to catch us at the winter markets with the elderberry products you know and love: don’t worry! We are reserving stock for the markets and we will see you there.
Thank you for your support!
About Us:
Kootenay Woman in Fruitvale, BC is a one-family operation, from harvest to finished product. We are inspired and powered by our beloved mountains here in the Koots. Mother Nature gives freely, and this small home business is dedicated to honouring the bounty and beauty of Nature. Here's how:
Foraging: All plants are foraged on foot in the pristine wild areas, and harvested by hand. The choice to walk rather than use a disruptive truck or ATV is a conscious choice.
Respecting the wildlife: Bears, birds, squirrels and many other depend on the bounty of elderberries, Oregon grape, juniper berries and other herbs and seeds. We choose to harvest from areas with an abundance of fruit-bearing plants, and we never take more than one-third of the harvest from any one plant. There's enough for all when we live by the rule of respect.
Cleaning the harvest: Bugs and spiders love berries. We mindfully remove and release them as berries are cleaned and de-stemmed. After de-stemming, berries are triple-washed with a gentle apple cider vinegar solution, and rinsed thoroughly before dehydration or freezing.
Preparing the syrup: We honor the plants by keeping ingredients simple, honest and pure. Fresh or frozen berries are boiled, mashed, and strained, leaving concentrated fresh juice. Organic cane sugar is added to the juice and the solution is boiled to a syrup concentrate. No added water, other flavors, or fillers: our signature Kootenay Woman Elderberry Syrup is canned in small batches for maximum strength and freshness.
Packaging: Reusable jars, compostable bags and wrappers, simple labelling are all reflections of our reverence for the world around us.
Pricing: The berries and herbs are freely given to all of us. Harvest, preservation and preparation take time and love. Our product are priced to provide a living wage to a family, NOT to squeeze profit from natural resources that belong to all beings. We harvest respectfully, and we price our products respectfully too. Our aim is to bring the healing power of the wild places to our local community at an affordable price.
We wouldn't be here to provide our community with these precious medicinal offerings without the generosity of the wild places. From the mountains, with love!