Happy New Year!

Are we the only ones who have experience time really differently in the past two years?

Now that 2022 has arrived, we can't help but look back at where Deschampsia has been over the past year. 

The beginning of 2021 was rife with confusion and uncertainty. While we were still able to continue our business online through the support of our lovely community, we still weren't sure how we were going to replace the markets + popups we attended in years prior.

Thankfully in March, Ballard Farmer's Market reached out to invite us to join in on the weekly party. When folks who don't live here think of Seattle, they often think of Pike Place Market... BUT Seattle-ites know that Ballard Sunday Farmer's Market is the place to load up on local produce, meats, and artisan-made goodies.

 We were thrilled because we truly did miss the face-to-face interactions with new and loved friends. We really do feel recharged by chatting, exchanging stories, and sharing what we do with the community. 

You can meet us in person and shop our micro-batch, made with love goodies every Sunday from 9 AM - 2 PM at the Ballard Farmer's Market.

 

We are so happy to have finally have these available to share with you! We had been thinking about the best way to make these since late 2019 and technically made them available in 2020 once during the last pop-up we attended before the shut downs. Unfortunately, we had to put them on the backburner while we shifted focus to staying afloat as an online business due to the repercussions from the global events that effected us all.

It took us around a year and a half to wild-forage and source the highest quality resins as well perfect the formulations for these. Finally, in Summer 2021, we were able to officially release them. Two of the five rollers we made are hyper-local: Black Cottonwood and Douglas Fir (which actually has essential oil that we hydro-distilled in-house). 

The process for these is really unique and unlike any aromatic- we haven't seen any other apothecary use resins in this way! We macerate whole resins in organic jojoba oil, which in turn captures the full scent of the resin that is lost in the distillation process. Once the infusion is complete, we gently fold in a tiny amount of corresponding and complementary essential oil to round out the scent. The result is a totally unique and earthy scent- no fragrance oils here, just the best of what nature has to offer. 

 

Over the past 4 years that we have officially been sharing our goodies, we have exchanged many stories with real people in the community. One of the common narratives we encountered was a real desire to grow in understanding of Sacred Smoke offerings, such as traditional loose incense, whole wood offerings, and bundled plants.

We often heard from people that they wanted to learn how to develop a relationship with traditional ways of honoring, but they weren't sure how to begin. Many of us feel cut-off from our spirituality and traditions due to ancestral/generational trauma, misrepresentation of history, and the belief that certain honoring traditions aren't for us because we are so estranged from them for whatever reason.

Both of us have a long history of using Sacred Smoke and burnt offerings in our personal, cultural, and spiritual practice. Part of our history as herbalists is that Jezabel grew up in the southwest high desert and has been wrapping smoke bundles since she was a kid. This is one of the offerings we have available for purchase and it's often something people are curious about at markets. 

As holistic herbalists, we believe that in a deep listening- not only with ourselves and the community, but with nature as well. Part of what we kept getting were these questions and a desire from the community to learn more about Sacred Smoke and traditional burnt offerings- this was a call to step forward and share what we have learned with others.

This is how the Sacred Smoke Kit was born. We took nearly a year to carefully curate this kit with items that were personally meaningful to us, including three of our hand-made small batch items. To us, sourcing wasn't the only important thing, we knew that we had to share our knowledge with others. As a part of the kit, we put together an over 3,000 word instructional page on how to use the items in the kit as well as history and ethics surrounding Sacred Smoke.               

The confirmation that this a huge need in the community was seeing it sell out within a couple of weeks of its release, as well as the glowing reviews and feedback we have received from the community. 

We are excited to continue offering this item and look forward to expand on sharing in traditional knowledge in the future.

 

Some of the local Seattle community has seen our products available in local shops and boutiques throughout town. 2020 holiday season was a big leap for us as a small business because we were able to form a relationship with PCC, a local natural foods store with 15 locations throughout Washington. During the 2020 holiday season, we also began a retail relationship with Central Co-Op (previously Madison Market- open since the late '70s). This relationship gave us the confidence to reach out to even more local retailers, such as Sno-Isle and Port Townsend Co-Ops.

In the 2021 holiday season, PCC reached out again to request our giftable goodies for the holiday season. We were even able to expand our offerings to them to include our new Aromatic Resin Rollers! 

As our confidence as a small business has grown, so have our relationships with other small business owners and retailers. Last year, we started retailing with 6 new small shops and boutiques, including the old-school Rainbow Natural Remedies on Cap Hill (they carry most of our catalogue)!

These kinds of retailer relationships are actually a pretty big deal to us as a tiny business- they reflect the local community's interest in truly clean, earth-honoring and heart-centered Nature-Based self care. Check out our "Retailers" page to see where you can pick up some of our goodies in-store!

 

We were so happy to be able to support more nonprofits this past year than we ever have. As animist-holists, we strive to support community organizations that advocate for a healthier relationship with ourselves, others, and our environment. Here is a list of the organizations you helped us support in 2021:

 

Be on the look out for new aromatics with the changing seasons... Especially for those of you who are sandalwood and myrrh lovers!