Sourcing Herbs from Small Local Growers
When you buy dried herbs from large vendors, you rarely know how long they’ve been sitting on a shelf or how many miles they’ve traveled. Now this matters to me because the more people take crappy herbs and don’t see much change in their health, they start to lose faith in medicinal plants and Herbalism as a whole. Even with “organic” labels, bulk suppliers often move herbs through long supply chains where freshness and vitality are lost along the way. The most potent herbs come straight from small farms and are grown in fertile living soil, harvested at their peak, and dried intentionally by the people who actually care about them.
Below is a directory of small, ethical U.S. herb growers you can buy from directly. Each one is a little farm of people who really want to be doing this and are committed to producing high-quality herbs with integrity.
West
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Oshala Farm: Applegate Valley, OR
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Pacific Botanicals: Grants Pass, OR
- Stillmoon Herb Farm: Organic Chinese & East Asian medicinal herbs – OR
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Friends of the Trees Botanicals: Chimacum, WA
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Wildroot Botanicals: Bellingham, WA. Small herb farm and school with farm-grown botanicals
- Willow Bark Botanicals: Woodinville, WA
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Duvall Herb Farm: Duvall, WA. Fresh and dried farm-grown herbs.
- Aash Farms: No-till, regenerative farm in woodinville for herbs and edible/medicinal flowers + veggies, micros and more
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Root Digger Herb Farm: Coulee City, WA
- Moonrise Meadows Farm: Bellingham, WA
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Flora Farm: Port Angeles, WA. Products and CSA
- Silver Maple Farms: Sultan, WA
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Steadfast Herbs: Pescadero, CA. Small, queer-owned herb farm; CSA and fresh/dried offerings
- Feral Folk Farm: Penngrove CA
- Coyote Creek Homestead: Humboldt County, CA
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Mountain Valley Growers: Squaw Valley, CA. Ships worldwide
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Sonoma County Herb Exchange: Sebastopol, CA. Clearinghouse for a network of small local growers; great for fresh herbs.
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Meadowland Farms: Petaluma, CA
- Sunflowers and Sage Farm: Northern CA
- New Flower Herb Co: Sandpoint, ID
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SpiritWorks Herb Farm: Whitefish, MT
- Meetinghouse Farm Collaborative: Biodynamic Farm & Herb Growers Collaborative
Midwest
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Small House Farm: Central MI
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Golden Hour Herb Farm: Lansing, MI
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Sacred Blossom Farm: Gilmanton, WI
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Ancient Herbals: Shirland, IL
- Sun and Bloom Farms: MO
Northeast
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Zack Woods Herb Farm: Hyde Park, VT. Certified organic medicinal herb farm; fresh, dried, and live plants
- Wilson Farm: Greensboro, VT
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Foster Farm Botanicals: East Calais, VT. Certified organic dried herbs, powders, teas, and extracts.
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Sawmill Herb Farm: Florence, MA. Fresh Herb CSA plus bulk dried herbs.
- Meraki Farmacy: Chinklacamoose, PA Regenerative herb farm growing small batch mighty herbs in Chinklacamoose, central PA, piedmont of Appalachia.
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Healing Spirits Herb Farm: Avoca, NY. Small family farm; hand-picked, solar-dried herbs.
- Bluestem Botanicals: Doylestown, PA. Certified organic farm and apothecary; culinary and medicinal botanicals
- Freeversefarm: Chelsea, VT
- Entangled Harvest: Rochester, NY
- Lunamoth Herbs: Nobleboro, ME
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Little Evergreen Farm: West Newbury, MA
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Lancaster Farmacy: Lancaster, PA.
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Avena Botanicals: Rockport, ME. MOFGA-organic and Demeter-certified Biodynamic gardens
- Ayni Herb Farm: Hillsdale, NY
- Tweefontein Herb Farm: New Paltz, NY
- Horsetail Herb Farm: Marathon, NY
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Herbal Revolution: Union, ME. Farmer-made herbal products from their Maine farm.
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Meeting House Herb Growers Collaborative: ME. Multi-farm collaborative offering fresh and dried herbs from small growers.
- Well Sweep Herb Farm: Port Murray, NJ
- Samad Gardens Initiative: Bloomfield, CT
Southwest
- Fireweed Field: Southwest Colorado
- Wild Nectar Farm: CO foothills
- Sacred Plant Co: Fruita, CO
- Nordic Fox Farm: Hotchkiss, CO
- High Balsam Farm: CO
- Small Town Farm: Caldwell County, TX
- Annie’s Herbs: New Mexico
Southeast / Appalachia
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Red Moon Herbs: Asheville, NC
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Mountain Gardens: Burnsville, NC. Botanical sanctuary and Chinese/Appalachian herb farm
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Ballyhupahaun Orchard and Farm: foothills of Appalachian Ohio
- Furnace Creek Farm: Oley Valley, in PA
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La Paix Herb Farm: Alum Bridge, WV. Long-standing organic herb farm known for hydrosols and fresh herbs. (Website seems to have been taken over so I linked an article w/ phone number)
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Stellar Roots Herb Farm: Tiger, GA
- Essence Farmstead: Southwest Georgia
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Erin’s Meadow Herb Farm: Oak Ridge, TN Fresh-cut herbs, nursery plants, and classes.
- Fountain Heights Farms: Birmingham, AL
- Good Dawn Rising: Cape Cod
- Kestrel Herb Farm: Sandy Mush NC
- Planted Wellness Co: Marietta, GA
Canada
- Future Spell Herbs
- Mending Roots Farm
- Ancient Origins Apothecary
- Stoeckli Organics
- Foggy River Farm
- Marissa’s Herb Garden
- Floreren Farm
If you want to explore beyond this list, here are excellent directories and hubs:
- Certified Naturally Grown: searchable directory of small ecological farms.
- Real Organic Project: directory of soil-grown organic farms.
- LocalHarvest: map-based search for farms, CSAs, and fresh herb sellers near you.
- United Plant Savers: Botanical Sanctuary Network members and conservation-minded growers.
