Michael's Stories | Martha's Stories | Shalom's Stories

President & Co-Founder Michael Volchok shares his stories

Today: Michael relaxing in a field of Dandelions
Birth of Blessed Herbs Twenty years ago and struggling to support 4 children, we were asked to pick Mullien and bought groceries with the $30... Read more. I like the woods The thoughts of humankind, the pressures of our small mindedness and the vibrations of our busy lives have not been laid down there... Read more. My first experience with herbs All the infection left his leg and the wound drained naturally, I became a believer... Read more. My personal pain and hope. I have lived most of my life with a deep uneasiness that never allowed me any real lasting peace. Yet, I am finding that I have hope, despite these old and crusted patterns of behavior. Read more. More stories by Michael - Drying our first herbs - Searching for true species - Washing roots - Our first powder machine - Our first liquid extracts - About my wife Martha - Pricing herbs - Advice on buying herbs - Handling & Storing herbs - Where we find our herbs - Environmental Concerns - Where we are today - Go lightly , Go simply.	Pricing Herbs by, Michael Volchok People sometimes wonder how an herb gets priced. It isn't so different than buying an exotic fruit or rare piece of cloth or antique chair or just some lettuce from the local grocery store. Some plants are harder to locate, deeper in the woods, grow farther from civilization, are few and far between or can be found just across the street from most anywhere. Wherever these plants grow, someone has to take the greater part of their day to get dressed, gather their collecting and digging tools and plant bag and walk, drive, bike or fly to the growing area. It takes work to harvest the wild plants, there are bugs that bite, its hot or cold or wet, and its hard work most of the time. And we haven't even walked back to our mode of transportation, washed off the dirt from the plants, carried it home, found a place where we lay out the plants to dry. Then we have to carefully watch the drying process so mold doesn't set in before the plants are dry. Once dry, we must bag or box up the plants before we can use them or sell them and still we have not received one penny for all our time and efforts. All of this translates to a selling price. The harder to get, the more rare, the more desired plants simply cost more. No different than a high quality diamond or a piece of glass cut like a diamond. There is an herbal economy that somehow sets a price range for most herbs. How does the baker know how much to charge for a loaf of bread? The economy of bread baking and selling is pretty established and those fancy breads with all the fruit and nuts cost more. The harder an herb is to find, the distance it has traveled to come into your kitchen, and the quality of the herb (not to mention if the harvesters were paid a fair wage for their labor) all go into what an herb vendor must charge. We always try to stay within the established limits. Can you find it cheaper? Yes. More expensive? Yes. From experience we can tell you that usually the really good medicinal strength herbs and herbal products do not come from using the low end cost herbs. But also, having the best quality herb made into a poorly formulated recipe will not guarantee success. Two cooks can have all the same ingredients and both follow the same recipe, and I'll bet the finished meals will not taste the same. Cook with love and treat others as you would like to be treated. It's the motto we try to follow. Thanks for your trust.