Archive for the ‘Contests’ Category
Free Webinar for Herb Day!
Posted by |01 May 2012
We are teaming up with LearningHerbs and Aviva Romm to celebrate Herb Day with a free webinar!
Outdoor Kids: Herbal First Aid for Summer
Thursday, May 3rd
8:30pm Eastern, 7:30 Central, 6:30 Mountain, 5:30 Pacific
Click here to register for this free webinar with Aviva Romm!
Aviva Romm, M.D., is the author of Naturally Healthy Babies and Children, The Natural Pregnancy Book, and Botanical Medicine for Women’s Health. Before graduating Yale Medical School, she was a practicing herbalist and midwife for over 20 years. She is also a former president of the American Herbalists Guild, mom to four kids, and grandma to one.
During this 90 minute webinar with Aviva you will learn…
~ Six fun herbal activities you can share with your kids this summer ~
~ What to pack in your simple summer herbal first aid kit ~
~ When to use herbs and when to see the doctor ~
Simple herbal treatments for…
~ Bites and Stings ~
~ Boo-boo’s and Ouchies ~
~ Sunburn ~
~ Poison Ivy ~
~ Allergies ~
Plus! There will be 3 prizes given away during the webinar including our Fairytale Tea Set, a subscription to Herb Fairies from Learning Herbs, and a copy of Aviva’s book Naturally Healthy Babies and Children!
Register for the free webinar here: www.HerbWebinar.com
Happy Herb Day!
The Dandelion Campaign & Bitter Giveaway!
Posted by |02 April 2012
Have you heard about the Dandelion Campaign by our friends over at Urban Moonshine?
Just in time for spring, they are celebrating the many medicinal and nutritive benefits of common garden weeds. Yep…like the incredible edible dandelion featured in our wild foods video! Often viewed as pests, these helpful plants offer an easily accessible apothecary in our own backyards. As part of this fun campaign, Urban Moonshine is also offering a free herbal tele-lecture online and they’ve partnered with us for a giveaway featuring herbal tonics and bitters!!!
But first, why the dandelion?
The Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) :: Backyard Apothecary
by Jovial King of Urban Moonshine
You may see them as weeds, but I invite you to take a second look at dandelions from an herbalist’s point of view. In fact, this common weed is a welcome sign of spring for localvores and herbalists alike. First the green leaves poke through the dark wet earth, then the cheerful yellow flowers spring forward to the sunshine. The whole plant is a prized springtime edible as well as a bitter medicinal tonic. Dandelion and other bitter tasting herbs are excellent for the digestive system.
Tasting the bitter flavor sparks the digestive system and encourages the release of bile, digestive enzymes and other gastric secretions. Why is that so? Well, think about it- since the beginning of time up to around 150 years ago we foraged for much of our food, ate off the land or out of a garden. Prepackaged sweet and salty supermarket food? Not so much. That is basically a radical experiment being undertaken by our generation. What grows in the garden, wild in the woods and fields? Bitter tasting plants – bitter greens, bitter barks, bitter berries, bitter roots — our traditional diet was full of bitter foods and we have evolved accordingly. In a way, human beings are built on bitters! The flavor of bitter to the taste buds equals FOOD! Time to eat! Time to digest! Bitter is literally “sexy” to our digestive system, it turns it on, juices it up, and gets it ready to rock. By eating bitters around or with a meal we keep our digestive system in a state of engagement, excited and challenged. Try a bitter green salad, chomp down on a fresh dandelion green from your yard as you walk up to the house after work, or check out our Urban Moonshine organic digestive bitters. There are many ways to get the bitter taste into our everyday diets!
The root of good health is great digestion. The stronger and healthier your digestive system, the more nutrients you will receive from your food and the less digestive drama occurs around mealtime.
Dandelion root is also known as an effective liver tonic with the ability to help the body in its detoxification process. Dandelion has a strong will and feisty spirit and will grow in the toughest conditions from a city sidewalk crack to a chemical-laden yard. That strong will to survive is telling of the role it plays in its environment. Dandelion does a spectacular job of cleaning up toxicity in both the environment it dwells in and the human body. Not to mention the joy it gives to children when they blow the white globe of seeds into the wind. How smart of the plant to make it fun for people to spread its seeds!
The Giveaway!
We want to know how you plan to use garden weeds this year to spark a revolution in your health!
Two winners will receive these amazing herbal goodies…
Organic Herbal Bitters
The first prize up for grabs is this beautiful collection of certified organic herbal bitters by Urban Moonshine to help enhance your digestive prowess. Packed with the goodness of dandelion root (and other supportive weeds), you only need a drop or two to benefit from their digestion stimulating action. These bitters also make a tasty addition to your favorite cocktails or soda!
Organic Herbal Tonics
The second prize is this amazing collection of herbal tonics to help naturally boost energy, strengthen your immune system, and inspire calm in stressful situations. Made with a blend of adaptogenic and nervine roots, mushrooms, leaves, and flowers, these tonics can be used daily to help build your health over time. Urban Moonshine’s tonics are formulated with organic herbs, organic grape alcohol, and pure spring water.
———————————————————————
And the winners are. . .
Comment# 378
Congratulations to MtnHarmony! You’ve won the set of herbal bitters from Urban Moonshine!
Comment #127
Congratulations to ShannonMarie! You’ve won the set of herbal tonics from Urban Moonshine!
We’ll be sending an email your way with additional information.
Big thanks to everyone for sharing your stories, tips, ideas, and dandelion love!
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter the Dandelion Campaign Giveaway! You can submit up to 5 entries for a chance to win these prizes from Urban Moonshine…
1. Leave a comment here telling us about your favorite garden weed and how you plan to use it this year. Help us cultivate the revolution!
2. Post a link to our Dandelion Campaign Giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve shared.
3. Tweet about our Dandelion Campaign Giveaway on Twitter using the hashtag #dandelionlove and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow MtnRoseHerbs and UrbanMoonshine on Twitter!
4. Like Mountain Rose Herbs and Urban Moonshine on Facebook!
5. Subscribe to our awesome YouTube channel or recipe-packed newsletter and leave a comment here to let us know!
You have until Monday, April 16th at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick two winners at random on Tuesday, April 17th. Prizes can only be shipped within the US!
Good Luck!
Sweetheart Recipe Exchange Contest!
Posted by |31 January 2012
Our hearts are all aflutter after ogling the beautiful handmade creations over at Poppy Swap! As a big ol’ love letter to their awesomeness, we’ve decided to host a community recipe exchange and contest for Valentine’s Day!
Make our dreams of ambrosial bodycare potions, irresistibly spiced treats, and gorgeous plant inspired gifts come true!
Maybe you’re looking for something special for that very special someone? Perhaps you have an herbal project book bursting with lovely ideas?
Over the next two weeks, let’s meet here to share and explore! Tell us what recipe tugs at your heartstrings and on February 14th you might win a very sweet treat.
Three of the recipes we admire most will be chosen to win some decadent prizes from Poppy Swap!
The Prizes!
Diviana Chocolate from Diviana Alchemy
This exquisite raw delight tastes like the most euphoric chocolate caramel sauce! Made with unfiltered honey, heirloom cacao, and a blend of herbs, you can enjoy this deliciousness by the spoonful, add to smoothies, or dessert recipes.
Rose and Jasmine Skin Care Package from Violet Herbs
Pamper your skin with this incredible collection of handmade flower-infused potions. Made with organic and local ingredients, the fragrant Rose & Calendula Toner, Milk & Honey Cleansing Grains, and luscious Rose Flower Cream will let your beauty shine bright!
Hawthorne Berry Wine from Wild Wines
A toast to love! Enjoy this handcrafted wine made in 2008 with beautiful, heart supportive Hawthorn berries. Smooth and well-balanced with hints of apple, the subtle flavors make this a favorite among herbal wine lovers. Only 30 cases produced! 0.3% Residual sugar, 12.5% Alcohol by volume.
Plus, one commenter will be chosen at random to win a very special gift from Mountain Rose Herbs!
The Recipe Exchange & Contest!
Share Your Recipe!
What romantic herbal goodies do you make for your sweetie? For a chance to win one of these amazing delicacies from Poppy Swap, post your favorite love inspired recipe in the comment section below.
~OR~
Create a blog post featuring your favorite love inspired recipe. Then share the link along with the name and a tantalizing description of your recipe as a comment below.
Leave Us Some Love!
There are 5 ways to enter for a chance to win the very special gift from Mountain Rose Herbs:
1. Leave a comment here telling us which recipe submission you’d love to create for your honey!
2. Follow Poppy Swap on Facebook and leave a comment here to let us know that you are a fan!
3. Share the Sweetheart Recipe Exchange with your friends on Facebook and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve posted.
4. Tweet about the Sweetheart Recipe Exchange on Twitter using the tag #HerbalValentine and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow MtnRoseHerbs and PoppySwap on Twitter!
5. Visit the Poppy Swap website and leave a comment here telling us what beautiful herbal jewels catch your eye.
You have until Monday, February 13th at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick 3 of our favorite recipes and one more winner at random on Tuesday, February 14th. We can only ship prizes to US addresses!
The sweetest ingredient is always love!
Green Spring Clean Winner!
Posted by |10 January 2012
What an incredible giveaway this has been!
We LOVED reading all of your herbal resolutions for the new year. Many of your ideas have inspired us to try them out too, so thank you! Now it’s time for the big announcement! Are you ready?
The winner is . . .
Congratulations to deannab! You are the winner of this amazing prize! We will be in touch with you soon with more details. Our biggest heartfelt thanks to you all for reading, writing, and sharing your excitement for cleaning naturally!
Best Recipes of 2011 Giveaway!
Posted by |03 January 2012
Welcome to 2012 everyone!
Have you made a New Year’s resolution yet? Well, we’ve got a really good one for you! This year, resolve to make your home sparkling clean - with the power of herbs!
It’s the final week of our DIY HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY series…
As a big thank you to our readers, we’re revisiting the best recipes from our blog in 2011 and giving away a huge package of organic ingredients each week so the lucky winner can make these herbal goodies at home!
Week 4 ~ Green Spring Clean!
Making your own cleaning solutions using just a few basic ingredients is super easy, inexpensive, and much healthier for your home and for the environment. Commercial cleaning products contain harsh chemicals that can irritate the skin, burn the eyes, and sting your lungs. Once the scrubbing is done, these toxic products are washed down the drain, poisoning the water, land, and wildlife we cherish. Plus, all of the extra packaging ends up destined for the recycling bin…or the landfill.
These awesome recipes will make that transition from store bought to homemade super easy! I’ve been using them for a few years now and can’t imagine going back. They will replace those conventional cleaning products in your cupboard for good!
The Recipes
Super Surface Spray
• 16 oz. spray bottle
• 14 oz. – 1:1 solution of distilled white vinegar and water
• 7 drops of tea tree essential oil
• 7 drops of lavender essential oil
• 7 drops of lemon essential oil
Use this aromatic and disinfecting solution for cleaning kitchen counters, cabinets, refrigerator shelves, blinds, painted wood surfaces, painted walls, molding, fan blades, and more.
Herby Soft Scrub
• 12 oz glass jar with lid
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup castille soap
• 15 drops of antimicrobial essential oils like rosemary and sage
Mix well until you have a nice consistency like cake frosting. If you have leftovers, add 1 tsp vegetable glycerin to keep the blend nice and moist.
Antibacterial Soap Spray
• 16 oz spray bottle
• 14 oz. water or rosemary hydrosol
• 3 tbsp castille soap
• 15 drops of tea tree essential oil
• 15 drops of oregano essential oil
Use this cleaning spray to disinfect your bathroom surfaces. You can use the Super Surface Spray to rinse away any residue left behind by the castille soap.
Refreshing Linen Spray
• 16 oz. spray bottle
• 3 oz. unflavored vodka
• 12 drops lavender, ylang ylang, peppermint, orange or your favorite smelling essential oil
• 12 oz. organic hydrosol of your choice
Spray to refresh your mattress, pillows, bed linens, couches, and fabric covered chairs, or spritz clean winter blankets before storing for the year. Also makes a wonderful ironing spray!
Natural Lemon Furniture Polish
• 16 oz spray bottle
• 1 cup olive oil
• 25 drops pure lemon essential oil
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• fill remainder of the bottle with purified water
Shake well before each use. Spray onto your rag or directly onto furniture. Buff dry immediately.
Tropical Carpet Deodorizer
• 1 cup of baking soda
• 10 drops of lemongrass essential oil per cup
• 10 drops of sweet orange essential oil per cup
• 10 drops of ginger essential oil per cup
Mix together and sprinkle the aromatic blend onto your carpet, let sit for 30 minutes, and vacuum as normal. Wonderful mattress deodorizer, too!
Lemony Wood Floor Mop Formula
• 20 oz. spray bottle
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp. vegetable glycerin
• 20 drops lemon essential oil
• Water
Spray, mop as usual, and quickly buff dry to protect your floors. They will be glossy and clean with a lovely lemon scent!
Mop-It-Up Formula
• small glass bottle
• 1/4 cup castille soap
• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
• 20 drops of tea tree essential oil
• 20 drops of sweet orange essential oil
This is the perfect liquid cleaner for tile floors, vinyl, or linoleum. Mix the solution with 2 gallons of hot water and mop away the dirt and grime.
The Giveaway!
This week’s prize will allow you to formulate all of these natural cleansers throughout the spring and well beyond! We’re also throwing in a copy of Naturally Clean Home by Karyn Siegel-Maier so you’ll have even more herbal cleaning recipes for everything from the grill, to silver rings, wicker chairs, and your computer keyboard!
Here’s this week’s BIG prize...
16oz Organic Liquid Castille Soap
16oz Organic Vegetable Glycerine
16oz Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4oz Organic Lavender hydrosol
4oz Organic Rosemary hydrosol
1/2oz Organic Lemon Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Ginger Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Lavender (Spike) Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Lemongrass Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Sweet Orange Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Oregano Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Peppermint Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Rosemary Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Tea Tree Essential Oil
2lb Baking Soda
4 ~ 16oz Spray Bottles
The Naturally Clean Home
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter. You can submit up to 5 entries for a chance to win this amazing collection of herbal cleaning ingredients!
1. Leave a comment here telling us about your herbal New Year’s resolutions!
2. Post a link to our Green Spring Clean giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve posted. Follow us on Facebook!
3. Tweet about our Green Spring Clean giveaway on Twitter using the tag #herbalgiveaway and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow us on Twitter!
4. Blog about our Green Spring Clean giveaway with a link back to this post. Then leave a comment here with a link back to your blog post so we can check it out!
5. Subscribe to our awesome YouTube channel or recipe-packed newsletter and leave a comment here to let us know!
You have until Monday, January 9th at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick one winner at random on Tuesday, January 10th. We ship blog prizes to US addresses only!
Good luck!
Best Recipes of 2011 Giveaway!
Posted by |27 December 2011
It feels so good to be back after a wonderfully loooong weekend celebrating with friends and family. We hope your holiday season has been beautiful too!
Speaking of celebrations…
Guess what?
It’s week 3 of our DIY HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY series!
As a big thank you to our readers, we’re revisiting the best recipes from our blog in 2011 and giving away a huge package of organic ingredients each week to the lucky winners so they can make these herbal goodies at home!
Week 3 ~ Homemade Hemp Milk
This delicious recipe came from Customer Service email-guru Rebecca! She’s a world traveling mama who has worked at organic farms and studied herbal medicine across India and Africa. So, when we saw her concocting this creamy drink, we knew it had to be some kind of magically tasty treat. With one sip, we were hooked and you will be too!
Creamy Cacao Hemp Milk Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup Hemp Seeds, hulled
2 tsp sugar (or honey to taste)
1.5 tsp Acacia Gum Powder
2 tsp Cacao Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Powder
4 cups water
Directions
Add 1 cup warm water to a blender and start blending. Add sugar, hemp seeds, cacao powder, and vanilla powder. Add acacia gum powder. Add the rest of the water until the desired consistency is reached. You might also like to try a Hemp Milk Chai! You can do this by brewing a batch of Firefly Chai or Oregon Chai and substitute this spicy tea for water in the recipe. We promise you will crave this velvety delight!
The Giveaway!
The prize this week is as healthful as it is delicious!
The winner will be in hemp milk making bliss! With these organic ingredients, you will be able to enjoy cacao, vanilla, and chai hemp milk at home. Plus, you can sip your creations from one of our sturdy ceramic Make Tea Not War mugs paired with a tumbled Italian marble tile Passionflower coaster!
Here’s this week’s big prize…
1lb Organic Hemp Seeds
8oz Organic Acacia Powder
1lb Organic Cacao Powder
1oz Organic Vanilla Bean Powder
3oz Organic Firefly Chai
Make Tea Not War Mug
Passionflower Coaster Tile
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter. You can submit up to 5 entries for a chance to win this amazing collection of ingredients!
1. Leave a comment here telling us about your favorite herbal drink to sip during cold winter months.
2. Post a link to our Hemp Milk giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve posted. Follow us on Facebook !
3. Tweet about our Hemp Milk giveaway on Twitter using the tag #herbalgiveaway and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow us on Twitter!
4. Blog about our giveaway with a link back to this post. Then leave a comment here with a link back to your blog post so we can check it out.
5. Subscribe to our awesome YouTube channel or recipe-packed newsletter and leave a comment here to let us know!
You have until Monday, January 2nd at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick one winner at random on Tuesday, January 3rd. We can ship blog prizes to US addresses only!
Good luck!!!
Best Recipes of 2011 Giveaway!
Posted by |20 December 2011
It’s week 2 of our DIY HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY series!
We’re revisiting the best recipes from our blog in 2011 and giving away a huge package of organic ingredients each week to the lucky winners so they can make these herbal goodies at home!
Week 2 ~ Amazing Maca Bars
This week we are dreaming of Julie’s Amazing Maca Bars!
Maca is a Peruvian tuber of the Brassicaceae family. It grows at high elevations of 12,000 feet and higher! Used as early as 1600 BC for mental acuity, physical vitality, endurance, and stamina, Maca is also an aphrodisiac tonic that enhances sexual desire, performance, and fertility in men, women, and animals.
It’s a highly nutritious food too, containing carbohydrates, protein, calcium, fiber, lipids, iodine, and anticancer compounds (similar to broccoli and cabbage). This power packed root is known to have an especially positive effect on people who are overworked, overstressed, or nutritionally unfulfilled. (Thanks a lot office cookie swap!)
Julie is our wonderful Production Manager and Master Tea Formulator here at Mountain Rose, famous for her delicious creations and sweet smiles. Julie has been tweaking the maca bar recipe a bit for all of the vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free folks out there. You can find the delicious original recipe here, and the reformulated version of the recipe below:
Vegan, Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free
Maca Bars
2 cups organic rolled oats
1/2 cup organic almonds, sliced
1/4 cup organic maca powder
1/4 cup organic hemp seeds
Pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt
2/3 cup organic apple sauce or mashed banana
2/3 cup almond butter
Combine oats, almonds, maca, hemp seeds, and salt in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, mix apple sauce or banana with almond butter until well blended.
Scrape the almond butter mix into the oat mixture and blend well.
Pat into an 11 x 7 baking dish and bake at 300 degrees for about 35 minutes.
Score with a knife while warm and then cut into bars when cool.
The Giveaway!
The prize this week is a treat just waiting to happen!
The winner will be able to create either version of the recipe using this collection of organic ingredients. Plus, we’re throwing in a copy of Kami McBride’s book The Herbal Kitchen which is a wonderful resource with over 250 recipes for using herbs to enhance the health benefits and digestibility of your food!
Here’s this week’s big prize…
32oz Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
1lb Organic Maca Powder
1lb Organic Arrowroot Powder
8oz Organic Hemp Seeds
2oz Organic Vanilla Flavor Extract
1lb Himalayan Pink Salt
The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter and you can submit up to 5 entries for a chance to win this amazing collection of ingredients!
1. Leave a comment here telling us about your favorite herbal treat for the holidays!
2. Post a link to our Amazing Maca Bar giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve posted. Follow us on Facebook here!
3. Tweet about our Amazing Maca Bar giveaway on Twitter using the tag #herbalgiveaway and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow us on Twitter!
4. Blog about our giveaway with a link back to this post. Then leave a comment here with a link back to your blog post so we can check it out.
5. Sign up for our recipe packed Newsletter and leave a comment to let us know you’re a reader.
You have until Monday, December 26th at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick one winner at random on Tuesday, December 27th! We can ship blog prizes to US addresses only.
Good luck and Happy Holidays!
Best Recipes of 2011 Giveaway!
Posted by |13 December 2011
What better way to celebrate the coming new year than with a look back at some of our favorite recipes of 2011?
Well, how about 4 weeks of amazing DIY GIVEAWAYS!
As a big thank you to our herb loving blog readers, we’ll be revisiting the best recipes of the year and giving away a huge package of organic ingredients each week so our lucky winners can make the goodies at home! Pretty sweet, right?
Week 1
It’s been cold and dry in Eugene this week. Really, really, really cold and dry! With (almost) winter weather like this, we’ve all been reaching for Irene’s luscious herbal lip balms. These lip balm recipes smell fantastic, are wonderfully moisturizing, and super easy to make. Looking for a holiday gift to make for friends and family? Look no further!
You can find her post with the recipes here!
The Giveaway!
The prize this week is truly incredible. See all that good stuff up there? That includes everything you need to concoct up to 26 lip balms…with plenty of ingredients to spare for more projects!
Here’s what the lucky winner will receive…
4oz Mango Butter, CWC
4oz Organic Cocoa Butter
16oz Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
16oz Organic Sunflower Oil
32oz Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
16oz Organic Avocado Oil
1lb Beeswax Pastilles
2oz Vitamin E Oil
1/2oz Organic Lime Peel Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Mandarin Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Nutmeg Essential Oil
1/2oz Organic Peppermint Essential Oil
20 x Clear Lip Balm Tubes
6 x 1/2oz Tins
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter and you can submit up to 5 entries for a chance to win this amazing collection of ingredients!
1. Leave a comment here telling us about your favorite winter essentials for healthy skin.
2. Post a link to our Lip Balm Kit giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve posted. Follow us on Facebook here!
3. Tweet about our Lip Balm Kit giveaway on Twitter using the tag #herbalgiveaway and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow us on Twitter!
4. Blog about our giveaway with a link back to this post, and leave a comment here with a link back to your blog post.
5. Sign up for our recipe packed Newsletter and leave a comment to let us know you’re a reader.
You have until Monday, December 19th at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick one winner at random on Tuesday, December 20th. We can ship blog prizes to US addresses only!
Good luck to you!
____________________________________
UPDATE ~ 12/20
Announcing the Winner!
We’ve collected all of the entries from the blog comments and Facebook (thanks to our tech issues earlier this week) and a winner has been chosen. Congratulations to xbonesgirl! You are the winner of our week 1 giveaway! You should receive an email shortly with more information.
Thanks to everyone for participating this week! We’ve got another exciting giveaway coming up, so stay tuned…
Green Festival Giveaway!
Posted by |10 November 2011
We are all packed up and on our way to the Green Festival in San Francisco!
This is the 10th year of this incredible event that features renowned speakers, a marketplace filled with eco-friendly products, delicious organic food, live music, workshops, and more.
We’ll be raffling off exciting prizes all weekend at our “Herbalist’s Garden” booth made entirely of reclaimed and recycled materials! Visit us at booth #840 for free samples from our herb cart, dose up at our organic tincture bar, plaster your water bottle with fun stickers, take notes with our recycled pencils, find inspiration in herbal recipes cards, and enter the raffle for a chance to win one of our Essential Oil Samplers!
We’re giving away one Essential Oil Sampler each day during the festival and will announce one winner on Saturday, November 12th and one winner on Sunday, November 13th.
Don’t miss your chance to win! Stop by our booth, say hello, and enter the big giveaway at the Green Festival in the “City by the Bay”!
Win A $250 Gift Certificate From Mountain Rose Herbs!
Posted by |01 November 2011
Want to publicly announce your love of pristine rivers for a chance to win a $250 gift certificate from Mountain Rose Herbs?
All you have to do is “Like” Pacific Rivers Council on Facebook and post a comment on their wall about why healthy rivers are special to you, pretty simple eh? This little act by itself will put you into a drawing for a $250 gift certificate from Mountain Rose Herbs and for complete (and easy) instructions, please see below.
For the month of November, Mountain Rose Herbs will join forces with our partners at Pacific Rivers Council in a campaign to bring attention to the issue surrounding watershed and river protection which is important to all life as we know it. So please join us today by participating in this free, easy, and ultimately gratifying event!
Instructions-
1. Log onto Facebook
2. Do a search for Pacific Rivers Council and “Like” them. Or you may click here….. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pacific-Rivers-Council/115201748502352?ref=ts
3. Post a comment on their wall about why healthy rivers are important to you
4. On December 1st we will randomly select one winner to receive a $250.00 gift certificate from Mountain Rose Herbs and we will contact you through Facebook with the good news!
Meet the Herbalist ~ Giveaway!
Posted by |14 September 2011
Liisa Korpela is passionate about making herbal products and practicing sustainability for the plants that heal, the people she loves, and the planet that provides for us all. She is an experienced herbalist, creative gardener, and the founder of Bella Botanica, a natural health & beauty company. Her gorgeous urban homestead and apothecary in downtown Eugene supports native, medicinal, and food plants, as well as a flock of happy chickens and buzzy bee hives.
In 1995, Liisa received her BFA degree in the Fine Arts of Textiles and Natural Dyeing with a Major in Biology. After graduation, Liisa began to delve more intimately into the world of plants by working with native flora, ecosystems, propagation, and gardening in the Pacific Northwest. She began her formal herbal studies in 1996 at the Blue Iris School of Botanical Studies with Colette Gardiner, and then at the Columbines School of Botanical Studies with Howie Brounstein and Steven Yeager, and most recently studied to be a Certified Women’s Herbal Educator with Dr. Aviva Jill Romm.
Liisa has also traveled extensively co-leading eco-tours to Costa Rica and served for 7 years as the executive director on tours to Egypt and Peru’s sacred sites. Weaving the art and science of Herbalism, Liisa inspires others to build relationships with nature while learning holistic ways to care for their body, mind, and spirit.
We are so excited to have Liisa, our friend and teacher, share her wealth of wisdom and experience formulating natural skincare products, as well as her deep understanding of sacred herbalism and ritual at Rootstalk!
To celebrate the very first Rootstalk Festival, Liisa is offering a bounty of amazing prizes for our giveaway series! Enjoy our interview below and learn more about how you can win some incredible goodies from Bella Botanica. We will pick 3 winners!
1. What classes will you be teaching at Rootstalk this year?
Beauty from the Earth
Friday – 11am – Clark Hall
For millennia we have looked to nature for the answers to staying and looking young. It is within the earth’s flowers, fruits, barks, and roots that we have unveiled the secrets and revealed answers. During Beauty from the Earth, we will have the opportunity to dive into the world of natural beauty care. We will take a look at the skin, our largest eliminatory organ, and practices to keep it healthy. As well as ingredients to watch out for in our products and the ingredients we should focus on to keep our skin glowing and youthful.
The Spirit of Herbalism
Saturday – 4pm – Meet at Archery
Our ancestors saw all life as sacred and in all life there possessed an intelligence that was shared. Listening to nature was considered “the way” one learned about the magical and medicinal properties of the plants. This symbiotic and intertwined relationship with plants and nature has been lost to us, as we have “fallen out of the garden” separated from nature and our natural selves. But with this new generation of interested herbalist and plant enthusiast, we are rebuilding and restoring these ancient relationships with nature. As we learn to listen to these plant teachers we are rekindling our innate abilities to connect with nature and transform our ailments and disease into health, strength and personal growth.
2. What is one of the most powerful moments you have experienced in the wild or through your work?
One day weeding in the garden around a Milk Thistle plant, I was particularly distraught over a scenario with two friends. I did not like how one friend was treating the other friend, and it irritated me how he was handling a particular situation. I grumbled, frustrated as I went over and over the drama in my head. Each time reaching down under the Milk Thistle for more weeds, I would get poked and scratched and pull my arm back in retreat. After a few minutes of this torturous weeding job, I sat back thinking of the scenario one more time and clearly I heard that I must forgive the person that had made me so frustrated. The next day I opened up a book on herbs and there was Milk Thistle “The plant of forgiveness.” This changed everything that I had thought I had known about plants. This plant had communicated this lesson of forgiveness to me. I had so much more to learn!
3. What is your primary environmental concern?
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
4. What can people do to help combat this in their community?
People need to be educated about the concerns of the rapidly progressing release of GMO crops in this country. There has been very little oversight, testing and debate about these crops, and the ramification of the damage that they cause to the livelihoods of family farms, our health, and the environment. When polled, the majority of the population would like to be informed about the products that are genetically modified. But due to corporate interest and the wide use of GMOs already on the market place that could be potentially harmed, this information is not being released. Since the federal government is not stepping up to protecting it’s citizens on these issues, we need to pressure our local and state government to set up truth in labeling requirements on GMOs. We need to demand that the businesses we invest into our supporting us with our requests to be informed about what is in our products. That way we as consumers can make the educated choice into what we wish to support.
5. What do you hope to experience at Rootstalk this first year?
At Rootstalk this year, I hope to experience a place where community can gather together to learn, share and create sustainable ways for us to navigate through the changing times we are experiencing on our planet right now. More than ever we need to revitalize the tools that have existed through time that work for us and the earth in a gentle way.
6. What is your favorite plant and why?
Though it is hard for me to nail down any one plant as my favorite, today I would say it is Violas. Violas represent the coming of spring. One of the first plants to flower, their sweet aroma flirts through the air, inviting one to smile as you realize that spring is afoot and the sun is returning once more. Full of Vitamin A & C, the whole plant is nutritive. A wonderful addition to salads, a gentle heart medicine (thus the name Heartease), a soothing respiratory tonic, and a general wound healer. This plant is an excellent ground cover and is easily grown in the shade.
The Giveaway!
We will choose 3 very lucky winners to receive one of these amazing gifts from Bella Botanica!
The Ultimate “Pamper Me!” Basket
One winner will receive this lovely basket filled with handmade goodies to nourish the skin and relax muscles! Supreme Cream ~ Vanilla Lip Balm ~ Citrus Bliss Flower Shower ~ Juniper Rose Sea Scrub ~ Citrus Bliss Massage Oil
Home Sweet Home Massage Kit
One winner will receive a bottle of the deliciously refreshing Citrus Bliss Flower Shower and a bottle of Rosie’s Delight Massage Oil!
Bella Botanica Gift Certificate
Use this $75.00 gift certificate to schedule a consultaion with Liisa, take a few herbal classes, or stock up on beautiful healing products from Bella Botanica!
How to Enter:
There are several ways to enter and you can submit up to 6 entries for a chance to win these marvelous prizes!
1. Explore Bella Botanica and leave a comment here telling us about another product, class, or service Liisa offers that you’d love to experience.
2. Like Bella Botanica on Facebook and leave a comment here to let us know that you’re a fan.
3. Like the Rootstalk Festival on Facebook and leave a comment here to let us know that you’re a fan.
4. Share this giveaway on your Facebook page and leave a comment here to let us know you’ve posted the link.
5. Follow the Bella Botanica Blog and leave a comment here to let us know that you’re a reader!
6. Tweet about our blog giveaway on Twitter using the tag #BellaRootstalk and leave a comment here to let us know that you’ve tweeted. Be sure to follow us @bellabotanica and @MtnRoseHerbs!
You have until Tuesday, September 20th at 11:59pm PST to enter. We will pick 3 winners at random on Thursday, September 21st!
Good Luck!
Rootstalk Video Contest Winner!
Posted by |18 August 2011
Congratulations to the winner of our Rootstalk Video Contest!
Not only is this family sweet and creative, they are also eco-conscience, forest-protecting, old-growth advocates. We’re thrilled to have them join us at Rootstalk this year! As the winner of our contest, they will receive two free passes to Rootstalk and two gift bags filled with goodies from Mountain Rose Herbs. We love the celebratory dance at the end of the video and can’t wait to boogie down with them at the festival!
A big heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. There were some fantastic entries and it was a really tough choice to make, so thank you for sharing your artistic energy and enthusiastic spirit with us!
We Are A Zero