Your Herbal Questions, Answered.

Because herbalism is about relationships.

One plant may bring one set of constituents, another may complement its action, and another may help balance the energetics of the formula.

Our expert herbalists formulate with those relationships in mind, considering not only what each plant contributes, but why these particular plants belong together.

Think orchestra, not soloist.

We also formulate this way because every ‘body’ is different. We each have our own constitution, and the same herb can suit one person beautifully while doing less for another. Valerian might be Billy Bob’s sleep ally, while Passionflower is Sally Sue’s. A single-herb product asks you to guess which one is yours; a thoughtful formula doesn’t. Deep Sleep®, for example, brings both Valerian and Passionflower together, so it offers each person a variety of calming, sleep-supporting botanicals, and your body can respond to the ones that suit it best.*

That’s the quiet advantage of a multi-herb formula: rather than relying on a single plant, you’re met with a fuller spectrum of complementary phytonutrients, so one formula has a better chance of helping more people. And isn’t that what it’s all about? Helping as many people as possible.

Adaptogens are a category of herbs commonly associated with supporting resilience and the body’s response to occasional stress. They adapt to each individual to bring them back to balance. For example, when Sally Sue gets stressed, she may get frazzled and frantic. When Billy Bob gets stressed, he may get overwhelmed and shut down (aka lay on the couch). Adaptogenic herbs can help both Sally Sue and Billy Bob. An adaptogenic herb will help Sally Sue calm down so that she can deal with stress in a manageable way. That same herb can give Billy Bob the energy and focus he needs to get up off the couch and deal with his stress. Same herb, different individualized actions, but same outcome: handling stress better. Examples found across Herbs, Etc. formulas include botanicals such as American Ginseng, Eleuthero, Ashwagandha, and Schisandra.

But “adaptogen” is not a magic word. An herbalist still considers the individual plant, preparation, dose, and the other herbs surrounding it.

Discover our favorite formulas with adaptogens:

Nervines are herbs traditionally associated with the nervous system. Depending on the plant, herbalists may use them when formulating around relaxation, nervous-system nourishment, or restful sleep.*

Herbs such as Passionflower, Lemon Balm, Milky Oats, and Valerian are examples you will encounter in Herbs, Etc. formulas. Think of them as a soothing balm for your soul :)

A root is not interchangeable with a leaf, and a berry is not interchangeable with a flower.

Different parts of a plant can contain different concentrations and combinations of botanical constituents or phytonutrients. That is why our labels do not simply say “Echinacea” or “Ginseng” – you will see exactly which plant and plant part we have chosen.

Knowing your herbs means knowing which part matters. For example, take the Great Mullein. You will find Mullein Leaf in many of our immune and respiratory formulas because the Leaf has a wonderful affinity for the lungs. However, you would not use Mullein Flowers for the respiratory system. We use the Mullein Flower in our Mullein Garlic Ear Drops because the flower works very well topically in an oil for inflammation and aches. Same plant, but two different plant parts with two different uses.

Once you know what to look for, an Herbs, Etc. label tells you the whole story of what’s inside:

Botanical (Latin) name

Alongside the common name, you’ll see the plant’s scientific name, like Echinacea purpurea. Common names can be shared by very different plants, so the Latin name tells you exactly which one you’re getting.

Plant part

Root, leaf, flower, berry, or seed. It matters more than you’d expect, because different parts of the same plant carry different constituents. It’s why our labels say “Mullein Leaf,” not just “Mullein.”

Preparation

How the herb became medicine: a Classic Liquid Extract (alcohol-based), a Non-Alcohol Liquid Extract, or a softgel and whether the herb was used fresh or dried. Remember, when we say “fresh” on the label, that means the plant went from the soil to our facility for extraction within 24 hours!

Suggested Use

Your serving size and how often to take it. Always the first place to look.

The organic “¹”

A small superscript ¹ beside a plant means it came from one of our certified organic partner farms. If you don’t see a superscript ¹, that likely means that plant was wildharvested by one of our amazing land stewards.

Other Ingredients

Everything beyond the herbs themselves: the vegetable glycerin, water, or a softgel’s components. If you’re checking for a specific ingredient, this is the line.

Cautions

Any considerations for that particular formula. Worth reading before you begin, especially if you take medications or are pregnant, nursing, or shopping for a child.

• Organic or responsibly wildharvested ingredients. How a plant is grown or gathered shapes what ends up in the bottle.
• The right plant part. A root, a leaf, and a flower aren’t interchangeable; a quality brand tells you exactly which one they used.
• The right preparation. Whether the herb was used fresh or dried, and extracted in a way that suits its chemistry.
• Real relationships with growers. Does the brand actually know its farmers and its land, or just its distributors?
• True manufacturing expertise. Do they make the product themselves? (We do, right down to pouring our own softgels in-house, rather than outsourcing the hard part.)
• Herbal lineage. Are they an herbal company or a marketing company? Do they have roots in the herbal community, are there expert herbalists doing the formulating, or are they assembling kitchen-sink formulas to chase a trend?

Here’s the hard truth: there’s no single badge or certification that tells you all of this. Plenty of products wear a wall of certifications, but a badge doesn’t mean a company formulated the product, knows where its ingredients came from, knows its farmers, or even knows how to make what’s inside. They may know marketing. That doesn’t mean they know herbs.

We’ve been at this for 57 years, and we’ve watched the whole industry transform. Herbal medicine used to be counterculture with nobody but the hippies caring (trust us, we were born in 1969; we remember). But as interest has grown, so has the money and so have the imposters looking to capitalize on it. There have never been more than there are today. That’s why it pays to stay curious and do your homework: now more than ever, the most powerful thing you can do is vote with your dollar.

We do not just put our name on herbal products. We make them.

We identify the plants. We work with the growers. We receive whole herbs rather than pre-ground botanical powders. We grind them in-house. We extract. We formulate. We manufacture in Santa Fe.

We have been practicing this craft since 1969.

We know our plants. We know our farmers. We know our craft.

Some brands know marketing. We know herbs. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Fun fact: even though we were founded in 1969, we just got social media in 2025. It was never about the marketing. It has always been about the plants, people, and planet.)

Yes. We craft our products in Santa Fe, New Mexico where we’ve made herbal medicine since 1969. We grind, extract, formulate, and bottle in-house, right here in the high desert.

Our plants come from many places: certified organic partner farms across the country, herbs wildharvested from American landscapes like the Rocky Mountains and Appalachia, and a handful of botanicals sourced from the parts of the world where they grow best. Wherever a plant begins, it becomes medicine here under our roof, by our hands, to our standard.

Before a plant becomes medicine, we want to know exactly who it is.

We use botanical standards and organoleptic evaluation which means our team examines characteristics such as appearance, aroma, texture and, where appropriate, taste.

We source whole or cut-and-sifted herbs rather than accepting pre-ground botanical powders, allowing us to evaluate the plant before processing it.

If a plant cannot introduce itself properly, it does not make it into our formulas.

We choose the form that makes the most sense for the plant and the constituents we want to preserve and often, that means fresh. A lot of companies default to dried herbs for everything. We go out of our way to work with fresh plants whenever it matters, because for some herbs, freshness is everything.

Take aromatic, above-ground herbs: for example, Lemon Balm, Lavender, and Chamomile are delicate plants whose beneficial volatile oils and fragile constituents live on the flowers and leaves of the plant (the aerial parts) and these start to degrade and evaporate as soon as they’re cut. Thus, we extract them fresh, capturing that potency before it’s lost to drying and time. It’s the same reason you’d never make pesto with dried basil: basil’s bright, aromatic punch comes from those very volatile oils, and drying mutes that vibrancy into something flatter. Fresh is what keeps the flavor alive and, in our case, the beneficial constituents right along with it.

That’s why, when our label says “fresh,” it means the plant went from field to extraction in our facility within 24 hours. (Ever picked a sprig of Rosemary or Peppermint and caught that scent? That’s the volatile oils at work and we’re not about to let them evaporate on our watch. ;))

Hardier plant parts are a different story. Roots and seeds don’t carry those same volatile oils (ever seen a bouquet of roots on a kitchen counter?). The phytonutrients of roots and seeds are often locked within the root, not hanging out on the outside. They are much hardier than flowers and leaves, so for these plant parts we use whole dried herbs, since the constituents are stable and concentrated. When we use these plant parts, we grind them in-house and for roots we use a proprietary Cryogenic Grinding process, so no damaging heat ever touches the active constituents.

We don’t choose fresh or dried because one is universally better. We choose based on the plant and the plant part we’re partnering with. But I will say… do you know many brands that are overnighting their plants to their facility for extraction to protect those volatile oils? We don’t either…

Learn more:

Wildharvested herbs are gathered from their natural growing environments rather than cultivated fields. Responsible wildharvesting considers the health of the plant population, the surrounding ecosystem, and the ability of the plant community to regenerate. Many of our wildharvesters have been working with us for decades and they are true stewards of the land. They tend the land, not just individual plants.

For Herbs, Etc., sourcing is about maintaining a respectful relationship with the places and people behind the plants. That’s why we co-created a set of Wildharvesting Ethics that we practice internally and share with the harvesters who gather for us. These principles guide how and when plants are gathered, so that wild plant communities and the traditions they come from are cared for and able to thrive for generations.

Plants grown without chemicals matter to us. We prioritize certified organic herbs and use them wherever quality and availability allow, because how a plant is grown (the soil it comes from and what it’s exposed to) shapes the medicine in the bottle. In fact, we partner with many Organic and Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) farms around the country. If you see a superscript “1” next to a plant on our label, you will know it came from one of our amazing partner organic farms.

However, some of our botanicals are wildharvested rather than farmed, and that’s not a step down from organic, it’s just a different path to the same standard of purity. These plants grow in their natural environments, free of synthetic inputs, and are gathered responsibly with the health of the plant community in mind. For certain herbs, the wild is simply where they’re at their best. For instance, our Osha Root grows in the Rocky Mountains (usually between 7,000–12,000 feet). Our Wild American Ginseng thrives deep in the Appalachian forest. Wildharvested herbs cannot technically be ‘certified’ organic, but many would argue they are beyond ‘organic.’

Because the ideal source can vary from plant to plant, the specific product information will always tell you the sourcing for a given formula.

We don’t formulate with wheat or other gluten-containing ingredients, so our formulas are made without gluten. That said, our products are not certified gluten-free, and they aren’t tested to a certified gluten-free standard. If you have celiac disease or a serious gluten sensitivity, we recommend reviewing the ingredients on the individual product page and checking with your healthcare practitioner and if you have a question about a specific formula, our herbalists are always glad to help.

Many of our formulas are plant-based, but not all and there are two things to know.

First, our softgels are made with a shell of bovine gelatin, so none of our softgels are vegan. We’ve looked closely at the vegan alternatives, and we haven’t found one that holds up: a stable, reliable vegan softgel would mean relying on ingredients we’re not comfortable using, such as carrageenan. So we made a considered choice. The bovine gelatin we use is sourced in North America (the USA, Canada, or Mexico), is both Halal- and Kosher-certified, and comes from cattle that spend the majority of their lives grazing on grass and forage in pastures. If you’re looking for vegan options, our liquid extracts are the place to start.

Second, a few of our formulas intentionally include bee-derived ingredients, because they’ve been valued in herbal traditions for generations. You may see propolis (the protective resin bees gather from plants, long used in throat and seasonal-wellness formulas), bee pollen or royal jelly (traditionally used as nourishing tonics), or honey and beeswax (a natural sweetener or base). These are the hive-derived ingredients that make an otherwise plant-based formula non-vegan.

So if you’re looking for a fully plant-based option, look to our liquid extracts and check the label for any bee-derived ingredients – the individual product page will always give you the definitive answer.

No. We don’t use artificial preservatives. Our Classic liquid extracts are naturally preserved by the alcohol used in extraction, and our formulas are made to keep their integrity without synthetic additives. You can always review the Other Ingredients section on any product page to see exactly what’s in a given formula.

Herbs can interact with medications, and individual health circumstances matter. If you take prescription medications, manage a health condition, or are under medical care, talk with your healthcare practitioner before adding a new herbal supplement.

Always review the individual product’s Caution section before use.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding are times to be especially thoughtful about herbs. Some botanicals may not be appropriate during pregnancy or nursing.

Always review the Caution section on the individual product page and consult your healthcare practitioner before beginning a new herbal supplement.

Children’s needs and appropriate herbal amounts differ from adults. Before giving an herbal supplement to a child, review the individual product directions and consult a qualified healthcare practitioner or herbalist experienced in pediatric use.

While we do hear stories from our consumers about using our products on their pets, animals can respond differently to herbs than people. Do not apply human dosing guidance to pets. Consult a veterinarian or practitioner experienced in veterinary herbal medicine before giving an herbal supplement to an animal.