Humbled in this presence, you realize the wild part of you knows this place, and you carry it in your heart and long to return as soon as you leave. This area has inspired many artists, including the renowned Group of Seven.
It was the friendship of a painter and herbalist, Steven Martyn, that brought me to live on the edge of the park.
I was a city gal, loaded with degrees, and working in advertising and running with a pack that liked late nights, good music and exploring the evolution of consciousness. All of it was wonderful, but my spirit called me to get out into the wild so that nature could take me deeper into the known and unknown.
The idea for the tea company began with sweet gale that grows along the riverbanks which Steven and I harvested by canoe. Harvesting and growing the original blends of Algonquin Tea has been a beautiful time of – acknowledging the majesty of the area as well as finding the connections between plants, healing and magic.
The plants here have strong wild spirits and when you harvest them, they speak to you. Some are more chatty than others. Nature guided my first partner with stories and visions about which herbs to blend together. We put tobacco down to say thanks, in the way of the original peoples here, and will not harvest if the plants do not want it. When wild harvesting we only harvest one year’s growth and only two-fifths of that growth and do not return for two years.
We graze like deer when harvesting. Plants and this land have been sung to for generations from those who are from this land, and now each of us need to learn again to sing songs of thanks, the way all our ancestors have done. It reconnects us like a tree spreading deep tap roots, and ‘turns on’ dormant knowing. It is a returning home, to sink your feet, hands and heart into the earth… and listen to a great telling of our own remembering.
While I no longer publish my blog, you can find my my insights at vitalitymagazine.com. Steven and his family run a nature school, thesacredgardener.ca.
For years, many of our friends/customers asked for pairings of herbs with caffeinated teas and so, Local Canadian Tea was born – with different lines – the Algonquin Collection, Wild@Heart and a stand-alone Pine Tea. Our teas are available loose and in tea bags, online here, or in wonderfully supportive stores around the world. I have created a company that has a consciously curated and close relationship with the land, the plants, and with you.
The best ingredients are the wild ones.
Green economics is a heart path where we can honour all our relations.
All Blessings. All Love. All of Us.
— Kim Elkington – President and Founder
Algonquin Tea donates to: Water First help all indigenous communities have access to clean water
Wild@Heart donates to: The Council of Canadians fighting for clean water
LocalCanadian Pine Tea donates to: Ottawa River Keeper
