Painted Cave Apothecary

Santa Barbara, CA

29

2 Following 29 Followers

Born and raised in a sleepy beach town nestled at the base of wildflower and waterfall covered mountainsides, wild foraging for medicinal and culinary plants and herbs just sort of happened naturally. As a child I would search for wild, fuzzy yellow dandelion heads to munch as I wandered the mountains, happily pick handfuls of grapes as I rode my bike along winding bluff cliffsides above rocky, windswept beaches, and when camping, hunt for healing mugwort, its green-brown leaves always a relieving sight to me, so sensitive to poison oak.

My father, a Yaqui Indian, spent a portion of his 20’s living in the mountains in a teepee, with only a palamino horse, a spider-monkey, and a girlfriend named Starshine who lived the next hill over in her own teepee. I largely blame my enchantment with the mountains and all their medicinal and edible treasures on my father’s wild, glorious tales of his care-free, hippie life in the mountains, wild collecting herbs and berries as treats, playing guitar next to bubbling streams, and mostly, the deep personal relationship he had with those mountains and the plants that grew upon them.

When I was in my mid-twenties I resigned myself to these mountains, for a bit. One of my favourite spots in these ancient hills was an old Indian sandstone cave, covered in Chumash Indian drawings, in a small, unincorporated community called Painted Cave. Many spots and zeniths in Painted Cave provide a panoramic view of my hometown, Santa Barbara, including the silver blue Pacific Ocean, the mystical and beautiful Channel Islands, and the Santa Ynez Mountain Range, including Paradise Road, where my dad camped, Happy Canyon Road, where I camped, and Painted Cave.

When I relocated to Southern Louisiana as an adult I was immediately drawn in by the vast array of local and indigenous edible and medicinal gems. Wild chicory root steamed with milk after a long, cold day, a fistful of wild collected goldenrod steeped in rum and taken as a tincture throughout the winter to ward off colds. Passionflower to help sleep, wild elderflower for hay fever and anxiety, wild lemon balm for nervousness and stomach pains. It was only a natural evolution that Painted Cave Apothecary was born, my small collection of wild collected plants and herbs, processed by hand into tasty and rejuvenating treats and healing tonics, from infused vinegars and herbal tinctures to pampering body products like body polishes and bath salts, each and every product hand-created using wild and local plants and herbs, and paying homage to my mountains, and Painted Cave, California.

Now that I have returned to my sleepy beach town, my home, and my mountains, my herbal journey feels like it has come full circle. I'm so grateful for the places and plants I have known and loved, and can now share and heal with you.