our journey
from farm to bottle
handcrafted herbal medicine
remembering our ancestral ways
moon and honey grew out of an organic vegetable farm in rural new jersey.
although i can remember making potions as a young girl with sticky sap and fragrant flowers, the spark of wonder about plant medicine really grew during my years as a farmer. before birthing my children, i spent many seasons working as an organic farmer on biodynamic and regenerative farms thoughout the northeast. growing vegetables, milking pasture-based cows, chasing pigs and chickens through the forest, and building relationship with the living land, the sun, the seasons. i can still smell the syrupy sunsoaked sweetness of ripe grass in the fall or the damp fertile soil smell of the greenhouse in early spring.
the first real medicine i ever made was a little squat glass jar of st. john’s wort oil. i gathered the blossoms from the cow pasture, not even sure if i had the right thing, but testing, hoping, smelling. i filled it with oil and set it to soak in the sun on the rock wall of the greenhouse garden. i walked by every morning and every evening and when the golden yellow oil turned scarlet red with just the power of flower and time and sun… i was hooked.
i began listening and learning from neighbors, wise women, elders, and nature herself about the wild plants we found in the fields and forests native to the land around the farm. i began making teas and tinctures, and eventually making herbal infusions with native botanicals for the fields became one of my most important farming practices. herbal medicine for the plants themselves.
after my oldest children were born, i slowly began to transition away from full time farming and started to grow my plant medicine work to be able to better integrate mothering, midwifery, and the farm. i started making nourishing tea blends that i wanted to drink through pregnancy and postpartum - a blend similar to the one we still make today. there is something about the portal through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum that calls us back to the plants. to the old ways.
plants haven’t changed that much. they feel and smell and taste very much the same way that our ancestors knew. the medicines they made we remember in our bones. we are so much closer to something wild in this sacred time.
i felt so drawn to caring for my pregnant and postpartum body with herbal medicine, but i couldn’t find many sources back then of teas or tinctures or oils or salves that i knew were well made. with potent, fresh, home grown ingredients. from someone who knew the land, who knew just when to harvest the medicine, and how to extract it into potent medicine. so i learned, and i made it myself. homegrown raspberry leaf and nettle dried into pregnancy tea. fresh golden st. john’s wort oil alchemized in the sun became belly balm, and then hand picked calendula and chamomile made a diaper rash salve for my new baby. then as they grew into wandering little ones, we made bonk balm and farm grown echinacea tincture. medicine made with intention and knowledge. every medicine we made was thoughtful, considered, devoted to beauty and excellence. we started with just what we wanted to use, and keep making medicine we reach for every day.
we grew and foraged medicine plants on our farm in western new jersey for many years before returning to the bay area. i was born and raised here in oakland, california on occupied chochenyo oholone land and it is an honor to be back in my community and living in reverent relationship with this place. moon and honey has grown into a thriving, vibrant medicinal plant shop where we create teas, baths, balms and salves, tinctures, and potent herbal oils, as well as seasonal releases of plant dyed fibers and clothing.
meet Heather Dewolf Bowser
Founder, Midwife, Medicine Maker
i am a mother of 6.
three earthside sons and three daughters, one born at sunrise in my farmhouse bedroom too early to stay.
oakland born and raised.
farmer, poet. plant medicine maker. community midwife. witch. wild woman. matriarch.
i am deeply committed to living relationship with the plants and the land we walk on. to knowing my ancestors, healing our motherlines, and being curious about our shared rememberings. language. ceremony. births of all kinds.
to dismantling oppression in all ways.
i believe in the sun, in women, in the waters. in wool and fierceness and listening in devotion. in beauty and justice and the glimmer of the moon on city streets. yarrow and dirt and orange blossoms and blood and ancestors and beeswax.
yes, and.
glad you’re here.
how we make medicine matters
many herbal products begin with dried herbs purchased in bulk. our process begins months and often years earlier, with deeply nourished soil, hand chosen seeds, and relationship with the land. we grown many of our own fresh herbs and our herb garden is growing every year. we invest in connections with regenerative farmers who grow or tend what we can’t, and source each ingredient with intention and care - from fresh blossoms to plastic-free equipment to cold pressed oils from producers who center social and ecological justice.
but our most valuable work is done in the making itself.
we are committed to crafting our offerings in ways that maximize the unique qualities of each plant. our products are made with herbs harvested at their peak medicinal quality and processed according to each plant's unique blueprint to extract the most valuable constituents and create the most potent, aromatic, delicious, and nourishing plant medicine possible.
we use glass, wood, cotton, steel, and avoid plastic whenever possible
all our ingredients are organically grown or wild sourced from safe, clean, and thriving ecosystems
our packaging is sustainble, compostable, and gorgeous
we use every one of our offerings for our own family
Get in Touch
questions about an order?
curious about our offerings?
reach out!
we are a small shop and every message comes directly to me and is read with care. if you have questions about a current order or general inquiries, please reach out through our contact form and i’ll get back to you soon.
i am also committed to practicing and modeling sustainable communication, and i’m often tending the land, women in birth, and my own family circle so i may not respond immediately. i do my best to respond to messages within 3 business days.
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we offer free shipping on orders over $100.
i make all our medicines by hand, package your order with care, and follow the rhythms of the seasons and harvest. i also have a busy beautiful family of seven and serve women in birth, which flows in its own timeless way.
i care deeply about the integrity of the plants, the land, the medicine, and the well being of both my family and the families i serve. i know you feel this when these magic medicines come home to you.
this kind of slow medicine and sustainable living is special.
we ship most orders within 10 business days. if you need something more urgently, please email me. we are always happy to try to get something to you more quickly if we can. -
every offering is a little different. we do our best to make well sized products that will be used at their freshest before you need to order more. every batch and order will be a little different depending on your climate, how they are stored, and how often they’re used.
in general, you can expect tinctures to last a few years, our herbal oils are freshest within 1 year, salves and balms within 1 year, and tea mixtures are best enjoyed within a year or two.
you can keep your medicines as fresh as possible by storing them in a relatively cool place, avoiding bright sun exposure, and keeping them free of contaminants. as in, don’t touch the dropper to your mouth or skin, always use clean and dry fingers to scoop salve, etc.
and don’t be afraid to be generous!
enjoy these plant offerings while you have them. you can always order more when you’re ready. it’s better to enjoy them at their best and come back when you can. -
we care about each and every one of these offerings making it to your door!
here's some general what-to-expect when a package is late, but feel free to reach out to us for help:
we ship almost exclusively through usps. we have a great package pick up system and great carriers, but every once in a while things happen somewhere along the way.
- if you just placed your order and haven’t received a shipping confirmation, please be patient or check in with us after 10 business days. we may just be handcrafting your order!
- if you’ve received tracking info and your package still says “usps awaiting item” that means either we just shipped your package and it hasn’t been picked up yet, or rarely this means it is on its way and never got scanned. if you got your shipping email more than 3 days ago and it still says this, please reach out. often the item just shows up, but we’ll keep an eye out with you to make sure it’s resolved.
- if your tracking information says "delivered" but you never received your item, please let us know. unfortunately, we don’t have any control of delivery once the package is with usps but you can file a claim with usps to help retrieve the package or recover your costs. either way, we want to know and we’ll help in any way we can. -
yes! we absolutely love helping you create a special gift for a loved one. so many of our offerings are given as gifts for baby showers, to celebrate a new baby, for healing after surgery or illness, in times of loss or grief, or just to send some special care someone's way.
we have several specially curated gift boxes for all seasons of life. explore our gift boxes here.if you'd like to include a note, please let us know what you'd like to say and we will handwrite your message on our handcrafted watercolor cards to include in your gift.
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yes, we love partnering with you! midwives often include our products in their prepacked birth kits or midwifery supplies. and doulas and other birth workers order in bulk to offer small gifts to clients included in their care.
or you can make a wholesale order to offer our products for resale in your birth center or small shop.
because we’re a small business and make all our products by hand, we are only able to offer a limited number of wholesale orders. please reach out to us about your offerings and interest to see if we have space available.
