What does it mean to
be a steward of the land?

We are now partnering with White Buffalo Land Trust, a 1,000 acre hub for regenerative agriculture at Jalama Canyon Ranch in Santa Barbara County, who answer to the needs of the land through the tending of this ecological site. They harvest and distill the Black Sage in our Bar Soaps and Hydrosol, reminding us all that a responsible harvest can create resilience, health, and vitality for the land — resulting in a product that conserves a feeling, a purpose, and an entire ecosystem.

“This oil is a true expression of the diversity of the land. We are not cultivating this crop for agricultural production, but rather tending to an ecological system. And through that tending, there is a harvest.”

We spoke to Jesse Smith, director of land stewardship at WBLT, about the impact of this Black Sage. Here is our conversation.

White Buffalo Land Trust does so much for the ecosystem at Jalama Canyon Ranch. Can you distill your mission?

Humans have an opportunity to be a contributing factor to overall ecosystem health. We believe that how we grow and source our foods, medicines, and fibers can improve soil health, water resources, biodiversity, and overall community vitality — all through the act of agriculture.

What is the growing, harvesting & distilling process of this Black Sage?

You get a much denser, more productive Sage when you remove the previous year’s dying material so the next year’s flush is highly productive. So, we walk up to the edge of the coastal sage scrub and harvest both the vegetative growth foliage and flowers, where the oil resides. At the same time, we remove the dead material from the plant and deposit it on the ground so that it can decompose naturally. We try to get all that carbon in contact with the ground so microbes and fungi can break that down during the next rain cycle.

You said something on your site that stood out to us: “Each of our products begin by identifying an ecological need that can be addressed by regenerative agriculture.” What ecological need is this Sage addressing?

The Black Sage is part of a plant community called the Coastal Sage Scrub, which is one of immense biodiversity. It’s usually undervalued by ranchers and developers because it’s not good forage, and has the potential to burn in forest wildfires. So the ecological need through the sourcing and distillation is the tending and care of these fragile and diverse ecological sites as we prune and remove dead material and as we open up the canopy to diversify the undergrowth and the overstory of oak tree — which increases the accessibility of this ecological site. This way we can create an enterprise that values this native system and incentivizes farmers and ranchers to engage and tend it.

We are disrupting “business as usual” by working together. What is the potential impact of our partnership?

The process to get people to care and to act in a manner that shows their care, is one that requires clear communication. If we can find more clear ways of communicating the impact of our regenerative land stewardship in a way that is connected to the products derived from what we harvest, then we can allow people to physically act in a different way. This is what we mean by direct impact.

What is the hope of this project?

We harvest, and then next year there is more. This is not the norm in agriculture. By taking what you need, and not taking too much, it enhances the capacity of that plant to produce more. So the real hope is to get people to smell good with natural fragrances, and to remind people that harvesting responsibly can create more health and vitality in an ecosystem.