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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.

EXPLORE OUR BLACK SAGE PRODUCTS

150 pounds

of hand-harvested sage

440 grams

of essential oils 

“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.”

– Jesse Smith, White buffalo land trust

The Impact of Tending the Sage Ecological Site

The Impact of Tending the Sage Ecological Site

01

Encourages biodiversity

By supporting fragile and diverse ecological habitats.
02

Mitigates fire risk

By pruning and removing dead material.
03

Increases accessibility

By opening up road access and bringing in selective livestock management.
04

Benefits soil health

By the natural decomposition of leftover material and using waste products from the distillation process as mulch.
05

Conserves water supplies

By allowing water to sink in and not evaporate off, through the plant’s intricate living roots.

We spoke to Jesse Smith, Director of Land Stewardship at White Buffalo Land Trust, 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.

The Harvesting & Distilling Process:

01
The Sage plant material is hand-collected by 2-3 harvesters.

The Harvesting & Distilling Process:

01 The Sage plant material is hand-collected by 2-3 harvesters.
02 Along harvesting, they’ll find other native plants that they open up a canopy for, as well as lots of poison oak.
03 Sage is carried to the heart of the ranch, where it goes into a slow steam-distillation process that only requires plant material, water, and a heat source.
04 For every 150 pounds of Sage that goes into every batch, 440 grams of essential oil comes out.
05 After distillation, the remaining plant material is repurposed as a nutrient-rich mulch for the Olive grove, closing the loop on waste and enhancing soil health.
06 It took 21 batches (3,150 pounds of Sage plant material) to create the 9 kilograms of essential oils delivered to Flamingo Estate — now blended into our pure Bar Soaps with Olive Oil & Charcoal.

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.

Explore Black Sage

Seasonal Subscription Box

Our new Summer box has eclipsed all previous ones. We’ve called it the “Sage and Snacks” Box. Our current obsession is Black Sage  — grown, harvested, and distilled by White Buffalo Land Trust in Jalama Canyon, a living laboratory of 1,000 acres devoted to regenerative agriculture.

Black Sage in our Summer Box

Jalama Black Sage Bar

Sage Blossom Honey

Black Sage Face Mist

or 4 interest-free payments of $62.50 with

available for orders between $35 - $1,000

Subscription Options:

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Jalama Black Sage Bar

Your new shower essential, infused with Olive Oil, Charcoal, and Jalama Black Sage.

or 4 interest-free payments of $0 with

available for orders between $35 - $1,000

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