Wilderness Maven Apothecary

As the light lingers a little longer each evening and the soil begins to warm and soften beneath our hands, there is a quiet, undeniable shift happening around us. You can feel it. We are not separate from this rhythm.

And yet. This season of renewal, of life, of hope, and of growing doesn’t arrive in a vacuum. Many of us are holding a heaviness right now. Grief, uncertainty, and overwhelm as we witness the state of the world and the division of community around us. It can feel dissonant to carry both: the tenderness of new life alongside the weight of what is unfolding globally and collectively.

But nature does not ask us to choose. It teaches us how to hold both. In the same garden bed where new shoots emerge, last season’s decay still feeds the soil. Life and loss, growth and grief. They are not opposites, but companions.

Hands in the dirt again, I’m planting yarrow, calendula, skullcap, chamomile, motherwort and many more. Each one carrying its own intelligence, its own medicine. There is something profoundly grounding in this work. To tend the soil. To plan for the future. To participate in life’s return when the world feels uncertain.

It doesn’t erase the heaviness, but offers a place to put it. The soil accepts our tears and reflects back to us our private celebrations.

With rising costs touching nearly every aspect of daily life, many are feeling the weight of having to make difficult choices about what we can keep and what we have to let go. As a small gesture of support I’m offering 20% off all products through March 29th. A way to help resources stretch just a little further while still staying connected to the care and rituals that support you.

Use the code CARE15 at checkout to receive the discount.

Love and herbal tea,
Jenn 💙

I was recently asked some questions by a new retail partner who is stocking her shelves with Wilderness Maven products in preparation for her shop opening. I’m honored to be a brand trusted to help stock the shelves at . I thought I’d share my responses to those questions here for more insight into my brand and why I’ve chosen this path 😘

Q: What inspired you to start Wilderness Maven Apothecary?

WMA was born from my lifelong relationship with plants and the land. As a child, I was intuitively foraging plants and “doctoring” my stuffed animals with leaves and roots gathered during long walks in the woods. At that time, I was guided by instinct rather than instruction. In my twenties, that early connection resurfaced as a clear calling to study the historic wisdom of herbalism and to work with plants as true allies for wellbeing. This apothecary is my way of honoring the connection between ancestral knowledge, reverence for the earth, and intentional craft-driven formulas meant to support modern life.

Q: What product are you most proud of?

There isn’t one single product I’m most proud of. Rather, I take pride in the process behind every formula, from careful sourcing of plants from ethical and sustainable sources, the relationships built with the land, and the botanicals grown and tended on my own farm. Each product is made slowly and by hand, without big machines or shortcuts, allowing time, touch, and intention to guide my work. The slow, deliberate way of sourcing and crafting is where the true heart of my work lives.

Q: What has surprised you most since starting this business?

What has surprised me is how often plant medicine is treated as inherently gentle or harmless. There’s a common assumption that because something is natural, it must be safe and mild. In reality, plants are powerful allies that deserve respect. Not every plant is appropriate for every person, and when you add in contraindications with medications, the need for discernment becomes even more important. While I’m not surprised that traditional knowledge has faded, I’m continually surprised by how little the strength and complexity of plant medicine is understood.

Cold weather calls for something slow, grounding, and deeply comforting.

Our herbal hot chocolate blends are crafted to be more than a sweet indulgence. They are rituals in a mug, made to warm the body and offer deep system support.

Mushroom Chocolate is rich and earthy, blended with 14 functional mushrooms to support balance, resilience, and daily vitality.

Golden Chocolate glows with anti-inflammatory turmeric and gently warming spices that support digestion and circulation.

Chaga Rose Chocolate pairs wild chaga with soft rose petals, offering grounding nourishment with immune system regulation and support.

Dandelion Chocolate blends roasted dandelion and chicory root for a deeply comforting cup that supports digestion and gentle daily detox pathways.

Sip slowly. Let the warmth settle. These are winter companions, meant to be savored in the quiet moments, when the days are short and the body asks for a little extra care.

The quiet remedy after the feast.

Bitters are one of the oldest and most trusted allies of the digestive system. Their sharp, complex flavor awakens the body’s own intelligence, encouraging the release of digestive enzymes, easing heaviness, and helping the body move through food with more grace and less discomfort.

After long holiday meals, when the table has been full and the night lingers, a few drops of bitters can soften bloating, settle the stomach, and restore a sense of balance. Not as a quick fix, but as a gentle reminder to the body of how digestion is meant to feel.

This is the work of roots, bark, leaves, and peel. Slow medicine, carried in small bottles, ready whenever the body asks for a little help.

Our Nettle, Cardamom & Smoked Orange Bitters complement an aperitif before a meal and our Digestive Bitters blend is bright and grounding, the perfect ritual for comfortable digestion.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year and a half since I closed the doors of my lovely shop in Michigan as we made the move back to Oregon. What a transformational time it’s been. I didn’t want to miss a beat, and had all the hope in the world I’d be open in Portland within a few months of moving back. So many things happened to keep me from a physical space in that time, and now I’m grateful for the extra months. Having time and space away from being present in a retail capacity gifted me the opportunity to transform what I offer for the better. Now I get to shift my attention to building a beautiful space in a building that was worth waiting for.

Sellwood, we’re so excited to be coming to the community!

This little apothecary has been shaped with care and patience, and it feels like a true gift to bring it to this neighborhood. We’re looking forward to slow afternoons and long conversations, to shelves that invite curiosity, and to a space that feels warm the moment you step inside.

Our hope is that this becomes a place to gather and linger, to learn and share knowledge, to ask questions and trade stories. A welcoming room for community, rooted in plants, people, and presence. We can’t wait to meet you.

The last hours of our only sale of the season are settling in like dusk through quiet woods. There is a softness to this moment. A brief, rare opening before the year turns inward and the pace slows.

If you’ve been waiting to gather your winter botanicals, elixirs, and handcrafted skin care, this is the final call. Our seasonal sale ends tonight at midnight, and with it the small window to stock your apothecary with the bottles and jars that will carry you through the darker months.

Thank you for supporting this little botanical corner of the world. May what you choose nourish you well in the cold season ahead.

The season of slowness, reflection, and meaningful giving is here, and with it comes our biggest sale of the year.

Everything I make takes time. Herbs infuse and extract for weeks, oils are pressed and poured by hand, and each batch is crafted with reverence in small, thoughtful quantities. Holiday shopping with my apothecary has a rhythm of its own, and I’m so grateful you’re here for it.

All the products I make are offered at 20% off, now through November 30th with the code HOLIDAYBLOOM at checkout.

Our newsletter family received first-look access and first pick of available inventory, and if you’re not on our email list yet, consider this a gentle invitation to join us there. Email subscribers get exclusive, email-only sales, early access to limited inventory, and stories about plants and my work with them.

Thank you for shopping and supporting small businesses like mine this holiday season. I’m honored to be part of your season.

Dogs teach us how to be better humans. I know not everyone is a dog person, but for those who have had and loved a dog, there is nothing like it. Everest was my first dog, my first true love, and the most steady, patient, and perfect friend. Most people choose their pets in some way, but Everest chose me. He came to me in Nepal and had a miraculous journey here, to live and adventure with me in Oregon. He traveled the world with me, and I said goodbye to him today. I’m grieving in a way I never have, and yet I know the love we gave each other will exist forever. I love you Everest. Thank you for giving me the years of joy.

After many months of searching, hoping, and quietly weaving possibilities together, I’m so grateful to share that Wilderness Maven Apothecary has found its permanent brick-and-mortar home, inside the historic and beautifully restored Iron Horse Building in Portland. This space feels aligned in all the ways I had imagined. Warm light, good bones, space for community, and the kind of history that invites slow, intentional craft.

I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the false start earlier this year, when I announced a location that didn’t ultimately come to fruition. I know some of you were excited right alongside me, and I’m deeply sorry for the confusion and premature celebration. At the time, I truly believed it was the right fit, but life and logistics had other plans and the lease ultimately fell through. Thank you for your patience, your understanding, and your continued support while I navigated the unexpected twists of this process.

Now, with a steadier footing and a space that feels like a true landing place, I can’t wait to welcome you in, share my work more fully, and build something beautiful with this community.

More details soon, but for now, my heart is full, and I’m grateful you’re here.

Daylight is thinning and the air is embracing its first true chill. Elderberry beckons, stepping forward as one of the season’s quiet guardians. These dusky, amethyst berries hold a long tradition of fortifying the body when the world turns inward, supporting resilient immunity and offering nourishment when the cold months ask more of us.

In tincture, syrup, elixir, or tea, elderberry becomes a small daily ritual of steadiness. A reminder that even in the deepening dark, there are fruits laden with protection, plants that carry the memory of summer’s warmth into winter’s long hours. Elderberry invites us to slow down, tend to our vitality, and walk into the colder season with intention and strength.

November comes with quiet, liminal energy. The light softens and the air grows still. November invites us into a slower rhythm, a cadence of smoke, tea, and quiet reflection. This is the season to tend the unseen. Your roots, your rest, your dreams.

As the world outside fades into shades of gray and gold, let your rituals become simple and grounding.

Sip infusions of mugwort, chamomile, or rose to soothe and settle the spirit.

Burn a small bundle of cedar or pine to clear and center your space.

Journal your dreams or intentions beside a candle’s glow.

These small herbal practices remind us that even in stillness, life stirs gently beneath the surface.

As the days darken and our rhythms naturally slow, Dream Weaver invites you to honor this introspective season through the language of dreams. Crafted with herbs traditionally used to support restful sleep, dream recall, and intuitive insight, this blend helps open the doorway between waking and dreaming.

Dream Weaver tincture may be taken before bed to encourage deep, restorative rest and gentle exploration of the subconscious. It’s perfect for journaling, dreamwork, or simply tending your inner world during the deep, long nights ahead.

Herbal allies include mugwort, blue lotus, catnip, kava kava, and chamomile. These plants are long associated with the dream realm and nervous system support.