Wise Mountain Botanicals began in 2010 with the intention of creating effective and affordable herbal medicine from fresh locally abundant herbs. We maintain an extensive apothecary of herbs with a focus on fresh, locally sourced herbs. The majority of herbs we offer are cultivated with organic methods on our micro-farm or carefully collected from the wild. A small percentage are sourced from other trusted, organic herb growers. We are committed to providing the most vital, high quality herbal products by using only the finest and freshest ingredients.

Over time, as this small business has grown, our herb garden has grown into a small farm, as we strive to grow as many herbs as we can. Medicinal and aromatic herbs are cultivated with organic, sustainable methods in beautiful Mount Shasta, California and these are the heart of our creations. Wise Mountain Botanicals is not USDA Certified Organic, but we do adhere to organic principles and guidelines. Absolutely no chemical fertilizers or pesticides or GMO seeds have ever been used in our process, ensuring our herbs and products are pure. A select few, locally abundant, native species are collected from the wilds of the region with the utmost care, reverence and respect for these wild herbs and their ecosystems.  

Founder Amy Rachkowski leads a plant-centric life focused on her two main passions, herbalism and botany. She is a certified herbalist, medicinal herb grower and medicine maker as well as a professional field botanist. Her time in the forests and mountains of the West has given her a deep love, respect and sense of stewardship for native plants and the ecosystems in which they thrive. Amy has devoted the past 18 years to the study of herbal and aromatic medicine and botany. Over time, her focus has shifted from wildcrafting to cultivating herbs, as she continually expands the medicine gardens and learns which herbs thrive in the mountain climate of far northern California.

She has avidly botanized since 2009 in Northern California and Southern Oregon while working for the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and in private environmental consulting as a field botanist. Currently, she continues to work part-time in the field as a consulting botanist in Northern California. This allows her to further deepen her relationship to the wild plants and places, while participating in the conservation of the incredible diversity of the flora of the region by documenting rare plant species.

Amy has a B.A. in Environmental Studies and has extensive formal training as an herbalist and aromatherapist. She has studied herbal medicine at the Philo School of Herbal Energetics, the Northwest School for Botanical Studies and the School of Traditional Western Herbalism. She has been inspired by many gifted and experienced teachers, including Matthew Wood, Paul Bergner, Christa Sinadinos and Mary Pat Palmer. In addition, she has spent the past eighteen years learning directly from her favorite teachers, the plants, while in her garden and in the wild.