Our Story

It all started in a Greek mother's North Idaho garden

Herbacea Botanicals is a family business based in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, that makes herbal care products gentle enough for both the youngest and the oldest in the family. Our salves follow the age-old Greek home remedy tradition of the olive oil-beeswax salve that the lady of the house used to make and keep handy in the home as an all-purpose healing salve. Our mission is to revive and continue this tradition. Traditionally, the making of the beeswax salve was a labor of love for the homemaker and her practice is our inspiration.

It all started in early 2021. Only a few months before that, my husband, myself and our two young children had left Greece and the beautiful village on the island where we lived. Not long after that, North Idaho and my husband’s country became our home. We were blessed with a beautiful North Idaho garden and this is where I planted Calendula flowers for the first time. I made my first Calendula oil and with that remembered my home country’s tradition of the beeswax salve. I had never thought to make this when I was in Greece, but now so far away from home I wanted to try my hand at this traditional remedy. What sprang from my desire to be able to take care of my family's everyday ailments, grew into a wonder towards what God has placed around us, meant to heal and give us relief both mentally and physically. As surely as my sense of wonder and curiosity grew, so did my production. The oils and salves soon started making their way out of the family circle, and it was not long before Herbacea Botanicals was born. For this, and the blessings these oils and salves have bestowed upon my loved ones, I am grateful for God’s garden and for my tradition.

With the exception of plants that don't grow in our garden or close to where we live, our botanicals are made using locally harvested, freshly picked herbs. Made in small batches, we make salves that follow the formula traditionally found in every Greek household, using two key ingredients: organic extra virgin Greek olive oil and local Boundary County 100% pure beeswax. Through the slow infusion method, which allows sunlight and time to work together to transform the properties of the oil without harming its integrity, our salves carry the properties of such time-honored herbs as Calendula, St. John's Wort, Yarrow and Chamomile.

Glory to God for His garden!

Penelope