Saturday, September 13, 2008

Herb Suppliers

I recently bought some herbs so I can start making my own oleums. I had to buy everything that I needed from two different online vendors and I noticed a huge difference in the quality and the experience and so I thought I'd share.

I bought the lions share of what I needed at Mountain Rose Herbs and I would have bought everything but they didn't stock it. Their site is easily navigatable and even allows you to save your shopping basket so you can come back later to order. The herbs were well packaged in sealable bags and well marked with what the herb was and how it was cultivated, whether it was wild harversted or organic. After reading the literature that was sent with my order I'm really impressed with the lengths that Mountain Rose Herbs go to to make sure that they are supplying high quality products. I admit I didn't give it much thought beforehand, but now I'm far more conscious to getting herbs that aren't ladened with chemicals.

Along with the herbs I ordered, I also bought some same amber bottles, a mortar and pestle and a suribachi. For those who don't know what a suribachi is, it is similar to a mortar and pestle but the mortar is grooved and the pestle is made of wood.

I was surprised at the high quality of the tools given how much I paid for them.

For the herbs that I couldn't find on Mountain Rose Herbs, I turned to the Penn Herb Co. to find what I needed. While their site isn't the best and their prices were a little high (in my opinion), they did have a huge selection. The herbs I bought were decent quality, they just weren't to the level as Mountain Rose. In fairness, I'm sure I would have been more than happy with them if I didn't receive my order from Mountain Rose first.

Another difference I noticed is that with the cheapest shipping option, Mountain Rose offered tracking on the shipment while Penn Herb did not. Not a huge problem, but I do like checking on my packages.

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