Earning Earth-Friendliness

Putting Down Our Ecological Footprint

What is the real size of the Lucky Six Farms ecological footprint? Recently, several industrial manufacturers of low-grade, synthetic incense inaugurated a campaign against the purchase and use of White Sage smudge bundles and allied products. In particular, they rail against traditional aromatics made from wildcrafted leaves, proclaiming that such harvests decimate long-established, indigenous stands of California White Sage, thus moving this precious vegetative resource close to extinction. In addition, they assert that entire native ecosystems are being trashed by small wildcrafting enterprises. Are these horrifying allegations true? Are we ruining our natural environment and ravishing Mother Earth? Does our ecological footprint resemble an oversized hobnailed boot more than an earth-friendly moccasin?

Defining Our Ecological Footprint

Interestingly enough, the root of all these allegations lies unobtrusively within the dictionary, in the precise definition of the term “wildcrafting.” We cannot speak for other ventures, but for Lucky Six Farms wildcrafting means now exactly what it always has always meant: purposeful hand cultivation from heritage cuttings and seeds on carefully prepared beds. Thus, we first till and naturally enrich the soil of expansive private fields leased from Madre Grande Monastery, then prayerfully plant our Salvia apiana one at a time in the earth. Because White Sage is a perennial, most stands cultivated in this way will sprout new leaves and flowers several times per year for quite a number of years after initial planting.

Our Ecological Footprint - Fact Versus Falsehood

The fact is that false representations of what actually constitutes American wildcrafting usually emanate from large-scale fragrance industries specializing in cheap, lab-created synthetic scents and exceptionally dubious sources of natural aromatics. By leveraging their advertising budgets as new-found champions of environmental integrity, they believe they have hit upon a wonderful way to undercut genuinely earth-friendly competition. We at Lucky Six Farms know that such falsehoods have a very short shelf life for savvy customers. We are proud that so many Native American Tribes - foremost authorities on what does and does not respect our Mother Earth - continue to purchase our offerings even as they shun those of our detractors. So the ecological footprint of truth and love always proves the lightest of all.

By Alan Beck