Our Roots & Methods

The Spark

Our story began long before the first seed was sown. It started in the early 90s, when our founder, Jeff Johnson, was a young seeker exploring the early internet and scouring bookstores in Philadelphia for texts on Ayurveda, Buddhism, and the works of Terence McKenna. It was there, between the pages of those books, that he first encountered Ashwagandha.

Coming from a lineage of Scottish farmers and German thinkers, Jeff recognized a calling: to bridge the gap between ancient alchemy and modern soil. What started as a fascination became a life’s expression in 2009, growing herbs alongside a food CSA on Johnson Creek. Today, that expression has evolved into Portland Ashwagandha Farm.

Our Farm Family & The Land

We are rooted in the Columbia River Gorge, a place of dramatic beauty where the wind carves through the trees and the summer days turn deeply calm and still.

Our heart beats at our central farm in Corbett, OR. Here, on a few acres of elevated Columbia riverbed, we work in partnership with the land’s owners, Alex and Christine, who recently purchased this soil. It is a true "farm family" effort—together, we cultivate with prayerful intention, looking for the best possible soul to grow our plants in.

We also continue to work in harmony with a select network of partner farms across the region, ensuring that we support our broader agricultural community while sourcing the most vibrant botanicals.

Our Alchemy: The Spagyric Difference

We don’t just make tinctures; we create whole-plant medicines. We believe that to truly address the chaos and turbulence of the modern world, we need medicine that is complete.

We use a traditional Spagyric process. While standard tinctures often discard the plant matter after soaking, we believe that the mineral body of the plant is essential.

• The Spirit: We extract the essential oils and spirits using organic cane alcohol.

• The Body: We burn the remaining plant material down to a pure white ash, isolating the mineral salts that are often lost in modern processing.

• The Union: We reunite these minerals with the liquid extract.

Why do we do this? We believe that minerals are the anchor that allows the spirit to rest into the body. By including them, we create a medicine that enhances the body of the plant and the body of the person taking it. The result is a potent, bioavailable extract that helps you find ground when the world feels shaky.

Our Intention

We often say that we "collect goosebumps for a living." Every bottle we send out is filled with a caring intention: to help you navigate the changes of this world with strength and calm. We take responsibility for this work, donating product to those in need and ensuring that everything we grow serves the well-being of our community.