Borealis Backwoods Apothecary

Borealis Backwoods Apothecary Herbal wonder in the north woods 🌱 Returning to our natural state as one of balance, wholeness and vitality. Foraging - Hunting - Fishing - in the Yoop

My lemon balm came back in so nice this year, which Im thrilled about because it’s my absolute favorite herb to use fres...
05/30/2026

My lemon balm came back in so nice this year, which Im thrilled about because it’s my absolute favorite herb to use fresh. I figured I’d do a little recap on it since I just put some fresh lemon balm in the farm stand cooler yesterday, and also have a lemon balm glycerite in there too

There's nothing that compares to fresh lemon balm, both as a tea or glycerite. It's one of the best smells in the world (right up there with wind blowing through a pine forest and the smell of a fire)

I'll dive in a bit about what Lemon Balm is and some of the herbal actions it offers. Lemon Balm is the most pleasant and versatile herb in my opinion. It's a favorite around here for all ages, from infancy and beyond. Lemon Balm is one of those herbs that would actually be quicker to go over what it doesn't support in the body over what it does. My favorite way to utilize this herb is for its nervine qualities. Nervines nourish the nervous system restoring balance. This is so needed for our modern busy lives, for everything from stress to anxiety. Lemon Balm was one of the most helpful herbs during my early motherhood days through postpartum and I've held it close ever since. It's also a strong but gentle immune system supportive herb, clinically proven to inhibit viral replication. It's a diaphoretic, which helps to lower fevers without suppressing them. Essentially encouraging the body to sweat, which is our natural temperature regulator. You can utilize this herb as a tea, in a bath, tincture, glycerite ect! Its even helpful topically for things like cold sores. I only advise against doing infusions with it because of the potency of its volatile compounds.

The air outside is filled with the intoxicating apple blossom aroma. I’ve never made apple blossom jelly before but this...
05/29/2026

The air outside is filled with the intoxicating apple blossom aroma. I’ve never made apple blossom jelly before but this is definitely a new spring staple for us! I cannot believe how good it turned out. The flavor is like a delicate floral apple cider 😋 my better half said they’ve all got to stay in our house, but he finally agreed to share 2 😆 so I’ll put those up tomorrow!

The fact that my labels fade in the farm stand drives me crazy 😆 but I just replaced a bunch and if you ever want a fres...
05/29/2026

The fact that my labels fade in the farm stand drives me crazy 😆 but I just replaced a bunch and if you ever want a fresh label just shoot me a message!

Also- sunscreens have hit the stand!

I’ll continue to stock remedies throughout the weekend, and any extra folders from this weekends foraging walk I’ll have available in there too (30+ pages of spring plants!)

There are still a few of the kids foraging first aid flash cards too

Today is a bit crazy as I’m playing a little catch up. Getting boxes out, catching up on deliveries, and loading up the ...
05/29/2026

Today is a bit crazy as I’m playing a little catch up. Getting boxes out, catching up on deliveries, and loading up the farm stand and also prepping for a foraging walk tomorrow.

I just put some Spruce + Fir tip cookies in the farm stand, along with some chocolate dipped spruce tips with spruce sugar. There’s also some fresh Apple + Honey Sea Moss (small jars are $10, big jars are $20!) and fresh herbs in the cooler - Lemon Balm, Oregano, Strawberry mint, Ramps, Egyptian walking onion tops are a few more.

I’ll be restocking the remedies in there later today once I get all the mail orders out!

2.5 miles up Thunder Lake rd in Cooks!

Fried fiddleheads and dandelionsI look forward to this treat all year With ramp aioli of course 🤍🤍🤍🤌
05/25/2026

Fried fiddleheads and dandelions

I look forward to this treat all year

With ramp aioli of course 🤍🤍🤍🤌

When I went out to put the dandelion jelly in the farm stand, I noticed the horsetail is soooo close to being prime for ...
05/25/2026

When I went out to put the dandelion jelly in the farm stand, I noticed the horsetail is soooo close to being prime for harvest. I would say with the temps in the forecast, I’ll be harvesting my years worth of horsetail by the end of the week!

A huge part of foraging is understanding the seasonal shifts and how plants interact and mature through each season, and the constituents it presents through each season. I think that's why I always say to learn one plant at a time, because there is just SO much to learn, and focusing on one plant at a time allows us to really understand it on a deeper level (and keeps things from feeling overwhelming). Once we understand the plant, it's easier to understand its roll in the environment and in our bodies. Horsetail, while considered invasive, is an incredible plant. We use it in so many of our remedies, so I was delighted to see the abundance here. The thing with invasive plants is you can harvest a lot and feel good about it! During the Spring it has the most soluble silica flowing through it. You can harvest Horsetail through all the seasons when its stem is green, but the time you really want to harvest is during the Spring, either super early in Spring and harvest its soft tender shoots, or later in spring when it's a beautiful vibrant green and its leafy stems are pointing up or out. As Horsetail matures, the leafy stems will start to point down and that's generally my que that the harvesting window has passed. We are right on the cusp of our window opening.

One really neat thing about horsetail is that its tap root can actually grow up to 150 feet into the earth!! This is what allows it to be so rich in Silica (and everything else!). When you drink horsetail tea, your body is getting those incredible nutrients from deep deep in our earth, pure and untouched. Horsetail has up to 33% silica! This silica is probably what it's most known for and strengthens our bones and helps support everything from oral health, stregthening nails and even scalp and hair health! Horsetail has been used traditionally to strengthen tissues in the lungs and sinuses as well, and has gentle immune supportive actions too. There's even modern day studies as to how it supports cognative health, which I personally havent explored too in depth yet. As a powerful anti-inflammatory herb, it also helps to manage chronic inflammation and is a wonderful styptic for first aid. It can deplete vitamin B1 however, so it would be worth adding additional thiamin rich foods and nutritive herbs into your diet. Such a beautiful and unique plant that has truly stood the test of time. They've been around since prehistoric times and can even be considered living fossils! This was such a neat plant for my kids to learn about.

When the plants mature more, the kids and I are going to try our hand at making some backwoods horsetail pot scrubbers 😜

Dandelion jelly is definitely a jelly of loveIt tastes exactly like honey and is so versatile and fun2 are heading to th...
05/24/2026

Dandelion jelly is definitely a jelly of love

It tastes exactly like honey and is so versatile and fun

2 are heading to the farm stand tomorrow morning and 2 to the website 🌞🌞 and the remaining to our pantry 😆

I wanted to do a refresher on this gem of a plantOne of my favorites, Houttuynia Cordata 🌿We utilize this plant for so m...
05/24/2026

I wanted to do a refresher on this gem of a plant

One of my favorites, Houttuynia Cordata 🌿

We utilize this plant for so many things, it would be shorter to explain what systems it doesn't support 😆 One of my favorite uses of Houttuynia Cordata is for systemic reactions for everything from toxins to infections to allergens; poison ivy for example. It's wonderful immune support as it has rather strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties (it's also a well known herb in the Lyme community). It supports the cardiovascular system, the respiratory tract, the digestive tract, and the metabolic system.

Houttuynia cordata is often used to remove toxins from the body which is a big reason we started to utilize this herb. It's a great ally for respiratory distress, urinary inflammation, allergies, and liver support. It's anti-inflammatory properties also help with joint pain and so much more. We used this tincture a long side the Censored tincture and Andrographis when we get hit with flu bugs and really any other sickness that hits us hard. Houttuynia Cordata is amazing, and I urge you to explore it ❤

I love playing in the kitchen in the spring, especially after such a long winter
05/23/2026

I love playing in the kitchen in the spring, especially after such a long winter

Our fridge, freezer and tummies are full so I put a couple rhubarb pies (with homemade sourdough crust!) into the farm s...
05/23/2026

Our fridge, freezer and tummies are full so I put a couple rhubarb pies (with homemade sourdough crust!) into the farm stand, along with some pie filling and rhubarb lemonade in the cooler! And I had one bundle of rhubarb extra!

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Cooks, MI

Opening Hours

Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

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+19064502317

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