Spring Wind

08/30/2021

At Spring Wind, we value quality and go to great lengths to bring the Chinese medicine community herbs that have been thoughtfully sourced and rigorously evaluated.

Our organic Bai He (Lily Bulb), recently back in stock, is one example of our commitment. We have sourced two types of Bai He - Juan Dan Bai He and Long Ya Bai He - and went to great lengths to find growers who can grow them both organically.

Through the centuries, many varieties of Lily (Lilium) have been used for cooking, medicine, and the intersection of the two. It is estimated that there are currently more than 35 different varieties of Bai He available within China. While it is unclear which ones were used by Zhang Zhong-Jing in the Han dynasty, it is clear that since the Ming dynasty at least three main species of Bai He have been differentiated for medicinal use. Two of those main species that were identified are Lilium lancifolium (Juan Dan) Bai He(卷丹)百合 and Lilium brownii (Ye) Bai He (野)百合. These two species are also currently included in the government sponsored Chinese Pharmacopoeia as species qualified to be used as the Chinese medicine “Bai He”. Long Ya Bai He 龍牙百合 is one of the many varieties under the species Lilium brownii.


Juǎn Dān Bǎi Hé , Lilium lancifolium
Juan Dan Bai He 卷丹百合 is generally considered better for Chinese medicine decoctions because certain sources maintain that it contains more active ingredients and is also a poor choice for cooking because it is more bitter and less palatable when compared to other better-tasting Bai He used in foods.

Lóng Yá Bǎi Hé , (a variety of) Lilium brownii

Among the many varieties of Lilium brownii (Ye Bai He), Long Ya Bai He 龍牙百合 is commonly praised as the top-grade Bai He for use in cooking because of its superior taste and texture. It is best suited for inclusion in nourishing soups, congees, and other stir-fried dishes. Perfect for Fall cooking! Due to its well-known name and higher market price, it is still common to see other types of Bai He being falsely marketed as Long Ya.
Link to store in bio

06/01/2021

Spring Wind is presenting a class titled "Insights from My Time with Dr. Gan Zu-Wang" taught by Spring Wind’s founder Andrew Ellis. The class is hosted through our friends at White Pine Circle and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the” Support the AAPI Community Fund”. Please come join us!
While this class is geared towards practitioners and students of Chinese Medicine, it is also open to the public. If you are simply interested in the topic, please feel free to register and donate!
You may also choose to donate directly, help build awareness, or spread word about our event. .

Date: Tuesday June 8th, 2021, 8PM East Coast Time (5PM Pacific, 6PM Mountain and 7PM Central)

Registration link: https://bit.ly/3vgOFPr
If you would like to donate directly and not participate in the class, here is a direct link to the donation page: https://gofund.me/1764f72f
About the class:
Dr. Gan, who passed away in 2015 at the age of 103, was the pre-eminent Chinese medicine Ear, Nose and Throat doctor in China. Andy was fortunate enough to study with Dr. Gan in 1990. In this class, Andy will explore some clinical gems gleaned from his study with Dr. Gan. The emphasis of the class is on clinically useful tips and herb uses that stem from Dr. Gan’s more than 80 years of experience.
This fund raising event means a lot to us. Not just because we are a small business run primarily by Asians (including myself), but also because we are a business that has its roots in Asian culture.
As practitioners of Chinese medicine, we believe that East Asian herbal medicine is not separate from the cultural and historical background from which it originates. When we practice this medicine, we have an obligation to support the community behind it.

We appreciate your support,
Jesse and the folks at Spring Wind

03/08/2021

Happy International Women’s Day!❤
We want to use this opportunity to celebrate all the incredible women who run Spring Wind!
Sheng-Ching
While many of people do not know about Sheng-Ching because she is such a low-key person, her work at Spring Wind has been crucial to Spring Wind’s growth and progress.
Sheng-Ching has played a major role in establishing relationships with many of the growers and suppliers that we rely on to bring practitioners the high-quality Pao Zhi and organically grown herbs that we provide today! Thanks to her connections, we were able to find extraordinary people who were willing to listen to what, at the time, seemed like crazy or impossible ideas regarding growing and procuring pesticide-free and organic herbs for our customers. Her caring and compassionate personality resonated with people and trust was established in a remarkably short time. Her contributions to Spring Wind and the Chinese medicine community are truly significant.
Always firmly and quietly supporting us, Sheng-Ching is still a key spoke in the wheel of our business. Even now, at the age 63 and a mother of 3 grown children, she is working in the picking room refilling empty bins, shipping orders, and helping to manage the inventory just like when she started Spring Wind with Andy back in 1992!
Dawa
Dawa has worked at Spring Wind for more than 20 years and is the one we all go to when we can’t find something. Dawa is our rock. With her husband Tenzin, Dawa fled Tibet and took refuge in the US. Lucky for us! She is calm and steady and always ready with a smile and a story. If you ever wondered who sewed all those compress bags - now you know! Dawa learned art in Tibet and she often will draw pictures on the outside of outgoing packaging. You may have seen her beautiful work on some of your orders.
Sydnie
Sydnie has been with Spring Wind since our founding in one way or another. As the years went by Sydnie took responsibility for the production of Spring Wind products for external use and she added the task of keeping up with all the paperwork required for organic certification and for the quality control program related to granules and other products. We would surely be in a fix if Sydnie was not here to maintain the strict quality standard that people expect of Spring Wind. She is so kind and helpful and never forgets any of our birthdays so we can always enjoy some cake eating all year round!

Tracy
Tracy has worked for Spring Wind for more than 20 years as our part-time bookkeeper. We would be lost without her. She has corrected so many of our accounting errors over the years, but she is always understanding and patient when helping us to work through our mistakes. Her lighthearted and joyful nature always lights up the office when she comes in.

Thank you Sheng-Ching, Dawa, Sydnie and Tracy! Without you, Spring Wind would not have become the company it is today. We can’t thank you enough. Looking forward to working with you all on many more exciting projects that the future holds for Spring Wind!!

10/23/2020

Spring Wind is excited to support an important nonprofit, Pandemic Professors, in their virtual Halloween Fundraiser. Help spread the word!

Register here: https://pandemicprofessors.rallyup.com/tricksandtreats
Buy raffles here: https://pandemicprofessors.rallyup.com/raffles

About Pandemic Professors :

Pandemic Professors
(https://pandemicprofessors.org), is a 510(c)(3) nonprofit. They were founded in June 2020 with the mission of providing free online tutoring to K-12 students in low-income, underserved communities. As an all-volunteer organization, their goal is to provide a free, high-quality service that helps students go where they want to be in school and in life beyond the pandemic.

The entire fundraiser will be online - so you can join wherever you are! Oh, and registration is FREE!

Meet the founders during a live Q&A. Learn more about Pandemic Professors and their plans to fill the education gap and how YOU can get involved! Meet the best-selling children's book author and activist designer, Innosanto Nagara, and join us for a live reading of his new book "Oh, the Things We're For!" & a live Q&A!
Enter a spooky costume contest and buy raffle tickets to win fun prizes (including Spring Wind products)!

06/04/2020

In solidarity to all those in our country and around the world lamenting racial injustice, we bow our heads with the family of George Floyd and so many others and stand together with all who wish to repair a system that is unjust to Black communities.

As practitioners of a medicine that derived from observation of the natural world, we see society as an organism. Is not a society that loses harmony sick in the same way as a person who loses harmony? The first step in healing is to realize we are sick. Certainly, we are now finally recognizing the symptoms and realizing something must be done to save the patient (society) from pain and suffering.

How do we diagnose and treat an ailing person? We take the pulse, study the patient’s history and ask questions to truly understand his or her concerns. Now is the time. Taking the pulse reveals the current situation, taking the patient’s history helps us track the course of the illness and determine its original cause, and deep questioning unites the two allowing us to clearly see the path leading to the current situation and hopefully, the path forward. We must listen carefully and deeply, we must not hide from an uncomfortable past. Healing takes patience. As we travel the path toward healing we will have relapses and we will have doubts about our future success. As most of us who have endured a serious illness have discovered, there is no quick fix. We also know the value of community. We must fix this together. We are listening. We are learning.
Artwork by

01/23/2020

We at Spring Wind feel fortunate to have gotten this grower (Mr. Liao) to join our other farmers/suppliers in both China and the US. Mr. Liao shares Spring Wind’s view that chemicals are to be avoided in growing Chinese herbs. Mr. Liao avoids chemical fertilizers and pesticides and works hard to adhere to traditional growing and processing methods. It is obvious why we immediately felt a connection.
We visited him at his growing sites last year and have started working with him to start growing specific Chinese herbs that are almost impossible to find anywhere else without pesticides. We are so excited!
While his operation is still small, he is working very hard to do what almost nobody else in his industry is willing to do.
Please cheer him on and follow him at to see all the herbs that he is preparing to grow for us!
He also sells his herbs to domestic customers who truly appreciate the purity of his herbs.



Reposted from One of my customers asked me to do some testing for growing mints without any pesticides.
So I did it .let's see what's happening. -

01/17/2020

❤🌿

Hold the phone...📞
If the phone was made out of Zhi Zi this is the Zhi Zi you would want the phone to be made out of...right that made lots of sense...
Anyway, this Zhi Zi - Fructus Gardeniae is just next level beautiful.
They are all peeled and come fresh from our supplier in Taiwan. He is a true master of herbal medicine.
Dare to compare...
🌿
☘️
🍃
🍀
🍀

11/21/2019

-To compliment our granule selection, we are happy to announce that Spring Wind is now also distributing Sun Ten concentrated granules. 🌿

🌿-This line of granules complements Spring Wind bulk herb and granule offerings by giving our customers more choices for their patients. The Sun Ten line of formulas is very complete, and their formulas are available in both granule and capsule form. Sun Ten's single-herb granules complement the Spring Wind granules line by providing more choice and variety.🌿

-- To learn more about why Spring Wind chose to distribute Sun Ten, read the "About Sun Ten Concentrated Granules" page on our website under the menu option "About Spring Wind".
(Abbreviated version)
- " In choosing Sun Ten, Spring Wind has a partner with whom we have a long history. For many years now, we have purchased some of our bulk herbs from one of Sun Ten's own supplier in China, and thus have insight into the quality of herbs that Sun Ten uses in their granules. We have always maintained that concentrated granules are only as good as the herbs used to produce them. "
" Spring Wind is a practitioner company, and as practitioners, we have used Sun Ten concentrated granules in our practice for many years."

11/16/2019

"Syrups in Chinese Medicine"
Syrups, in this case meaning a kind of Gao(膏) , have a long history in the practice of Chinese medicine.
🌿Check out our new article by Andy Ellis to learn more about the applications and instructions on making syrups in Chinese medicine.🌿
Click on the link in the comments or find it on our website under "practitioner documents".

09/20/2019

-Launching our new line of Spring Wind Herb Granules- 🌿
Enter Promo Code SWGRANULE01 to receive 10% off your first order of Spring Wind Herb granules.
(This cannot be combined with other automatic discounts. You are eligible for this discount even if you have ordered granules before this discount was offered)
🌿-We are offering this first-order discount to celebrate the launch of our new line of Spring Wind Herb Granules.

🌿-For many years Spring Wind has wanted to bring to market a line of granules that meet the same high standards that we apply to our bulk herbs. This means using Spring Wind quality bulk herbs, processing them carefully, and testing each lot of granules for a large range of pesticides.
Because of the difficulties imposed by our strict requirements, we will roll out our granule program slowly. We now have over 200 single herb granules. We appreciate your support as we gradually develop this line.
The unique features of Spring Wind Granules include:
-Quality source materials
-Unparalleled testing protocol including thorough pesticide testing of each lot
-Complete transparency
Please See the concentrated granules information page (springwind.com/pages/concentrated-granules-information-page) on our website for more information about our Concentrated Granules.

09/08/2019

When you ask your grower for pictures of the Taiwan 🌼Ju Hua (chrysanthemum)🌿 growing site and they send you this ❤😂
This Ju Hua(chrysanthemum)is grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers at a farm in central Taiwan. The growing conditions are excellent, and the fulminant flowers have a rich aroma. In China and Taiwan a pleasant-tasting tea made from the combination of Ju Hua and Gou Qi Zi (Lycii berries) is frequently served in restaurants and spas.
Note: We also carry US-grown Ju Hua which are of exceptional quality. We'll post about that later.

04/06/2019

🌿Qing Pi and Luo Han Guo Back in Stock!🌿 Premium grade: free of pesticides. Tested for more than 350 pesticides with ND results.

We are glad to finally have Qing Pi back in stock after many years of
Rejecting lot after lot which all failed our pesticide test. This one miraculously passed! It also smells superb! ❤

Though not as commonly used as Qing Pi, we are happy to be able to add Luo Han Guo back into our collection of Premium grade Herbs as well.
Can you tell which one is Qing Pi and which one is Luo Han Guo?

@ Spring Wind