Steph Shanks
Jane Hawley Stevens could be considered a pioneer in healing herbs and organic farming. For nearly three decades, she’s owned Four Elements Herbals, a 130-acre, certified-organic herb farm near Baraboo, Wis., where she grows fresh herbs for use in artisan skin creams, tinctures and other herbal products. Six years ago, she received a U.S. Department of Agriculture Value-Added Producer Grant, which allowed her to add a line of medicinal herbal teas to her offerings.
Hawley Stevens spent much of her childhood outdoors, taking walks and picking blueberries with her grandmother. After graduating from UW-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture, Hawley Stevens’ first job was to install an herb garden at a research facility. “From there, I quickly became interested in herbs for cooking and crafts,” she said.
That was in 1982, when synthetically flavored and artificially scented products were taking over store shelves. After she got married and gave birth to her son, she became curious about how herbs worked for healing. She started making herbal remedies for infant earaches and other ailments and noticed how herbs worked more efficiently than allopathic solutions. Inspired, she started making herbal products from plants on her farm, which earned organic certification in 1990. She started selling to mom-and-pop shops and health food co-ops. She then started researching USDA grants and noticed the Value-Added Producer Grant.
“In order to receive that grant, you have to produce more than 50% of what was in the finished product. Most of my products are based on organic sunflower oil or some sort of carrier, but tea would fit into those grant requirements. I already offered teas sold in tins,” she said. The grant provided her with the funds for packaging artwork, office support and the launching of her product line.
There are nine varieties of Four Elements medicinal teas, each crafted with certified-organic herbs that are hand-harvested, dried and packed into gunnysacks on the farm. They are then shipped to an organic processor in California that has sophisticated machinery to package the product. Hawley Stevens created all nine formulas.
“What makes my tea so different is, when you open a box of Four Elements tea, you can really smell and taste the plant,” she said. “Most teas packaged in tea bags are sourced on the worldwide market, and when they come over in ships, they have to be quarantined to test for identification. As they sit in humid or dry conditions, the quality goes down.”
Opening a box of Minus Sinus releases a soothing aroma of spearmint; mullein, thyme, elderflower and nettle give the tea blend additional properties to help ward off winter colds. After Dinner Fennel Mint tea combines fennel and lemon balm to aid digestion. Joy, Love and Passion’s complex floral blend includes lemon balm, hibiscus and passionflower. Tulsi Telepa; Peace, Harmony and Tranquility; Peppermint Nettle; Power, Energy and Stamina; To Your Health and Triple Lemon blends round out Four Element’s tea line.
Hawley Stevens recently started biodynamic farming, a concept that incorporates planetary energies such as planting by cycles of the Moon, which favors certain growing aspects. Hawley Stevens will give a talk on biodynamic farming on Saturday, May 18, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Boerner Botanical Gardens. Four Elements teas are available in the Milwaukee area at Woodman’s, Beans and Barley, Outpost Natural Foods, Good Harvest Market and Health Hut (Hales Corners location), as well as online.
For more information, visit fourelementsherbals.com.
