Martyn has a Masters degree in the traditional and indigenous plant use in the southern Algonquin bioregion. With this plant knowledge and a well- planned marketing strategy, Elkington and Martyn have formed a company in which business decisions always favour what is best for nature. This process is known as sustainable, or ethical, wildcrafting. Those plants that cannot be sustainably picked are grown on certified organic land and hand selected. The Algonquin Tea Company has developed three gourmet wildcrafted and herbal teas, which are their flagship products.
Homestead is a soothing blend of anise hyssop, clover and raspberry used by early Canadian pioneers.
Sweetfern Tonic is a complex blend of dandelion, echinacea, burdock and yellow dock roots, sweetened by raspberry and red clover, and spiced with Sweetfern. Sweetfern often grows on high ridges of the Canadian Shield where hawks and eagles swirl on the thermals. The company claims that their Lucid Dream Tea helps the drinkers remember their dreams. There have been institutes from New Zealand to Germany that are finding how well it works. It is a great deal of fun to introduce a unique product like this and feel the enthusiasm as people sip and close their eyes.