Back to Our Roots: The Heart Behind Roots Gone Rogue
In the quiet rhythm of the Kootenays, where the pace slows and the land speaks, something meaningful is growing.
For the family behind Barlow Roots, farming is more than a livelihood—it’s a way of life rooted in intention, healing, and connection. Since 2019, Jacquelyn and her partner have been tending to five acres of land, cultivating medicinal herbs and garlic while building relationships through local markets and community.
However, what began as a commitment to physical health has gently evolved into something deeper.
“Health for us isn’t just about what we eat,” she shares. “It’s about how we live, how we feel, and how we care for ourselves and each other.”
In a world filled with noise, fast solutions, and long ingredient lists, their journey reflects a growing desire many women are feeling—a pull back to simplicity. Back to trust. Back to the roots of what it means to feel well.
To understand the complexity of medicinal herbs, her path led her to seek formal education from Emery Herbals, a respected teaching centre in Winlaw, BC, where she is currently enrolled in the Holistic Herbalism Foundations Program.
There, she joins a community of like-minded women—many from healthcare backgrounds—who are reimagining how we support health, immunity, and emotional wellbeing.
Under the guidance of clinical herbalist Colleen Emery, students are immersed in both the science and spirit of herbal medicine. The approach is deeply client-centered, honouring the uniqueness of each individual while embracing a holistic view of care.
“It’s been incredibly meaningful,” she says. “To learn in a space that values both knowledge and compassion—it changes how you interact with your environment, people and plants.”
At Barlow Roots, everything begins with the soil.
Through years of dedication, they’ve enriched the land using organic matter from Kootenay Meadows Dairy Farm, alongside raising pigs, chickens, ducks and embracing local biodiversity. Rotating cover crops and regenerative practices have restored vitality to the earth—mirroring the same care they bring to herbal creations.
Their journey has revealed something profound: that healing is not rushed. It is cultivated.
Whether in the soil or within ourselves, it requires patience, intention, and time.
Over the past six years, Jacky has experimented with tinctures, infused oils, balms, and spice blends—witnessing not only physical benefits, but subtle emotional shifts.
Because herbal medicine, at its core, is not about a quick fix.
It’s an everyday ritual, creating moments of care for ourselves, family and friends. Whether that’s drinking a cozy tea blend, cooking a nourishing meal or using a herbal face serum to end your day.
Moments to pause.
To breathe.
To reconnect with nature.
“My hope is that folks are inspired to add herbal remedies to their routines,” she shares, “slowing down for a moment to nourish yourself—with careful consideration in connecting with local clinical herbalists, naturopathic doctors or health professionals.”
Roots Gone Rogue is a creative extension of Barlow Roots farm offering a journey to connect with the earth’s offerings. Because sometimes, the most powerful transformation begins with something simple: Coming back to your roots.
About the Author
Jacquelyn Barlow is a Community Herbalist and grower at Barlow Roots and Roots Gone Rogue, she cultivates medicinal herbs and garlic through regenerative practices, crafting remedies that connect ancestral wisdom with modern wellness.
