Did you teach yourselves or have a mentor to learn the techniques of creating scents and balms from wild plants?
As hikers and backpackers we are self-taught in the ways of wilderness exploration. Crushing cypress shoots in between our fingers and breathing in that citrusy, sweet fragrance; those things come naturally to us. The soapmaking required remembering a little high school chemistry and some trial and error to get it right. A lot of what we do is about experimentation at first: we are constantly creating new recipes and building on the best of what came before that.
What are your favourite areas for sourcing ingredients?
During the peak of summer you will find us wildharvesting in the mountains of Jämtland. Nature in the north is rugged and wildlife such as elk, lynx and bears roam free. The forests and mountains here are more isolated and untouched. We live in a modest 100-year-old log house overlooking glacial lakes and pine trees. In Jämtland we have the space and enough raw plant material to experiment with small-batch steam distillation and on-site tincturing and infusing of more delicate fragrances. In Skåne (the south of Sweden) the climate is warmer and spring comes earlier. Here we harvest spring birch leaves for soap and wildharvested tea. In Västra Götaland (outside Gothenburg), we harvest kåda (pine pitch) and a cornucopia of pine shoots, wildflowers, mushrooms and berries. The whole Scandinavian peninsula is our playground!
What did you both do before you decided to wild harvest full time?
Kerstin Wennberg is a certified Shiatsu therapist and Pax Chmara travelled the world working odd jobs. We never thought it was possible to make wildharvesting a full time business. In fact it is very early days still and we can't believe we're doing it! Without the support of intuitive and independent thinkers such as you all at The Future Kept, it just wouldn't be possible. Thank you!
View the full Vilda Växter collection here.
Our corner of the world where we hope to inspire a curiosity and desire within people to make more sustainable and ethical choices through the items they choose to live with in their life.
Why are we doing this, and how are we different? We wrote our mission statement for our founding principles, the first thing that we created to guide us when making decisions on what to champion and celebrate in our store. At The Future Kept we create and carefully source inspiring Home Decor & Lifestyle products, it began with a fascination and desire that we've both had for a long time, to seek out beautiful and useful items for life and the home that are made with love, thoughtfulness and detail. Items with timeless qualities created by people with a passion for what they do, and a care for the future of the world we live in.
Our primary goal is to hopefully lead and inspire more people to think about and carefully choose the items they have in their lives, by putting together a collection of best in class products all with a story to tell.
Along the way this journal will act as a source of information and hopefully inspiration, a place where you can meet the makers behind our products, learn more about the history of the items they produce, the techniques and materials they use.
Our offering is starting out small, focusing on product and makers who share our beliefs, and as this grows organically we hope to be able to bring you the finest collection of beautiful, sustainable and thoughtfully designed goods possible.
You can read more About Us here, and connect via our Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook pages. We would love to hear from you with any feedback or questions, and do hope you enjoy browsing!! - Jeska & Dean.