MOUNTAIN HERBS The Mountain Seedlings

The production of wild seedlings in the Aosta Valley: Da Emy Farm

That of Emilia Berthod is a small business that revolves around mountain seedlings. Emilia is the owner of Da Emy’s Mountain Medicinal Plant Cultivation Farm.

Production is predominantly of Artemisia Umbelliformis(Génépy), arnica, yarrow millefeuillea, mountain celery, imperatoria, horsetail, and St. John’s Wort.

His company’s flagship product is Génépy, marketed both as a plant and as a liqueur, plain and white, created while maintaining the traditional recipe.

Emilia grows her beloved seedlings in a field near her home in the hamlet of Bois de Clin in Valsavarenche.

In fact, all of its activity takes place within the beautiful protected territory of the Gran Paradiso National Park, at more than 1,400 meters above sea level, complete with the corresponding seal of quality.

The company headed by Emilia Berthod officially came to life in 2002, after reading an ad in L’Informatore Agricolo of the Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta.

They were looking for a person to follow an experimental cultivation of Artemisia umbelliformis. “I liked the idea of working the land,” says Emy – and to embark on a new experience. I jumped into the adventure with enthusiasm: the first year I had been given two hundred génépy seedlings, and already by the next year I decided to put in ten thousand!”

After 16 years of trading only dried seedlings, daughter Ambra Tomasoni joined the business in 2018 , taking care of herb processing.

Emy and her daughter Ambra have an extraordinary passion for their land and valley.

Cultivation of mountain seedlings

Herb cultivation in the high mountains is not for everyone.

If we look at the company’s flagship product Emy’s, namely the génépy, we find that it is not at all easy to grow and moreover there is no long tradition behind it.

Yet, Emilia, manages to do it very well and every year produces and offers for sale large quantities of dried génépy seedlings.

“Yes, the work is not easy,‖ explains Emy – most of the work is done between April and July, and during the fall weeding is done by hand. But being in such a beautiful place is priceless. I work in Valsavarenche, in the Gran Paradiso National Park, high in the mountains. When I look up while I am in the fields I see the chamois and marmots “.

If you would like to have 100% natural dried seedlings in your kitchen, free of chemical additives, then Emilia Berthod ‘s production medicinal plants are just right for you!