Sometimes, it’s a natural fit. For Mackenzie Elizabeth, owner of The Ladybird Company, it’s about bringing nature and education to the forefront.
“My hope is the Forest-to-Table events, as well as the broader work of the Ladybird Company, help build a local culture of land stewardship,” she said.
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It’s something she’s been working on for five years, meticulously planning her new business.
“I have been preparing and dreaming of this business for about five years now,” she said. “We started very late in December last year.”
The name was something Elizabeth took time to think of, but on a fateful Lloydminster day, inspiration struck.
After moving to Lloyd, she was greeted on her front lawn by hundreds of ladybugs, a personal favourite of hers.
“I love ladybugs. This has to be some sort of sign,” said Elizabeth. “I decided I would call it the Ladybird Company.”
Her love of nature and horticulture started long before her time in post-secondary at Olds College for horticulture, as her family had plenty of what she calls “folk horticulture” knowledge to share.
“It’s kind of a family thing for me. My parents are farmers,” she said. “My great-grandparents on my mom’s side, they were, I like to say they were horticultural geniuses.
“They were incredible farmers.”
She says she inherited the love of horticulture from them.
“They had this huge orchard where they crossbred apple trees and invented this new kind of potato,” said Elizabeth. “I always found that so magical. I guess I inherited that love from them.”
With her business now in full swing, the goal is to help teach the next generation.
“The essence of it comes from my desire to bridge this generational gap that I witnessed,” said Elizabeth. “Growing up, so many people are so disconnected from the food system and living a healthy lifestyle. What health is, how to take care of yourself, how to eat and how to interact with nature as part of it, instead of a separate entity.”
She’s travelled to St. Walburg School to teach Grade 3s, Grade 10s and Grade 12s and ran a plant walk with the Lloydminster Youth Centre.
“I dreamt of some way to make a really big difference in my local community, bringing education to people as well as healing services, healing products, a different way of pursuing health,” said Elizabeth.
Ladybird Company is a small batch apothecary, a folk-healing initiative.
“I like to say an education project in the retail space,” she explained.
She sells herbal wellness products, natural beauty products, wholesome wild foods and seeds of medicinal and native plants. She also hosts a variety of events.
“I host land-centered workshops, wild plant walks and seasonal gatherings,”
She says it’s an effort to inspire curiosity around ancestral wisdom, ecological awareness and self-led healing.
Elizabeth says she’s had good reception from the public.
“The people who engage with me are really excited to learn more,” she said. “I feel a lot of people I’ve met are wanting to me to guide them in figuring this stuff out.”
Those that do engage have expressed frustration in modern medicine.
“I find people I have spoke to, they are sick of the modern medical system and they’re feeling so disconnected from everything,” she said.
So far this year, Elizabeth has hosted 10 events in various Alberta communities, including her hometown of Tangent.
“We show up in our wild space in the park, we’ll gather and chat for a little while about what to expect, sustainable harvesting, a little bit about where this folk wisdom is coming from,” she said. “We talk about sustainable harvesting, medicinal and culinary value and ecological importance of specific species.
“For most of my plant events, I do more of an in-depth experience. I’ll give everybody a custom hand-blended tea for the walk.”
Elizabeth also said she has information print outs to give a thorough look at the surrounding nature.
The food prepared at the forest-to-table event is all hand-prepared by her.
People can find her at markets around Lloydminster and on her Facebook page called The Ladybird Company.
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