About Alberta Wildcraft

At Alberta Wildcraft, we’re not just a business — we’re a family of eight carving out a life that’s a little wild, a little messy, and full of heart.

We’re a husband-and-wife team raising six kids, homeschooling, wildcrafting, and building something real from the ground up. Our products — pine and spruce resin chewing gum, herbal salves, wild teas, soaps, and more — are made by hand in our home. From collecting resin in the forest to labeling tins at the kitchen table, we do it all ourselves, often with sticky hands and a child or two helping along the way.

I get asked a lot, “Are you Indigenous-owned?”, so I want to set the record straight.
I’m not Indigenous myself — my background is Ukrainian, Scottish, and German. Ron is Cree, with roots in Spirit River, Alberta. All of our children are Métis. His cultural teachings, along with my own knowledge and self-taught education, shape how we harvest, how we respect the land, and how we raise our kids.

We’ve always been outdoor enthusiasts. Spring and summer months are spent outside — hiking trails, foraging, swimming in creeks and rivers with our children, and letting them be the wild, adventurous beings they’re meant to be. We’ve been picking wild herbs and resins for over 15 years, first for personal use — teas, tinctures, soaps, salves, soups — and slowly, it became something more.

We used to talk about starting a business together, knowing we made a great team, but nothing ever felt quite right — until 2021, when we realized our lifestyle was the business. The foraging, the plant medicine, the resin harvesting,  the long days outside, the teaching, the crafting — it was all already there. Alberta Wildcraft was born from that realization, with over a decade of experience, and from a passion we were already living.

But life wasn’t always like this.

We both come from poverty. I have 18 years of sobriety behind me — a journey that shaped who I am today. Ron’s path has been one of resilience too, rising through generational trauma with quiet strength. We’re not perfect parents, and we’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. But we’ve come a long way — together — and we’re proud of how far we’ve grown as a family.

That’s why we’re not here to sell you perfection. We get it — life is full. With six kids, we’re not chemical-free purists. We wildcraft, we eat steak, and yes, we throw chicken nuggets in the oven. Our kids know how to identify a spruce tree and how to beat a boss level in a video game. They love the forest, and they love their screens. And we’re okay with that balance.

Homeschooling gives us the freedom to raise our children in alignment with our values — learning through experience, making things by hand, and honoring the land that sustains us. Our home is loud, creative, sometimes chaotic, and always full of heart.

When you support Alberta Wildcraft, you're not just buying something natural — you're supporting a real family that turned struggle into strength, lives close to the land, and shares what we love with honesty, care, and a little bit of wilderness.

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A Note From Us

We started Alberta Wildcraft with nothing but a deep love for the land, a handful of wild ideas, and a desire to break the cycles we came from. Neither of us had much growing up. We both knew struggle — and we’ve worked hard to create a different life for our kids. One filled with intention, creativity, and connection.

We’re not perfect — but we’ve grown so much as a family. Every step of the way has been a lesson, and we’re still learning.

Thank you for being here, for supporting our family, and for choosing to walk this path with us.

— Maria & Ron Gladue
Founders of Alberta Wildcraft