Ancestral Traditions

21/10/2026

Did you see the kimchi news? 🥬✨

Scientists in South Korea found that a bacterium from kimchi can grab onto tiny plastic particles in lab tests, and may help carry them out of the body. It's early research, but it's another reason to love this beautiful traditional ferment!
Would you like to learn to make your own kimchi at home?

Join our fermentation workshop on Saturday 31 October at the School of Arts, Clarencetown. Only 5 spots left! 😊

Message us to book your place 💖

Kimchi is famous for its beneficial bacteria, but scientists have discovered another fascinating possibility: a bacterium isolated from this traditional Korean fermented food may help capture tiny plastic particles inside the gut.

A 2026 study published in Bioresource Technology investigated a specific strain called Leuconostoc mesenteroides CBA3656. In laboratory tests, it bound approximately 87% of the polystyrene nanoplastics tested.

How does it work?

The process is called biosorption. The bacteria attach to plastic particles on their cell surfaces, helping trap them rather than breaking them down. Researchers also found that the bacterium could bind particles under simulated intestinal conditions. In experiments with mice, animals given the bacteria excreted more nanoplastics in their f***s, suggesting the particles could be carried out of the digestive tract.

This discovery is particularly interesting because it explores whether beneficial microbes could help reduce the amount of certain plastic particles that remain in the gut.

However, the 87% figure came from laboratory tests, not from people eating kimchi. The animal findings are promising, but human studies are needed to establish whether this approach works in people. The research also focused on a particular bacterial strain and type of plastic, so the results cannot be generalized to all microplastics.

Personally, I find it remarkable that bacteria from a traditional fermented food could potentially have a role in addressing a modern environmental problem. For now, kimchi can be enjoyed as part of a varied diet, but it shouldn't be considered a proven microplastic detox.

Would you have expected bacteria from fermented food to show potential for helping remove plastic particles from the gut?

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20/10/2026

So excited to see Motherland coming to the Hunter this Saturday! 💗 Close to 200 rural mums will be gathering at Tocal Hall, and what a beautiful thing for our region.

Happy to be part of it 😊 with an Ancestral Traditions bundle in the raffle. Good luck everyone! 🌿

Huge thanks to the Motherland committee, organisers and sponsors for all the heart they've poured into this day. 💗

Only a handful of tickets left, so grab yours if you haven't already!

18/10/2026

Thank you, The Dirty Gardener 🌸
What a beautiful spring market it was.

A big thank you to everyone who stopped by our stall to chat, ask questions and smell the tallow and lard balms 💖, and to those who took home one of our skincare products, thank you so much for supporting our small, handmade business.

We hope your skin loves it!

A special thank you to Tracee for having us at her beautiful place 💖

So Grateful for our lovely local community 🌿

17/10/2026

🌿 Introducing: Nutrient Dense beef Liver Capsules.

Liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on earth. Our ancestors ate it first — it was the first share of the hunt, kept for the hunters and growing children. Somewhere along the way, modern diets forgot it.

We want to bring liver back.

Our Grass-Fed & Grass-Finished Beef Liver Capsules, freeze-dried and encapsulated. This first batch comes from Munni Farm — an amazing regenerative farm, grass-fed and grass-finished cattle raised on pasture.

A big thank you to Sonja Medcalf for making this possible. 💖

Nothing synthetic. Just food.

🐄 Munni Farm — regenerative, grass-fed & grass-finished ❄️ Freeze-dried to protect the nutrients 🏡 Made in small batches in Dungog

Trial release — 40 capsules

🌿 ancestraltraditions.com.au/shop/liver-capsules

Or 🌱 Come and see us in person!

We will be at the Spring Market at The Dirty Gardener today, 18 October, from 9am-1pm 💖.

Come say hello, try things for yourself. We'd love to meet you there 💖🎉🥳.

10/10/2026

🌿 We're coming to the Spring Community Market at The Dirty Gardener! 🌿

Ancestral Traditions will be there with our handcrafted skincare, made the way our ancestors did: 100% natural, nothing synthetic, and full of nourishment for your skin.

Our balms are made from grass-fed and grass-finished beef tallow and pasture-raised pork lard, sourced from amazing regenerative farms: La’Connor Ridge , Munni Farm and Allynview Farm 💖 Simple ingredients your skin knows what to do with.

Come and say hello, try a balm on your hands and have a chat about what goes into every jar.

📅 Sunday 18th October
⏰ 9am – 1pm
📍 The Dirty Gardener, 943 Paterson Rd, Woodville

Over 25 local food makers, artisans and producers all in one place. We'd love to see you there! 💛

Welcome to The Dirty Gardener. Your local, independent nursery offering great plants, pots and prices

08/10/2026

🌿🐖 New: Healing Lard Balm
We've been quietly making something new at Ancestral Traditions — and it's finally ready.

Our Healing Lard Balm is slow-rendered from pasture-raised pigs at La’Connor Ridge, blended with cold-pressed olive oil, jojoba and beeswax. Nothing synthetic, no seed oils — just simple, traditional ingredients the way they've been used on skin for centuries.

Why lard? Its fatty acid profile sits remarkably close to our own skin oils, so it absorbs readily. Where our tallow balms are rich and deeply protective, lard is silky and light, gliding beautifully across the skin. Two beautiful fats, each with its own gifts. Lovely everyday nourishment for dry hands, garden hands and winter skin.

Naturally rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, with selenium and zinc from pasture-raised lard.

Five scents to choose from:
🌸 Rose Geranium — soft, floral, calming
🍊 Orange — bright and uplifting 🪵 Myrrh — warm, resinous, grounding. An ancient gift, perfect for the festive season 🎁.
💜 Lavender — gentle and soothing
🌱 Unscented — nothing added, for the most sensitive skin.

🌿 Message us or email @hotmail.com to order 👉 ancestraltraditions.com.au/shop/lard-balm

01/10/2026

🌿 Fermentation Workshop, Saturday 31 October 🌿

Join us for a hands-on day learning the old-world art of preserving food.
Together we'll make:

🥬 Kimchi
🍖 Fermented BBQ sauce
🍪 Sourdough crackers
🍯 Oxymel

You'll also get to taste fermented nut butter and other ferments, and you'll head home with 3 jars (kimchi, fermented BBQ sauce and oxymel) to keep the fermentation going in your kitchen.

For lunch, we'll show you how we make our sourdough beef pot pie, and then we'll all sit down and share it together. 🥧

Extras at special workshop prices
(not included in the $120 ticket):

• Rye sourdough starter: $15
• Milk kefir grains: $18
• Grass-fed & grass-finished beef tallow,
500 g: $25
• Pasture-raised lard, 500 g: $24

Message me to reserve your extras, so I bring enough for everyone. 💛

Places are filling up. Grab yours early! Book at

👉 www.ancestraltraditions.com.au/workshops/fermentation

19/09/2026

New scents: Tallow Geranium & Tallow Lemon Myrtle, in a fresh new label to match 🌿

Geranium: soft, floral and grounding — a little pocket of calm for your skin.
Lemon Myrtle: bright, zesty and fresh, like a walk through the Aussie bush.

Handcrafted right here in Dungog with grass-fed, grass-finished tallow — natural & simple ingredients your skin will love.

Available now at Dungog Wholefood Co-op, Vacy General Store CAFE - Licensed and ancestraltraditions.com.au 🤍 Free local delivery to Dungog & Clarencetown.

Which one are you reaching for first?

16/09/2026

✨ Introducing Sacred Balance — our new Wild Yam & Tallow Cream ✨

We built this one from the ground up around a simple idea: your body already knows how to find balance. It just needs the right support.

Sacred Balance blends grass-fed, grass-finished tallow with infused wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) — a nutrient-dense, plant-powered formula designed to work with your skin, not just sit on top of it. Coming in three options: Clary Sage, Geranium, and Unscented.

🐂🌿Why tallow + wild yam?
Tallow is rich in skin-identical fats and vitamins A, D, E & K — nourishing the skin barrier and helping the body absorb what's applied to it.

🌿Wild yam is the heart of this formula. It contains diosgenin, a plant compound traditionally used to support the body's own progesterone pathways — not by acting as a hormone itself, but by giving the body what it needs to help regulate estrogen and progesterone balance naturally. It's traditionally reached for during PMS, perimenopause, and menopause, and some also use it to support healthy testosterone levels. Paired with tallow's fatty, skin-identical base, it becomes highly bioavailable — applied topically, absorbed systemically.

Also infused with:
🌱 Chaste tree berry (Vitex agnus-castus) and D**g Quai (Angelica sinensis) — traditional herbs long used to support hormonal rhythm
🌱 Yarrow — soothing and balancing for the skin
🌱 A nourishing base of cold-pressed olive, castor, and jojoba oils.

What it may help support:
🌿 Easing PMS symptoms, hot flashes, and mood swings
🌿 More predictable, balanced cycles
🌿 Deep hydration for dry or sensitive skin
🌿 Gentle, natural hormone support — no synthetics involved

Meet the options:
🌸 Clary Sage — long valued for calming the nervous system, easing tension, and supporting emotional balance alongside hormonal wellness.
🌹 Geranium — traditionally used to help ease PMS symptoms like fluid retention and mood swings, support balance through perimenopause and menopause, and tone and balance the skin.
✨️Unscented — all the same wild yam and tallow benefits, fragrance-free just as nature intended, for anyone who prefers a fragrance-free option or has sensitive skin.

How to use it:
Apply a pea-sized amount daily to thin-skinned areas (wrists, inner arms, neck) for 3 weeks, then take a week off — a simple rhythm that helps your body settle into the routine.

As always, everyone's body responds differently, and this isn't a replacement for medical care — but we're proud to offer a natural, plant-and-tallow option for anyone looking to support their hormonal health from the outside in.

🛒 Shop Sacred Balance now at ancestraltraditions.com.au — Clary Sage, Geranium, and Unscented, ready to order today!