This giveaway is now closed. Stay tuned for the announcement of the winners. Thank you all for entering!

This is a joint giveaway cross-posted on Hobo Mama, Hobo Mama Reviews, and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory main entry and optional bonus entries.

In honor of Mother's Day, Sacred Rose is offering our readers a box of the hand-blended, organic herbal tea Matri: Tea of the Mother to FOUR winners!

I had the opportunity to review four blends of Sacred Rose tea, and Matri intrigued me as being one of the most herbally pertinent for my life right now.

Matri is called "Tea of the Mother" because it contains herbs that have been used traditionally for centuries to bring women through their childbearing years and to prepare their bodies for childbirth. As the website puts it:

"Matri was blended to breathe women in birth in the most high and loving way."

As I enter my ninth month of pregnancy, I appreciate any tea that can do that!

Even if you're not currently in a childbearing phase, Matri has other more metaphorical actions:

"Matri was created to inspire mothers to be unified with the higher consciousness of the physical, emotional, mental, & spiritual body systems."

Plus, it's just delicious tea, no matter if you're a mother or mother-to-be or not!

Matri is a blend of nettles, red raspberry, rose hips, alfalfa, dandelion, lemon and ginger. It tastes delicate and sweet without any added sweetener and has a clear but pleasant herbal impression.

You can see what the blended leaves look like here:



Matri's blend is very green, despite being dried. These organic herbs are generous in proportion and well blended by hand to produce cup after cup of delicious tea. I like that you can see the individual plants and flowers in the mix. Matri will leave a little green in the bottom of your cup, so don't be alarmed — it's just super-duper herbal.



See how pretty it looks when it's brewing?

I let my Matri steep for a generous 15 minutes to ensure the goodness of all the herbs has time to pour through. I find Matri does well for an additional steeping as well, which is a cost saver and a boon for any tea fan.

Whenever I'm going to drink a tea that claims pharmacopeial effects (or, truly, any tea), I like to be sure it's safe for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. I received the Matri in my second trimester and became fairly convinced all the elements were safe, but I did find some mixed messages online, as is often the case with herbs.

For instance, Childbirth Solutions and Herbal Gardens gave a go on every ingredient, but American Pregnancy noted that some types of parts of nettles could be on the Likely Unsafe list for the Natural Medicines Database, and that dandelions have insufficient data available. Some of the confusion is due to the fact that not a lot of scientific research has been done into herbal medicine, and there are differences between eating an herb (and what part you eat), taking a high-dose tincture, and drinking a (diluted) cup of tea.

If you have any questions about whether a particular herb is appropriate for you, please contact your own midwife, doctor, or other healthcare provider, or consult a guide like Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year or The Natural Pregnancy Book: Herbs, Nutrition, and Other Holistic Choices. (Just in case there's any confusion, Matri, as with most herbal teas, contains no caffeine.)

For myself, I drank Matri occasionally throughout my second trimester. Now in my third trimester, I've been trying to step up my consumption of these beneficial herbs to prepare and tone my uterus for birth and set the stage for a healthy recovery afterward.


Here's a pointless webcam shot of me
drinking a steaming cup of Matri tea.
You're welcome.

Another plus of these teas? Just look at them! They come boxed in chocolate brown stripes with satin pink bows, which would make them wonderful as a present. Matri would be perfect for a mama in your life — perhaps as a shower gift or new mother gift.

One downside is the tea is $18 for a box, plus shipping, but I believe that's fair for an artisanal and organic drink from a small company.

I also love how Sacred Rose is committed to being eco-conscious and sustaining the planet.

BUY IT!

You can purchase Matri: Tea of the Mother and other Sacred Rose Organic Herbal Teas directly from the Sacred Rose website: SacredRose.us for customers in the USA, SacredRose.ca for customers in Canada, and SacredRose.eu for customers in Europe.

A three-ounce box (same size as pictured) costs $18. Shipping to U.S. addresses starts at $7.95 but becomes cheaper per item if multiple boxes are ordered.

You can also purchase Crystal Tea Infusers for $29 each.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win ONE of FOUR boxes of Matri: Tea of the Mother, an organic, hand-blended, loose-leaf herbal tea, enter in the simple Google form below! Contest is open to U.S. & Canadian mailing addresses.

MAIN ENTRY: Visit SacredRose.us and tell me something you learned or another tea that interests you!

We are trying out offering a Google form in place of requiring comments for giveaway entries. We're cross-posting this giveaway on Hobo Mama and Natural Parents Network, and you may enter at any site (it's the same form), but no duplicating entries, please. The Google form is available at this link or embedded into the post below. (You can update with Tweets/status updates by simply resubmitting the form as needed.)

There are plenty of BONUS ENTRIES in the Google form. Find the relevant links and preparation you might need below:

• Like Sacred Rose Organic Herbal Tea on Facebook (2 extra entries).
• Like Hobo Mama on Facebook.
• Like Natural Parents Network on Facebook.
• Follow www.HoboMama.com through Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to the Hobo Mama RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Follow HoboMamaReviews.com publicly through Google Friend Connect, or subscribe to the Hobo Mama Reviews RSS feed in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Subscribe to Natural Parents Network in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Follow @Hobo_Mama on Twitter.
• Follow @NatParNet on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can tweet this text: Enter to #win Sacred Rose organic herbal Matri tea in a @Hobo_Mama Mother's Day #giveaway = 4 winners! http://bit.ly/f7tqlP {5.12, US/Can}
• Follow Hobo Mama on Networked Blogs.
• Post this giveaway on your Facebook page or wall and leave the link (1 entry). You can use this status update: Enter to win one of FOUR boxes of @Sacred Rose Organic Herbal Tea in a Mother's Day giveaway from @Hobo Mama. Contest ends May 12 and is open to US & Canada.
  Be sure to attach the contest URL to your update (this is not part of the update text): http://www.hobomamareviews.com/2011/04/giveaway-sacred-rose-matri-tea-4.html
• Enter another of my current giveaways or the giveaways on Natural Parents Network (1 extra entry per giveaway — check back for more!).
• Put my Hobo Mama button on your website or add http://www.HoboMama.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code for the button is in the sidebar.
• Put the Natural Parents Network badge on your website or add http://NaturalParentsNetwork.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code for the badge is on the front page of NaturalParentsNetwork.com.
• Tell us whether you prefer the new Google form entry method or the comment system.

RULES:

• Contest open to US & Canada.
• Contestants may enter at Hobo Mama Reviews, Hobo Mama, or Natural Parents Network but only on one site. (It's the same form on each site.) Entries will be combined for the drawing of four single winners.
• You may resubmit the Google form for additional entries like Tweeting and updating on Facebook as needed.
• For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, that's fine — just check it off.
• You don't have to do any of the bonus entries, but you do have to complete the first mandatory one.
• Since we're still trying out the Google form, we will allow comments still on the post — either entries or just general chatting! If you do enter in the comments, please don't duplicate entries in the form, and make sure to leave a valid email address.
• We will pick the four winners through Random.org after the contest closes and send an email notification. Leave a valid email address in the form so I can contact you if you win. If I can't reach a winner or don't hear back within a couple days, I'll draw a new name.
• Any questions, let me know: mail {at} HoboMama.com