Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

When I had my vintage clothing shop in Cleveland I loved Tuesdays. It is the day where sales tended to be a bit slower and if it rained, I often had the day to myself, listening to old records,rearranging my showcases full of vintage jewelery and dreaming of possibilities.I allowed and encourage my mind and heart to live in the sea of creativity, all day.Tuesdays' were a gift to my muse,
So today I am in a small college town, and the sun is shining. Although I no longer have a retail store I have wonderful offices in a shared facility, and on Tuesday its my day to work solo.I give myself this day to work on the creative aspects of my business, not formulating herbal recipes necessarily, but creating new, and strengthening current business relationships. In the herbal tea business I am able to work with like minded folks, I have peers who are practitioners, gardeners, chefs, massage therapists, doctors, naturopaths, community health folks, artists etc..you get the idea! Working with herbs as food and as medicine, is a wonderful vehicle to reach out to others in a positive way. Who doesn't love nourishment.
Once in awhile, when I had that shop in Cleveland, folks would come in on those rainy Tuesdays, more often than not these folks tended to stick around and listen to old records and we would share our ideas about the interesting items around us.
So if someone comes to the offices today, I'll make a cup of iced tea and we'll listen to the tunes on the computer. Although the location has changed, Tuesdays are still a day to nourish my creative side. How about you?
Thanks for listening,
M

Loving the Support

This weekend we traveled to the Cincinnati- Mason, Ohio area. We sampled our Organic Zesty Green Tea, (which makes a great iced tea!) David spent Saturday morning at the Whole Foods Market Store in Mason, Ohio. I took a moment and checked out their new display of Herbal Sage Teas in BULK. Folks love to buy just the amount they want when purchasing these therapeutic teas, so a scoop or two works out fine! Mason Whole Foods Store has been very supportive of us, and it means allot. Without support from retailers like the team at Whole Foods it would be more difficult to grow.
As a small producer, working with a big place like Whole Foods Market can be a bit intimidating, but Liberty and Kellin and the rest of the folks in Mason keep a positive attitude towards The Herbal Sage, thanks so much!
This post may seem like a love fest for Whole Foods, but it is a personal nod to those that can help and do!

Halloween Night

Greetings! Tonite is Halloween night. The weather is very cold and winter is in the air. Our dinner was made from local veggies,broccoli,squash,sweet potato and pierogie. Yes I know the pierogie was not made locally but we love those fried dumplings so much!
The Athens Farmers Market was busy yesterday and many are stocking up with our Cold Care Tea,Calm Your Cough Tea and elderberry tincture.
I leave in a few days for a 14 day Tea Tour. My travels will start me off in Charlottesville, Virgina and I will end up in the Philly area 10 days later! Please keep posted to this blog for news as it happens on the Fall Tea Tour 2010!

Athens Ohio Farmers Market

Each Saturday in Athens is like Thanksgiving. I generally sell and serve my Herbal Sage Tea at our local Farmers Market, but this week I went to the market as a customer, not as a vendor. We have an abundance of great food here and I am lucky enough to be living in a region where farmers are respected and supported. For more information about our farmers market visit www.athensfarmersmarket.org

Yogi walking into the Fall Season

Today my pup, Yogi and I, took some time to explore the land. We hiked up the road to what seemed like a perfect example of a fall day in SE Ohio. I've been busy at The Herbal Sage, blending recipes, drying elderberry for tea and preparing for the upcoming change of seasons. Ths morning was a real treat for me. Taking time to walk on the land, both in the woods and in the fields, makes being an Herbalist worth it. The time I spend with the plants makes me feel real.

Planting The Future

Please join me in Rutland, Ohio at the United Plant Savers Botanical Plant Sanctuary this Saturday Oct 2, 2010! Great list of teachers, beautiful 380 acres of wild plants, deep woods to explore and so much more. For more info go Sage on FB and look at Events!

The Business of Herbs

It's been a tough week thus far, and it's only Tuesday! We received calls from 2 of our stores that our new labels are not scanning. What that means, is that the computer is not reading the UPC labels on the tea packages, and the teas are pulled from the shelves. In the old days the person running the register would ring in a price off of a package. The price "in the old days" was stuck on using sticky tape and a pricing gun.
Not anymore.
The Tea business is centuries old, the business of herbalism is even older. In ancient times, one would get paid in trade, perhaps receiving fresh eggs, a woven cloth or a useful tool. The barter system was alive and a viable way of commerce. Each party placing value on what they had to offer in comparision to what it was they wanted. This seems fair to me, this type of commerce. Yet I realize that my corporate accounts will NOT be giving me a laying hen or a cow to milk, so for now we push forward, redesigning those darn UPC labels. To see more teas with UPC's visit www.herbalsage.com.