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.

96 degrees in the shade

The Herbal Sage Tea Company was a part of the Athens Farmers Market today. The GOBA event,
http://www.goba.com/
was traveling thru Athens today. This adventure ride for cyclist's promised to bring 2,000 riders into Athens. The weather was so unbearably hot that many of the cyclist took refuge under the shade tress at Athens Community Center, without stopping by the market. I don't blame them ! We were vending in temperatures that reached to 96 degrees Although I sold quite a bit of our Iced Zesty Green Organic Tea, we did not have the crowds thru, as we had hoped. Athens Farmers Market runs Wednesday and Saturdays April thru October, from 10 am til 1pm. Stop on by and see us ! For Market information visit
www.athensfarmersmarket.org

No electricity today

I awoke this morning with Yogi, the puppy, telling me it was time to get up.After letting him out I walked to the kitchen, I flipped the light switch.Thinking a light bulb was out I reached for another wall switch, alas, no lights.
Realizing the darkness was not due to lack of effective light bulbs,I decided we had no electric. Had I been at the cabin I would have been unaffected, but my stove in town is electric, so no hot water for tea this morning. It wasn't long before the dogs convinced me to head down to the cabin. It had begun to rain a bit and with a quick stop at The Village Bakery for breakfast we were on our way!
I love when the days take a deliberate turn. My best laid plans had been cast aside due to my dependence on electric. A detour to the country was the best remedy.
We hiked around the land, checking on the berries. The rain was helpful today as we still hand water our crop.What really surprised me, was the vast areas that had been flattened by the deer. Large swaths of grasses had been laid flat, proof of our furry neighbors nocturnal visit.They had slept or at least laid along the slight ridged area, above the berry fields. Perhaps, I thought, they are planning on harvesting a few berries as well?

Sage Flowering

Spent the best part of the day today on the land. Did plenty of mowing, while David worked more on the cabin. Our pup went looking for his favorite mud hole, and was quite disappointed when he realized it was dried up. It's not quite June yet and some of the water spots are already gone.
I'm including a picture of our sage blooming. The bees were working the flowers, and the aroma of sweet sage filled the air. If only I could do a scratch and sniff for you,I would!
Sage is used to help treat excessive sweating,women use it to help relieve night sweats, and lactating women drink it when they want to stop breastfeeding. The astringency of the plant is very powerful Traditionally the tea has also been used a s gargle for sore throat, or just made into a tea to help relieve sore throats.
Enjoy the day everyone and remember to stop and smell the sage!

Athens Farmers market

Today I brewed up Sassafras root,added organic cane sugar to the tea after it steeped for 10 minutes.It is now in the frig, cooling down and will be served over ice tomorrow at my farmers market.Sassafras was used by Native Americans and is a native tree in this region.It is a refreshing tea and has been used as a tonic.
I've been a part of the Athens, Ohio Farmers Market for over 10 years. I feel blessed, prosperous even, to be associated with such a great market. The market itself is over 30 years old, with some of the initial farmers still selling. Everyone at the market must either grow their wares, or be a processor, someone who "makes" something having to do with food. I create tea blends, wildcrafting some of my herbs and spices but mostly buy from growers and wildcrafters all over the world. I make up some great tasting brews.
Another processor and I spoke today about the market.We both enjoy our community and feel secure in the abundance of our resources here in SE Ohio. Tomorrow will be another opportunity to try some locally grown strawberries, fresh greens and my favorite thing about the market, surprise pizza made by either Avalanche Pizza or Crumbs Bakery.We never really know what will be on the pizza slices each Saturday, but each Saturday countless numbers of us test our fate, smiling all the way!
Athens Farmers Market in on East State Street in Athens Ohio. We start selling at 10 am and sell til 1 pm or when we run out. Stop by!

Hand Crafted Tea Blends

Today I received a call from a company in Oregon. They asked us if we could blend herbal recipes for them. I told them of course we can! We work out of a USDA certified facility and we are always blending recipes. When I told the company that we hand blend our teas, they were shocked. They asked me how we could afford to do that,and why we would do that. I hadn't really thought about the why of it all, as we just do it .I got to thinking, and realized that the desire I have to employ people in my community does not always equate with the economic factors of the outside world. I think that it is great when we can bring a team of people in for blending days and really create some beautiful teas. I always felt that it was a sign of success to be able to do this type of work.This customer from out west thought it was crazy that I did not use machinery. Anyhow, I wanted to share this tidbit of information. I feel successful when I can do what I enjoy, and creating work for others is a great benefit for sure. For now, we will continue to hand craft many of our blends, and continue to share our growth with the community.