Botanical Earth

Hi happy BE readers!

I haven’t been posting for a while because the holiday was super busy.  After I came back from vacation on Jan 19th, I packed up all the order and thought I could settle in for a nice calm Spring but, life is taking over.  Since the 22nd of Jan. I have been in two car accidents (not my fault luckily but I hurt from them) and just the other day, I cleverly stuck my fingers in my plugged in stick blender…..needless to say this posting is taking quite a while to type as I have seriously cut my left hand.  I’m left handed by the way.

So because of all these things, I believe life is trying to tell me something and I need to listen.  I’m going to close the store until March 1st.  I didn’t want to have the store open and people not receiving orders on time or feeling pressure.  And the big thing is, I’m having a hard time making anything with just one arm and no help.  Jackie had to return to Colorado to help out there, so there’s only one person (me) to handle everything.

 Ok, Happy Valentines and I’ll see you all again March 1st!

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I received an early holiday present this year - our Hemp Lip Balms were part of a GreenDAY segment for the TODAYShow.com !!  Journalist Marisa Belger (a self proclaimed natural-beauty addict - talks about all the benefits of hemp goods and recommends her favorites - and our Lemongrass & Tea Tree Hemp Lip Balm is her favorite - yeah!  Read the full article here.

Because of the feature and the on-line link from the MSNBC site, we have been selling EVERYTHING HEMP!  This morning we sold out of our Hemp Toiletries Bag and I’m running low on a lot of our Hemp Soaps.  Once people understand the benefits of hemp and that you are not going to become “drugged out” by using it, they totally love it.  For those still concerned about THC in hemp, no worries. 

I’ve used and eaten Hemp products for over 15 years and passed every FAA required medical test with flying colors.  If you want to learn more about how hemp is processed for food, textiles and oil check out one of my favorite info spots at TestPledge.com . 

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On Friday I’ll be packing up and travelling with my sister to Statesville, North Carolina.  My grandmother, who inspired me to continue soapmaking, needs her house fixed while she is ill in Colorado - so why not drive 750 miles to paint and mow the yard?  I love going there so it’s not a problem in the least.  On Saturday we hope to go to the Asheville Farmers Market and I’ll have to post about that because there are several great soapmakers there I have heard. 

On Sunday it’s a big trip to the cementary to see all the family…is that too morbid?  I love ancestory/heritage things and find great peace going…it gives me a sense of place and belonging.  There’s at least 4 generations just in one area.  The desk I use in the shop was my great- great -grandfather’s that he used at the Mill he founded.  I go to his grave and talk about business…actually some of my best ideas have come visiting - go figure.

Since I’m leaving, the shop will be closed Friday through at least Wednesday next week.  You’ll be able to order, but nothing will ship until I return on the 12th of Sept.

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If you check out our on-line store, you’ll see the start of our new look at botanical earth.  While you’ll still see the original logo of the “b” and “e”, our new logo is up on the site!  Hopefully over the next couple of months I’ll have the blog redone too.

Our new logo look was designed for us by Jessica Lim, a super creative indie artist in Australia.  The woman is all about design!  She took my ramblings of what I wanted and made it clean and simple - and in blue and white - my favorite color combo.  I just had to ask her to design something for us because she runs her own store called “Wild Garden“  and I love her sense of style, plus I just had to work with someone that has a company named wild garden!  Check out the wonderful designs on her own site and her design blog, and let’s not forget her Australian/New Zealand Design shop, ModaMuse….really she’s amazing! 

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If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all is basically the motto I’ve been trying to stick with regarding my blogging.

A couple of our readers have sent me emails asking “what’s up?” with the no posting….so here’s a run down -

• I became dishearted with “organics”…from organizations that claim to support organic standards, to suppliers that talk the talk, but don’t follow through on the important paperwork.  I’m not going for organic certification any longer because so much of the “organic” hype is a joke….naturally grown, local is better in my view any day.  We still use certified organic ingredients when I can verify where the source truly is…more on that later.
• Greenwashing - so much hype on the words “aromatherapy” and “natural” I want to scream. 
• Sites we use to sell our products on that claim to support local, small scale farmers and business, being out for $$ and offering products composed of questionable sourced ingredients ….so sad.  Businesses want on the eco/green bandwagon these days because of the trend and not because they believe in it.
• Trying to have the site redesign only to have nothing but drama…let’s not even go there.
• Wholesale nightmares, the list goes on and on.

So that’s my “why post” excuses…..so now I should post my “why not posts” list;

• Botanical Earth has GREAT customers that write the best letters and actually want to know what’s going on with us - I am so lucky!!
• I’m changing our soap formulas to eliminate palm / palm kernel oil for enviromental reasons.
• I’ll be adding liquid soaps….by November is the new plan.
• Fun new artwork from indie illustrators located around the world for our promotional items. 
• There’s a lot of great events we are involved in that I haven’t been posting about.
• I’m moving the blog address shortly back to our old one, so there will be a new format that is hopefully easier for everyone to find information and post comments.

So, I thought I’d do my big “why not posting” and get back to talking about all the good!

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 So I thought it wouldn’t be any worse, and figured what’s the best thing to do when you can’t go out and have orders?  Make soy milk soap! By making soap and letting it stay very cold during set up, it becomes very creamy white - so I made soy soaps all day.  I figure I would go out on the 14th.

But when the 14th came, I had to dig out to GET to the shop the next morning!  Beautiful day, picture perfect but it’s now ZERO degrees….can I whine any more about it being cold?  Ok, I know it’s not snow in New York, but I didn’t think it would be so cold.  That soy soap is going to be white for sure.  For those that have asked, here’s a picture of my shop, it’s not my house - the building is devoted totally to the wonderful world of body care and soapmaking. I can never complain about where I work because the woods are always so pretty all season.

So the 15th, orders will resume again now that I can finally get the tractor out to plow.  There’s plenty of soy milk soap in the molds that’s for certain!

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Some of the orders from last week are just now going out, if you are looking for yours.  There was a death in my very immediate family on Monday night and I took some time off.  I thought most of the orders would be taken care of while I was gone, but I guess I am still needed around here.  I believe everyone was contacted regarding the delay and will receive free shipping.

Thanks for your patience,

Debra

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We will close for Winter Solstice Dec. 22 and then open again on the 26th of December.  I thought I would add some extra drama to the already busy time of year - by offering same day shipping if orders are placed by 1pm Central time! The week after Christmas is always our busiest - I think people receive gifts from others they had not planned on and then buy a gift…..ok, I have fallen in that trap myself, so no moralizing.

 The Lavender Herbal Gift baskets are our top sellers so far this holiday season. The unscented soap gift sets at just $15 have really done well too plus we have sold out of the Men’s Trio of soaps!  So I figured why not try to give Jackie and I a goal of 1pm….we can handle stress being the queens of aromatherapy..there’s a full bottle of Ylang Ylang and Jasmine in the cabinet if I need to take a sniff. 

If you have a question about delivery times, just email us or if you need something special call or email.  Happy Holidays!

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It’s already the middle of the month and by now, I should have my seedlings lined up and ready to start - I am so behind.  Botanical Earth had a great holiday, a week off and then January just kept us busy.  I did make sure I had my 2006  Moon Sign Book by Dec. 31 though.  It’s my manual for planting -  I am such a firm believer on planting by the phases of the moon.  Forget the new age hype, this is hard core farming at it’s best in my view and it REALLY does make a difference in my plantings.  Whether strength of seedling, resistance to disease or final taste, everytime I plant, prune, feed or pick by moon phases - everything is better.    

So, I am looking at Feb. 27th for starting to planting my little veggie friends this season.  If I start the birdhouse and caveman gourds then, we should be able to get a good harvest for fall.  Two years ago we sold out completely of them so guess I should get my act together and PLANT.

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