Organic & Fair Trade News

On March 16, 2007, Organic Fair Trade became an approved member of Co-op America's National Business Network after undergoing a screening process which ensured our business practices, policies and products were in accordance with socially and environmentally conscious principles.  We are proud to become a member of this notable organization and are very happy to now be listed in the National GreenPages!

According to Co-op America's Website:

To qualify to appear in the National Green Pages™ and carry the Seal of Approval, companies' representatives must demonstrate that they:

• Actively use their businesses as tools for positive social change;

• Run "values-driven" enterprises that operate according to principles of social justice and environmental sustainability;

• Are socially and environmentally responsible in the way they source, manufacture, and market their products and run their offices and factories; and

• Are committed to developing and employing extraordinary practices that benefit workers, customers, communities, and the environment.

We are pleased to join this network of over 2,500 businesses who meet this criteria and are daily working to make this world a better place to live!

My favorite season spring is here and boy am I ready for it!  This was a very wet and cold winter for us and I believe we have all been waiting for the sun to shine a little more around here.  I must however, count our blessing of being hurricane free this year which was well needed for so many who have only begun to get back on their feet.  However, the rainy, cold weather still has its effects on the psyche and my endorphins have been waiting for the sunshine and warmth for quite a while now! 

This season is particularly important to me this year for several reasons.  First and foremost the upcoming birth of our little one that has been growing in my belly for the past eight months is due to come out in the next several weeks!  I am certainly feeling the nesting qualities come over me more every day and am truly elated for this new experience for our family.  Also, we have recently moved into a new home which is in a great neighborhood and is certainly more conducive to the type of lifestyle we prefer to live than our former home.  Although, it was trying to move at this stage in the game for me, it has certainly turned out to be worth it!  And finally, this will be my first season in years to actually have a garden again. 

Always the traveler, it has been my life for some time to leave a place before the actuality of healthy garden has time to take place.  For a few years I would transplant what I could and pack and move container plants but that really only lasted so long.  Although, each spring I do buy a few new plants, with each move I have always lost most of them.  Such was the case with our last home, which held us for about eight months.  However, feeling the ever pulling desire to settle down in one spot we have committed to not moving again until we are either forced to or have the opportunity to build the house of our dreams.  We realized how much “stuff” we really had this last time around and also that we are truly not getting ANY younger! Haha..
                                                                  

So, that being said, I have decided to dive back into the world of gardening, this time a much more mature adult with standards of maintaining only organic plants.  I have always used and grown organically but felt like I needed a major touch up on my knowledge as I am taking this endeavor much more seriously than ever before.  I started by following literally a step-by-step instructional blog on how to grow organic tomatoes.  I planted my first seeds this past Saturday and have now a full starter tray of sprouts!  

There is so much inspiration and fulfillment when you see nature work this way!   To know you had a hand in creating such life creates a sense of responsibility and commitment or shall I say dedication to these plants! Ah, how it has been missed!

I know my inspiration has come from the recent turnings of my life and I look forward to watching the growth and showering my new plants with love and healthy food!  I encourage anyone interested to take the first step in beginning your own organic garden.  It can be done in small spaces on small budgets and help to produce such BIG benefits in your heart and soul, literally!  It couldn’t have taken me more than an hour to prepare the mix of soil for my plants and get them started.  Go to your local nursery or area distributor that sells plants and ask them to help you find the organic products you need to begin.  They will pop them in your trunk and you are ready to go!!!  If you can then try to start with organic seeds, however, if for some reason you cannot be sure to maintain your plants with organic practices and products.  There are endless resources online, in your local bookstore or at the nursery itself on how to being and cultivate an organic garden.

I wish you all the best in your planting season and look forward to the growth of my own! 

Here are some resources I have been recently using: 

http://growingorganictomatoes.blogspot.com

http://www.organicgardening.com/

http://www.verdant.net/food.htm

http://www.organicgardentips.com/vegetable_gardening.html

http://www.basic-info-4-organic-fertilizers.com/