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Vendor Spotlight: Ellen April Handcrafted Soap

6/30/2015

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What would you like customers to know regarding your products?
We source our ingredients ethically. For example, we use palm oil in our soap because it creates a hard, long lasting bar that is mild and cleanses well. But when we heard about the threat to the orangutan due to the rapid loss of the fragile ecosystem of Malaysian rain forests, we made the decision to only purchase organic palm oil grown on sustainable plantations in South America. Yes, it costs more. But we care about the earth and strive to make our soap as earth-friendly as possible.

What type of ingredients are your handcrafted soaps made from?
Ellen April soap starts with the finest vegetable oils and luxury butters. It is scented with essential plant oils and colored with botanicals, beneficial clays and pure earth minerals. We're proud of these fine ingredients and list them on every bar we make.

How long does it take to make a batch of soap?
This is the question we are asked most often. And it's the least straight forward to answer, because there are several steps in the soap making process, often spread out over several days.

1. Weigh liquid vegetable oils for each batch. Melt cocoa butter & coconut oil before adding them to the liquid oils.
2. Weigh essential oils and measure herbs, clays and colorants.
3. Weigh liquid and lye and combine.
4. Add lye mixture to oil mixture, blend and then add essential oils and colorants.
5. Pour into molds and rest overnight.
6. Next unmold, slice into logs, cut into bars and stack on trays.
7. Cure soap on trays for one month before it is ready to bring to market.

Not counting the cure time, each batch takes approximately 3 hours to make.

Do you have a website and/or Facebook page?
Yes, we are excited to have a new website this year with a shopping cart and $6.00 flat rate shipping to anywhere in the continental US. Our website is ellenapril.com. We also have a Facebook page, but I must admit that I don't check in or update it as often as I should.

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Vendor Spotlight: Applied Climatology

6/24/2015

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What would you like customers to know about your business?
We are a small family-owned, licensed retail grower of perennials, shrubs & trees. We specialize in growing a wide selection of new introductions, unusual, rare and cutting-edge varieties, which you won't find in a typical box store or local nursery. However, we try to find a balance by growing tried-and-true, older varieties as well.

Where are you located?
We previously had a garden center in Lewes, Delaware; however the resort economy there was hit hard by the onset of the recession, forcing us to close at the end of the 2006 season. We missed growing plants and interacting with customers so much that in 2011 we decided to start growing small quantities of perennials, shrubs and trees at home in Wilmington, DE. Presently, we only sell our plants at the West Chester Growers Market.

What's new this season?
We have several new varieties that we are debuting each week.

The best way to keep up with our inventory and what we are bringing to the market would be through our weekly Garden Club emails. Our detailed inventory lists provide comprehensive plant information including quantities, pictures, growing information and prices. Stop by our tent to sign up! We also post plant photos and growing information daily on our Facebook page

Later this season, we will have a nice selection of new shrubs introduced by Proven Winners, fruit trees, thornless berry plants, unusual Japanese Maple trees, as well as new varieties of Coreopsis, Heucheras and Echinacea (Coneflowers) developed by leading hybridizer Terra Nova Nurseries Inc.

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Vendor Spotlight: Stargazers Vineyard and Winery

6/19/2015

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Where are you located? Our 10-acre vineyard is located 12 miles west of the market. Everyone is welcome to take a stroll in the vineyard to check out the grapes or visit our tasting room that is open on Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 5:00 p.m.

What is unique about your vineyard/winery? We take pride in our sustainability efforts ranging from use of low impact or organic pesticides to generating renewable energy from our solar panels. We are also one of the few wineries in the area to offer an array of award-winning sparkling wines.

Are you producing any new wines for the 2015 season? A dry, red blend called Warp Drive was just released, and keep an eye out for Cabernet Franc later this summer.

What would you like your customers to know? Our vineyard, on the gentle south-facing slopes overlooking the Brandywine Creek, provides not only an ideal location for growing our grapes, but also a picturesque view for a weekend visit to sample our owner-produced wines.

Do you have a website and/or Facebook page? Yes, please visit our Website as well as our page on Facebook for news and events.

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Grilled Seasonal Asparagus

5/11/2015

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TOTAL TIME 7 MINS
PREP 3 MINS
COOK 4 MINS
SERVES 3-4

Grilling asparagus really brings out a terrific flavor. Easy too, just add to the grill as you're cooking the meat. The seasoning is just a guideline, use whatever herb or seasoning you like. We've used basil, oregeno, etc.

INGREDIENTS

1lb asparagus
1 1⁄2 tablespoons olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt

DIRECTIONS

Remove woody ends from asparagus and discard.
Place asparagus in large ziploc bag. Pour in oil and sprinkle seasoning.
Close bag forcing out air. Rub asparagus through bag to evenly distribute seasonings.
Grill to your taste. We use a pan for the grill that has holes in it.
Often served with grilled shrimp since it can all be placed in the same pan. Delicious.

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10 Good Reasons to Think, Buy, Be Local

4/27/2015

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Ten Good Reasons to Think Local - Buy Local - Be Local

By Stacy Mitchell

1. Local Character and Prosperity

In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character have an economic advantage.

2. Community Well-Being

Locally owned businesses build strong communities by sustaining vibrant town centers, linking neighbors in a web of economic and social relationships, and contributing to local causes.

3. Local Decision-Making

Local ownership ensures that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.

4. Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy

Compared to chain stores, locally owned businesses recycle a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.

5. Job and Wages

Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.

6. Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.

7. Public Benefits and Costs

Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.

8. Environmental Sustainability

Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.

9. Competition

A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.

10. Product Diversity

A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

© Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

Why Buy Locally Owned?

There are many well-documented benefits to our communities and to each of us to choosing local, independently owned businesses. We realize it is not always possible to buy what you need locally and so merely ask you to Think Local FIRST!

http://localfirstithaca.org/

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Why Buy Locally Grown and Produced?

4/26/2015

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There are many well-documented benefits to our communities and to each of us to choosing local, independently owned businesses. We realize it is not always possible to buy what you need locally and so merely ask you to Think Local FIRST!

Top Ten reasons to Think Local - Buy Local - Be Local

Buy Local -- Support yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned businesses, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms -- continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.(Click here to see summaries of a variety of economic impact studies; these include case studies showing that locally-owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and our tax base.)
Support community groups: Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses.
Keep our community unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun -- all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit. “When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust
Reduce environmental impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
Create more good jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents.
Get better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers.
Invest in community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.
Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
Encourage local prosperity: A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.
Think local first + Buy local when you can = Being a local!

Sustainableconnections.org

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Vendor Spotlight: Ellen April Handcrafted Soap

Vendor Spotlight: Applied Climatology

Vendor Spotlight: Stargazers Vineyard and Winery

Grilled Seasonal Asparagus

10 Good Reasons to Think, Buy, Be Local

Why Buy Locally Grown and Produced?

WCGM

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