Calm before the storm...let's get busy

It is that time, the calm before the storm of winter sales...meaning the perfect time for you and I to:

1. finalize your winter tea offerings, finish formulation, and place orders ~ for inspiration see attached Holiday Tea offerings from last winter (valid for this year too!)
2. get your winter orders in for your high volume items, negotiate pricing on volume (helping us project and negotiate best pricing)
3. talk about what is in stock now - that usually runs out! SUCH AS:  Lemon grass tbc $2/lb, and Organic Lemon Grass c/s and tbc each $3/lb. Chamomile - organic tbc $4.50, Org whole $6.50, conventional whole $5.50, tbc $3.  Rosehips Org tbc $5.70.   Gunpowder - Org. 9374 $3.50 (C10139), C10141 Ex Spl 3505 Gunpowder $6.90, and conventional 3505 $3.  
4. don't forget cardamom is down this year - but tea pricing is going up - so if you can place orders now, I would advise you to STOCK UP NOW or secure pricing for the next month beofre it rises - see attached article from World Tea News   
5. talk about some Kenyan teas - I will send you info very soon on some that are overstocked here...I will send you cupping notes and ideas on how you can use them to your advantage at a GREAT price to move it out from us to you at a fabulous value 
6. it is time to start thinking and planning on next years teas, especially in iced teas
7. have you seen our new website and registered to view pricing?  www.qtradeteas.com, PLEASE NOTE - you can not order on here yet, so please ignore anything on this function (for now!), you can not check your account on here yet either! 
8. lastly - check out my blog for more interesting info!  http://desntea.blogspot.com/,such as this interesting article on "The State of the Industry" From Bev Industry ...  http://desntea.blogspot.com/2012/07/2012-state-of-industry-tea-and-ready-to.html

FDA and Certified Organic Info

Who Needs To Be Certified?

Most farms and businesses that grow, handle, or
process organic products must be certified, including:
- Farms that sell more than $5,000 in organic
products per year (gross sales).
- Handlers that sell more than $5,000 of organic
processed food, including handlers that place
bulk products into smaller packages or that
repackage/relabel products.
- Processors that sell more than $5,000 of organic
processed products, unless all products contain
less than 70 percent organic ingredients or only
identify the organic ingredients in the ingredient
statement.
- Vendors that handle (e.g. package) and sell
products online (but not in stores) or otherwise
deliver organic products.

Overall, if you make a product and want to claim that
it or its ingredients are organic, your final product
probably also needs to be certified. Please review the
examples and exemptions below.
If you wish to make any organic claim on the granola’s
principal display panel (front of the package), yes, you
must be certified. Organic claims include any use of the
word “organic” (alone or referring to specific organic
ingredients) or the USDA organic seal. Only products
meeting all requirements for the “organic” or the “100
percent organic” labeling categories may use the USDA
organic seal anywhere on the package.

If you are only identifying specific
organic ingredients in the ingredient statement
and aren’t making an organic claim elsewhere, review
the  “exempt handling operations” section on next page.
If you are a retail food establishment, review the
“retail food establishments” section on next page.
Learn more about requirements for each labeling
category at www.ams.usda.gov/NOPOrganicLabeling.
If you are only selling a pre-packaged product, you
don’t need to be certified. The company that does the
final packaging for your product must be certified and
get any organic product label approved prior to sale.

Who Doesn’t Need to Be Certified?

The following operations do not need to be certified:
- Small organic farms and businesses (gross
agricultural income from organic sales does
not exceed $5,000 per year)
- Some brokers, distributors, and traders (see
below)
- Retail food establishments.
- Exempt handling operations (see below).
Although certification is not required for these “exempt”
or “excluded” operations, they may pursue voluntary
organic certification. Exempt and excluded operations
still need to comply with specific sections of the USDA
organic regulations (please see other side).

National Organic Program | Agricultural Marketing Service | U.S. Department of Agriculture              June 2012

Do I Need To Be Certified Organic?

I combine multiple certified
organic ingredients to make organic
granola. Do I need to be certified?
Another company packages my
product. They have an organic certificate.
Do I also have to be certified?Small Organic Farms and Businesses
If your farm or business’ gross agricultural income from
organic sales is $5,000 or less per year, it is considered
an “exempt” operation. This means you don’t need to
be certified to sell, label, or represent your products
as organic. You also do not need to develop a written
organic system plan. However, you must follow all
other requirements in the USDA organic regulations.
Specifically, you must:
- Maintain records for at least three years.
- Not use the USDA organic seal on your products
or refer to them as certified organic. If you would
like to use the USDA organic seal, pursue organic
certification.
- Meet other USDA organic labeling requirements.
- Not sell your products as ingredients for use in
someone else’s certified organic product.
- Register with the California Department of Food
and Agriculture if your farm is in California.

Brokers, Distributors, and Traders Who
Handle Products in Closed Containers

If your operation only sells, transports, stores, receives,
or acquires  products that are received in and remain
in a container without being processed*, the operation
does not need to be certified. An example of such
an “excluded” operation would be one that handles
boxed organic cereal. However, you must prevent
commingling with non-organic products and contact
with prohibited substances.

If your operation handles bulk, unpackaged organic
products (such as cattle, milk, or grain), you need to be
certified or be included under an organic producer or
handler’s organic system plan.
Retail Food Establishments

If your operation is a retail food establishment, such
as a grocery store, it does not need to be certified. You
may sell certified organic products that bear the USDA
organic seal, as long as you don’t process* them.

If your retail food establishment processes* certified
organic products on its premises, the USDA organic
regulations state that you must:
- Prevent commingling with non-organic products
and contact with prohibited substances.
- Not use the USDA organic seal or refer to
processed products as certified organic. If you
would like to use the USDA organic seal, obtain
organic certification.
- Meet other USDA organic labeling requirements.
Exempt Handling Operations
If your handling operation:
- Only handles products that contain less than 70
percent organic ingredients (excluding salt and
water) or
- Only identifies organic ingredients on the
product’s information panel,
It does not need to be certified. However, the USDA
organic regulations state that you must:
- Prevent commingling with non-organic products
and contact with prohibited substances.
- Meet the USDA organic labeling requirements.
- Maintain records for at least three years that
prove that the quantity of organic products sold
were organically produced and handled.

Learn more: www.ams.usda.gov/NOP

Interesting 2011 Teas, Limited Supply

We at QTrade Teas and Herbs are very well known for the large volumes of tea and herbs we supply, as well custom formulation of your signature blends and suppling those blends. But now is time to talk about those in limited supply..so here is what is coming in all very limited quantity, first come first served, and will sell out quickly:

http://www.qtradeteas.com/ (conventional) in this week
2nd flush (WTE previous lot award winner with this before)
1st flush
Guranse (manufactured last week) in at end of July ~ $30 /lb
Seasonal Ceylon Supreme Pekoe $8 /lb (in now)
New Vithanakande (you liked this - will send you samples again)
What about our organic award winning black and green iced teas, ask about these 2010 Expo Award winners.
Booking now for Cardamom and Organic cardamom purchasing!

First come, first served so reply via email today to desiree@qtradeteas.com for pricing and information. Check out our new website
http://www.qtradeteas.com/ .

2011 DIY Organic Gardening

Here is an inspiring article on www.sagehillfarmsandvintagestore.com - I am inspired to add to my container growing this year and I hope this article will help you too!

Growing by the "Raised Bed" Method
~Why and How

A raised bed method of gardening has taken root and for many it's a simpler and safer way of growing. From small kitchen gardens to fields of produce for market, raised beds are here to stay.

Some major reasons to consider the raised bed method:

1) When you build and enclose a raised bed, you have just cut your maintenance in half. There will be fewer weeds (if any), well draining soil, few if any pests, and the elimination of foot traffic - which is the biggest reason for compacted soil. Because of these three improvements you will have a highly attractive and higher yield garden.

2) Raised beds can be enclosed with garden timbers (cedar, redwood and cypress) brick, block and rock will all fit the plan perfectly. I like 4x 8 size beds for the ease of working it from side to side without constant moving from one side to the other.

Now, for the layering process. Just think of it as making a Dagwood sandwich.

The area where your garden will be should be cut as close to the dirt as possible with your lawn mower.

Build your frame around the plot to your desired size.

You are now ready to build your soil.

Fall is the best time.....let it compost over the winter.

1) Right on the freshly mowed site, layer about 10 sheets of wet newspaper (no glossy colors) or cardboard. Wetting the paper or cardboard will hold it in place and speed up the process of composting.

2) On top of this add 4 to 6 inches of barn manure in some stage of composting.

3) Add to the manure 3 to 4 inches of dried leaves, grass, and other yard clippings.

4) Add 1 to 2 inches of peat-moss to the top.

Repeat this layering process until you have a depth of 12 to 24 inches. More if you wish.

The more layers you build the higher your soil line will be. Twenty four inches is the standard for most. You don't want your soil line higher than the frame of your bed.

Once your beds are layered, water well and cover with a plastic tarp if so desired. Check from time to time and don't allow the beds to dry out for long periods of time. (I leave mine open so they get the rain water and the natural weather cycles....it all helps the process.)

This method attracts microbes, earthworms, etc., that do the same work as a garden pick and tiller, and fertilizers at the same time. Come spring, just plant right into your ready made soil.

Remember too that you can compost all your kitchen scraps such as peeling from vegetables and fruits, coffee and tea grinds, and egg shells. Do not compost meat, bones, oils, or any cooked food. This will rot and draw animals and insects to your garden.

You can add these kitchen waste products directly to your beds, but I prefer to have a compost pile and process it separate from the beds.

For a healthy garden site always rotate your crops yearly and in the case of cucumbers, tomatoes, and eggplants, every 2 to 3 years. This stops pest from setting up house-keeping and over-wintering to wait for the new crop.

A good step to take before you start to build your beds is to have an idea of what you will be growing so you can add material to your beds that a certain crop might need. (Sand, blood/bone-meal, etc.)

Companion planting is a perfect crop practice. We will cover this in another segment.



Happy growing!

Bea Kunz

San Clemente Community Market, Co-Op Style

Sam Olmstead is going to go down as the visionary for the Co-Op in San Clemente. Nay-sayers, myopic thinkers, please step aside as this vision is one passionate to many, including myself and I will work to help see it through.

If you live close to San Clemente and will donate your time to speed up the process to bring a co-op to San Clemente, please visit www.sanclementemarket.com and connect today to meet next week.

In the mean time, we can educate ourselves more on co-op's on www.foodcoop500.com. At this point, that is what is most important to share as there is much to do before we get too excited on what greatness is to come. This is the time to buckle down and work together to get it done!

In health,

Desiree Nelson

Demeter USA About Biodynamic Agriculture

There are less than a half of a dozen Biodynamic Tea Estates, so far. We at QTrade proudly represent three of them and often exclusively. Email me for a list of current teas.


Biodynamic® farming is free of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in the same manner as certified organic farming. In order to qualify for Demeter Biodynamic® status a farm must first meet the same 3-year transition requirement that NOP certified organic farming requires.

What distinguishes a Demeter certified Biodynamic® farm from a certified organic farm is that, in its entirety, a Demeter Biodynamic farm is managed as a living organism. This is the fundamental principal of the Biodynamic farming method. The special body of knowledge, which underlies Biodynamic agriculture, is derived from Rudolf Steiner’s “Agricultural Course”, and the spiritual context of Anthroposophy, within which this Course was originally held.

The Biodynamic method dates back to 1924 and is one of the original approaches to organized organic farming worldwide. In day-to-day practice Biodynamic farming involves managing a farm within the context of the principles of a living organism. A concise model of a living organism ideal would be a wilderness forest. In such a system there is a high degree of self-sufficiency in all of the realms of biological survival. Fertility and feed arise out of the recycling of the organic material the system generates. Avoidance of pest species is based on biological vigor and its intrinsic biological and genetic diversity. Water is efficiently cycled through the system.

While agriculture immediately takes nature to a state that is one step removed from wilderness, the practices of farmers that steer agriculture’s course can to a large degree mimic these ancient principles of sustainability based on a careful observation of nature as a whole. Demeter/Aurora certification requires a documented evolution towards this ideal. In the realm of day-to-day practice this requires a holistic farming system that is minimally dependant on imported inputs for its survival, but instead arise from within the living dynamics of the farm itself. Demeter/Aurora certification requires that as much as possible a farm be regenerative rather than degenerative. Consider carefully materials that are imported onto the modern day organic farm. Where do they come from? Often they can be tracked back to a natural resource provided by the earth. Examples of such inputs include petroleum to move materials around, ancient mineral deposits, by-products of unsustainable agriculture-related industry, and the life of the seas and water ways. An important environmental value of Biodynamic farming is that it does not depend on the mining of the earth’s natural resource base. Instead it emphasizes contributing to it. As such, it is a farming philosophy that results in one of the lightest carbon footprints of any agricultural method.

Looked at in its widest view, the scale of this farm organism extends beyond the fence line of the farm and includes the tangible and intangible forces that work through it. Examples of such “forces” include the climate, inherent wildlife of the earth (above and below the ground), the light and warmth from the sun and the focusing of even more distant cosmic influences through the other planetary members of our sun’s solar system. The Biodynamic method of farming attempts to align all of the factors that are inherent in a living farm system in a harmonious manner. The food that results is very true to its essence and provides deeply penetrating nutrition that is medicinal as well as delicious.

Source:http://demeter-usa.org/about-biodynamic-agriculture/