Arctic Blast in the Garden!

After all the recent rains, you’ve probably noticed that we have lots of critters munching on the leaves of the vegetables and flowers in your garden. And if you read the labels of commercial pesticides and fungicides, you’ve decided that it’s not worth the risk and resigned yourself to sharing the harvest. And that’s a fine decision. But if you’d like to put more lettuce on your plate without poisoning the produce or your garden, try taking your bottle of Arctic Blast outside and using it to reduce and/or eliminate garden pests.
I’ve been using it for the past 2 years to discourage ants from entering the house-I don’t mind them in the garden if they’re not colonizing a favorite planter or right in the middle of the flagstone path. But if they are, I relocate them by spraying the area. If I have a really bad infestation of fire ants (ouch!!) where they’re apt to drive me crazy, I pour Arctic Blast Concentrate down the nest. And it’s working!!
I’ve spayed my Passion Vine that was crawling with aphids. GONE! And a friend uses it against fungus gnats…the critters that fly in your face when you disturb the soil in a pot. GONE! I used it against White Fly last year. I haven’t seen them this year, but last year…GONE!
One of the best garden uses for Arctic Blast is as an antiseptic if you cut yourself with clippers or get a thorn from the roses. Spray immediately! The garden can harbor all manner of nasty bacteria and a cut can become infected rapidly. Arctic Blast contains rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and castile soap…all can help prevent infection and speed healing.
And if you get bitten by mosquitos or chiggers/no-see-ums, grab the Arctic and spray the bite. It will immediately stop itching and burning so you won’t scratch yourself into a nasty wound. Arctic won’t prevent the bite, but it WILL stop the itching!

Just a moment of Zen: Avoid spraying caterpillars until you’ve identified what butterfly it will become. I found a fierce-looking caterpillar on my kumquat tree and Googled “caterpillar eating citrus” and was able to identify the precursor to a Black Swallowtail. I put the caterpillar right back on the tree and am excitedly awaiting the elegant butterfly it will become…if a bird doesn’t find it first.

Herb’n Organics is on the threshold of a really big step! We’ve been handcrafting our wonderful all natural products in the back house on our property…a true cottage industry. We even call the little house “The Peppermint Palace”, and it’s been wonderful! We’ve been mixing our ingredients and pouring into bottles in the kitchen, labeling our bottles in the living room and keeping our shipping supplies in the bedroom. And it’s worked out well for the past 2 years.

Now we find ourselves feeling crowded and seriously short of storage space for the increases in production that we’ve been experiencing. Shipping has increased to such an extent that we find ourselves spending a lot of time searching for recyclable boxes and packing material.

We started looking around for a green company that could help us warehouse and ship our products and almost immediately found a wonderful locally-owned company that specializes in ‘green’ services. I had been driving by their site regularly and kept seeing their trucks and was very curious about their business. Then one day a member of their team contacted us. ‘Go Green Direct Delivery Company’ is a scant 4 blocks from “The Palace” (small carbon footprint) and not only will they warehouse for us, they will ship our internet orders AND deliver to bricks and mortar locations using a fleet of hybrid trucks!

As we began discussing possibilities with the mother-daughter team who run ‘Go Green Direct’, we discovered that they specialize in using recycled boxes and materials for shipping, too! Go Green!! And since our products do not require refrigeration, warehousing with them seemed financially feasible.

Discussions stretched across the months, and as we debated the advantages and challenges, it became apparent that we also needed to find a company that could bottle in greater volume for us and that company needed to be chemical-free as well, no toxic materials or chemicals on site. We began searching a year ago and were still looking when Go Green Direct purchased the bottling facility 2 doors south of their location just a couple of months ago! How great is that! And the facility they bought has never bottled toxins or dangerous chemicals.

So here comes the big step! We’re moving production and warehousing to their facility and over the next 4 to 6 months, we plan to move manufacturing and shipping 4 blocks south and devote our energies to developing new products and expanding our marketing area.

It’s a huge step in these economic times, but if we don’t make the move, Herb’N Organics won’t be able to grow. We truly believe that our products are amazing and we want to get them out there and into more and more homes, displacing toxic and hazardous commercial products that threaten children, chemically sensitive adults and pets. So here we go!!

I have been questioned a lot about why I chose to formulate Arctic Blast with peppermint oil and not one of the more commonly used oils like lavender. I have to say originally I picked peppermint because of its energizing and mood elevating properties. I really wanted to feel energetic while cleaning and not relaxed or sleepy. The surprise later after working with it, doing a bit more research, and experimenting with the Arctic Blast is that the peppermint in our formula seemed to have other helpful uses. For instance spraying Arctic Blast on mosquito bites helps stops the itching and aides in the healing of the bites! I found that one out firsthand myself one evening. And others have reported the same results when they tried it. It also is a good way to repel pests in your home and garden. The smell seems to deter many annoying bugs including – ants, aphids, and white flies. Peppermint oil has also been reportedly useful to deter mice, rats, cockroaches, and other vermin which dislike the smell. I haven’t tried all of that yet but I personally have used the Arctic Blast with great results on the ants, aphids, and white flies. I have also read that in test tubes, peppermint oil kills some types of bacteria and viruses, suggesting it may have antibacterial and antiviral properties. I haven’t performed that experiment myself but I’m inclined to believe it. It did help heal my mosquito bites and we do have pediatric clinics that buy Arctic Blast from us to use on their tables between patients. I think these are all great reasons to use peppermint oil but maybe the best reason of all is it just smells so good. So clean and fresh! Let us know what you have discovered yourself using Arctic Blast. It truly is beginning to sound like the Windex in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and we love to hear about your experiences using our products! Here’s to happy healthy… and ENERGETIC cleaning!

I really can’t believe it! Our company, Herb’n Organics, is 2 years old! We made our first sale April 19, 2008, at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, and our first customer was Jennifer Wadsworth, founder of Arizona Home Grown Solutions and a good friend. How did it all come about???
Candice Hartwell and I met on June 29, 2007, at a birthday gathering over brunch and champagne. She came with our friend Phil–we hadn’t met before. Since we didn’t know each other, she gifted me with her handcrafted household cleaning products because, as she puts it, “I knew you were an ecologist, so I figured you’d appreciate ‘green’”! She had that right. Her business card was taped to the bottles, Herb’n Organics.
That was the beginning of an amazing voyage. I realized that what she had created were fantastic household cleaning products that are chemical free, with all natural ingredients, and safe, safe, safe— products that young moms and chemically sensitive people had been searching for as I read their blogs and letters to editors. Candice and I started talking about perhaps starting a business, but it had to be developed along sustainable pathways. It took us a few months to hammer out our mission and to begin building a product line.
First came the ‘Big 3″ our Green Clean Products…Arctic Blast, Oh, So Orange Furniture Frappe and Peppermint Power. Then came Asana room spray, soon followed by Monsoon and Shanti room sprays to overcome the sometimes unpleasant odors left behind in a yoga classroom. Our Go Green Dog products came about when a customers at market showed us her dog’s painful and itchy skin condition–the result of too many washings with chemical laden commercial pet shampoos. Candice looked at the suffering pup and said, “I can do something about that” and she did.
Whole Foods Markets approached us to become a vendor in March 2008. D’arcy Landis met Candice at market and was impressed by our products and our mission. We realized that we needed to tighten up our carbon footprint in order to join Whole Foods and began searching for high quality USA made plastic spray bottles. It wasn’t easy, but we now have great bottles made in California…a much smaller footprint than our initial ‘made in China’ bottles.
During our first 2 years, we have worked diligently to become more and more local and sustainable in our production and marketing. We are member of Local First Arizona and committed to their 10% shift–purchasing from Arizona-owned businesses whenever possible. We found a wonderful local print company that provides us with paper created with wind energy, banners and labels made of re-purposed vinyl and inks that are water based. We found a delightful lady who makes old-fashioned soap flakes, and we found several family-owned product ingredient suppliers. Our market accessories are hand-made by a fellow market vendor, Helen Sands, she of the organic cotton washcloths and nylon netting scrubbies that we tuck into our market baskets.
We owe a special shout out to Cindy Gentry, director of the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, who has consistently supported our efforts and provided invaluable encouragement. Thanks for making us a part of the new Urban Market!
We’re still producing our wonderful products in the cottage on the back of my property, lovingly dubbed “the Peppermint Palace” and doing all our own deliveries, but we have expansion and growth aspirations. We believe we have the best products on the market and as word spreads we have been growing even in the current economic downturn. We are fully committed to becoming ever more environmentally responsible to ourselves, our customers and the earth’s web of residents. It’s been a gratifying journey thus far with lots of learning curves, challenges and joy. Our next steps involve extending our Arizona market area with the help of a green delivery company and a green bottling operation.
But for now, and in closing, we’d just like to say a huge Thank You to all our wonderful customers!! Thanks for your feedback and suggestions. Thanks for bringing your friends, family and bottles back to our booth. Thanks for buying Herb’N Organics at Whole Foods Markets, at the Urban Market, at Tempe Farmers Market and Tempe Feed and Tack. Thanks to the health care community for your support! And special thanks to local animal hospitals for using Arctic Blast to clean kennels and freshen the air for our 4-legged friends!

Since dogs should be bathed every month to remove toxins accumulated in their fur that can make them more susceptible to disease choosing a natural, safe, and gentle shampoo is very important for your pet’s health and comfort. Bathing with harsh detergent shampoos can remove natural oils and dry out your dog’s skin and coat. Synthetic detergents may also contain ingredients that can be toxic and harmful to our four legged friends and many animals develop sensitivities to the chemicals found in the pet shampoos being sold today.

We make Go Green Dog Shampoo with all of this in mind. Ingredients such as pure soap flakes, vegetable glycerin, vinegar, and essential oils make this blend a natural in helping to control odors, ticks, and fleas. Our gentle blend is a nontoxic, mild, and hypoallergenic alternative to detergent and chemical shampoos made just for our furry friends and it is perfect for dogs with sensitive skin! We recommend using a washing mitt allowing you to massage the shampoo into your pet’s coat very effectively. And then because it is a low sud-sing shampoo it rinses out quickly leaving your pet soft, fluffy, and itch free!
We believe you and your pets will love Go Green Dog Shampoo as much as our own little Emma pictured on the label does! So buy with confidence and here’s to happy healthy dog shampooing!