Today I set up a table at the local food co-op to show off the products of mine that they are now carrying. When I got there to set up at 9:30 no one knew I was coming. Apparently the manager wrote it on the big calender behind the desk but forgot to tell everyone else. It didn’t end up being a big deal at all, but initially we were all like “Oh NO! Now what??” Along with my products, I also brought handouts about who I am and how Full Circle Herbs was started along with a list of the other products that I carry. I also brought copies of an article on salve making that I wrote a few years ago. I made a batch of my Rooibos Daily Tea Blend, too. I love that tea! The only containers that they had to hold the tea in were old coffee urns. So, we sent them through the wash and I was good to go.

Initially, I felt pretty intimidating… sitting at the front entrance, staring at people when they walked it. I tried to look elsewhere, but then it seemed obvious that I was trying to avoid looking at people. Then there came the questions of “Do I sit?”, “Do I stand?”, “Do I keep busy?”, “Do I look like I am waiting to talk?” Then, after about 2 hours of sitting there, I got the idea to pour the tea into little cups to entice people to come up and take some. Nobody can resist a freebie staring you in the face! And it worked. Everyong wanted to come up and try the free tea.

I talked with lots of people. Met a woman who makes goat milk soap who wants to get together. Met another woman who I had talked with on the phone before but never met in person. I had made her a remedy for hemorrhoids that she had never paid for. Turns out she’d lost my information and didn’t know how to find me. She introduced herself by saying “HEY! It’s YOU! I owe you some money!!” That’s always nice to hear.

When it was time to close down, I only had one little cup of tea left, so I gulped it down only to be shocked by the taste! The tea that had steeped in the urn the longest tasted like coffee flavored herb tea!! It wasn’t bad tasting, but it certainly wasn’t the flavor of my tea blend! I was pretty disappointed, but being that there wasn’t a thing I could do about it, I just chalked it up to another lesson learned: always bring your own tea urn!

All in all, it went well. Now, I can concentrate on getting my labels to the printer, deciding on whether or not to make the t-shirt, deciding about getting liability insurance and UPC codes so that I can put my stuff in Earthfare, and making more stock. Beezy, Beezy, Beeezy!