Q&A with the Founders of Harvest Farmacy

Grace and Todd Vranac
Founders of Harvest Farmacy
@harvestfarmacy | harvestfarmacy.com

Grace and Todd are the founders of Harvest Farmacy, an elderberry farm on a mission to bring the highest quality elderberry to their customers. The Vranacs built an elderberry orchard in Texas so that they could have access to fresh elderberries and elderberry juice for their products. They crafted their Elderberry Wild Cider Health Tonic with a focus on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich properties to cultivate wellness within their community.

What does wellness mean to you?

To us, wellness means supporting our bodies with nutrient dense foods and building a strong immune system to support our body. We love incorporating anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich foods into our diet.

Your fave Instagram accounts to follow?

@thedefineddish @roamranch @madisonviningblog

Morning routine?

G: I start my mornings with a cup of warm lemon water and then quickly move on to my mushroom coffee. I cherish my morning coffee and it's something I look forward to. T: My morning consists of feeding the horses and our dog, Crawford. Then I enjoy a cup of coffee outside overlooking the farm.

Evening routine?

We enjoy slow evenings. We always make a nourishing meal such as grilled cedar plank salmon with roasted vegetables or the Defined Dish Meatballs with @jovial cassava pasta. We also love wine and recently have been exploring different biodynamic wines to enjoy with our meals.

Travel essentials?

Bison Epic Bars, Todd always has a Waterloo Sparkling water with him and all of our vitamins

Instant energy boost?

A walk around the farm always gives us energy. Walking the orchard rows and seeing the growth reminds us that we are cultivating wellness for our community and it always gives us excitement.

Most used condiment?

G: Dijon T: Aioli

Favorite smoothie recipe?

Our current favorite is: 1 Fresh Banana, 1 Cups of Frozen Berries, 1 Cup of Orange Juice, Handful of cilantro, 1 Scoop of Barleygrass and 1 Scoop of Spirulina

How do you take your coffee (or tea)?

G: No sugar, but with a splash or two of a vanilla nutpod T: Straight but with a teaspoon of raw cane sugar

Go-to cocktail?

We love a glass of prosecco with a splash of our Elderberry Wild Cider. The flavor is vibrant, the color is beautiful and it tastes delicious.

3 ingredients/foods you can't live without?

Harvest Farmacy Elderberry Wild Cider, Himalayan Pink Salt and Einkorn Flour

Go-to gift?

The Defined Dish cookbook

How do you reset?

An epsom salt bath or a good infrared sauna session

When you feel sickness coming on you...

Take a shot of our elderberry wild cider!

What's valuable to you?

Cultivating wellness not only for ourselves, but through Harvest Farmacy and for our customers by growing nutrient dense foods to support and nourish the modern diet. We love being able to connect our customers to the farm and the passion behind it.

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Thank you, Grace and Todd! We love learning more about you guys, and we are thrilled to offer Harvest Farmacy Elderberry Wild Cider at R+R for $28. Come and get it!

Q&A With Founder of Apothenne LA, Jacqueline Bradley

Jacqueline Bradley
Founder Apothenne LA
[uh-poth-en]
@apothenne | @jacquelineLbradley 

Jacqueline is the founder and tastemaker for Apothenne LA, a home fragrance company with their flagship products being candles. Apothenne offers intentional home and wellness goods both online and to over 200+ retailers nationwide. Their aim is to provide clean, beautiful wares for the home and one’s daily rituals, wellness journey, lifestyle and spiritual practices. 

We are thrilled to carry these beautiful, thoughtful candles, and to learn more about Jacqueline!

What does wellness mean to you? 

Wellness to me is a lifestyle, a non-negotiable. It’s listening and responding to my body with nourishment for mind, body and spirit. 

Name three non-negotiables in your life.

• My meditation practice 

• Organic, whole foods

• A quarterly retreat to somewhere alone in nature

Your fave Instagram accounts to follow?

• @eyeswoon

• @spiritdaughter

• @goop

Morning routine?

The first thing I drink is a glass of warm lemon water with an LMNT Electrolyte Pack. I take a few of my herbal supplements. Followed up by a cup of organic coffee with GoodMylk Almond Mylk in it. Light one of our Apothenne candles, do a guided meditation, shower and I am typically at my computer by 8am. 

Evening routine?

Cook a nourishing meal, walk our dog around the (new) neighborhood and either take an Epsom salt bath or do a more elaborate skincare routine. I love to read so I typically will curl up with a book, and I am in bed by 9pm! 

Travel essentials?

• Super You capsules from Moon Juice, they are apaptogenic herbs.

• Raw California almonds 

• GoodMylks Pure Almond Power Latte Creamer- it only has Sprouted Almonds, Maple Sugar, Himalayan Salt

Instant energy boost?

Matcha Tea Latte 

Most used condiment?

Hot Sauce 

Favorite smoothie recipe?

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 banana, sliced and frozen

• 3/4 cup leftover coffee

• 1/4 cup almond milk or other nondairy milk

• 1 tablespoon almond butter

• a handful of ice cubes

• 2 Medjool dates, pitted

• 1/4 cup cauliflower

• pinch pink salt

• cacao nibs for sprinkling, optional 

• Place all ingredients in a blender, and purée until smooth. Pour into a glass, and top with cacao nibs if you wish.

How do you take your coffee (or tea)?

With GoodMylk almond mylk and cinnamon

Go-to cocktail?

A spicy margarita 

3 ingredients/foods you can't live without?

• White sweet potatoes 

• Ghee

• Kale

Go-to gift?

One of our candles and a Wish Bead bracelet 

How do you reset?

Time in the infrared sauna weekly and connecting back to nature often. 

When you feel sickness coming on you...

• Rest. Arrange my schedule and just rest.

• Take the Lypo-Spheric™ Vitamin C packs

• Take a hot bath

What's valuable to you?

My health & wellness. My spiritual journey. My company. Nature and our planet. Access to clean, whole foods.

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Thank you, Jacqueline! Welcome to Fort Worth and to R+R :) We now carry the following beautiful candles in-house, so come grab one (or two!) today:

-French Garden (fresh fir, lavender, ylang ylang, tomato flower and amber)
-Lake House (uni-sex scent, ripe pear, lily of the valley, damask rose, amber, and vanilla)
-Lavender Sea Salt (lavender fields, salt air, lemon, rose)

Apothenne candles are 100% natural and made with non-GMO soy wax, 100% cotton-core wick, and premium essential oils. No preservatives, additives, dyes, phthalates, lead, petroleum or synthetic fragrances.

4 Ways to Avoid Greenwashing

Picture this: You’re newly aboard the wellness train. You’ve got your green juice. You’re tossing candles and swapping perfume for essential oils. You’re considering a water filter, and you’re shopping the outside aisles of the grocery store. 

You get home with a new haul of groceries, cleaning products, and personal care products whose labels read like they were God’s gift to all things clean, natural, and held to the highest standard of health and safety on the market. 

Or are they? 

Enter Greenwashing.

Greenwashing, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, can be defined as “[making] people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.”

So basically, it’s the tale as old as time: Sneaky Marketing 101.

Any Madmen fans remember this line? 

"Everybody else's tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike's is... toasted." - Don Draper, Mad Men

A la Don’s usage of toasted, by slapping words like natural, clean, fresh, pure, etc. onto labels of everything from aluminum foil to Z-bars and everything in between, how does one know what products are really green and safe?

Step 1: Beware the sneaky, subliminal marketing messages.

Branding gurus love using the color green to help you think something is safe and clean. In the same vein, if you see a cozy koala or any other animal for that matter on the label, your brain likely sends a little message saying, “Aw, cute little kangaroo. They must care about animals. This is probably safe!” Same scenario if you see the words pure, environmentally friendly, natural, eco-friendly, green, fresh, preservative-free, non-gmo, and even organic! 

If you see this, don’t just robotically add to cart. Instead….

Step 2: Read the label.

Rule A#1: If you see the word “fragrance” pass that baby to the left, to the left. The word fragrance can be used to mask 1000s -- (1000s!!!) -- of undisclosed chemicals, all in the name of making a scent. We promise, promise once you start side-stepping synthetic fragrances, you will.not.miss.them. For more info on this sneaky ingredient, we recommend watching the documentary Stink!

In addition to fragrance, here are the big ones you definitely want to avoid: 

• Anything ending in “cide” because this signifies pesticides

• Anything anti-bacterial messes up the body’s microbiome and actually harms our immune systems rather than helping them

• For food, be wary of “no sugar added” because this typically means synthetic sugar substitutes have been used

• Essential Oils: make sure they’re organic or wildcrafted

• Anything ending in “ol” or “ene” because these likely mean a petroleum or coal-based original source

• Synthetic preservatives in personal care products such as MIT, BIT, parabens, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, benzalkonium chloride, phenoxyethanol

• Likely a duh, but avoid any dyes in foods as well

We know the list can be overwhelming, so stick with this rule of thumb: The shorter the ingredient list, and the more words you know, the better. 

Step 3: Remember certifications that actually mean something.

The USDA Certified-Organic label is one you can trust whether you’re shopping at Wal-Mart or Whole Foods. If a product simply says “organic” on the label without this certification - this is a red flag.

We also value the Made Safe certification, though this one is definitely hard to come by.

Step 4: Use your tools.

We love the Environmental Working Group (EWG)’s App! You simply enter a food or product brand, and they will give you the safety rating from 0-10. The lower the score, the better.

Use our Trusted Products page for tried and true brands for everything from food/drink to non-toxic living and personal care products!

We know the path to making more mindful product choices can be daunting, and we are more than happy to help guide you. Never hesitate to reach out to us!