We are a vertically integrated company, meaning that every step of our production process from product conception to shipping to you– is done on our farm in Vermont. This even includes growing some of our ingredients in our very own garden.
Our Organic garden is on the Tata Harper Skincare Farm, and tended to throughout the summer months by employees. While we work to create products that enrich, not deplete, our environment– we find our homegrown ingredients to be an integral part of the process.
PREPPING THE SOIL
This starts with seeding plants that build the soil with rich nutrients. We do these through Regenerative farming practices. Regenerative agriculture is a practice that enables carbon drawdown and improvements in the water cycle through rebuilding and restoring soil matter and biodiversity.
This builds soil health and nutrient density, and contributes not only to the health of our plants and therefore ingredients, but the planet as well.
SEEDING & PLANTING
We specifically grown the herbs and botanicals found in our Estate Grown Beauty Complex. This beauty complex is a blend of nutrient-rich flowers & botanicals grown on Tata's organic farm, picked, dried, macerated, and then used in almost every single product we sell! We are so glad to be able to package a piece of our Vermont Garden in every product.
The seeds are planted in early April and include the following…
Arnica, our favorite anti-inflammatory. It contains lactones which are well known for their calming effects on the skin.
Borage, helps to fight inflammation and improve the appearance of skin texture. It contains Omega 6 and Omega 9 fatty acids, along with multiple vitamins and minerals making it seriously a vitamin for your face.
Calendula flowers contain powerful antioxidants which help to slow the breakdown of collagen and elastin providing anti-aging effects.
Alfalfa is packed with vitamins including D to boost skins radiance, E to block free radical damage and K to reduce dark circles and puffiness.
Meadowsweet is known to reduce the activity of the sebaceous glands, and helps to fight acne.
Elderberry is known for its benefits in relation to acne and rosacea while also containing Vitamin A, our favorite for anti-aging.
GARDENING
Throughout the summer, the herbs are tended to daily. We spoke to Doreen, the garden manager, for the full run down. “Every day starts with a tentative “plan” from yesterday’s end. We either start where we were on a project, or start on a new one. I walk the garden assessing watering needs, weeding areas, if it’s time to plant in an area, or what needs harvesting.” Doreen went on to explain how some summer mornings they are able to begin harvesting right away– but if the herbs are damp at all, they wait for the sun to try them out. “You never harvest wet flowers,” Doreen explains. At the end of the day, they clean all their tools and harvest buckets.
We asked if they were growing anything new this year in the garden that they haven’t grown before. Doreen let us know that they are! Something for a new line of products that are just in the beginning stages. We can’t wait to be able to share more.
Come the first week of June, the Arnica is ready to be harvested. Alfalfa follows closely after, and Meadowsweet isn’t ready to be harvested until the end of June. Calendula and Borage follow as well, and Lavender only begins blooming at the very end of June.
Each herb is harvested by hand one flower at a time. They are weighed and then put on drying racks for their drying duration. This can take just a few days, for Arnica or Meadowsweet, or up to a full week for flowers like Calendula. Once dried, the flowers are bagged, weighed, and taken to our Research & Development team for inspection.
MACERATING
Once the herbs are fully inspected, it’s time to turn them into the Estate Grown Beauty Complex!
This is done through a maceration process in which the herbs are macerated for multiple hours at low heat to preserve the integrity of the herbs and flowers. This mixture is then strained through a cloth to then be added to formulas and sent to you!
