Once every five years or so, the Gaia Herb Farm is open to tours by invitation only. Ric Scalzo, a world renowned herbalist and founder of Gaia, will be leading the Farm Tour, and Central Market will be there!

Our Fort Worth store's Healthy Living Manager, Ann Rimbey, and I will be touring the farm this week, and we will keep you posted on all that we learn. We are packed and ready, with rain gear, water shoes, mosquito repellant, hats, hot weather clothing and good walking shoes. Ann and I will get to see what is currently in bloom, and witness on site harvest and production of their great herbal formulas. The folks at Gaia have told us that ginko, hawthorne, echinacea, valerian, ashwaganda, holy basil, marshmallow, and six others are now blooming, and one is being harvested. If you don't know what these herbs are for you can go to your favorite Central Market Healthy Living Department and ask a partner (!) or learn from us as we keep you posted this week.

At Central Market, we love and respect the quality and knowledge that goes into the production and formulation of the Gaia Herb line. To give you an idea of how serious Gaia is about quality, they have just rolled out a traceability code on every single box of herbs that they produce. You can go online and find out when it was harvested and details about that production lot and all the quality tests that were done. They have taken 'transparency' to another level. 

Stay tuned for more news from the Farm!

Anne Evanoff, Healthy Living Business Development Manager