Drum Circle...We had a blast!

Richard Reiter, pictured here with his djembe, helped guide the return trip to spring at our Winter Solstice Drum Circle tonight. About 20 of us got together with an assortment of djembes, dumbeks, tambores, talking drums and cowbells to chase away the cold of December and the recent round of snow and ice storms. This was the perfect antidote also to the depressing events on the economic front. We were all reminded of how good it is for people to get together in one room and make music together. There is something undeniably primal about it - to participate in something our species has done for millenia.

How strangely remarkable that two local newspapers came to cover the strange phenomenon (people playing music together at the height of the retail season.)
Stop shopping! Make music!

Next month we'll move to the larger quarters at Encke Flowers for a salon concert.

We're looking forward to the spring, when we can move the circle outside of Tiger Lily and take over the streets of Teaneck.

A shoe in the hand...

.....is worth two at the Bush.

HFS!

Drum Circle and Fair Trade Sale

Don't miss our Winter Solstice Spiritual Drum Circle on Sunday, December 21, from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.! The store will be open from 12:00- 4:00 p.m. for a special last-minute holiday Fair Trade gift sale (and of course, flowers.)

The drum circle leader, Richard Reiter, has conducted drum circles all over the NY metro area. He'll bring his own drums in case you don't have your own. Tiger Lily also has some beautiful Fair Trade drums available if you want to purchase one. This promises to be a hugely uplifting event for all of us who are rooting for Planet Earth as she makes the big turn around the sun. There is a $10 suggested donation. We'll have refreshments, too.

Happy Thanksgiving (Native American Solidarity Day)!

What kinds of flowers would you use to celebrate Thanksgiving from the Native American perspective? It is a puzzle. I'm thinking rose stems with many thorns. Briars. Nettles and thistle.

And sage, to burn as an offering and for purification.

Free Leonard Peltier. It's long overdue.

Tiger Lily's Winter Solstice Drum Circle

There is nothing quite like the experience of a drum circle to help you feel exuberantly and powerfully alive! Holiday revelers may welcome the Winter Solstice and the arrival of Hanukkah by joining in a Spiritual Drum Circle at Tiger Lily on Sunday, December 21 at 4:00 p.m. No musical training is necessary. The drum circle will be led by master drummer Rich Reiter. Rich brings many drums and percussion instruments for everyone to use if you don't have one yourself. Tiger Lily also carries a selection of Fair Trade drums and percussion instruments for those who would like to buy their own. A $10 donation is requested. Refreshments will be served. Tiger Lily is located at 569 Cedar Lane in Teaneck (at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Lincoln Place.)

The Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year, when the northern hemisphere is at its furthest distance from the sun – has been celebrated by cultures around the world, throughout human history. Drumming and dance are often a part of the festivities. Tiger Lily’s Drum Circle will be an opportunity for anyone and everyone to discover how profoundly moving it can be to drum together in a group. Leader Rich Reiter will teach basic rhythms and drumming techniques for the uninitiated and talk about the cultural histories of drums and spiritual drumming.

Rich Reiter, an acclaimed jazz musician and Emmy Award-winning composer has studied African drumming in Senegal, and has led drum circles around the country including New Jersey venues such as the Puffin Cultural Forum, Outpost in the Burbs, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Montclair’s First Night. Rich, who is more well-known as a jazz saxophonist and composer, has performed with his ensembles internationally. He was recently acknowledged in a New York Times feature as one of the area’s busiest drum circle leaders.

Drummers and last-minute shoppers may also enjoy other great holiday bargains throughout the day from Tiger Lily’s selection of Fair Trade certified gifts and jewelry crafted by artisans from around the world.

Fifteen Things I Learned on the Campaign Trail*

By Sarah Palin


1.The vice president is customarily listed second on the ticket.

2. A size 4 in an Escada is more like a 2 in a Valentino.

3. The prime minister of Canada is Stephen Harper.

4. The premier of Quebec is Jean Charest.

5. How to pronounce “nuclear.”

6. I need to find a better security question for my Yahoo! Account.

7. Real plumbers join unions.

8. We are not at war with Iran.

9. Afghanistan is not a neighbor of the United States.

10. The vice president is not in charge of the Senate.

11. The First Amendment protects the press from politicians, not the other way around.

12. The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Anchorage Daily News are all newspapers, and many people read them.

13. “Going rogue” is not necessarily a good thing, either for elephants or Republicans.

14. What a community organizer does.

15. And I found out who the real Barack Obama is: He’s the President-elect of the United States of America.

*copyrighted by Tim Blunk

Fall Back - Time Change Arrangements

Time for a Change

Just in time for the election and the end of Daylight Savings...

Here is an arrangement in our showcase, using fall hardy chrysanthemums (NJ grown, organic), orange gerberas, and the last of the season's NJ sunflowers. We created a "bower" with a stem of myrtle, along with a wire-wrapped spray of beargrass. The intersecting circles emerging from the square vase create a more contemporary look to merge with the more traditional fall colors.

You can find these arrangements and many more in our two Teaneck locations: Tiger Lily Flowers on Cedar Lane, and Encke Flowers on Queen Anne Road.

The florist and community ritual...

Tiger Lily is located in Teaneck, home to a growing and vibrant observant Jewish population. We are nearing the end of the Jewish High Holy Days, including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simcha Torah. Much of our business centers around Shabbat on Fridays, when men customarily stop in to buy flowers for their wives, often accompanied by exuberant children, calling out "Shabbat Shalom! Good Shabbos!"

I have been struck by the unique position that a florist occupies in the community. We have the opportunity to assist or facilitate so many varied rituals. In the Teaneck community, where there are 40 different languages spoken at the local middle school, there is a wealth of such rituals - it is a full-time occupation to try and keep track of them all and to comprehend their significance. We are privileged, indeed.

So much of the floral industry's trade journals concentrate on marketing, maximizing profit and high-tech tracking of COGs (cost-of-goods). I have yet to see anyone write about quiet pleasure of assisting a family in celebrating their gratefulness for being and for each other, or the role of the florist as bartender/psychologist/faith healer, trying to help a ususally decent guy get out of the doghouse.

There may be a little less profit in this approach. But there is an ineffable connection to our community that, I would argue, is so much more important.

Green Wedding|Celebration|Alternative Weddings|Eco-wedding

Green Weddings -
Adding an element of "sustainability" to your relationship.


It doesn't have to be New Age, or involve dances before Gaia (although it could...). Making a commitment to becoming life partners is a statement of relational integrity. An engagement or wedding is or should be an affirmation of what each individual in the union has become in her/his life and for what they can become for each other, together, in the future. It makes sense that the symbols and rituals incorporate the best elements of the beliefs and values that the couple hold in common.

Many couples are foregoing diamonds as a symbol of engagement, based upon the diamond trade's roots in civil war and destabilization in Africa. Others are refusing to enter into the "gift registry" merchandizing bonanza promoted by the big department stores. Folks we know, who are concerned about the suspect pedigree (and expense) of imported cut flowers are using flowers and foliage they have grown themselves or are buying from local farms - a practice we heartily encourage.

We offer a sustainable alternative to couples who want their weddings/celebrations to reflect their beliefs: the Green Wedding. We are very happy to sit with you and discuss the amazing assortment of locally grown and/or Fair Trade organic cut flowers or plants that can be used in our designs. Our consultations become a brainstorming session on the ways that a celebration can make use of (elegant!) recycled or recyclable products - from Fair Trade certified and/or organic flowers to paper goods to the wedding dress itself.

Give us a call at either shop, Encke or Tiger Lily, and we'll be happy to talk "green".
201-836-1276 or 201-287-1800
http://www.tigerlilyflowershop.net/

Tulip Mania and Speculative Bubbles (the undeserving tulip)

Most students of economics know that capitalism was born in the Netherlands during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Holland, in fact, birthed the world's first commodity futures market, and logically, the world's first speculative bubble. The commodity that caused a financial frenzy wasn't gold, silver, tobacco or silk.

It was the tulip.

Tulips were highly valued and sought after as symbols of affluence. Because their bulbs reproduced cloned buds and could be dug up and transported at the end of their season, their "futures" could be traded and speculated upon. In 1636, a highly prized variety of tulip was discovered and cultivated (it was infected with a mosaic virus that gave the flower brilliant striations of color). During a lull in the 30 Years War, the French entered the tulip market, and the bidding on the mosaic-infected varieties took off. The price of the bulbs at its height was 150 times the average yearly earnings for a skilled craftsman or guild member (they formed the majority of speculators). The frenzy became known as the Tulip Mania of 1636, and the flower has become a symbol of rampant speculative fever ever since.

In our era, the symbol should no longer be the undeserving tulip. It rightfully should be the Bush.

Flowers for your broker...

Yesterday we ran a

"Wall Street Bail-out Special."
Free* flowers.

(*Your children will pay for them later...)


Today's sale:

Hardy* Mums: $7.99 (or 2.2 Euros)
* "fundamentally strong..."

How do main street businesses respond to Wall Street crises? On Monday morning, the streets of suburban Teaneck were like a ghost town. I imagined everyone at home, hiding under their blankets, wondering if the news anchors were going to go on the air and just announce that The Great Depression II has now begun. It won't happen like that, of course - anymore than the Crash of '29 was signalled by brokers leaping from office building windows.

This is Reaganomics coming home to roost. And what a dirty, pestilential flock of birds it is.

How do like deregulation now? It's a technicolor example of privatized profit and socialized debt. Keep government out of the affairs of business - until, of course, it comes time to pull their miserable, bloated selves out of the gutter. But this is not just "corporate greed" or something endemic only to Wall Street. It's structural. It is the logic of capitalism itself. Which is why the answers must also be structural, and they must adhere to an entirely different kind of logic: people (including future generations of people) before profits. Just a thought.

Sources of Fair Trade Flowers

At the bottom of this post you'll find a list of contacts that was provided to me by Kazuko Golden of TransFairUSA. Kazuko leads TransFairUSA's group trying to develop and promote sources of Fair Trade cut flowers in the US.

As we've noted in past posts, the US is way behind Europe, where an increasing percentage of cut flowers are Fair Trade certified. (Half of the roses sold in Switzerland are FTC.) Every retail florist that begins to sell Fair Trade Certified/Organic cut flowers becomes part of a larger, crucial effort to educate the US public about sustainability - economic and environmental. This will be a transitional process that will surely gather momentum, just as the Fair Trade movement has gained traction in the coffee market. Aside from being the manifestly right thing to do, I am sure that it will also prove to be profitable for retail florists as our customers become more knowledgeable. It is an easy step to take from comprehending fair trade related to food and coffee to cut flowers.

Our experience in selling FTC gifts in our shops in Teaneck (a moderately progressive, but by no means radical town) is that our patrons have generally heard of Fair Trade, even if they cannot articulate a complete definition. They like and admire the idea, and have expressed a preference to buy fair trade when there is a choice. This can be one more reason to come to your retail florist as opposed to buying flowers at the local supermarket or Costco.

(As I write this, I am watching a woman crossing the street in front of our store, holding a ready-made bouquet she bought at the local butcher shop...) We're in a tough business.

If you're ever in the NY/NJ metro area, please visit us at our shops:

Encke Flowers
281 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck

or Tiger Lily
569 Cedar Lane, Teaneck

Anyway, here's the list:

Jessica Bergna
EcoFlowers/Organic Bouquet
http://www.ecoflowers.com/
jbergna@ecoflowers.com

Edin Maslesa
Fall River Florist Supply
Direct Line 508-742-1846
Mobile 781-956-5012
Fax 508-672-1433
http://www.fallriverfloristsupply.com/

Perez, Sharon M.
World Flowers, USA Incorporated
przshar@aol.com
(863) 214-5202

Alaina Paradise
One World Flowers, Incorporated
aparadise@oneworldflowers.org
(505) 304-7458

Mr. Diego PadronAsociación de Comercio Equitativo
0-11-593 2 2441113
drpadron@hotmail.com


Hortensia Ulvrri
InBloom Group LLC
(305) 436-0030
hortensia@inbloomgroup.com

TransFairUSA

I just want to share with you the most significant organization committed to Fair Trade in this country: TransFairUSA. Be sure to visit their website (http://transfairusa.org) and access their many resources - from basic FAQs to in-depth academic position papers, to activist tools, the TransFair website has it. There is also a fairly complete listing of stores, coops, and web commerce sites for fair trade goods, including flowers. We will hopefully be included on this list soon. (There is a vetting process to ensure that retailers are on the level.)

Take a look at their site, including this Flash presentation:

http://transfairusa.org/content/feature.php

It is great to know TransFairUSA is out there. Check them out, and don't forget to make a donation!

(The photo on the right is shown courtesy of TransFairUSA.)

If you're in Bergen County, stop by one of our shops - Tiger Lily on Cedar Lane or Encke Flowers on Queen Anne Road and talk with us about Fair Trade.

Where to Find Organic Flowers (in Teaneck!?)

There's always the Thursday Farmers Market. Farmers Markets are, of course, seasonal and the selections (if there are any) are hit-and-miss. Sometimes you can score some righteous sunflowers, or sweet william, black-eyed susans, lavendar, and of course, herbs. Most times there are no flowers to be found. We love our local growers (Encke Flowers began as grower in Bogota, NJ back in 1906...) but for us, the closest source of organic flowers is Lawrenceville, NJ - just outside Philadelphia. That's a four-hour drive round-trip from Teaneck with the A/C running full blast in the back of the van.

If I can't/won't do this kind of floral beer-run on a regular basis, I can order from organic wholesalers such as EcoFlowers, based in California. I applaud their foresight and efforts. They've been sowing organic cut flower seeds for a few years, and I hope they reap the benefits. I have one big issue, though, which is if I order their cut flowers, they are cooled, boxed, and sent FedEx Overnight by jet and van, with a hefty delivery charge per box. I have to pass this on to my customers as a sort of "organic" fuel surcharge. See the contradiction?

Here's the problem: with the exodus of flower cultivation to Colombia, Ecuador and other places with 365-day growing seasons and exploited labor, folks like us who are interested in buying and selling organic cut flowers and plants have very few sources. Wholesalers in the US haven't caught up to their European counterparts. We're going to make this a personal mission.

I'm challenging my local wholesalers to find us some Veriflora certified, organic and Fair Trade certified lines of flowers. Aside from being the right thing to do on so many levels, I think it will be profitable for them in the very near future. We're working to educate our customers, and it will be a matter of time before a demand exists for "green" flowers in the US. I wrote to my wholesaler today, and I will share his response.

Meanwhile, you can find organic flower and fair trade gifts at our two shops: Tiger Lily Flowers on Cedar Lane, and Encke Flowers and Gifts on Queen Anne Road in Teaneck, NJ. Visit us on the web at www.enckeflorist.com

Why Buy Organic Flowers?|Organic Alternatives|Green Weddings

There are many reasons to buy organic flowers and plants when you can. Let's take a look at some of them:

1. The same reasons you would buy organic milk or vegetables applies to flowers. Maybe even moreso. Along with the reduction in toxic pesticides in the food chain (and our bodies), organic cultivation practices reduce the amount of petroleum based inputs used in farming. Petroleum is the primary source for pesticides and fertilizers.

2. Organic flowers address the core purpose of organic production: to enrich the earth rather than deplete it. Your purchase of organic flowers and food encourages more growers to convert to organic practices and to reduce toxic chemical usage in the world!

3. Pesticides and other toxic chemicals used on flowers can affect the health of farm workers and florists. Without the proper protection, the toxic chemicals can spread onto the clothes and into the bodies of farm workers which in turn can increase exposure to their children. Cut flower workers in Colombia and Ecuador (the principle floral export countries) are subjected to toxic doses of pesticides on a routine basis. Lax environmental and health controls in these countries is part of what makes their export business profitable. Florists on the other end of the producrtion chain who handle non-organic flowers have been known to develop dermatitis on their hands.

4. Buying organic flowers helps support local organic farming communities and organizations, which often have charitable, philanthropic motives for selling their flowers.

5. Organic flowers, according to many people, are more fragrant and last longer than non-organic ones.

6. The toxic chemicals used on flower farms can poison groundwater and the soil. These chemicals also become part of the food chain, as animals such as birds will eat the sprayed plants.

7. Through evaporation, toxic pesticides and fertilizers that are sprayed on flower farms end up in the atmosphere. They then travel to other global areas to fall as rain or snow.

8. Every flower counts: Increasing sales of certified organic flowers gives the market notice that more organic flowers need to be grown, which makes more flower farms convert to using organic agricultural methods.

A Green Wedding?

If you are planning your wedding, why not make it a "green" wedding? Make it organic! If you're in New Jersey or the New York City area, we would be happy to consult with you on how to do this. Call us at 201.287.1800 or visit us on the web at http://www.enckeflorist.com/.

Fair Trade and Flowers

Most of us don't associate flowers with exploitation. Or environmental degradation.

Unfortunately, the cut flower industry has a lot to answer for in this regard, having drawn its profitability from exploiting workers in Latin America and elsewhere for many years (low wages, poor working conditions, no labor organizations, toxic exposure to pesticides and herbicides...). However, the Fair Trade movement has changed the face of floral wholesale and retail in the European Union, and it is gaining a foothold stateside.

So what does Fair Trade mean? What can it mean for those of us in the US who want to design and sell cut flower arrangements without participating in the abuse of workers and the environment in the developing countries?

The Fair Trade movement was initiated by activists in Holland in 1988, responding to a plunge in international coffee prices. While European and American coffee drinkers enjoyed the benefits of cheaper coffee, small farmers in developing countries were devastated. Concerns for their welfare led to the establishment of a system of Fair Trade certification to ensure that coffee and other economically vulnerable agricultural workers were not exploited. However, Fair Trade certification is not just about paying farmers and workers fairly. It is also about promoting education and developing more sustainable trade ties with other nations. Fair Trade certification involves voluntary cooperation with a certifying organization and usually reflects an international effort between companies and their suppliers. Today, coffee and cacao are the two most commonly certified crops, because both industries traditionally exploited their workers. However, any crop or product could be Fair Trade certified.

What does Fair Trade certification mean? Is it just about prices? To be Fair Trade certified, a company must guarantee that their suppliers do not use child or slave labor, that workers are paid a fair living wage, that employment opportunities are available to all workers and that everyone has an equal opportunity for advancement, and that healthy working and living conditions are provided for workers. In addition, producers must agree to support the educational and technical needs of their workforce, while promoting active and healthy trade agreements and being open to public accountability. Fair Trade certification also often involves environmentally sustainable production and harvest practices, encouraging a stable market and a healthy Earth. Fair Trade certification also usually involves a respect for cultural heritage and encourages cultural exchange between nations rather than the smothering of traditions. Many Fair Trade products include information about the people who grow them and the world they live in, making every cup of coffee an education.

Who determines whether products meet Fair Trade standards? Most Fair Trade certification is governed by Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), a group of 20 Fair Trade labelers around the world who have set mutual standards and agree to certify and enforce them. In the United States, TransFair USA represents FLO, and numerous companies work with TransFair to achieve Fair Trade certification. Fair Trade products are sometimes more expensive on the shelf, although they probably cost less in terms of human suffering and environmental damage than conventional products. As more companies are working towards Fair Trade certification, the cost is beginning to come down, encouraging consumers to make ethical, healthy, and sustainable choices about the source of their food.

TigerFlower's First Posting

Welcome to TigerFlower. We are based out of Tiger Lily Flowers and Encke Flowers in Teaneck, New Jersey (right across the George Washington Bridge from NYC). Tiger Lily is a new shop with a new concept - merging innovation in floral design (or floral sculpture) with a commitment to Fair Trade and environmental sustainability. (This is the attitude part of "Flowers with an Attitude.") You can find us on the web at: http://www.tigerlilyflowershop.net/ and at http://www.enckeflorist.com/.

We are first and foremost artists, coming to the trade out of different design backgrounds (fashion and graphic design). We come to flowers with a sculptural sensibility but we also understand the importance of helping people celebrate their lives' great events and rites of passage. We are privileged to participate in our community's customs, their celebrations, courtships and reconciliations, illnesses and mourning. We genuinely enjoy the role we play in our customers' lives, however fleeting or tangential. It has become a rare thing for artists to enjoy this kind of daily direct role in such intimate rituals. It's not "retail". We're not just part of some abstraction called the "service sector." We dig it. It's got a different kind of glow altogether.