Tiger Lily on the Telly-vision...

We all knew it was just a matter of time: Tiger Lily making it big.

Well, sort of. Last Monday we entertained a film crew from NBC's HD program, HouseSmarts, hosted by the Today Show's home and garden expert, Lou Manfredini (http://www.housesmartstv.com/).

This installment, part of their regular segment they call "Green Piece," will feature Fair Trade and where consumers can purchase Fair Trade products. It will air in late June or early July.

We are very grateful to producer Tina Cowles who found us, Darbi Worley, who asked the tough questions ("Why Fair Trade?") and their crew. They shot lots of B-roll of our Fair Trade products including our FT flowers, sports equipment from Fair Trade Sports, and our recycled materials gift collection. The best part for us was being able to supply photographs of our artisans, such as Orapin In-Aksorn from the Fuen Fu ("Rehabilitation") collective in northern Thailand. We're imagining what it will be like for some these folks to see themselves and their work on television and the web.

We're sending a huge shout out to One World Flowers, Larry's Beans and David Atlas of Artisans Emporia who helped us get our shelves stocked for a tv shoot the day after Mother's Day.

We'll keep you posted on the eventual air time and how you can see the segment over and over and over again on the "innernet."

Fair Trade Roses! You could just eat them. (Actually, since they're organic, you probably could...)

Wow. These are some of the most beautiful roses we have ever had in our shop. And they come with a Fair Trade label on every stem.

This means that they were raised organically, and 13% of the farm's gate price was returned to the workers for education and health care for them and their families.

Our Fair Trade roses come to us direct from the farm in Ecuador through One World Flowers. We are grateful to Alaina Paradise from One World who is working hard to make Fair Trade flowers more readily available to consumers. You can order direct from them or stop by our stores in Teaneck (Encke Flowers or Tiger Lily) to see what roses are supposed to look like!