hill country observerThe independent newspaper of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the Berkshires

 

Arts & Culture September 2022

 

The herbalist and the carver

Couple’s homestead business yields soaps, tinctures and wooden spoons

 

Joe and Stephinie Miner started Sweetbrier Farms several years ago in Salem, N.Y., and now grow a variety of herbs they use in their handcrafted line of tinctures, salves and other personal-care products.They produce a line of soaps, and Joe carves wooden spoons. Joan K. Lentini photo.

 

Joe and Stephinie Miner started Sweetbrier Farms several years ago in Salem, N.Y., and now grow a variety of herbs they use in their handcrafted line of tinctures, salves and other personal-care products.They produce a line of soaps, and Joe carves wooden spoons. Joan K. Lentini photo.

 

By STACEY MORRIS
Contributing writer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.


On a hot Saturday in July, Stephinie Miner was fielding questions from customers at the bustling Saratoga Farmers’ Market in High Rock Park.


“All our soap is made with essential oils and no synthetic fragrances,” she explained to a woman who bought the last two bars of lavender soap from the display at Miner’s table.


Sales tend to be brisk at the Sweetbrier Farms booth, where, in addition to soaps, there are displays of herbal salves, glass bottles of herbal tinctures and tonics, and bags filled with herbal tea blends. The booth sits near the main entrance to the farmers market, where crowds navigated the gravel corridors on their way to lemonade vendors and tables brimming with fresh greens and tomatoes.


Seated behind Miner’s displays bottles and tins, almost out of sight, was Stephinie’s husband, Joe Miner, quietly focused on inlaying the perfect indentation into the wooden spoon he was in the midst of carving.


For the past several years, this has been a winning formula at Sweetbrier Farms, their Washington County farmstead and business: Joe carves one-of-a-kind wooden spoons, while Stephinie takes charge of the alchemy in formulating herbal skin-care products and tinctures.
The couple’s work is a kind of dual passion that evolved from Stephinie’s growing interest in all things natural and small-batched.


“I’m really proud of my soaps and worked on the recipe for quite a few years before getting it the way I wanted,” she said, adding that all her soaps are palm-free because of issues of sustainability with palm oil.


As she was increasingly drawn to wellness remedies based in nature, Stephinie began crafting tinctures, deodorants and salves in addition to her shea-based soaps. Because of the volume it takes to make essential oils for the soaps, she sources organic oils wholesale.


As for the herbs needed for tinctures and salves, she grows a portion of them — about two-dozen varieties including calendula, ashwagandha and tulsi — on their farm.


The soaps are her top seller, but Stephinie said customers’ interest in them often serves as a steppingstone to discussing the merits of the tinctures and salves.


“Body care is a gateway to wellness,” she said with a smile. “It’s a nice conversation opener. There’s a huge educational piece for what I do; a lot of impromptu consultations happen when people are browsing — especially for teas and tinctures.”


Sweetbrier Farms’ alcohol-based tinctures are self-stable and include lung tonics as well as blends for digestion, decreased anxiety and immune support.


“I love getting people excited about tinctures,” Stephinie said. “I have three different blends for stress, because stress manifests differently in people’s bodies. So when they discuss symptoms with me, I can recommend the best tincture.”


Other top sellers include immunity blends and restful sleep blends. Prices begin at $8 for soaps and range through $24 for one-ounce bottles of tinctures.


Miner said that since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, customers seem more receptive than ever to plant-based wellness, which she doesn’t find surprising.


“The bulk of our pharmaceuticals are based off old-school herbalism,” she explained. “But the more we pull a plant apart, the more we increase unwanted side effects. Take aspirin, for example: It’s derived from willow. When that gets turned into aspirin as we know it, that form no longer has the properties of willow to protect the stomach.”


In contrast, she said, “herbalism is a whole-food way to approach wellness, because you’re using the whole plant, whether it’s a salve or tincture.”


Several of her salves are made to reduce aches and pains. One in particular began with cannabidiol, or CBD, and other herbs.


“Our first-aid salve is what started my business,” Stephinie recalled. “We put it on everything from bumps and bruises to burns. It’s antimicrobial and anti-bacterial and speeds the healing of skin tissue.

 

Alaska to New York
The Miners settled in Salem three years ago after living all over the nation thanks to Joe’s 26-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard. The two met at a 1997 Coast Guard Christmas party in Cordova, Alaska, where Joe was stationed and where Stephinie grew up.


Over the next 22 years, the couple raised four children — Sam, Jade, Sophia and Luke -- while living in Minnesota, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.


“I was an active duty Coast Guard wife for 22 years,” Stephinie recalled. “But every time we visited the Adirondacks, it won for Joe.”


When Joe, a native of Whitehall, retired in 2019, the couple decided to make their homestead in upstate New York.


“When we lived on Cape Cod 20 years ago, we used to make the drive regularly to visit my family in Whitehall,” he recalled. “It was such a pretty drive, and one day we decided we’d like to live in Washington County.”


Stephinie decided to pay homage to the Coast Guard years by naming their business after the ship where Joe was stationed when they met.


She refers to the 35-acre property that houses Sweetbrier Farms as “unceded Mohican land,” having become aware of Indigenous cultures while growing up in Alaska.


“There’s a thriving native culture there, and it’s always been part of my narrative to be aware of the history of the land,” she said. “I try to refrain from referring to land as mine, as it can be harmful to those who have been displaced.”


The Miners donate a portion of their sales to marginalized communities, and Stephinie plans to teach herbal-based skincare and wellness classes in the fall.


“I know not everyone can afford what I make, and I’m passionate about teaching the DIY process to make herbalism more accessible,” she said.

 

Upcoming artisan festival
Sweetbrier Farms’ five acres of fields and 30 acres of forest allow plenty room for their heritage chickens, colonies of bees, and two dogs, Lucy and Bertha, to roam.


“We’re nowhere near being self-sustainable, but we enjoy the connection of growing a good amount of our food,” Stephinie said, adding that the farm has a 90-foot-by-100-foot garden, chicken coops for both laying hens and meat birds, and an apple orchard. “Every day, our to-do list is longer than what can be done, but any real farmer has a list twice as long as ours.”
In between their work at farming, Stephinie and Joe tend to the endless job of replenishing inventory.


Both will be displaying and selling their wares at this month’s Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival on Sept. 24-25 at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Greenwich. The festival will feature more than 100 local artisans and craftspeople selling handcrafted goods and demonstrating their skills. The weekend will also include activities, live music, a silent auction, festival food and local craft beverages.


“Carving spoons ended up being a by-product of the farmers market,” said Joe said with a laugh. “I’m not a good sitter, so this way I get to pass the time.”


His locally sourced butternut wood spoons range from the size of soupspoons to massive paddles. Prices range from $25 to $75.


Joe’s introduction to spoon carving came by way of his wife, who took a woodcarving class six years ago and showed her husband the technique. He was instantly smitten and began doing it daily.


“I’ll carve all summer long in order to have a supply of spoons for the festival,” he said. “I don’t make any money on the spoons as far as the labor goes. It takes way more time to carve a spoon than people are willing to pay.”


He said butternut is a hardwood that tools like a softwood.
“I try to use the grain I get with each piece and work it into a shape of a spoon,” he explained. “It’s a form of meditation for me. It’s hard to be grumpy and carve at the same time.”
The same might be said for the life of an herbalist.


“In learning to trust my own relationship with plants, I have also learned to become a better listener to my customers so I can help them connect with their own inner wisdom,” Stephinie said. “For me, herbalism is about caring for ourselves as a practice, tuning into seasonal living, and supporting our bodies in each season as much as we can. I’ve seen a specific herb work beautifully for some folks and have no effect on others. Instead of distrusting myself or the plants, I know that each of us is unique and has a different reaction with different herbs and foods.
“I think western medicine is brilliant at heroic care, but I hope to see folk herbalism make a strong comeback in all of our communities as a first line of prevention and care.”


Stephinie recently put some of her herbal salves into unexpected practice when their dog Lucy cut her leg open and needed stitches. She augmented Lucy’s recovery from the medical procedure with homeopathic arnica — and alternating ice compresses made of yarrow and calendula.


“Yarrow helps with swelling and bruising, and it’s perfect to pair with ice to bring the inflammation down,” she said. “After that, calendula helps speed the healing process. When anyone in our house is injured, we use herbal compresses made of a strong tea and a clean rag, accompanied by ice or heat as the injury needs, then follow it up with a topical herb-infused salve. It’s a simple, old-school way to support tissue healing. and it’s pretty amazing how much it speeds up recovery.”

 

Visit www.sweetbrierfarms.com for more information about Sweetbrier Farms and its products. Visit www.adkwoolandarts.com for more information about the Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival scheduled for Sept. 24-25 at the Washington County Fairgrounds.