The Paddock, going organic to feed your skin.

Supporting small local suppliers is a key ethic at Grow to Glow, which is applied to our ingredient sourcing. We are proud to now have our Comfrey Ointment stocked in a new hub for local produce and locally produced products, The Paddock's Farm Shop! The Paddock, a local veg box scheme, opened The Paddock Farm Shop in April this year, much to the benefit of the wider area. Laura who founded and runs the Paddock is a very friendly face and an ambassador for the local food movement. Laura not only runs her veg box scheme and farm shop but also organises vibrant local food events. Just up the hill from where the comfrey in Grow to Glow's ointments are gathered and the hives from which our beeswax comes from, the farm shop could not be more local! Perfect  for gardeners hands as well as sprains, breaks and aches our Comfrey Ointment sits well along side the veg from Laura's garden. The perfect match, plant power for your skin as well as your dinner!

Skin care products often boast being full of antioxidants and protecting against free radical damage.Toxins and harmful chemicals are damaging our bodies as well as our planet so it makes sense to protect both of these. Surely we should be careful to not ingest chemicals which cause us damage and choose organic foods to feed our skin from the inside out! Going organic is a wonderful thing!

Laura's farm shop could do as much for your skin as your organic moisturiser or ointment. Organic fruit and veg is packed with antioxidants and the more the merrier as far as your skin is concerned. Leafy Kale and spinach are full of Lutein which aids healthy skin tone, they are strengthening for your skin and anti inflammatory, reducing puffy, hot skin. Broccoli is full of vitamin C  which boosts your immune system, helping boost collagen and so strengthening the capillaries which supply the skin. Beetroot is rich in anthocyanins making your skin glow and tomatoes are full of lycopene which helps protect against UV damage! Vegetables are rammed with an array of antioxidants which keep your skin healthier for longer and reduce the appearance of wrinkles!

An organic diet helps protect the ecosystem and our bodies from being awash with dangerous 

pesticides and fertilisers as well as being much more flavourful.

To be labelled 'organic' comes with a price tag so often more intensively farmed vegetables from global supermarket chains are accredited with an organic label and yet produce grown locally, free from chemical treatments are not. Organic labeling helps us to choose vegetables which meet certain organic standards, but the interesting point here is that often vegetables meet certain organic standards yet are not big business enough to afford to be organic. The term organic is no longer a simple description of food grown free from chemicals and industrial processing but is a term to be bought and whilst we might find one carrot to adhere to our idea of organic status more than an organic labelled carrot in a plastic wrapper on a supermarket shelf, the packaging description has taken ownership over the very term, 'organic'.

For many of us we would choose a field fresh organic product which is in season, grown locally, free from pesticides and chemical fertilisers, packaged in paper and in re usable wooden boxes by friendly faces who are not exploited in their work place than a plastic wrapped, intensively farmed, non fair trade organically labelled product. That is why businesses like Laura's are so valuable to our communities as they offer just that choice.

So pay a visit to Laura's farm shop and find our ointment alongside other locally crafted items and delicious fruit and veg free from nasties. http://www.thepaddock.org.uk/the-farm-shop/

The Paddock Farm Shop is having an Open Day Celebration on the 3rd of September, a chance to meet with the suppliers and try some tasters. https://www.facebook.com/events/279965455710717/