Today the production staff was given a chance to step out of our traditional roles and see another part of the mint business we aren’t directly involved with.

For this trip, we had the opportunity to visit one of the farms that grows our mint oil.

We were greeted by Andrew and Tim, the Operations Manager and Senior Operations Manager respectively, who took us on a tour of their farm and how it operated.  It was exciting to visit the mint fields, as well as learn about the team of experts responsible to make the farm a success, from determining what to plant, when to plant it, how much water and fertilizer to use, and so much more.

A few of the things we learned (and not all mint related).

  • –  Farming is not a simple process.
  • –  It’s surprising to see the number of different crops being grown on a single farm.
  • –  There are at least 4 different varieties of corn

  • –  Farming has evolved from a single harvest each year to a meadow process which can yield multiple harvests in one season.
  • –  A mint crop can only be grown in the same field for a limited number of years before crop rotation is required.
  • –  Plants stop drinking water when its smoky, so a clever farmer will stop watering during such times so as not to flood a field.
  • –  One of our team dislike cooked carrots. (A strange one for sure, since there were no carrots on our tour)

We were glad for this chance to come together as a team and gain a larger understanding of the mint business as a whole. Truly the heart of it is getting back to the root of everything that shows where and what we are working for.

Cowritten:

Justin Judd / Lena Begnaud