EARTH MOTHER BOTANICALS, BARBADOS

One of the downsides of the tropics is mosquitoes and mosquito bites (more in Trials and Tributes on this), both of which are unpleasant.  At the time of day when you are just beginning to enjoy the sunset that they come out in force to find their victims. The smell of proprietary insect repellents is, quite frankly, disgusting and I hate using them (see Trials and Tributes post).

A couple of years ago on a small stand in a shopping mall, I came across Earth Mother Botanicals, a company based in Barbados, who were selling of gorgeous herbal products from salves to soaps and I decided to give their organic ‘Bug Be Gone’ insect repellent a go having nothing to lose at this stage.  To my surprise it smelled gorgeous, of lemongrass, with the bonus that it did actually repel mosquitoes so I was interested to find out more about their lotions and potions.

 
Heading off one morning up Gun Hill towards Four Cross Roads in St John, I was met by Amy LeMay, one of the founders of the company, in a small and very fragrant front garden. What I didn’t expect was that the whole business was run from a house on the side of the road and that most of the herbs used in the products were grown on the premises in the yard at the back. 

 

In the surprisingly small backyard most of the herbs, trees and flowers used in their products are grown in raised beds which are packed to the gunnels and cropped extensively.  Like most herbs, the more you pick the more you get so space is not necessarily an issue.  Amy was keen to impart some of her incredible knowledge of the healing properties of tropical herbs and some of their amazing stories of which one was the Morinda tree.

 

Used extensively by cane field workers who toiled for hours under the hot sun,  a glossy Morinda leaf plucked from the tree and put under their hats would gently infuse its healing properties into their bodies and stop headaches, back, joint and muscle pain.  Their Morinda Leaf muscle and joint rub has a massive following.

 

 

 

The Neem tree was another.  Neem is fast being recognized worldwide for its healing properties and its wonder leaves are added here to oil which is fast becoming the main treatment by a leading podiatrist on the island for nail fungus.

 

 

 

The Green Earth salve cures a myriad of skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, rashes, insect bites and with ingredients including Wonder World (or Tree of Life), Cure for All and Cerasee it’s not surprising that this salve is used by doctors and dermatologists.  I can also attest to its effectiveness as I am allergic to plasters and, having used one, had an itchy rash.  After one day’s application of Green Earth, the rash had all but disappeared.



Wonder World or Tree of Life
 

Cerasee



Cure for All

All the remedies, of which the ones above are just a few, are made in a converted outbuilding in the yard where outside, large jars of herbs infuse within their oils in the sun.

 

Amy is very proud of being as environmentally friendly as she can be by composting plant waste and using local people to make her packaging from the hand-made paper for the soaps to the mahogany boxes for the gift packs.  Even the cotton seed oil used in some of the products is grown on the island exclusively for the business.

Amy LeMay



When asked about how the company began, Amy explained that her love of herbs and healing had led her, from teaching at a retreat in the USA, to Barbados where she had come to initially teach classes about herbs.   The enormous interest in and popularity of the classes led Amy and her business partner Sandra to realise that there was a huge gap in the Barbados market and so 14 years ago they started to build their business. 

 

With an ever increasing demand for environmentally friendly and organic products in Barbados, Earth Mother Botanicals will soon outgrow its production space as demand is rapidly increasing and they now have a presence in supermarkets and spas as well as shopping malls. You can also catch up with them at the various farmers markets that are springing up all over the island too.



 

Amy will send out products worldwide.  Just contact them via their website. www.earthmotherbotanicals.com