APIS: Latest Buzz
Jessica Harrold, much like her Idaho-made herbal health and beauty products, is all honey and no sting.
A Boise native, she has spent several years getting to know the ins and outs of farming. Having previously worked at Peaceful Belly Farm when it was located in the Dry Creek area near Boise, Jessica tips her hat to the knowledge and experiences she gained there as the inspiration behind her own agricultural journey.
Jessica’s home—and, more importantly, the plot of land it sits on—yields a variety of fresh vegetables, flowers, herbs and plenty of pollinating bugs. You can find many of these homegrown items in the products she sells at the Boise Farmers' Market under her company name, APIS, which is the genus for honey bees.
After learning how to make her own lip balm, Jessica discovered a way to marry her dream of owning her own business with cultivating her passion for farming. Creating APIS, she explains, came after “I started learning about herbal remedies when working for Peaceful Belly. I hadn’t really even thought about it before then. Then I took a class from a local herbalist, and started formulating on my own. I bought books, studied and took some more online classes."
APIS touts a wide range of hand salves, herbal clay masks and even nursing balms for mothers. With the absence of harsh chemicals and preservatives, APIS is a natural take on typical beauty products (and standards) with a mission, Jessica says, of striving to be “a really great steward of the land.”
With her products housed in classically chic glass and metal containers, APIS uses far less plastic than traditional cosmetics packaging. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in a report for The New Plastics Economy, “Each year, at least 8 million tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean—which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken … the ocean is expected to contain 1 tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight).”
Jessica not only reduces her plastic waste, but by growing almost all her own ingredients she reduces transportation costs and air pollution, and can directly manage the quality of her products.
APIS, with its distinctive bee logo, has been sold at the Boise Farmers Market for two years now and Jessica has no plans to slow down. Her biggest challenge? “Time. I have so many things I want to do, and it often leads me to spreading myself too thin over all my projects. I’m trying to improve my time management and production efficiency so I can still do everything I want.”
Peaceful Belly Farm
Boise Farmers' Market | @boisefarmersmarket
APIS | @apisidaho
Ellen MacArthur Foundation | @ellenmacarthurfoundation
The New Plastics Economy
