Early Years in Jamaica

 When I was about 8 years old and living in Jamaica, I went to live with my grandma Enid and my grandpa Fritz for a couple of years.  Living with my grandparents allowed me to experience the fruits of my grandpa's hard work of gardening on their homestead. I got to enjoy a variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables. During that time we had about 11 mango trees of various varieties, tangerines, oranges, sugar cane, avocado (which we call pear in Jamaica), sweet sop and sour sop, plus more. My summer breaks as I lived with them also included helping to pick coffee from our many coffee trees that my grandparents sold as part of a co-op within our community. Living with my grandparents instilled many seeds of wisdom into me and helped to shape my mindset on many things, but especially on how I treat others, and on the importance of plants whether herbs, fruits, or vegetables.

The Beginning of Enid b.

As I became a college grad and adult living in Brooklyn, NY, and shopped for skin and hair care products, I sought out brands that contained mostly plant-based ingredients before "plant-based" was a term. So when I started dealing with acne right after college around 2006 I sought out natural remedies before I had to resort to going on Proactive. This is why I started making my Glowing Skin Herbal Face Oil and Charcoal and Aloe Vera Bar Soap many years later to help others with this same issue. In 2012 I began struggling with severe dry skin and couldn't find a natural brand to remedy the issue, my DIY spirit kicked in again as I experimented with shea butter which someone introduced me to when I shared my struggles. I made a body butter of shea butter, jojoba oil, and sweet almond oil (the same recipe that I still use in my Shea Body & Hair Butters) that remedied my issues in no time.

I gave away jars of this body butter (a seed of kindness planted in me by my grandmother) to friends and family and they started asking for more which was the beginning of my business Enid b. (name in honor of my grandmother) which started more as a hobby/side hustle.  As my knowledge increased and my diet changed over the years, I also changed the types of oils and plant butters that I use to make my products. For example, I now use about 90 - 100% organic oils, plant butters, and herbs to make my face and lip sugar scrubs, Beloved Crown Herbal Hair Oil, shampoo bar soaps, face and body bar soaps, and more, which was not the case back in 2013.

 Here is the second iteration of my product labels created around 2014. The previous and first labels were not adhesive but were made of paper and attached with elastic. Hey, you have to start with what you know and have. :-)

Today

Fast forward to 2024 and I have relocated from Brooklyn, NY, to Dallas, Texas.  I now have the space to tap back into more of those "seeds" that my grandparents instilled in me. One of those seeds is by starting a backyard garden to grow produce for my household, and to also grow herbs and produce that I can use to make my skin and hair care products for Enid b.  There are many things I cannot produce in my backyard and one of the ingredients I get to source locally is fresh goat's milk that I purchase from Bonton Urban Farm in South Dallas, which I use to make my Oatmeal Honey & Goat's Milk Bar Soap.

So with all of that being said, let me introduce you to my backyard garden.