Appleton Basket Company Blog

The Holiday Spirit

2011-12-03T05:29:00.001-05:00

This is about the time of year we get very busy; right now is the "calm before the storm". With two kids and a small business, there is a certain amount of daily chaos. Added to yesterdays mayhem was something that brought a surprising amount of inner happiness.

We are fortunate to have a very nice piece of property. It provides wood to heat our home in the winter, a habitat for wildlife and is a beautiful and peaceful place. The habitat is diverse. There is pine forest, hardwood and wetlands. As in much of Maine, balsam fir grows everywhere. When my siblings and I were young, my dad used to round us all up and we would go out and find our Christmas tree in the woods behind our home. Our family continues that tradition.

About 4 years ago, Cathy thought it would be a nice idea to invite people from town, that couldn't afford to buy a tree or didn't have the resources to cut their own, over to cut their own trees. So, every year, we put a small note in our school newspaper. Some years we have one or two takers, some years none.

This year, in the first day after the note was printed, we received four phone calls.

Yesterday, after school let out, we spent the afternoon walking around our fields and woods with three families, looking for the perfect holiday tree for each of their homes.

It doesn't take much to share something that we take for granted. We shared an hour or two and a few fir trees. Now, a few neighbors can enjoy the holidays a little bit more. Just think about how much better the Holidays would be if we all slowed down just a little and did something nice for a neighbor or two that was having a challenging time.

"Paying it Forward" isn't about waiting for an opportunity to do something nice. It's about creating an opportunity to do something nice. Think about taking that first step; you'll be glad you did.

I'd like to thank my wife for creating this opportunity for us; I'm certainly glad she did.

Update: We received a call from one of our local papers who thought this would be a nice Holiday story. Here's the link.

New (Well Sort Of) Family Game Night Gift Baskets and more!

2011-10-19T06:59:00.001-04:00

Here in our area of Maine, the nights are cool, the leaves are falling and it's warm by the woodstove. It's the time of year we begin thinking about the Holiday Season. We're not ready to get out the Christmas tree lights mind you, but we do begin to plan for our busy season. Shipping boxes have arrived along with bags of bows and other Gift Basket sundries.

As the official data cruncher and self-professed marketing guru for our little company, I look at numbers. Change has been in the air for a while; can you feel it? Look at the news and what is happening globally now with the protest(s) on Wall Street. It seems apparent that the American public is growing increasingly aware of something that our politicians and big business are blind to. I saw it in our numbers last Christmas. From what I could tell, everyone that purchased from the Appleton Basket Company last year had been to our site at least once before. Why is this remarkable? Because the American consumer is once again beginning to care (and care deeply) about how to spend the money they earn.

We have always tried to create good products that will be useful and bring a smile to the gift receivers face. We try to be as "green" or "sustainable" as we can (and that's not easy in our business). We believe in "paying it forward" by taking a small portion of each gift basket sale and donating to worthy charitable organizations here at home and even abroad in some cases. We value deeply the people we buy goods from as much as the people we sell to. In short, we know there are those of you out there that care (as we do) and we try like heck to "walk the talk" because "we" are "you" and we know it.

There's some new things we'd like to share with you. First, we decided to rework our Family Game Night Gift Basket. When the weather outside makes us stay inside, there's no better way to have family fun than with games. We decided to change the contents of our Family Game Night Gift Basket and include two classic board games; Monopoly and Scrabble. We also include two card games: Uno and Sorry Revenge, a deck of regular playing cards and some healthy snack mixes. You can see the new Family Game Night Gift Basket here.

In thinking about the above Gift Basket, we realized we were excluding families with younger kids so (you guessed it) we created a Family Game Night-Young Kids Edition. We replaced the board games with Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land, two classic board games for kids just learning how to play board games. We also included both an I Spy and an Old Maid Card Game as well as the two healthy snack mixes. You can see the new Family Game Night-Younger Kids Edition here.

But wait, there's more! We have good friends that are NASCAR fans and they've been after us to create a "car" gift basket. So, we've also added to our collection of Kids Gift Baskets, the Hot Wheels Kids Gift Basket. Five Hot Wheels cars, a pack of track, two monster trucks, a Hot Wheels Customizable Puzzle and two healthy snacks; Vah-room!

Spring in Maine

2011-04-29T06:12:00.000-04:00

Spring is always an interesting time in Maine. Winters can be long and so we mark the progression of spring with a variety of events.

The first true indicator of the advent of spring is mud-season. As the days warm, the surface of the ground melts over the still frozen ground underneath. It usually rains a bit adding to the soup-like qualities of our gravel driveway. You can tell the folks that live on unpaved roads by the layer of mud spray on the sides of their cars. Teenage boys (and many adult-boys) in Maine love mud season so they can see how much mud they can actually get to stick to the exterior of their four-wheeled vehicles.

As the snow-melts and ground begins to thaw more, we begin to look for "ice-out" on our local ponds and lakes. This is when can observe the multi-season, die-hard fisherman. Some will be out on the ice still ice fishing while others will find the sparse pockets of open water to cast their lines. As time progresses, the ratio of one to the other changes. Sometimes, there is the lone ice house out on the lake that was frozen into the ice and left to its demise as the spring thaw comes.

Those of us that garden scramble to get soil tilled. We wait for the topsoil to thaw enough to scratch the surface and dig deep enough to get our early crops in the ground. We do this not our of desire to each fresh veggies (although that is always a treat). We do this because we know that if we wait too long, our skin will be ravaged by the first insect menace of spring; the blackfly. Maine is not for wimps in the spring.

The arrival of the blackfly coincides with a layer of bug-splatter that plasters itself routinely on your windshield as you drive. No amount of windshield washer removes 100% of the bug-splatter. The big yellow ones just smear across your windshield obscuring a nice slice of your vision. So, we learn to leave it there and hope that we get a day of rain to soften the goo enough so that the wipers can clear our vision as we drive. Thankfully it seems to rain quite regularly in the spring here.

The arrival of May marks Mother's Day here at the Appleton Basket Company. So, as usual, we are planning our annual mailing and preparing to send out Gift Baskets for that special mom in your life. For Mainers, it means something more as Mother's Day marks the end of blackfly season and the true beginning of warmer weather and the "Sweet Season" as some here call it.

If you are not on our mailing list and you might want to order from us, be sure to sign up on our home page for our mailing list. We send out a 10% discount coupon with the Mother's Day Mailer good for all purchases up till Mom's Day. For all you mother's out there, we wish you a most wonderful Mother's Day and beginning of the "Sweet Season".

A funny little thing...

2011-01-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time, in internet terms, that I've updated our blog. The dust after the holiday season has settled, the floors cleaned of shred, cellophane and ribbon tailings and things are returning to normal (whatever that is). With a new year comes retrospect. In watching our 2010 holiday orders, a few trends occurred that I thought it would be interesting to share.

First, and most important, is a trend we hope continues. From our limited view, it appears that the face of retail business might be changing just a little. This is what I observed...

Our company spends money on internet advertising (as do lots of other small businesses). So, I watch the traffic to our site to see how well my advertising is working. This past holiday season, I noticed a trend. It appeared to me that local people were realizing they could make a difference by using their dollars to support small, local businesses. I saw this statistically as a definite and significant increase in people buying gifts filled with locally made products. As a numbers person, the evidence wasn't a teeny, suggestive difference but a rockin' definite difference!

Well, you can speculate about an informal survey like this, but its harder to discount if there is additional information. Local customers, whom I talked to when they placed a phone order, told me the very same thing. They wanted their money to stay local and they wanted to support small businesses! In conversations with local business friends, many told us they had heard similar. We hope that other small businesses around the country experienced the same. As consumers ourselves, we are VERY aware of how we need to tighten our belts and compromise to exist on a daily basis. It's nice to see that people are making a decision to support business at the local level and keep the dollars they earn as close to their own community as possible.

The second thing I noticed was that people that visited our website were more "intense" this year than I have ever seen. Every single one of our holiday sales were from someone who had been to our website at least once previously and spent time looking at our products. What this means to me is that folks are shopping more wisely. They are taking the time to research products, prices, shipping rates and who they purchase from. They are choosing to buy things that meet many more criteria than in the past.

In my opinion, one of the things that has slowly happened over time is that our mind-set has been unwittingly shifted. Most people find comfort in huge retail. They know exactly what they will find in any major big-box store that can be found within a 30 minute drive of any location; in any state. There is comfort in this and we all know that. Subconsciously, we also know that when we buy from these establishments, much of the money we spend goes elsewhere. Yes, some stays to pay the employees but much of it supports the nationwide existence of a retail giant and those that made it big; it's investors & stockholders. When we spend, we are constantly making these compromises. Perhaps, just maybe, our conscious is beginning to play more of a role when we spend.

So, is the face of business shifting a little more towards supporting small businesses? For personal reasons, we certainly hope so! And, after this past holiday season, we have a small bit of evidence to support this trend. We hope this is real, as do many small businesses I'm sure! I'm hoping that this small change is a ripple that continues to grow.

Think of the impact microbrews have had on the big beer industry. Big beer was very surprised when craft-brewed beers began to take over a significant share of their market. It wasn't a huge share but it was enough to cause big beer to take notice and even attempt to experiment with alternatives. Personally, I feel much better consuming a flavorful beer that is craft-brewed locally and made with hand-picked quality ingredients. Yes, I spend a little more but I get a better product, I support business locally and I keep my spending dollars in my community.

Life is about balance and about feeling comfortable with the decisions we make. With this new and dynamic economy that we are all a part of; willing or not, let's hope that Americans are redefining balance in a way that makes more sense.

Happy New Year all!

The Country Wave

2010-06-28T07:05:00.003-04:00

The kids are out of school, Father's Day has just past and the days have just now begun to get shorter. Our garden is totally planted and we are enjoying spring greens and peas. As we drive down the road with our car windows open, the delicious fragrance of wild roses saturates the air. Summer has arrived.

One of the little things I enjoy about living where we do is the "country wave". Being relatively distant from most everything means that folks in our community spend a good deal of time behind the wheel. With this comes the familiarity of our neighbors vehicles. And, with that, comes the "country wave", a form of greeting not taken lightly in our neck of the woods.

Between having my head in the clouds half the time and needing a pair of specs to see things in the distance, I am often reprised for my occasional lack of acknowledgment when I'm driving. Last week, out of the blue, I was asked if I was having a bad day by one of my neighbors. I replied that I seldom have a bad day and asked "why"? The reply was that I hadn't waved at them as they passed earlier in the day.

While driving around town, I have learned to bring my brain out of the clouds long enough to focus on both the vehicle approaching me, then the face behind the windshield to see if I need to wave. Some people avoid this issue by just waving at everyone.

Now, folks have different types of acknowledgment as they drive by; sometimes you have to look carefully for the two fingers just slightly raised from the curve of the steering wheel. Other times, there's a full-on salute, arm out the window wave. Depending on how well you know the person in the other vehicle, the type of wave can also be indicative of their state of well being. And, if you don't inquire next time you see them, some view it as an insult and get indignant.

Most of the time however, the "country wave" is a salute to the kinship that evolves from living in rural America and to our local relationships no matter how familiar our neighbors may be. It's a tie that binds us and celebrates our connection to our friends and our community and, for this, we are most grateful.

So, while we haven't posted a Blog in a while; this is our "country wave" to you. We hope that you are enjoying the beginning of summer, looking forward to celebrating our country's birthday in the next week and have some form of relaxation planned in the months ahead.

Vamanos! Dora has joined our lineup of Kids Gift Baskets!

2010-05-30T07:35:00.002-04:00

We've added Fun With Dora! to our line up of Kids Gift Baskets.
Here's the link: Fun With Dora!

Our Rational Minds....

2010-04-11T06:08:00.002-04:00

I was chatting with a good friend the other day and he related a story that I'd like to share.

Some fairly well-off folks from down south (this would be south of New York City) decided to buy a summer camp here in Maine on one of the many lakes in our area. When they first came up to spend some time at their camp, they asked my friend where they could find the local "big box" store to get some supplies to make a few repairs. My friend responded that there was a great local lumberyard no more than a mile up the road. They said that they would rather drive 40 miles to a Home Depot. When asked why they replied "we don't want anyone to know our business".

Sadly, I can see where we as a society have embraced this idea of "being safe by being anonymous". It's most likely a result of advertising and marketing. Those folks are always looking for ways to change the way we look at life to make their products and businesses more "necessary". And, the only people that can afford those big ad campaigns are the really big businesses.

But, if we really look at how we feel... is this really what we desire? Do we want to be "anonymous"? I personally don't think so. We all have quite a bit in common and most of us like to share. We might have kids the same age, enjoy the same movies or are annoyed with the past three days of rain. I would submit to you that if we are to survive as a country, we must re-learn what it is to be an active part of a small community.

As part of a small community, you become a shareholder in its success. You volunteer, you contribute, you shop the local lumberyard, grocery store or pizza place. You join the PTA at your kids school or volunteer some time with the local boy/girl scout troop. You discover the true meaning of phrases like: "to give is to receive", "what goes around comes around" and "there is strength in numbers".

Remember. Corporations run their businesses to make their stockholders money. These corporations spend their money to make sure we spend our money with them; it's called advertising and marketing. And, these corporations have not been around nearly as long as small businesses; they are a relatively recent phenomenon.

Historically, our country was built community by community. It was built by good folks who invested in their community by creating a business. These people didn't get wealthy. They earned a living and provided a service. This is one aspect of the American dream. It is still alive and you are still a part of it.

Every time you buy something, you spend money that you have worked for. Where do you want that money to go? Do you want that money to go "away" or would you like those dollars to stay in your community where they can continue to work for your community?

In my humble opinion, that's what it all comes down to. Money represents energy you have earned. If we keep that energy in our communities, then our communities stay energized. If we give that energy away, then we have to work that much harder to get it back.

Signs of Spring

2010-03-06T16:35:00.006-05:00

It takes spring a while to reach us here in the northeast corner of our country and there are some definite indicators that warmer weather is around the corner here in Maine. Being a very early riser, I am thrilled when the sun begins to rise earlier than I. The other morning I looked east and noticed a bright band of brightness backlighting the trees as the morning coffee gurgled. On an early drive shortly thereafter, my nose tingled with that familiar pungent odor of skunk newly out of hibernation and probably surprised that I too was up and about. Driving by a local lake, I spied a bit of clear water around the edge of square miles of ice. The days are definitely longer and the sun is definitely higher in the sky.

Our neighbor has tapped his maple trees and spring sap collection has begun. The billowing steam cloud out of his sugar house will come soon once enough sap has been collected and we always look forward to visiting him on Maine Maple Sunday for fresh maple syrup served over vanilla ice cream. The seeds for our garden arrived a few weeks ago and the onions, peppers and eggplants have been started in our bedroom window once again.

Winter for us can seem like it lasts forever but every year our four dramatic seasons make it seem like there is always something different right around the corner. With the advent of spring comes renewed hope as we look forward to the changes that come with the season.

Our summer garden is something we all look forward to. The kids especially love pulling and eating fresh carrots. Jeff loves tomatoes and Cathy eggplant. One of our favorite summer dishes is fresh yellow squash and onions, tossed in olive oil and herbs and cooked on the grill in a grilling basket. We have always had some sort of a garden everywhere we have lived. When we lived in the city, we had small pocket gardens in the sunniest locations of our yard. We only had room for a few things then but food tastes so much better when you grow it yourself. With all the negative press associated with the foods we consume, it somehow feels better to know that some of what we eat comes from the untainted soil in our own backyard.

We buy the seeds for our family garden from a local company (Fedco Seeds) that won't compromise on the integrity of the seed they sell. They don't advertise and they don't have nice glossy photos but the descriptions of the products are enough and the seeds are very reasonably priced. Every year, we try some new varieties and don't reorder the ones that don't do well. We try seeds for at least two years as our summer climate can vary to a great degree. Gardening is one of those things that involves trial and error, luck and fate. You know, kind of like life. But one thing is constant. Every year, we get fresh veggies to eat from the garden and that makes all the work involved worthwhile.

For the last two years (coinciding with the downturn in the economy), seed sales have skyrocketed. So, if you are one of those folks beginning to till the soil in your backyard, don't give up after one or two seasons! Keep trying, keep learning and keep growing! And, if you are looking for a wonderful and practical gift to share with a gardening friend, check out one of our Gardener's Gift Baskets. They are a great way to give someone a variety of things a gardener will need to invest in anyway and the items in these baskets have been incorporated based on years of personal gardening experience.

Appleton Basket Company January Update

2010-01-24T05:30:00.003-05:00

Our crazy, busy season ended a few days before Christmas and we spent an enjoyable holiday with our immediate family as well traveling to visit parents. The kids received far too many toys (as usual) but the look on their faces was priceless as they got their first look at the pile under the tree. We were able to visit Santa again successfully this year; our oldest may "know" or at least suspect but, if she does, she's keeping it close. It's so cool to be able to relive a little bit of our youth through the eyes of our children. We hope your Holidays were filled with similar memories.

After recovering from the Holiday crunch and cleaning up the shred and ribbon fragments that covered the shop floor, Cathy sat down a week ago to write yearly donation checks for all the different charities we support. There were over 85 checks sent to different charities!

After a few deep breaths, we are gearing up for Valentine's Day; it's hard to believe that the month of January is moving towards a close already.

Please tell your friends about us; write on our Facebook wall and/or send us a note that we can add to our testimonial page. We love what we do and your kind and supportive words are wonderful and appreciated.

Happy New Year to you! We hope this year brings better and brighter things your way!

the Holidays, they are a comin'

2009-11-24T13:23:00.002-05:00

November in Maine has been relatively mild. The days are noticeably shorter and with daylight savings time now in effect, the afternoons seem to end quickly with the early advent of nightfall. By mid-afternoon, the sun sits low on the horizon and even before it sets, you can feel the air outside cool quickly. Many folks around us heat with wood and you can smell the scent of burning oak as the afternoon fades. Though the ground has yet to freeze, there is ice on the small ponds at daybreak. Sometimes it melts by afternoon and sometimes not. We awoke to four inches of partly cloudy on our front lawn three weeks ago but haven't seen a flake since. We know that it's just a matter of time before the trees will be painted white with snow and we can go sledding once again.

The Holiday Season also comes sneaking up on us filling us with both excitement and anticipation. It's also only a matter of time before we have to look forward first to Thanksgiving, then to the Holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa (my apologies if I have overlooked others). With the changes that continue to impact our lives daily, most of us continue to look a bit more carefully at how we live; I know that we do.

Cathy and I continue to run the Appleton Basket Company by doing business based on what we feel is right. We create our products with good things and try to make them functional and enjoyable. We believe in our customers and in providing great customer service. We believe in sharing our success with those less fortunate by contributing two dollars from each gift basket sale to different charities. We believe in making as small an environmental footprint as possible by using recycled and biodegradable products whenever we can. We do this because this is who we are. We write about this because you have a choice about who you do business with.

Thanksgiving is two days away, the kids will be out of school shortly, your turkey may already be out of the freezer thawing, maybe you will have a house full or you will be visiting others. The events we create and how we celebrate life make our Holidays meaningful. From our family to yours, we hope you have a warm and heartfelt Holiday season. If we can help you send a gift to someone special this Holiday Season, please let us know.

Jeff & Cathy Cleaveland
the Appleton Basket Company
www.AppletonBasketCompany.com

Blowin' in the wind.....

2009-10-18T05:22:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite fall smells comes when folks begin to fire up their wood stoves. Their is a hint of burning oak in the air. It means that many of our nights are cold enough to push the mercury down to below freezing. Our days here in Maine have lost most of their red and orange hues as many of the leaves are now off of the trees. Those that remain are yellow. You can see the trees through the forest and soon we will be out Trick or Treating with the kids.

We've been plenty busy at the Appleton Basket Company. This is the time of year we create some fun new products to put online in our store. Yes, the Holidays are coming but we've been thinking about things since late August.

One new line of gifts we are excited about is our "Crates". We've taken many of the products from some of our favorite Gift Baskets and put them in wooden crates. Our crates are a bit more economically priced and made mostly by us as (it gives Jeff a chance to go play with his power tools). Here's a link to a few of the Gift Crates. We'll be getting more online in the next week.

Cathy has decided to take her love of Elvis seriously this Holiday season. She has found delicious flavored Cocoa packed in keepsake tins. Our favorite flavor? By far its the Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. You Elvis fans will know what we are talking about. Here's a link to the Elvis Gift Box page.

There's more in the works as we still have to get a few more new products online. We hope your fall is as pleasant as ours here in Maine. Thanks for stopping by!

Those *%!#$ packing peanuts.

2009-10-04T07:09:00.006-04:00

We send and receive packages. It's what we do. And, I will admit, the one thing that makes me absolutely crazy is those white, static-filled necessary nuisances called packing peanuts. The unfortunate thing for us is that we need them. Some of our vendors ship using the ones that are not static free. Those are the worst. They stick to everything and the static electricity makes them either stick or repel when you go to sweep them up. On dump day, I pack things up to go to our transfer station and inevitably end up chasing those fluffy nuisances as they blow out of the garage and into the driveway.

We have examined all of our options. We've looked into those inflatable pillows and the vendors won't even talk to us because we don't ship enough volume to make it worthwhile for them (so much for being good environmental stewards). We've thought about using shredded newspaper and shredded cardboard but it packs down during shipping allowing our gift baskets to move around inside the box. We still haven't been able to get completely away from packing peanuts (we're not sure when we ever will) but we have moved on to a better alternative.

We are now shipping our gift baskets using biodegradable starch-based packing peanuts. These are re-usable (if they are kept dry), fun for the kids to play with (wet an end in a bowl of water and stick them together to build things), biodegradable (dump them in the compost pile if you have one), dissolvable (add hot water to them and they dissolve) and just plain better in the grand scheme of things.

It might also be prudent to point out that we do use other things that have recycled content. Our gift basket shred has 70% recycled content. Our boxes are also made of approximately 43% recycled content (this in an industry average).

It's important for us to "walk the talk" especially at a time when others are looking for ways to cut costs. The Appleton Basket Company is dedicated to "doing what we can". Our belief is that we can't afford not to.

There's a hint of fall in the air.

2009-09-13T16:50:00.004-04:00

As soon as the calendar ticked over to September, it was as if someone flipped a switch. The skies seem to have that hue that shorter days give, the nights are cool and crisp and the lowland red maples are changing color and beginning to lose their leaves. I remember why I love fall. Large, white puffy clouds that move across the horizon, large milkweed plants that provide food for Monarch butterflies that emerge from their chrysalis' soon then flutter around a bit before migrating South and nights that cool as quickly as the sun sets. The kids are back in school and we at the Appleton Basket Company are beginning to plan for the holiday season. I know it seems early but then again, the Halloween costumes are already on the store shelves.

We are always excited to plan for the Holiday season! It seems to give us the excuse we need to add more of the gift baskets we have been thinking of creating to our collection. This year, we have added a line of wooden crates to our Maine-made product line. We hope they may be appealing to those on a budget still wanting to send wonderful gifts from Maine to friends and family. It also gives Jeff a chance to run out to his workshop now and then to get a sawdust fix. We make most of the wooden boxes right here.

We have also added some new products and some new vendors. We are pleased to offer Pastor Chucks Applesauce in addition to his Applebutter. It is by far the best applesauce we have ever tasted! His slogan "One taste and you will know the difference between good and evil" rings true. In your first bite, you taste the sweet apples, then a moment later, just a hint of the sour apples and the cinnamon. It's an incredible taste experience!

Our friend Jim at The New England Cupboard now provides us with some great baked goodie mixes. For the holidays, we have created a new Maine Chowder Crate. Three different types of delicious chowder with Jim's Popover Mix, yum! Organic Cornbread Mix from Fiddler's Green Farm will also be an option in the Maine Chowder Crate. We've also created an Maine apple-themed Gift Basket with Pastor Chucks Applesauce, Applebutter and New England Cupboard Applecrisp Mix. We haven't chosen a name for this one yet so if you have a suggestion, please pass it on!

New England Cupboards also has a line of delicious dip mixes that we will be featuring in an appetizer gift basket. We are still working out the details of this one. There's quite a few more in the works and we will update you again soon.

So, with the advent of fall comes some excitement on our end with us beginning to think about the Holiday season. I know it's early but we'd thought we'd let you know what we were up to. Hope you're doing well.

Jeff & Cathy Cleaveland at the Appleton Basket Company

Is Summer Here Yet??

2009-08-02T07:41:00.003-04:00

Summer has finally arrived here in Maine. It's been a very strange season so far, filled with overcast skies, cooler temps and rain. Our garden had been languishing due to the unusual weather but we still have been enjoying fresh lettuce, baby carrots, peas, green beans, squash, broccoli and, finally, tomatos. Last night, I chunked some fresh, small red onions, zucchini and yellow squash from the garden, tossed the pieces with olive oil, coarse salt and Penzy's Pasta Sprinkle then grilled them in a basket on our gas grill. It was absolutely outstanding! I'll be doing that again soon!

It's late August and our local lakes have finally warmed up enough to be comfortable swimming in. Our overcast skies earlier this summer kept the water cooler than usual. The kids haven't minded the cooler water and would play till their lips turned blue and their teeth chattered. I went in yesterday and the water was beautiful! How bittersweet that this is our last week before school begins.

With the advent of August, we here in Maine start to look forward to our agricultural fairs. We are lucky to have a few within a 30 minute drive. Our closest (and favorite) is the Union Fair in Union, Maine. There's a little something for everyone and it celebrates our favorite blue fruit, the blueberry. The kids, of course, look forward to the rides and being tall enough to go on the "bigger" attractions. I look forward to blueberry pie day where they give away freshly baked, warm from the oven, mini blueberry pies. Yum! We also like to visit with our friends who make a living from farming and attend the fair to show their livestock. If you are visiting Maine this August, you absolutely must visit one of our fairs!

It's at this time of year, crazy though it sounds, that Cathy and I start to discuss and plan the Holiday (Christmas, etc.) season. In addition to building our inventory of supplies, we bounce around ideas for new gift baskets. The creativity flows and it's difficult to keep from adding lots of new gift baskets to our store but we have to be practical and limit ourselves each year to the ones we like the best.

We are adding a new line of gift crates this year and are packing some of our favorite Maine foods into wooden, Maine-made crates. One of my personal faves is the Toast Toppers Crate which has Organic Apple Butter, Blueberry Jam and Maple Cream; yum! We will also be adding a Maine Chowder Crate and a few others. We'll let you know when we add these to our online catalog. I think Cathy also has created a Cheese and Dip Holiday Gift Box and a Game Gift Basket too. I know there will be more....

We have also added a new Maine vendor to our growing cast of good local folks we do business with. Welcome and thanks to Jim of New England Cupboard up in Bangor. New England Cupboard makes wonderful baking mixes and we look forward to featuring their Blueberry Scone Mix, Blueberry Muffin Mix, Popover Mix and Herb Dip Mixes in our Maine Gift Baskets. You can find New England Cupboard here.

Happy end of summer! See you at the fair!

Why you should care.

2009-06-29T06:45:00.005-04:00

As the number of online businesses continues to increase, so do the strategies for getting you to purchase their goods. The choices offered online can be mind boggling! And, with the change in our economy, folks are shopping around more and looking for the best "deal". Being from Maine, we tend to be fairly practical and straight forward (at least we think we are) and we design our web site to reflect this. Occasionally, I (Jeff) will adventure out into the world of gift baskets advertised on the internet to see what everyone else is doing, returning to our site to see how it "fits" into the collective whole. While doing this early this morning, some thoughts crossed my mind and I thought I would share them with you.

Why you should care.

Clicks. When you use that search box on Google, Yahoo, Bing or whoever, you tap into the power of a search engine managed by any single or multiple of the above. Their goal is to make money. When they return a list of items for you to investigate, the highest paying bidders (advertisers) appear closer to the top of the page. These "sponsored" search results usually appear in shaded boxes at the top, side and bottom of a page. When you click on one of these links, that advertiser pays for your "click". In some cases, that "click" can cost the advertiser close to two dollars, much more around specific holidays. Who can afford this higher cost for advertising? The answer is obvious; it's usually those with deeper pockets. In my humble opinion, if you are going to shop online, you need to understand how this advertising works.
My advice. Many feel that there is a stigma associated with anything that doesn't appear on the first page of a search. When shopping, don't be afraid to venture beyond the first page you see. Many smaller companies with great products can't afford the high price of advertising on the first page and will appear on the second or third page. Just for kicks, try skipping the first page entirely and see what you find on the second and third pages. When you do, you tend to support smaller businesses.

Business Integrity. With my fairly conscientious brain, one of the first things I look for after I reach a page on a web store is the "About Us" section. I want to know who I am doing business with, a bit about them and their business philosophy and where they are physically located. I get fairly concerned when this information is hard to find or non-existent.
My advice: Before you do business with anyone, dig into their site and see what they disclose about themselves. Very little information is cause for concern. Granted, many online vendors (including us) don't have a physical storefront location but they should still tell you somewhere on their site where they formally reside. You should also be able to find something about the companies philosophies on packaging, shipping, recycling, environmental consciousness, etc.

Free or reduced shipping. Do you really think you are going to avoid paying for shipping costs? You can bet those costs will come from increased prices in the goods you are going to purchase. This is probably the oldest sales tactic and the one that still works the best.

Realistic Shipping & Handling. Most vendors make money on shipping & handling. Do you really think it costs $10 to ship a book in a padded envelope? You can go online to UPS or the good old USPS and calculate shipping costs yourself. You just need to know the weight, size, ship from and ship to zip codes. Lots of shopping sites don't include the weight of your purchase (including us, I just checked our site, hmm) but you can estimate easily enough to get a rough determination of what it really costs to ship an item to you. It's that "handling" fee that's hard to put a finger on.....

Drop shipping. Many online storefronts are just that; a store-front. This means that, when you order from them, they forward your order to another company who then fills that order. They have no inventory and they don't make their own products. The second company then ships your order with the first company's return address label on the box. This may not make a difference to you as long as you get the gift you want at the price you want and that's fine. It does make a difference if you do care about the gift you are sending and who you choose to do business with.
My advice: This one is a bit more difficult to determine. In our business, I personally find it difficult to believe that one gift basket company can "stock" over 1000 gift baskets. I'm not saying that it's impossible.... Again, dig into a company's web site.

Civic-mindedness. One last thing I tend to look for is if a company has a "heart". Do they give back some of their profit to do good things in their community or support a charitable organization.

Us. I know this post is self-serving because it represents our company's interests. However, we are consumers just like you. We shop for both our company's inventory and our family's needs. It's pretty obvious that many of our country's business models don't work.

You make a conscious decision every time you spend the money you have worked for!

It's a definite challenge to try to change the way most of us think. Big companies with large advertising budgets responsive to stockholders have been working hard for years to shape the way we consume. They spend big bucks to plaster the insides of magazines, your television screen, even the internet to try to shape your decision to buy. Much of what we view goes against a successful historic model of how our communities had conducted business for years (one which has proven itself to work well and responds to the needs of consumers, not the stockholders). Yes, technology has and is changing the way we shop but we as consumers have the ability to be conscientious and to change the way we spend our money.

Shop locally when you can, Eat as well as you are able and try to learn who produces the things you buy. When you do this, you support the community you live in and the small businesses that have always made our country great.

"Be the change you want to see in the world". (Mahatma Gandhi)

Father's Day

2009-06-13T06:16:00.004-04:00

As Cathy and I adapt through parenthood, our appreciation for what our parents did for us grows. I find myself looking out the window on this beautiful sunny Saturday morning (one weekend before Father's Day) and thinking of all the great things my dad has done to support me and our family over the years.

He participated in Cub Scouts when I was a boy and joined a Boy Scout troop with me when I grew a bit older. He took our family camping each summer. Those were the days before seat belts and we used to sprawl out in the back of the station wagon as we traveled. We started out camping in a huge canvas wall tent that was packed up in a homemade plywood trailer shaped like a rolling triangular tube on wheels. We later graduated to one of the original pop-up campers that would weave back and forth across the road if he drove a little too fast. Dad had a cool camp-kitchen full of everything we needed including a few old, red kerosene lamps that he would carefully unpack. These would provide our camp with a nice gentle light when the sun went down.

Dad always had projects to do around the house. We built big doors for the back shed, a bed and sides on a trailer frame, a grape arbor, a smoker to smoke bacon and fish from an old refrigerator and cast iron stove. Whether the projects were little or big, he always seemed to need our help.

He and mom always planted our garden; dad tilling the soil with his old Troy-Bilt tiller and mom doing most of the organizing and planting. I remember digging potatoes with dad for the evenings meal. Having a family dinner each night around the kitchen table was important to him, even as we got older and went our separate ways.

I am much older now; these are cherished memories from my childhood. It's no coincidence that I find myself with a passion for the outdoors (and a pop-up camper), a love of working with my hands to build and a nice organic garden in our side yard.

I hope that you too can take a few moments to find some wonderful memories from your childhood, re-live them and say thank you to your Dad.

Happy Father's Day Dad and Thank You!

We're on Facebook!

2009-06-06T07:04:00.002-04:00

Well, we've joined the age of social media and created a Facebook page! Stop by and visit us there. Here's the link: Appleton Basket Company on Facebook. Feel free to visit, become a fan or even leave us comment.

Apple Blossoms

2009-05-16T06:54:00.002-04:00

The Appleton Basket Company gets it's name from Appleton, Maine, which is where we live. I'm not quite sure where the name originated but it could be due to the large number of apple trees that grow wild in our area.

I was out walking through the woods yesterday and was taken by the loud hum of the bees visiting the flowers just beginning to blossom on the apple trees. I was also surprised to see a hummingbird also busily visiting the flowers. It's a few days early yet for one to be able to smell the wonderful blossoms and I will be sure to visit the trees daily. At this time of year, when the wind blows gently, the smell of thousands of apple trees drifts on the breeze.

We are beginning to get fired up for Father's Day and will have some new Father's Day gift baskets online soon (within the next week). Those of you on our mailing list can look for our Father's Day newsletter with a 10% discount coupon around the first Sunday in June.

A Short Mother's Day Tribute

2009-05-05T17:32:00.004-04:00

It's strange how we find inspiration. Both Cathy and I find it personally valuable to look at what we love to do and reflect upon how it came to be. Our folks have inspired us in so many incredible ways. They were always encouraging and willing to support us in whatever choices we made. We enjoy so many wonderful things, most grown out of a passion for what our parents did and what their hearts believed in.

This weekend, we celebrate Mom. Often the unsung hero of the home; Mom filled our bellies, tended our tears and nurtured our souls. We wish all of you Moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day weekend.

Poems are great vehicles for expression. My favorite poet right now is Shel Silverstein but that's probably because I have kids. Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry that's easy to learn and fun to create. I don't know why, but I decided to write a Haiku about Mom.

Spring is my Mother.
Warm winds embracing my soul,
wrapped in my childs arms.

Thanks Mom! (for everything)

Thoughts Of Blueberries

2009-04-11T07:29:00.003-04:00

The snow is gone here in Maine save for a few pockets left in shady areas in the woods. Mud season in on the wane and the soil is mostly thawed and drying out. I've raked the pebbles left from winter plowing out of the grass and it's about time to plant peas in the garden! Hooray!

Cathy and I were driving out to do some errands yesterday and I noticed that one of the blueberry fields near our house had been burned. Every other year, blueberry plants must be "pruned" so that they produce the new growth required to yield fruit. Most blueberry fields are marginal areas with rocky soil and ledge outcroppings and the most effective way to prune is to burn. Many that can will mow as it's more environmentally friendly than burning.

Tom & Theresa Gaffney, owners of Highland Blueberry Farm in Stockton Springs Maine, have been farming blueberries organically since 2002. They are certified organic by MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. We met Tom & Theresa at the Union Fair, one of Maine's many Agricultural Fairs, held during the summer. If you come to visit us here in Maine, you should be sure to find a local fair to add to your list of things to do!

The Gaffney's produce a very unique product in their Whole Plant Blueberry Tea. The tea is made both from the fruit and the leaves of the plant. Antioxidants have been getting lots of press lately and the Gaffneys decided to collaborate with a graduate student at the University of Maine-Orono to investigate antioxidant levels in other parts of the blueberry plant. They found that the leaves of the blueberry plant had almost twice the levels of anthocyanin (a potent antioxidant)! So, not only is this Whole Plant Blueberry Tea a tasty treat, it's full of great antioxidant power!

We include Theresa and Tom's Whole Plant Blueberry Tea in our Blueberry Hill Gift Basket and in our Blueberry Tea Set Gift Basket. Both of these gift baskets also include hand crafted, hand painted blueberry ceramics made by our friend Helen in Waldoboro. Interestingly, we met her at the same time we met Tom and Theresa.

You can find more about the Gaffney's Farm and their Wonderful Tea at: Highland Organics.

More on our New Gardening Gift Baskets

2009-03-11T09:45:00.007-04:00

As winter struggles to keep our Maine landscape white, we patiently await warmer weather, the return of our migratory birds and green grass. We realize that many of you are already seeing your crocus bloom and daffodils push up through the soil and we might envy you just a little.

Our summer garden plants have been already been started in our bedroom windowsill. The onions have sprouted, the artichokes have just begun peeking out of the potting mix and we are still waiting for the newly planted tomato seeds to pop. As mentioned in the previous post, Jeff has been gardening most all of his life. When we lived in a small city house with minimal sunny spots, those spots grew tomatoes. We live in the country now and our summer veggie garden gives us not only tomatoes (at least 6 different varieties) but peas, green beans, squash, eggplant, lettuce, corn and lots more.

Over the years, Jeff had tried every manner of irrigation and lots of different tools. As there seems to be a resurgence of home gardening, we decided to create a few different Gardening Gift Baskets filled with well-made, quality gardening items that we have found both useful and necessary. Here's a short rundown of what we decided to include and why.

Felco Garden Pruners: Folks I know (including myself) say that if you are going to invest in a pruner, get a Felco. My hand pruning shears are 20 years old. Nuff said. These are great for everything from pruning tomatoes to cutting fresh flowers.

Victorinox Garden Knife: Some of those veggies just can't be easily separated from their plants. Great for harvesting squash, broccoli, eggplant.

Good Grips Weeder and Transplant Trowel: If you have a garden, you are going to have to weed. These two tools are very well made and will last.

TIP: If weeding turns you off, learn to use mulch between your plants and rows. Green grass clippings (those without exposure to fertilizer, herbicides or pesticides) work very well at keeping weeding to a minimum. Just rake them up from your lawn and put them between your rows of veggies and around your plants. Get more from your neighbors. The thicker the layer the better. The clippings will dry and compact into a nice biodegradable mat that keeps weeds from sprouting and will almost be gone by fall. You'll still have to weed around your plants but this method takes care of most of the weeding between rows.

Knee Pad: If you are going to be weeding, your knees will thank you for using one of these. So will your pants.

pH Test Kit: If your garden is too acidic or basic, your plants will not grow well. Test, amend your soil and re-test for best plant growth.

TIP: If you are a beginning gardener, don't use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Make sure your pH is okay, fix it if it's not. The usual issue is acidic soil and the remedy is lime (ground limestone rock). Mix this in well before you plant and re-test. Start organic. It's much better for you and your family and there are lots of available organic soil amendments and organic pesticides to use. If you are going to start gardening, start by learning organic. It's really not difficult. My favorite fertilizer is a fish/seaweed emulsion. Yep. It stinks. But it's good stuff and it works. Put a glug in a used gallon milk jug, fill the rest with water, mix and give your plants a drink down by their roots when you transplant and before it rains (or you water). Some folks spray their plant leaves with it too using it as a foliar spray. Gardens Alive (www.GardensAlive.com) will send you a free catalog that is an excellent resource for identifying both pests and nutrient deficiencies. I have used their Pyola with good results.

Thermometer: We all get a bit anxious about getting our plant starts out into the ground as soon as we can. This will keep you from putting your plant starts into the soil before they are ready. If your soil is too cool, your plant starts won't, well, start (to grow that is).

Rain Gauge: Tells you how much rain you have (or have not received) and when you should water. We use drip tape in our garden. Check out the good folks at Dripworks if you are curious about drip irrigation: www.dripworksusa.com. This stuff is less expensive than soaker hoses and works better.

Garden Twine: Works great if you forget your belt, for tying up tomato plants or as a support for pole beans. There's a gazillion more uses too numerous to list. Almost as good as duct tape!

Tomato Clips: Jeff's personal fave for supporting growing tomato plants. String a rope overhead, drop down a length of line next to each plant, little teeth on each clip grip the line and then gently embrace the stalk of the plant providing support. Just keep adding clips as the plant grows. Cool!

TIP: There are many different ways of staking up tomato plants. Tomato cages are nice till your plants become heavy with fruit and then they can fall over. The smaller cages never seem to be tall enough. I find some 3" thick trees in the woods and cut them into 6' tall poles. I use a steel bar to punch a hole in the ground as deep as I can (about every 6-8 ft.) then bang the posts in with a small sledge hammer. I plant my tomatoes between the poles and tie a rope connecting the tops of the poles. When the plants need staking, I tie twine onto the rope above the plants. It hangs next to the plants and I then use the clips to support the plants. Add clips as the plants get taller. The poles can be pulled out at the end of the year and reused. Green metal fence posts work just as well.

Seed Sower: Some of those plant seeds are so darn small! This seed sower will keep you from planting six seeds where one would do nicely.

Plant Labels and a Marking Pen: We can get two years out of our plastic plant labels which is why we include them. Waterproof Marking Pens are not all the same! A Sharpie will fade in the sun which is why we include a Non-Fading Garden Marker.

A Nice Garden Book: There are many books on gardening strategy out there and we would suggest your local library as a place to start. 365 days in a year; 365 Gardening Hints and Tips. That's what gardening is all about. We liked that and thought you would too.

Seeds: We put an assortment of easy-to-grow vegetable seeds in two of the gift baskets and an assortment of easy-to-grow flower seeds in the third. The flower seeds have been picked for their ability to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees.

Many of my favorite gardening products come from Johnny's Seeds. Johnny's carries both regular and organic seeds and they also actively research and develop products for small and commercial gardens.

Back to Garden Gift Baskets.

Our Spring Product Release...

2009-02-26T06:26:00.012-05:00

We regularly create new gift baskets and about every 6-8 weeks is about when we introduce them into our web store . We try to release our new products before specific holidays or around specific times of the year.

Many of us who live in the land of snow (we received a healthy 16 inch dump of white stuff just a few days ago) are feeling a bit of cabin fever. Those of us who garden have already dog-eared the pages of our favorite seed catalog planning for this years garden. With the warm winds of both change and of spring in the air, more good folks are heading back to the earth in search of the goodness of the land and the savings it can bring when your own veggies reach fruition. This is evident from statistics from seed companies; my own has documented a 50% growth in seed sales in just the last two years.

I (Jeff) have been gardening my whole life. My parents and theirs before them had gardens. I enjoy the natural progress of tilling the soil and watching the fruits of my labors arrive at our table. I have experimented my whole life with things like drip irrigation, composting and vermiculture (a worm bin) and I am still amazed at how little I understand. Every year, I can't wait to get started again. My onion seeds have already sprouted in my office window and it's time to start many of the rest of the plants that require indoor germination because of our short growing season here in Maine.

It seems only natural then that we should add more gardening gift baskets to our line. I've spent the last month thinking about the simple tools that I depend on each year for our garden and how we could create a few great gift baskets that contain some of these products.

One of our Gardening Gift Baskets will be packaged in the Maine Garden Hod. A Hod is used to carry harvested veggies from the garden to the kitchen. The Maine Garden Hod is hand-made from locally harvested wood from a sustainably managed forest. The handles are steam bent. The wire mesh in the bottom of the basket is the same wire used for lobster pots and is food grade vinyl wrapped wire. The wood is sealed with linseed oil, a natural wood preservative that is non-toxic. Put your veggies in the hod, wash them off with the hose and they are ready to bring into your kitchen! The Maine Garden hod is an example of American ingenuity and is built to last for years!

Another of our Gardening Gift Baskets will be packaged in a heavy duty tool tote (like the one a carpenter uses to carry his/her hand tools). Ouside pockets to carry seeds, a garden marker, row labels, etc. and a large inside space for bigger things.

A third Gift Basket will be packaged in a Tub Trug. Tub Trug's are made in England out of 80-100% recycled materials. They are rubber-like, flexible and would be great both for toting weeds to the compost pile or bringing fresh veggies in from the garden.

Other useful items in our new gift baskets include: a Good Grips weeder and Good Grips transplanting trowel, a snip-type pruner from Felco, a leader in quality gardening and landscaping tools, a small razor-sharp knife for harvesting things like broccoli stems or zucchini squash, a soil thermometer to tell when it's warm enough to plant or transplant, a sample of my favorite tomato clips to support growing tomato plants, a rain gauge to help tell when to water, a pH test kit to determine if your soil needs nutrients, a small seeder to help sow those tiny seed, a non-fading, waterproof marker, plant tags, some peat pots for plant starting and a pair of mud gloves (that's what I call them anyway).

We're also going to include a few packages of seeds, picked because they should grow easily for just about anyone. The hand tools we've chosen to include in our gardening gift baskets are built to last and are some of the best out there. We hope that whomever you are sending this gift to appreciates gardening and appreciates quality tools that will last for years and make garden management more pleasurable.

I'm sure we will be adding a few more gift baskets to our spring release, scheduled surprisingly for March 20th, the first day of spring. Thanks for stopping by!

A Gem Of A Hotel In The Boston Area

2009-02-23T20:25:00.005-05:00

We were recently doing a bit of traveling and an ice storm warning necessitated an early retreat from Maine and an overnight hotel stay in Boston prior to a flight. I stumbled across the Comfort Inn & Suites at Logan Airport while doing a quick internet search and booked a room for our family. We drove the 3 1/2 hours to the hotel and were most pleasantly surprised by the hotel and our accommodations!

I'll admit, the hotel isn't in the most scenic section of town. It is, however, right next to the Necco wafer factory and is a 10 minute shuttle ride to the airport. They have a great Park and Fly package that ended up costing us less than parking at Logan would have. I felt the service was good, there was a nice pool for the kids, the rooms were plenty spacious and I felt their beds were some of the most comfortable hotel beds I've slept in. There is also a Margaritas Mexican Restaurant attached to the hotel. Yum!

Another kudo is that this hotel is the most environmentally friendly hotel I have ever stayed at. There is great signage that tells why they are doing what they are doing and explains the impact (ie. provides the statistics) of the hotels environmental choices. How cool is that? I like that they are into educating their customers about making intelligent evnironmental decisions. In the morning, a nice continental breakfast was provided next to the lobby area and the shuttle service to/from the airport was outstanding.

If you are travelling in the Boston area, think about staying here. It may not be in the most scenic part of town but the accomodations and the value make it a most worthwhile place to stay. Here's a link to their website: Comfort Inn & Suites At Logan Airport.

Sustainability.

2009-02-10T06:26:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, "environmental" was the buzz word of the ecological movement. It wasn't just about hugging trees, it was about exploring the different interrelationships that existed within the natural and man-made world. Today, "sustainability" seems to be the catch phrase of the new millenium. In a nutshell, this means that we make sure that our actions have as little impact on our natural world as possible and that we try to replace as much as we take. We are a long way from this ideal but at at least we are moving in the right direction.

While Cathy's tendencies lean towards helping both humans and animals, I lean more toward environmental issues and doing what I can to help the planet we live on. Cathy's personal interests have resulted in the Appleton Basket Company's charitable giving policy. My personal interests have been focused more along the lines of making our little company more sustainable.

So how is the Appleton Basket Company doing its part to move us towards sustainability? We do this in a number of ways. One example is by trying to purchase goods locally. This not only supports the community that we live in but reduces transportation associated costs in getting goods to us.

Another choice we make is to buy organic. Many of our Gift Baskets contain food products that not only come from local sources but also are organically or naturally produced. These food products are grown without the use of petroleum-based fertilizers and/or pesticides. We like the fact that we are helping our customers give gifts that are safe, good for their bodies and gentle on the environment.

We recycle what we can. We get lots of stuff packed in cardboard boxes. The cardboard gets broken down and taken to our recycling station. We get things packed in styrofoam peanuts. We save and reuse these if we are able (some are really busted up or full of static and not what we want to send along with a nice gift). We get things packed in paper. This is also recycled. About 90% of our waste stream is recycled if not more.

One of our goals for the coming year is to look for an alternative to the styrofoam packing peanuts we use to surround our gift baskets when we place them in shipping boxes. We have looked into inflatable pillows but none of the vendors will sell to us because we don't yet ship a certain volume of goods. I'm sure that if we were Amazon, they would be banging on our door. As soon as our supply of styrofoam peanuts runs out, we will most likely begin to use starch-based, biodegradable peanuts. We will be including instructions on how to recycle these into the landscape in each box we ship.

I know that what we are doing is small but it is a start and we will do more as we can. We do have an environmental conscience. Do other businesses that you purchase from have this kind of commitment?

"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself"
Chief Seattle, 1854.

The right thing to do ....

2009-01-27T12:47:00.008-05:00

Many of us are quite content taking the path of least resistance. We might choose to ignore a piece of trash on the ground rather than pick it up. We might walk by a car whose headlights have been left on at the store rather than taking the plate number to customer service so that they can page the owner. We might choose to drive by someone who's car has broken down. The examples above are choices I have made at some point in my life. I'm sure you can think of similar examples in your own. In many cases, taking the path of least resistance is not necessarily a "right" or "wrong" choice but is one choice that we make that impacts how well we and those around us live.

As small business owners, Cathy and I are faced with many choices about how we do business. As with any business, most of the decisions we make affect the price of our products which we try to keep reasonable. With so many challenging decisions to make, the easiest choice is often times to "take the path of least resistance". If we pay attention, this path can be educational.

For the past few years, we have been using the same agent to ship all our packages. Upon organizing end-of-the-year data and evaluating our expenses, we were amazed (and a bit upset) to find a myriad of interesting surcharges. There was one for fuel, an additional fee for residential or commercial delivery (like where else would you deliver something?), a surcharge because one of our box sizes was routinely scanned by automated lasers one inch taller than it really was, etc. We felt as thought we (and our customers) were being taken advantage of. When we initially compared shipping options, their pricing guidelines were much simpler and reasonable.

As a former research scientist, I'm a data hound. As a matter of fact, I can get a little bit possessed when it comes to analyzing stuff (ask my wife). At any rate, I spent about a week downloading rate charts, taping them together then putting them up on the walls, calculating the square inches of our boxes, adding in the weights of each of our 150 plus Gift Baskets and really figuring out how each of our boxes shipped by either ground transportation or by air freight. The results of my research have led us to improve the way we ship our customers gifts.

For expedited shipping, we have chosen to add a second shipping vendor to let our customers determine for themselves where their best shipping option lies. I'm sure you will be as surprised as we were. Our shopping cart has also been modified. Shipping charges can now be determined as soon as you add a product to the shopping cart. We know that shipping isn't cheap and want you to know up front what it will cost to ship your gift from us.

Digging up all this information certainly wasn't following the "path of least resistance" but we felt it was the "right thing to do" for our customers and the Appleton Basket Company. We not only work hard to try to create great products you will enjoy giving but we do our best to do what is right.

The Appleton Basket Company Was Temporarily Off Line

2009-01-17T06:13:00.006-05:00

One of the occasionally frustrating things about having an e-business is realizing how vulnerable you are to outside influences. I called the folks who host our e-store with a simple question about generating a report and the technical rep I talked to "accidently" terminated our account. When he realized his mistake, he quickly turned us back on again but not before the damage was done. Our web site is "on" but invisible to the internet for the next 2-4 days. Yes, Cathy and I are really, really frustrated. So, if you somehow find our blog, we haven't "gone out of business". We're still here and waiting for things to return to normal.

Sunday morning: We are still missing from the internet; sorry folks!

Sunday evening: We're back! Somehow the "www" was removed from our site address. That has been fixed and we are back online.

Pay It Forward

2009-01-10T05:47:00.005-05:00

If you haven't ever seen the movie Pay It Forward, I'd suggest watching it. Most folks understand the concept of returning a favor or "paying it back". In this movie, a twelve year old boy changes these rules by teaching others about "paying it forward". This involves three simple rules. 1. What you do has to be something that really helps people. 2. This has to be something they can't do by themselves. 3. You do it for three other people. Perhaps it's too idealistic to expect people to do three nice things for every one thing someone does for them but think of what a fantastic place our world could be.

Why do we (Cathy & I) and the Appleton Basket Company, subscribe to this idea? Some would call it karma; the idea that what goes around, comes around. We just think it's the right thing to do, plain and simple. It ends up being an extension of who we are as people. So how do we apply this in a business sense? In our neck of the woods (Maine), there are lots of good folks that make a living by creating and selling really great products. We like to fill our Gift Baskets with wonderful things so there is a natural compliment there. We could simply be content purchasing products to put in our Gift Baskets but we have the ability to do more, so we do.

Appleton Basket Company Links. We place links to many of our vendors web sites on the Appleton Basket Company store web site as well as on this blog. On our store web site, from any page, you can go to the Links To Our Friends and find out about our vendors and their products. We try to give enough information in the gift basket description so customers can make the connection. The link is a research tool for our customers but also advertising for our friends. Their web sites also link to ours. These links also give our customers the opportunity to buy products directly from our Maine vendors. We're in the business of creating Gift Baskets, not to resell products made by others. If you like what you find in our baskets, we encourage you to visit our vendors to buy more.

You will also note that there is link to GoodSearch in the left hand column of our store site. GoodSearch is a way to give to charity just by searching the internet. Consider using GoodSearch as one of your choices as you search the internet.

Appleton Basket Company Blog. I (Jeff) like to write, thus the Appleton Basket Company Blog. In a day where business activities are becoming more closely scrutinized, I wanted to give interested customers an opportunity, beyond our storefront, to find out what makes us tick. I plan to update our blog periodically with tidbits about how we do business and why and who we do business with. Much of what has happened to us business-wise over the past few years, is fun and anecdotal (I think it is anyway!). I feel that writing about us and about our vendors is a nice way for our customers to find out more about who they are doing business with. I know I've become progressively more concerned about with who I do business with over the last year. I assume others have as well.

The Appleton Basket Company Charities. Cathy and I (and the kids) have been fortunate to be able to occasionally travel. Upon visiting a small, Caribbean island one winter a few years ago, Cathy was awestruck by the poverty she saw. This really bothered her deeply and she decided that our Company should be donating a portion of each of our sales to help charities both at home and abroad. She uses the Charity Navigator website to research charities that she then associates with each gift basket we sell. At the end of the year, she sits down with the checkbook and a pile of envelopes and stamps and sends out checks to all the charities associated with our Gift Baskets. There are currently over 150.....

Us. We donate personally as well. It's who we are. Cathy has donated her time to a local animal shelter; she's always been a big animal person (as is her dad). We are home to two dogs, five cats and a guinea pig, all animals no one else wanted. She recently helped organize a Thanksgiving food drive in conjunction with the local food pantry and our school and delivered over 30 food baskets to needy families in town.

I also share my skills and time. I chair the local school PTO and this fall, I delivered two cord of wood to a neighbor that recently lost her significant other. We also donated a few Christmas trees to families locally that couldn't get them on their own. We may not follow the "Pay It Forward" rules exactly but we're pretty close I think. Although Cathy and I differ on our styles of giving, it is something we both truly believe in and will always do. We would urge you, in this time of change, to consider giving yourself. "You must be the change you wish to see." Mahatma Gandhi

Fiddler's Green Farm

2009-01-03T13:23:00.004-05:00

I met Allen Ginsberg a few years ago at the Common Ground Fair which is sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA). We had recently started our business and I went to the fair both to enjoy and to see what cool Maine-made products there might be for our Gift Baskets. It was a beautiful, sunny Maine fall day and Allen's kind and cheery disposition made the day that much nicer. We chatted like old friends and he invited Cathy and I to his house for tea and to chat. Since that day, Allen has been a wonderful friend, motivator and source of delicious goodies for our Gift Baskets.

During our second Holiday Season, our Maine Chowdah Gift Basket, which included Fiddler's Green Farm Cornbread Mix, was our most popular. This past season, our Organic Gift Basket, which contained Fiddler's Green Farm Captain Dave's Pancake Mix and Muffin Mix, Islander's Choice 7 Grain Cereal, Gingerbread Mix and Blueberry Jam was also one of our most popular. Fiddler's Green Farm produces only 100% organic goodies and you can visit their web site by clicking here.