The way capitalism works, smaller brands can get lost. Their marketing doesn’t reach you. They can’t afford massive advertising spots. They don’t get stocked in chain stores. They get stocked but shuffled to ankle-level shelving.

We are dependent on the capitalist economic system for at least some of our goods. Why not avoid corporate capitalism? Why not support useful products with our money?

I have chosen ten products that I want you to know about. I picked these because they’ve made a real difference in my life, and because they’re not everyday products. You won’t see advertisements for them during the Super Bowl.

Please note that I receive nothing from telling you about these. The makers have no idea I’m even writing this column. Some of these are excellent makers that I know personally or have patronized, and many happen to be near me in Georgia.

Good ideas get passed around by word of mouth, so consider this my word to you: here are some useful products to know about.

American hazelnuts. See how many fit on a dime. At least three.1. Nuts in the MidwestHazlenuts from Hazel Heart Farms

Viroqua, Wisconsin

Hazle Heart Farms is a collective of Midwest farmers who are growing this native nut to restore soil, clean water, and bring wildness to Midwestern farms. Here’s what they say on their website:

Hazelnuts have grown wild across the Midwest for over 10,000 years. By planting them on our farms, we’re tapping into nature to bring this rich, local protein to our plates. Most people have never eaten a nut grown in Midwest soil. We’re here to change that. Thank you for joining us on this delicious mission!

I am in love with the tiny Midwest hazelnuts. I hope you order a bag of nuts from them.

2. An Alternative to ToothpasteOne Drop Only from Rupam’s Herbals

San Rafael, California

During the pandemic I listened regularly to the podcast Medicine Stories, whose tagline is “Remembering what it is to be human upon the earth.” Host Amber Magnolia Hill puts out fewer episodes these days, but back then, the shows arrived weekly. The target audience seemed to be millennial women with an alternative bent, and I fit part of that category.

One week Amber interviewed Rupam Henry of Rupam’s Herbals—Healing the Bones: Holistic Dental Health, Lineage, and Being Soft with Yourself. I already knew that our teeth can repair themselves, meaning remineralize, but I’d never been able to accomplish that. For me, when a tooth began to deteriorate, such as such early signs of a cavity, the degradation would continue.

I listened avidly to Rupam’s experience with holistic dentistry. She said that most toothpastes use glycerin, which prevents remineralization.

Do not brush with anything that has vegetable glycerin because vegetable glycerin sticks on your teeth. The consistency is like plaque…it’s sticky, it’s sweet, and it actually kind of just becomes more plaque.

—Rupam Henry

In that podcast I learned about a product Rupam created. It’s called One Drop Only, dental soap and tooth elixir. It comes in a glass jar with a press top.

I quit using regular toothpaste and I only use One Drop Only. I wish I had found this product when I was two years old. I am sure that I would not have as many root canals as I have.

3.If You Need ItCBD Oil from Primal Botanical

St. Johnsbury, Vermont

During the pandemic I felt very anxious about the dangers around us. We lost many people in my extended family and in my community, and others were permanently crippled or otherwise harmed by Covid-19. Although I was drug-tested for my work with our local archives, I started taking CBD oil. I obtained it from Primal Botanical.

These are full-spectrum, small-batch products handcrafted in Vermont by nurse and herbalist Annika McCann. She uses organically grown herb and infuses it in organic coconut oil. You’re getting a superior product here.

Annika herself sells at farmers markets in her area. I love supporting a small, woman-owned business with a huge ethic and a love for the Earth.

4.Where You Buy Your Coffee MattersMad Poet Coffee from Cafe Campesino

Americus, Georgia

I order my coffee from Cafe Campesino—organic, bird-friendly, and 100% fair trade. It was connected with Koininia, a Christian communal farm located near Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains and the birthplace of Habitat for Humanity.

From the Cafe Campesino website:

We import all of our coffee directly from small landholder coffee farmer cooperatives via a unique, principle-driven supply chain called Cooperative Coffees that we co-founded in 1998. Cooperative Coffees is the only fair trade green bean roaster cooperative of its kind in North America, employing common-sense, respectful, mutually beneficial terms of trade for sourcing organic green coffee fairly, directly, and transparently from farming communities who we have known for years.

I usually order the Mad Poet Blend, which is a Viennese roast.

Speaking of Koininia, check out their store here, a fine place to get organic pecans and nut candies.

5.The Best in the U.S., Maybe the WorldExtra Virgin Olive Oil from Terra Dolce

Lyons, Georgia

My old friend Tommie Williams started an olive orchard near me, and I found out quickly that Georgia olive oil is the best I’ve tasted. I’m in love with it. Tommie’s place is Terra Dolce Farms.

Another nearby farm is Woodpecker Trail Olive Farms. They have a sale right now.

6.Speaking of OilsPecan Oil from Oliver Farms Artisan Oils

Pitts, Georgia

I met Clay Oliver back in 2008 when he started this amazing culinary oil company. He makes delectable, cold-pressed, non-GMO, unrefined oil. They are truly fine. I highly recommend the Pecan Oil, but what you’ll want to do is start with one of their beautiful Made in the South Gift Sets, which includes Pecan, Green Peanut, and Sunflower Oils.

Also, secret tip: Check out their Okra Seed Oil. Beat me to it.

7.If You Make Jams & JelliesPomona’s Universal Pectin

Oakhurst, California

All you’ll find for jam-making in most stores will be the old Sure-jell, and it requires lots of sugar. What if you want to make and eat no sugar or low-sugar, fruit-forward jams?

About fifteen years ago I found Pomona’s Universal Pectin, which permanently changed my jelly life.

PURE, HIGH-QUALITY PECTIN FOR YOUR JAMMING NEEDS

Pomona’s Universal Pectin contains 100% pure citrus pectin, which is vegan, gluten free, and GMO free. It leaves out additives, preservatives, sugar, dextrose, and other fillers, as well as corn or apple by-products. The citrus pectin works in tandem with calcium—don’t ask me the chemistry of it—but please know that it. works. beautifully. With it you can produce incredibly tasty and healthy jams and jellies.

Why more people don’t know about this baffles me.

Low-Sugar Fig Jam

8.After a 95-Year BanAbsinthe Supérieure from Mt. Reliance Cider & Distillery

Middleburg, Virginia

Absinthe may not be your thing. It needs a special person to love it. Hemingway was one of its people.

“Got tight on absinthe last night. Did knife tricks.”

—Ernest Hemingway

I’ve been on a long quest to figure out exactly why absinthe was banned from 1912-2007 in the U.S.

A few years ago, when I was in residence at Oak Spring Garden, Bunny Mellon’s home outside DC, I found this version. Many U.S. artisanal absinthes are being distilled these days, and I only mention this one because it’s the first I came across. Here is what Mt. Reliance says about their product:

“A traditional, French-style verte absinthe created from a late 19th century French recipe. Our absinthe is distilled using whole botanicals, naturally colored, and bottled at 140 proof. We grow our own grand wormwood, roman wormwood, hyssop, and other botanicals, and import Andalusian green aniseed and French fennel doux.”

I hope you find the green fairies.

9.Quit Throwing Plastic Pens in the OceanPencils from Blackwing

Stockton, California

So I hear, Steinbeck used them, sharpening dozens before a writing session. Capote too. Guy Clark the songwriter. Sondheim. Faye Dunaway.

Now you know where my horsepower arises. I use Blackwings. Yes, they’re more expensive than regular pencils. No, I don’t care. I skip fancy coffees to buy nice pencils. The lead is soft, the wood is real, and the eraser is rectangular. It also is replaceable, slipping easily out of the head.

Blackwing occasionally makes special editions and right now you can still get the Jerry Garcia pencil.

10.Wash Your Face With OilBest Skin Ever by Living Libations

I was visiting the writer Holly Haworth at her home when I noticed on her vanity a lovely bottle of bright-green oil called “Best Skin Ever.” I asked her about it and since that day, many years ago, I have never used soap on my face.

I pour hot water over a cloth, squirt on a few drops of Best Skin Ever, let the cloth cool down half a second, then wipe my face. My favorite is the Frankincense.

This product was developed by Nadine Artemis, described as a “beauty philosopher, aromacologist, and botanical muse.” She is the author of Renegade Beauty.

I was smitten when I found a page of Adulations, where even Alanis Morisette raves about Living Libations.

I also began to make my own face oil by steeping calendula petals and other herbs in really great oil.

Comments

I’d love to hear about small-batch, high-ethics, Earth-loving products that you know about and use. Tell me why you love whatever it is. Please. Shoot me a line. I’d like to learn about your favorite specialty products and hopefully I can highlight favorites in a future issue of Trackless Wild.

Leave a comment

In Personal & Other News

🦬 My Kickstarter for JOURNEY IN PLACE Ends on Saturday, October 25

THREE days left to get one of the first copies Journey in Place: A Field Guide to Belonging. If you haven’t checked out what I’m offering, now’s the time.

I am in the closet an hour a day, recording the audiobook. Everything else is finished, so books will be mailed out by the first of November.

Have you see the latest pledge amount & number of supporters? Thank you all.

Kickstart JOURNEY IN PLACE

🦬 Free “How To Kickstart” Workshop

I am offering a free workshop on launching a product via Kickstarter. I will show you how I set up and run a campaign, what I’ve learned so far about what works and what doesn’t. Get on the list by sending me an email. No date is set, probably early 2026.

🦬 What I’m Reading

Stone Desert by Craig Childs

This book went out of print, and with some help from bookstore friends, Craig Childs brought it back into circulation. My friend, the nature writer Susan Cerulean, brought me a copy when she visited last week. One interesting thing is that this is a tête-bêche (head to tail) book. Starting at the front you can read the book, typewritten. If you turn the book over and start from the back, you see Craig’s personal journals, where the book originated.

Susan Cerulean, Forest, and me.🦬 If I Owe You Anything

I want to start 2026 with a clean slate. If I owe you anything, please let me know asap. I ran this notice last week and received two very kind emails.

1.

Hi Janisse, you sent a newsletter out recently asking for a heads up if we were waiting for something from you. Here’s mine. I believe you haven’t commented yet on two essays I submitted for your review earlier in the year. Thank you again. I am really grateful for what I learned and what I continue to learn from that course! E—

2.

Hello Lovely, just a gentle reminder that I have not yet received my place book from the course. J—

I posted those two messages to let you know that I truly am committed to tying up loose ends. If something that I promised and owe you is not complete, please let me know.

🦬 I Hope You Send in a Wild Confessions Postcard

Over at the newsletter for my nature work, Trackless Wild, I’m opening a small doorway called Wild Confessions: Postcards from the Interior—a place for truths we carry in silence, similar to the famous PostSecret project.

Write your secret on a postcard. No rules, no return address, no names, no identifying evidence. The secret can be a sentence, a drawing, a fragment, a confession whispered to the trees. The secrets can be tiny, minor, insignificant. If it concerns writing and nature, great.

Mail your postcard to me, and let it travel through wind and weather until it lands in my hands. I will be sharing these in Trackless Wild, as testimony to the mysterious, untamed lives we all lead. The wilderness in us wants to speak. In this case, the audience will not be one person.

Send to:

Janisse Ray

895 Catherine T. Sanders Road

Reidsville, GA 30453

If you create your own postcard, the standard size is 4 inches x 6 inches, on paper that is cardstock or thicker. That size will require a postcard stamp, which costs $.53. However, a postcard can be any size. Those larger than 5 inches x 7 inches will require a letter stamp of $.73.

Deadline for the first installment of Wild Confessions is December 1.

Please know that I won’t publish fewer than ten, so you have an even greater chance of anonymity.

🦬 Beloit College in Wisconsin Is Looking for a Creative Nonfiction Professor

My friend Chris Fink alerted me that Beloit is hiring in creative writing and journalism. The job ad is here. The search is open until Oct 30. The ideal fit would be a creative nonfiction writer with journalism experience and the ability to teach “Intro to Journalism.”

Be well, be of good service, be wild. 🦬