TIFTON — An old idea is getting a fresh new face in Tifton.

Farmer’s markets have been around as long as there have been farmers, but young families and new ideas are taking the Tifton Farmer’s Market to a new level.

The market is one of the few left that actually sells only locally grown items. It does allow two craft booths at each market, but those crafts have to be made from local agricultural products. The produce cannot be something that was purchased in bulk somewhere and driven back to Tifton to sell; it has to be grown here in the community. Shoppers have the added benefit of finding things like homemade breads and other organic items that are sometimes difficult to find.

Tripp and Jessica Tibbetts are contributing to the expanded selection of locally grown – and made – products. Tripp is a Tifton native while Jessica was raised out West. They have chosen to settle in Tifton to raise their family in a healthy lifestyle and environment.

This young couple creates handmade soaps, lotions, medicinal creams and more from ingredients grown at their home. Jessica makes a comfrey cream that treats such ailments as muscle aches and diaper rash. They even use it to treat injuries to their farm animals. Their handmade soaps are aromatic, attractive to the eye and gentle enough for babies.  

Soapmaking is by no means a new thing but it is a craft that was in danger of fading into history before energetic young families seeking a healthy lifestyle started bringing it back into popularity. Soapmaking is thought to date back to prehistoric times. People made soap because they had to. Today, young craftsmen such as the Tibbetts are bringing things back, like homemade soap, not because they have to but because more people want quality organic products.

When asked why they take the time and trouble to live an organic lifestyle, Tibbetts said, “We don’t see that there is any extra work involved in doing things this way. It’s a different way to do things, yes, but no more difficult than conventional methods. Growing our garden organically and ecologically requires some study time and design intensity upfront, but it actually gets easier every year after that because we are building fertility, biodiversity and microbial health into the soil.

“Our garden will ultimately function like a natural ecosystem, with very little effort required from the gardener. It’s a matter of front-loading the solutions instead of patching the problems that a poorly designed system creates for itself. Insect infestations are not inevitable, they are merely the outcome of bad design. In that regard, the conventional system seems like the one that requires extra work to me.”

The Tibbetts created an urban permaculture model in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Macon last year. Just after Christmas, they moved back to Tifton to help convert the 300-acre Corrie family farm (formerly the Rigdon farm) from conventional annual row crops to perennial organic production.

The Tibbetts are so passionate about local ingredients of high quality that they have begun to render their own lard and make their own potash with collected rainwater. Jessica makes all her soaps and salves from the purest, locally sourced organic ingredients she can find. Their current methods produce soap that lathers like any other bar and lasts about the same amount of time as a store-bought bar.

“The big difference is that when you use our soap, you are using actual soap, not petroleum-based detergent like you are with almost every store brand. The natural glycerins in handmade soaps are effective, but gentle, on even the most sensitive skin. Our two young children have never had any other kind of soap used on their bodies,” she said.

In summing up their lifestyle choices, Jessica said, “If I can leave one lasting example for my children, I hope it is this: It isn’t the work we do or the stuff we have that defines us. It is the quality of our lives and what we did with them while we were here. I think that by slowing down and taking simplicity seriously, we can improve life and really enjoy what time we have.”

To contact the Tibbetts or learn more about their methods visit www.tonicpermaculture.blogspot.com.