It's been awhile since we've introduced ourselves so here we go. Dulse & Rugosa is a mother/daughter business started from a sense of place. Our place is a tiny remote island off the coast of Acadia National Park. When Carly was a baby we were the only year round residents. It was all very The Waltons- a simple, wholesome life with goats, pigs, chickens and a large garden. It was also a lot of physical labor especially in the winter. This was way before cell phones and the internet and for our connection to the mainland, we would row ashore on a calm winter day to get a pile of anticipated mail and a few fresh vegetables. We read tons of books and went to bed when the sun went down.
Eventually deciding the strain of making a living combined with the hard physical labor of life on a remote island was just too much we moved ashore and lived a few different lives. However, we never gave up the dream of making a living on the island. Eventually we returned and while we knew the land would be a foundation for our business we also knew that we needed a product that went before being grown, harvested and sold. Lovely ripe tomatoes don't have much of a market on an empty island.
That's when Carly noticed that along the shores were many varieties of Maine seaweed. I had discovered the power of seaweeds because for years I'd struggled with a chronically itchy scalp and was searching for a natural and lasting solution. Carly went on to become a licensed Maine seaweed harvester, flower farmer and maker of our lovely hair and skin care products.
The idea behind Dulse & Rugosa is celebrating the beauty of place- remote Gotts Island and celebrating ourselves with beautiful and nourishing handmade body care.
