Betsey, in the meantime, was gaining a reputation for her knowledge of herbs. The Shakers at Sabbathday Lake sought her out when they were having a problem with the "mother," or mold, used to make their herbal vinegars. Like a detective, Golon traced the problem to a window that had been left open during the preparation months earlier. She has worked with the insular religious farming community ever since, serving as its link to the business world.

Many people have proposed marketing the Shakers' herb products; it is Betsey whom they have entrusted with the task.

"She's a very energetic person, a person full of ideas and who is not afraid of work," said Leonard L. Brooks, director of the Shaker Museum and Library, which encompasses the herb department. "She's good with individual products. She knows what sells."

The relationship is, perhaps, symbiotic. It continues to deepen Betsey's knowledge of herbs - "it's like working with history; something new is always coming to light" - and it has influenced the way the family does business.

"The Shakers always stood behind the quality of what they grew and what they bought," she said. "There's a sense of working hard, working for the community's well-being, taking responsibility."

THE TELEVISION APPEARANCE on QVC in Sept., 1996, was a different kind of education altogether. Up to that point, Common Folk Farm had done well regionally, even nabbing a few big wholesale clients, including L.L. Bean and Bass.

"But we were really still a Mom business," Betsey said. "It was Mom's hobby."

The year before, in fact, the Golons had declined to apply for the QVC program because they didn't think they could meet the network's huge inventory demands. With new experience in the wholesale market, however, the Golons decided to take the leap. After maneuvering through a mound of paperwork, a terse interview, and a tense waiting period, they became one of the 46 out of 500 businesses to be showcased on the "Quest for America's Best."

"I brought in all my friends from the school to help get the jars ready," Betsey said. "All the teachers came and helped me. All their children came and helped me."

When the 18-wheelers pulled up to the farmhouse - "this was not an order we could ship by UPS" - the neighbors arrived with tractor and fork lift to help load the pallets.

Betsey Golon and her teas made their national television debut before millions of viewers at the end of a long hot day outside the Capitol building in Augusta. In six minutes, a thousand boxes of teas were sold.

"Now," says Betsey, "everything else seems easy. QVC was an awakening. It has made a significant difference, not so much financially, but more an awareness of what we are capable of."

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