Infusions Add Value To Market Garden

Infusions Add Value To Market Garden Infusing oils and vinegars added value to the herbs vegetables berries and fruit Jocelyn McCracken Engman and her husband Tim grew on their 100-acre Iowa farm It also turned a seasonal CSA and market gardening operation into a year-round business Freezing and drying what they couldn’t sell let them put it to use in the off-season “When you have tomatoes everyone has tomatoes ” says McCracken Engman “You can’t sell them all and you end up composting them ” A second problem the young couple faced when they started farming in 2004 was location The nearest big town had 10 000 people and being in a largely rural area limited their potential sales At the time gas was $4 per gal and driving to distant markets didn’t make business sense A third problem was the commodity nature of produce The difference between the cost of inputs and established prices leaves very little profit margin McCracken Engman and her husband had an ace up their sleeve having spent 15 years as chemists in the Chicago area They began working on ways to add value to what they grew “Our first product was a Greek basil and garlic infused olive oil ” recalls McCracken Engman “We took it to the local farmers market but we were scared to ask people to try it fearing they wouldn’t like it ” They quickly sold eight bottles expanded production developed new recipes and morphed into Pickle Creek Herbs within 5 years Today they sell a wide array of oils vinegars soaps salves deodorants and lip balms They make everything themselves from their own original recipes McCracken Engman emphasizes that while the business grew quickly it wasn’t an overnight transformation “As chemists it didn’t bother us to mess up as we developed a recipe ” says McCracken Engman “We love flavors and love to play around We grew organically as we added products ” Adding products even after a recipe had been developed was a challenge “Before we could offer a new flavor we had to take a couple of years to grow enough of the herb or vegetable to what we needed on hand ” says McCracken Engman “It all required learning new things ” Another big challenge was finding help in the field and off “The business requires enormous physical labor ” says McCracken Engman “Anything we could invent we did ” As sales of the original basil/garlic oil grew and new garlic products were added production also had to grow McCracken Engman’s husband and her father designed a garlic lifter and had a local metal worker fabricate it “This summer we lifted 16 000 garlic heads in 4 days ” says McCracken Engman We used a greens cutter to harvest the basil and Tim created a water bath infuser We’ve done a lot of small things that make a difference You look around at what you have and make it work ” “We kept adding farmers markets and started wholesaling to stores along the way ” recalls McCracken Engman “We started adding shows and events like the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion until we had multiple events every weekend of the year We give out coupons at shows for online orders ” Today Pickle Creek products are in over 100 retail stores and sold directly to customers from the company tasting room Online marketing continues to build sales and reach McCracken Engman advises others thinking of adding value to create a brand and a marketing plan and stay flexible She adds that keeping it simple at the beginning is also a good idea “We directed our growth a bit but we kept adapting changing and growing as we went ” says McCracken Engman “We like the Greek basil and garlic we started with but they were also the easiest to grow and harvest ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Pickle Creek Herbs 104 S 3rd St Fairfield Iowa 52556 ph 319-481-2464; jocelyn@picklecreek com; www picklecreek com

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