Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zach and Kyndle Erhard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Zach and Kyndle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

There are many ways in which we are different than any other small business in our industry. The first being that we are first generation farmers, making us extremely unique. We are young, which also helps in keeping up with all trends to capture our audience. Another way we are different within our industry is how we grow all of our own produce. Many small businesses in our industry outsource their produce, while we grow ours directly on our farm. We are also the only farm in Tennessee growing pineapples. Using resources such as a greenhouse allows us to expand our horizons, and pineapples are a perfect crop to separate us from everyone else.

Zach and Kyndle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are Zach and Kyndle Erhard, owners of Oak Grove Farms in Gallatin, Tennessee. And recently added our daughter Clover, to the farm family as well. The farm started back in 2012 when Zach was 18 years old. He had always had a dream of running his own business. He worked with a friend at their family farm and fell in love with growing fresh produce. It was then that he knew he wanted to begin his own operation. He began operating in a 10×10 tent on the side of the road in Gallatin, Tennessee. He quickly realized how much people love fresh and local produce, and this was just the beginning. The business grew significantly over the next several years. Zach met me, Kyndle, in the summer of 2016. We were then running Oak Grove Farms as a team. Zach would take care of growing the produce, while I, Kyndle, would handle all of the outreach mostly including social media. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to run a small business. While we aren’t perfect, we do feel like we do a good job of reaching and connecting with our audience. We make them feel like they are apart of everything we do by posting our day by day activities on social media. We have personal relationships with our customers/followers, and that’s hard to come by sometimes when it comes to business. We offer all types of products at our market location in Gallatin other than produce. But first, let’s begin with produce. Our biggest crop is strawberries, raising 12 acres this year. We are one of the largest strawberry growers in the state of Tennessee. While we have a huge strawberry crop, we also grow a plethora of tomatoes in various varieties. Other crops we grow include onions, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, asparagus, okra, peppers, green beans, cabbage, lettuce, garlic, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and we just planted pineapples in our greenhouse in the summer of 2023. We are the only pineapple farmers in the state of Tennessee, and anticipate the first crop towards the end of 2024 or early 2025. Our market also has local items such as sourdough bread, fresh pasta, shortbread cookies, local meats, and tons more. In addition to produce and local products from other small businesses, we also have honey that comes directly from our farm. And when we have extra strawberries from the market, we use them to make fresh strawberry jam that is a crowd favorite. Not only do we have strawberry jam, we have tons of jarred items as well. There are many ways we are set apart from others. One being that we are first generation farmers and we are also young. The average age of an American Farmer is 57. Since we are young, we also think this helps us keep up with trends and also be able to provide new and fresh ideas. Another way we are set apart from others in our industry is because we grow 90% of the produce you find at our market. A lot of local markets in our area buy in their produce, rather than growing it themselves. Our customers especially like this because we can tell them exactly how it’s grown.
We feel it’s important for people to know how much we enjoy growing produce for our community. Food is so important, and fresh and local food is even more important. By growing fresh produce, we feel we are providing such an amazing resource to our community. We also want people to know that while it is a lot of work, we would never be able to do it without the Lord. He has provided so much for us and has truly guided us to where we are now, and we know we wouldn’t be successful without Him. It’s so rewarding seeing people enjoy our market and enjoy the products we provide. We have big plans for the future of Oak Grove Farms, and we can’t wait for the journey ahead.

How’d you meet your business partner?

It was the summer of 2016, and Zach was grinding trying to grow Oak Grove Farms. He was operating under his 10×10 tent just in front of a neighborhood in Gallatin, Tennessee. He had a loyal customer, a mom of 3 little ones who visited the stand often. I, Kyndle, was always looking for nannying jobs, as children are my true passion. I was nannying for a mom who always kept bringing up this “produce guy”. I kept ignoring it, as I was not looking for a relationship during the summer. Until one day, she brought him up again. So I looked up this produce guy on social media, and come to find out I thought he was pretty cute! I followed him on Instagram, and he followed back. The next day, he reached out asking how we might know each other. I explained how I nannied for one of his loyal customers, and we went on a date the next week, The rest is history.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

There are many ways in which we have helped build our reputation, but one of the biggest one hands down is taking advantage of social media. One thing we have realized is that people love to personally know the people who they purchase from. Whenever we are doing something on the farm, or even just every day life, we pick up our phones and record it. We post about the farm, but we also throw in personal events as well. Using social media helps us connect with our audience by growing real and raw connections that wouldn’t exist if we didn’t have this resource. Another way we have grown our reputation is having quality products at our market. When people come to our market and see the quality of each product, they are quick to tell their friends or family about it. Word of mouth plays a huge role as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.oakgrovefarmstn.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/oakgrovefarmstn
• Facebook: Facebook.com/oakgrovefarmstn
• Other: Linktr.ee/oakgrovefarms

Image Credits
Amanda Brush Photography & Kyndle Erhard