Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeni Jarrard-Donck. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jeni, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind. how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My husband, Nicolas, started Crystal Organic Farm in 1993 as a certified organic vegetable and fruit farm. I met Nicolas while buying food from his farm in 2012. A couple of years later while going through some major life transitions, I reached out to him for a part time job in his farm. I was initially drawn to the plants, the soil, and the hard work, but quickly learned that the healing farming offered me would be larger than anything else.

As a child and young adult I suffered immensely with allergies, asthma and numerous food allergies. My own health issues pushed me to learn more about ‘alternatives’ to the traditional medical model and eventually I began formal studies in homeopathy and later herbalism.

As I continued my studies and began farming with Nicolas, the next natural step was to start growing some of the medicinal plants that would grow well in our climate. After learning that nearly 100% of herbs sold by bulk herb suppliers is being imported into our country, I knew there was a great need for us to start growing more medicinal herbs locally.

We started small and experimented with growing a variety of medicinal plants. As I shared our herb farming journey with friends and on social media, people began to reach out to purchase our herbs. I began sending out a weekly ‘herb availability’ email list and shipping our small batch herbs around the country. As demand for our herbs grew, so did our business into what is The Farm Apothecary today.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I own/operate Crystal Organic Farm with my husband, Nicolas Donck. The farm sits on 175 acres in Newborn, GA about an hour east of Atlanta. Currently, we have about 20 acres in year-round production of vegetables, fruit, flowers and medicinal herbs. I oversee the herb growing operation here on the farm where we cultivate about 40 varieties of medicinal and culinary herbs year-round. I herbs are available via The Farm Apothecary where customers can shop online for local pick up or have them shipped directly to their door. In addition to our retail customers, we work with several small apothecary’s and skincare businesses to supply local organic herbs for their products.

In addition to farming, I am a studied herbalist and homeopath, so I work with clients one-on-one or as a health consultant in a variety of settings, as needed.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

In 2014, I took a part time job on a farm with no experience whatsoever. I came from a background of sales, marketing and fashion merchandising, so farming was completely out of my wheelhouse and comfort zone. It was a time of great transition in my life, and all I knew was that I needed to be in the soil and with nature.

My ‘now husband’ Nicolas was the owner of the farm where I took the job. As the months and years passed, we fell in love and eventually married. We worked on expanding Crystal Organic Farm together with the addition of growing medicinal plants and adding an Online Farm Stand as well as The Farm Apothecary. We are working to create more community in our area by holding monthly free classes on the farm offering everything from yoga to farming to herbal medicine making.

I cannot imagine a better life than working side by side with my husband, my partner, my love. We work well together and we just ‘get each other’. We have a beautiful steady rhythm in our work day that feels just right.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

This is so important, especially when it comes to farming. We have built a wonderful reputation and customer loyalty for this very reason. You have one chance to make an impression on your customer, and if that fails, they won’t be coming back. We only send out the very best vegetables and medicinal plants to our customers. They have been grown with love, intention and ‘beyond organic’ practices. We openly answer questions about our growing practices and invite folks to visit our farm for tours and classes. It is important, as a farmer, to connect your customer to where they food comes from and who is growing their food. Food is such a vital aspect of health, so our standards are extremely high when growing the food and herbs that people depend on for optimal health and well-being. Our farm is USDA Certified Organic and Real Organic Project Certified. These certifications helps to hold our product to a higher standard because there are strict rules and regulations and in turn gives our customers a certain peace of mind.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.crystalorganicfarm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crystalorganicfarm/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crystalorganicfarm