We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jill Duncan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jill thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

Honestly, I’m so proud of how I show my customers love and appreciation each week during the season! My retail customers order from me online (many of them order every week without fail!). I then drive their orders in my super cute “farm truck” to a central location in the city where they come to pickup. The line forms before I even arrive, rain or shine! I get to know every customer intimately and take the time to speak to each one of them about their week, what is happening in their life and support them in whatever they are going through. And because we have mutual reciprocity, most all of them look out for me, too, and ask each week about my life circumstances. Because of the love and care I pour into my produce and my customers, they all become my friends and some of my biggest supporters. I receive countless messages and affirmative comments that fill my soul and heart. I have even had customers say that coming to pick up their veggies each week has changed their lives in the best ways and we have also shared tears and so much laughter. This weekly process is truly one of the biggest rewards for the work I do and it has proven to shine so much light into my customers’ lives as well. What a Blessing!

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 back background and context?

I am a small-scale urban farmer with a focus on “beyond organic” production of greens and baby root veggies. I say “beyond organic” because I focus on producing veggies in the purest ways I know how, which benefits ALL facets of the environment and my customers. I farm on a very small plot of land (less than 1/4 acre) in a bio-intensive way, where I am continually planting, harvesting and re-planting many times during the season to maximum production. I use no-till methods and follow regenerative farming philosophies where I focus on nurturing and benefiting soil health overtime instead of depleting it. My niche is producing and mixing beautiful, healthy salad mixes, gorgeous head lettuces, other varieties of salad-type greens, cooking greens, and smaller root veggies to go along with salads.

What sets me apart from many growers is the small size of my plot and intense amount of care that I pour into my soil and vegetables. Although it is small, I maximum my space and have a very high volume of production for my size! I do everything by hand including starting my seeds in a greenhouse, planting by hand (or with a push seeder), tending the crops by hand, harvesting by hand, washing, bagging and delivering! I truly get to know my soil, the soil microbes, insects, plants, weather, customers, volunteers and more!

I own, operate and run this farm. I also have wonderful, dedicated volunteers that learn and work with me. But, I mainly do everything on my own, so it is a lot of work! I am grateful for the schedule I sustain, my balanced mental and physical states and for the health and well-being I maintain as a farmer. I’m also honored to withhold the blessed relationships I have built with every restaurant, shop and retail customer I serve. I am humbled by their love and our partnerships and their support of me. Lastly, I was graced by the process I endured to prep and grow this farm in a very short period of time, especially at the onset of Covid! I was literally planting my first beds the day my city went on initial lockdown! I persevered and dedicated all of my time and efforts into relationship building and quality of crops and it really paid off.

I’ve been involved in gardening and the local food movement and sustainability for many years. I was a farm apprentice at EarthDance Organic Farm School in 2017 and fell in love with farming. It was the year I knew I just had to become a farmer! And over the course of the few couple years, I learned everything I could to make that happen, then launched Loving Roots Urban Farm at the end of 2019 with my first plantings in March 2020.

I solve the problem of knowing where your food comes from for my customers. I grow their food for them from seed to salad and I literally hand an array of beautiful veggies within 24 hours of harvest!

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

I have been rooted in this community for over 20 years and own another wellness business. I’ve been one to start new projects, introduce new activities and wellness pillars, etc, to this community. I’m a yoga teacher, clinical bodyworker and bodywork teacher, west african dancer, singer, musician and more. Mainly, I think that I have poured ALOT of love into this community and have been like a big sister or best friend to so many people. I’ve weaved my heart into so many facets of this community. So, when I decided to start the farm, I had a super solid foundation of supporters already.

Starting with that huge foundational support was key! Then, since I started my farm at the beginning of 2020/COVID, people quickly decided they wanted to purchase their food from “someone” they knew. Since I was a woman business owner/farmer who grew food in the city, people started to flock to my online store and email list. It was the perfect fit!

Mainly, my reputation was already really strong here in the community from all of the activities I have been a part of… and word of mouth has always been on my side.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

This might not work for larger businesses, but word of mouth has been my largest avenue for growing clientele. Since I get to know every customer, the relationships I build are KEY to my success. Food is a connector and I actually created a system where I am handing every order to the customer. This has been paramount in growing my business. Because I share moments with each and every person, they are destined to tell their friends and family about what I do, how I care for them, the healthy produce they get to eat and most importantly that they actually KNOW their farmer!

Instagram and Facebook have also been great tools for me. Since my vegetables are of very high quality and beautiful, I take the time to snap great pictures for posts. I also have a weekly newsletter that comes out the day customers order each week, so everyone gets excited to see the beautiful features of the week. This newsletter gets forwarded from customers to friends often :).

Word of mouth, having a strong reputation for being a loving, caring person, and being a relationship builder have truly worked magic for me. Love is most the most powerful energy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lovingrootsurbanfarm.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovingrootsurbanfarm/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovingrootsurbanfarm