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

Karina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I grew up in the garden state, New Jersey, and there was always a patch of our backyard dedicated to growing summer veggies, flowers, and fruit bushes. That extended to the fire escape of my apartments and then my home when I moved to Nashville in 2013. When the Covid pandemic hit in 2020 I doubled the size of my garden and spent my quiet, quarantined days weeding, talking to my plants, and pickling all of the produce that I was collecting.

I had a small, outdoor birthday party for myself that summer and gave everyone a jar of the pickles that I had been brining as a party favor. One of my friends finished his jar before he even left the party and asked for another one to take home. Two other friends at the party asked me for another jar within days and soon I was getting requests from people I didn’t even know on Instagram for jars of my spicy, dilly, garlicky pickles. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford giving jars away in the quantity that they were being requested so I started what I was calling a pickle exchange.

I charged $10 for a jar, but if you were returning the glass mason jar, I took a dollar off and reused those jars all summer. On Mondays I would load up my jeep with brown bags full of fresh flowers from the garden and jars upon jars of pickles and deliver them all over Nashville. That was three summers ago and now that our world has returned back to a version of normal, I still grow about fifty cucumber plants on a rotation schedule in the backyard, have a proper jar and label instead of exchanged mason jars, and a website to help manage orders. A lot has changed, but my pickles are the same ones that I’ve been making for years and hope to continue making for a very long time to come.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

It has all happened so accidentally, but nearly everyone who has ever purchased pickles from me posts about it on their social media. I’ve been so fortunate over the past few years to see a very consistent growth and engagement with followers. I’ve also really enjoyed learning how to create a shoppable Instagram account and then a website. Linking all of the platforms together was a game-changer!

I think the biggest expansion issue that I’m having now is shipping. It costs too much to package and ship the pickles for it to be a viable sales option right now. I always feel so terribly about responding to social media requests from people all over the country interested in purchasing options and I have to tell them that they’re only available here in Nashville.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I’ve been making pickles for years. I actually can’t remember where I got the recipe for the first jar that I ever made, but it was originally very different than what I make now. I love the heat that the red pepper brings to the pickling and fresh dill makes such a difference with brightness and flavor.

I pickled and tasted and pickled and tasted for a very long time. Adjusting a pickle recipe is tough because you do have to wait a few days to let the pickles settle in. I’ve taken so many notes and labeled so many jars with explanations of the recipe that is in the jar and the age of the jar. My refrigerator always has a post-it covered shelf with test batches.

I hope that I’ll get recipes for other veggies to the place where the pickles are. I’ve been working on carrots, celery, cauliflower, and okra and my fingers are crossed that I can make them just as addictive as the OG Dills are!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yellowflowerpickleexchange.com
• Instagram: yellow.flower.pickle.exchange

Image Credits
Rachel Deeb and Karina Argow