08/03/2026
When YOU shop at Upton Farmers Market you turn ideas and dreams into real businesses.
How did I start Bluegrass Herbs without taking on debt?
The answer is simple: people believed in the idea before it was built.
When I first dreamed of Bluegrass Herbs, I knew I wanted to create herbal teas, skincare, and other botanical products. Iโd been making herbal products for years, but the cost of equipment, licensing, and supplies made turning it into a real business feel impossible.
So I started with what I already had.
I grew herbs in my backyard, blended herbal teas, and launched a small CSA program to crowd fund for the cosmetics and skincare licensing. People who didnโt know me bought a product that didnโt exist yet based on my ideas.
100% of my CSA subscribers werenโt people I previously knew. Around one third were people who had bought herbal tea and flowers I grew, and mostly strangers. They were people who listed to my sales pitch and believed in what I was building, and paid upfront to see it happen, and every CSA box helped fund the next steps.
I met people like Hippie Chick Roots who mentored me in the early stages, and connected with Durbin Family Farm and April's homemade creations LLC and many others who provided unlimited encouragement.
With Al and Abner at Upton Farmers Market ran by Upton Community Connect I helped gather a community of people who shared many of the same goals, and through sharing our diverse skill sets we were able to help each other achieve them.
Little by little, those early orders paid for supplies, licensing, and everything I needed to grow without taking on any startup debt.
Looking at these three boxes today feels incredibly full circle.
๐ฆ Two are heading to brand-new wholesale accounts that will soon carry Bluegrass Herbs. (Including my first out of state store)
๐ฆ One is going to one of the very first people who ever supported my CSA.
Itโs a reminder that businesses arenโt built overnight. Theyโre built one customer, one order, and one act of support at a time.
To everyone who believed in this little idea from the beginning (and to everyone whoโs joined along the way) thank you. You helped build something thatโs reaching places I never imagined. ๐