Essentially Rustic Farm

Kristie Verret
Co-owner

• 615-488-3276
• Website
• admins@essentiallyrusticfarm.com

Region: Middle - Sumner County

Method of Sale: E Commerce, Farmers Market, On Farm Sale

Additional Information: In 2018, we bought an old church campground and started homesteading. We spent the whole first year living in the gym of the camp while the house was being renovated. It's been an absolute adventure living here! We've been renovating it for years, doing as much ourselves as possible. At first, we wanted to keep it as a campground, but by the time we got it ready for camps, Covid hit and we nearly lost everything. We had no income and sold everything we could, but were unable to sell the camp. (It was totally meant to be, and I'm so glad!) After a few months, my husband was able to start work again, but we needed to come back to TN to keep his job. We moved back to the campground and sold the cabins to keep afloat. We decided to farm our little 10.5 acre campground. We spent years learning how to forage and find resources on our property to bring in an income for our family at such a unique place. So now we collect and process our own hickory nuts, black walnuts, hickory tree syrup, and wild flowers for jelly. We added some fun new flavors of tea jelly, and of course our best seller: pepper jelly. As homestead farmers in middle Tennessee, we live by the motto, "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are." (Popularized by Teddy Roosevelt quoting Squire Bill Widener.) The results are what you see on our farm. Fallen trees become garden boxes and fencing. Manure becomes fertilizer. Rabbit wool become yarn. Hickory Bark becomes syrup. The old campground becomes a farm. When life throws a wrench in the plan, pick up the wrench and start working with it! Our kids were allergic to citrus when they were little, which meant jellies were out of the question or were they? We started searching for recipes they could eat, and the early summer honeysuckle harvesting tradition began. Now our line of flower jellies are over 10 variations and growing. You won't find our jelly flavors just anywhere. We harvest from our farm early spring Redbuds and violets, Dandelions, and honeysuckles for our wild foraged jellies. We also make quite a list of tea Jellies: Butterfly Pea, Blueberry, Aronia, 3 unique fall holiday flavors, and Spicy/medium Pepper Jelly as well as No Spice Pepper Jelly. Our hickory tree syrup and marinades are also one of our customer favorites as well. Its unique and so different from maple, even down to the processing. When we bake the bark it fills the kitchen with a vanilla and hickory scent that the kids say smells like Christmas.

Available: , Farm Tours, RV Camping, Jams Jellies and Spreads, Snack Nuts, Gourds, Wood, Wool Fiber Yarn

Special Events: Facility Tours, Special Event Venue, Other : Specialty Classes being taught in regard to homesteading and agriculture