While the pandemic had significant and lasting negative effects on businesses small and large throughout Northeast Wisconsin, it also gave birth to new ideas and inspired entrepreneurs to re-evaluate how they structured their time and energy. Flavor Farm Herbs and Flowers was one such business to root itself in the Neenah community during the summer of 2020. With much unknown during those early months of the pandemic, co-owner Amy James says she and her husband, Adam, started it to help offset food costs and do something for themselves.
The couple was simultaneously assessing how they approached landscaping for commercial developments through their architecture firm, Vision Architecture. James says they wondered what positive impacts could come out of planting herbs and pollinators in landscaping, instead of aesthetically pleasing — but rather meaningless — shrubs. They used their own lawn, and the increased time at home, to rethink outdoor spaces.
“We weren’t necessarily starting the business with the mindset of, ‘We’re going to make millions of dollars farming,’ because that’s just not the case,” James explains. “But we did go into it thinking, ‘If we can eat what we grow, if we have a better impact on our environment by creating a habitat for bees and all these great things that happen [through gardens], and love what we do, too, [then] this would be a good end game.”
The extra time at home gave them a chance to really dig in, dedicating themselves to ensuring they understood how to grow plants, herbs and flowers, giving each garden addition the attention it needed to really take hold. The couple began to grow and sell in-season fresh and dried herbs, offer starter plants for sale, make their own teas, and sell seeds from their plants they harvested the previous season.
And though they might not have realized it at the time, the path they started down with Flavor Farm would wind its way through Neenah Farmers Market nights into buying the downtown Neenah retail store The Natural Boutique in 2022, when its previous owner retired. As James explains, Flavor Farm and The Natural Boutique are in alignment with their values, and it’s been a great way to meet like-minded vendors and customers.
“I see our role best served by just making things like herbs, tea or homeopathy less intimidating and easier to understand,” James says. “You can enjoy the health benefits of fresh oregano, whether you are a fabulous cook or sprinkle it on your frozen pizza. People just need to jump the hurdle of understanding and realize what a small but impactful change that could be.
“Big changes come in small steps,” she adds, “so we just try to be encouraging by making it fun and inspiring people to experiment and see what happens.”
