ROEBUCK — Eat the Leaf, tucked away on a farm in rural Roebuck, has turn out to be a dependable supply for anybody searching for more healthy meals options.
Proprietor Jessica Evans runs the enterprise, based in 2010 along with her husband, Chris, and assist from different members of the family. It began when Jessica was affected by an sickness she did not fairly perceive; she wasn’t in a position to establish what precisely was ailing her. After visits to the physician and performing some analysis of her personal, she found what she wanted was a gluten-free weight-reduction plan. Making the adjustment wasn’t as straightforward because it appeared.
“It was a protracted course of,” she mentioned. “I found meals was my difficulty, so I lower out gluten and discovered extra in regards to the meals we put in our our bodies. It led us to eat cleaner and use cleaner merchandise. It turned out gluten was the primary offender for me.”
Eat the Leaf Proprietor Jessica Evans inside a greenhouse on the family-owned farm in Spartanburg County on Could 1. The enterprise sells quite a lot of culinary herbs and handcrafted natural merchandise.
Evans misplaced 50 kilos in a matter of months and started feeling like herself once more. After some encouragement from household and pals, she launched Eat the Leaf on her 10 acres of property, beginning with a easy backyard. Since then she’s added two greenhouses, each serving a singular function. She grows culinary herbs and medicinal crops on the market. All the pieces is offered on-line or on the Hub City Farmers Market in Spartanburg and Landrum Farmers Market.
She additionally sells her crops and herbs at backyard facilities, together with on the Sanders Garden Center in Union. Within the spring, Evans began taking horticulture courses at Spartanburg Community College to hone her expertise within the backyard and study extra in regards to the science behind what she does now full-time for a dwelling. For the previous 15 years, she’s referred to as the Upstate her house. As a baby she grew up in West Virginia, then Kentucky, and later moved to Minnesota after which Arizona earlier than transferring to rural Spartanburg County.
The entire crops grown on her farm have a function. The leaves, flowers and roots can all be used for medicinal functions to assist enhance well being. Strolling by her greenhouses, you’ll find Lemon balm, Gomphrena crops with orange flowers and crops referred to as Spilanthes or the “toothache plant,” since chewing its leaves or flower heads can produce a numbing and tingling sensation within the mouth. All of the crops start their journey in a seed room inside Evan’s home.
Eat the Leaf herb farm in Spartanburg County grows greater than 100 kinds of crops.
The year-round operation takes loads of effort. Evans would not have it another manner. Greater than 100 kinds of crops are grown at Eat the Leaf. It has been a studying course of for Evans by the years. She hopes to ultimately increase the farm, doubtlessly including one other greenhouse to the property. The farm additionally produces quite a lot of natural salves, scalp oil, foot soak and lip balm merchandise. Gardening wit herbs workshops are additionally a part of her enterprise.
Enjoyable with Meals: Herb Culinary Class is scheduled for 6-7:15 p.m. Could 22 on the Sanders Backyard Middle in Union. There’s excessive demand for oils and salves for folks trying to enhance their well being. There’s additionally been extra curiosity in studying extra about how crops’ medicinal properties might help.
“I feel individuals are changing into extra aware of crops,” Evans mentioned. “Our technology didn’t develop up studying about how crops can be utilized to assist along with your well being. That by no means acquired handed right down to us, and there is been a niche of two or three generations that have not been conscious. Individuals are realizing they must be extra self-sufficient and depend on discovering different methods to remain wholesome. I see it changing into extra of a development.”
Evans mentioned, “Folks do not need a fairly plant; they need one thing purposeful.”
Eat the Leaf herb farm in southern Spartanburg County was based in 2010.
Her greenhouses are additionally stuffed with quite a lot of crops that can be utilized in meals. Her favourite of those is the amethyst basil with purple leaves.
The Christmas market season can be an necessary time for Eat the Leaf. There is a burgeoning neighborhood within the Upstate that is turn out to be extra linked by native farming, particularly rising crops and herbs for medicinal use.
“It is simply enjoyable gathering with different individuals who have the identical pursuits and wish to share what they’ve discovered with others,” Evans mentioned. “I simply adore it. I simply love working on a regular basis in my greenhouses.”
The planting season will start in October when Evans crops her seeds. A lot of the crops can be found on the market beginning within the spring. Evans is happy about what’s subsequent for her enterprise. There’s at all times one thing new to study.
Pulling a quote from Eat the Leaf’s web site by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Evans sums it up finest: “What’s a weed? A plant whose virtues have by no means been found.”
