Half Hill Farm: Celebrating 10 years!


Christian and Vince (2013) – photo by BrassPenny Photography

10th ANNIVERSARY: All year we are reflecting on ten years of big dreams and big change at Half Hill Farm. A lot can happen in ten years, but one thing is true: life has a way of showing you the path forward in every challenge if your heart and mind are open to it.

We moved to Woodbury from Murfreesboro to build and open Short Mountain Distillery for the Kaufman brothers after helping change county law in 2010 by referendum to allow it. I had just quit my job producing evening news for a local television station in search of something with more meaning and purpose and found way more than I could have imagined.

It took 16 months to build the distillery but not nearly that long to be inspired enough by the community and country living to want to slightly change direction again to start our own farm.

It almost didn’t happen. We looked for months when we saw a “for sale by owner” sign on what appeared to be a heavily wooded property. When we drove up the first part of the driveway, we stopped and looked at each other and said we should leave before seeing anything more. Something about the entrance kept us away for months until we saw a listing that showed what we had missed. Luckily, it was still on the market, and we bought it!

When we moved to our new farm in 2012, a good friend opened our eyes to nature’s possibilities with a surprise find of a giant 9 lbs Maitake mushroom growing at the base of an old oak tree. It moved us toward growing mushrooms, but not nearly as seriously as life had in store.

We started our farm with selling our organic vegetables at our local farmers market, but everything changed when Vince’s mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. The farming side waned as we focused more on mushrooms and what they could do for her.

While her quality of life was dramatically improved, stage four eventually proved too difficult a challenge for Sandy. Her passing was hard, and we almost decided to stop farming when friends who needed our mushroom extracts encouraged us to keep going.

Over time, the word-of-mouth growth in demand for the mushroom extracts we made required us to move to a larger commercial kitchen we invited another new business to share. Very soon after, our new gut healthy beverage took off and we brought on a partner to get bigger space that has grown us into three retail stores.

Despite the growth, we are still based in our small hometown of Woodbury, TN. We are here because of help from a lot of friends and neighbors who believe in our vision. We still make our mushroom extracts with all organic ingredients and a monkish reverence in service to customers who need it. Because of stories of healing and personal transformation from our customers, we personally take the products every single day and will for life.

In the past ten years, we have gone from making our liquid mushroom dual extracts because no one else was to seeing a whole industry grow around what these mushrooms can do for people. We see what some get wrong and what some get right. We see companies making the most of it and companies with the same level of passion for better health & well being.

It’s exciting to see customers’ mushroom consciousness grow no matter how it happens. However you come to use mushrooms in your life, know that the roots of our dedication to better health & well being with mushrooms runs deep and is personal. Thank you for continuing to trust what we do and for choosing our farm’s products!

Shop our mushroom extracts and other products online, or visit our retail stores:

NEW FLAVOR: Introducing our Grapefruit Kombucha!

NEW FLAVOR: We are so happy to introduce Half Hill Farm’s new Grapefruit Kombucha! This gut-healthy flavor replaces our Blood Orange with the same organic cardamom and clove spices.
Grapefruit is high in vitamins C and A and has many health benefits including satiating appetite to support healthy weight management and healthy immune support. Ask your doctor whether grapefruit will interact with your medications. Learn more about the mighty grapefruit: https://youtu.be/B7FK3BLsNt8
Our farm’s grapefruit Kombucha is available now on tap for cup and growler refills at our stores:

Fall Seasonal: Mulled Pear Kombucha now on tap!

MULLED PEAR: Break out the ugly sweater because it’s time for Half Hill Farm’s seasonal Mulled Pear Kombucha! This annual Tennessee favorite is probiotic for good gut health and has all the Fall – made with organic cold pressed pear, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice with hints of bonfires and Daylight Savings Time. Get a growler on tap exclusively at our stores:

Blood Orange Kombucha retiring to the flavor vault!

FLAVOR VAULT: After 3 1/2 years on tap, it is time to say goodbye to one of Half Hill Farm’s first flavors of craft kombucha. We’re down to our last kegs and will be retiring our Blood Orange Kombucha and placing its recipe in the flavor vault to make way for new flavors.

This is a favorite to many, so grab a growler while it’s on tap, or one of the last bottles and enjoy it while it lasts at our stores:

Elderberry Syrup now in larger 16 oz bottle!

ELDERBERRY SYRUP: Half Hill Farm’s popular Elderberry Syrup now comes in a 16 oz bottle of family-sized immune support! Elderberries are packed with phytonutrients that support a healthy immune response when your family needs it the most.

We make ours with only the best and most simple ingredients: organic elderberries, local honey, organic ginger, organic cinnamon and organic clove. This refrigerated product is not available to ship, but you can buy both 8oz and 16oz sizes at our stores:

These Pumpkin Pie Coconut Milk Kefirs are all the Fall!

PUMPKIN PIE: Y’all, we milked all the pumpkins for the week and are now fully stocked with our latest Fall treat!

Our Pumpkin Pie Coconut Milk Kefirs are the latest flavor of Fall. Each bottle has a single serving of magical Fall sparkle and is made by Half Hill Farm with locally grown pumpkins we make into a purée, fermented organic coconut milk kefir, organic cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg and agave.

Yes, we made Pumpkin Pie Popsicles! We’ll probably have them as long as we keep seeing y’all wearing shorts. They’re like an ice cold slice of pie, and both the pops and milk kefirs are dairy-free, vegan, probiotic yogurts available now while they last exclusively at the following stores:

Fall Seasonal Muscadine Kombucha now on tap!

MUSCADINE KOMBUCHA: It’s that very special time of the year when the scuppernongs start coming off the vine, and that means making a seasonal batch of our annual Muscadine Kombucha!

This limited flavor is made by Half Hill Farm from fresh, organic scuppernongs grown by Sylvia at Green Door Gourmet. It’s a probiotic taste of Fall, and it’s available on tap by the cup our growler refill while it lasts exclusively at all our stores:

Introducing our new coconut milk kefirs!

COCONUT KEFIR: Y’all, check out our new 6oz coconut milk kefirs! These are made with the base for our popsicles and are sooooo yummy! This one is made with organic peach purée, fermented organic coconut milk kefir and organic agave!

We also made some with organic strawberry and organic blueberry and y’all had us sold out almost every day we made them! They are so good. They’re probiotic, dairy and gluten free, vegan and available now at:

Summer Seasonal Watermelon Basil Kefir now on tap!


WATERMELON BASIL: Our most popular Summer seasonal craft kefir soda is now on tap! Our Watermelon Basil Kefir means we’re at peak Summer flavor for sweet watermelons.

This annual Summer favorite is made with love and organically grown sugar baby watermelons and basil from Woodbury’s Hope and Joy Farms and Half Hill Farm. It’s a pure taste of a Tennessee Summer! Quench your thirst for the season’s best with a cup or growler refill while it lasts on tap at our stores listed below:

Wellness Emporium Murfreesboro Grand Opening July 29!

Join our team of wellness advocates and the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce for our official grand opening Thursday July 29 from 4-6pm!

We’re giving away close to $1,000 in wellness products including several gift basket giveaways for those who attend, plus everything in the store is 10% off during the event. The first ten people who arrive from 4pm – 6pm will receive a free growler fill of Half Hill Farm’s probiotic craft kombucha and kefir sodas on tap! We will be giving away some of our most popular supplement brands including Buried Treasure, Ancient Nutrition and Vital Planet.

    

Sign up for our store newsletter and enter a chance to win one of several giveaways to subscribers as well. Representatives from Ancient Nutrition and Vital Planet will also be on hand to answer questions about their popular supplements.

Enjoy free samples of our farm’s craft probiotic kombucha and kefir sodas on tap. Learn more about who we are and the mushroom extracts, apple cider vinegar tonics, and other products we make. Speak with our wellness advocates about our wide selection of quality supplements.

Wellness Emporium Murfreesboro is located at the corner of East Main + Middle Tennessee BLVD next to MTSU between Jimmy John’s and the Boulevard Restaurant!