Dragonfly Hill Farm & Kitchen
Bringing Producers Back to the Kitchen
Sandra Yerges
After crafting a career in agriculture for many years leading up to 2019, she knew she did not want to give it up. Wandy was adept in all things growing and had a vast background working with vegetables. Her talent and ambition to continue working in this field are what started Dragonfly Hill Farm & Kitchen that year.
While looking for a location to begin this solo venture, Wandy knew it must be suited for growing garlic and creating subsequent products with her harvest. The latter was highly important to her as value-added products were the biggest focus of the business. Of all the places she visited, there was one that stood out and had just what she was looking for: a small bank barn ready to be transformed into a commercial kitchen.
This new space was not just constructed with Dragonfly Hill Farm & Kitchen in mind. Rather, Wandy included some extra appliances in the kitchen to give other local food producers a space to make their own offerings.
“I knew I didn’t need it 24/7, so if I could help another food entrepreneur in the area, they could rent from me,” Wandy explained. “That’s where the sharing started.”
To streamline the scheduling process, each client can choose their desired cooking slot through an online platform. This management program provides Wandy with the confidence that there will be no overlap of clients at the facility and the documentation that each business is compliant with a strict food safety standard.
In the empty evening hours, Wandy often finds herself using the kitchen for her own craft. She keeps herself busy preparing her garlic products. One of her products that always turns heads is her sold-out black garlic ice cream. Although it may not sound like an appealing flavor, this highly sought-after dessert is one Wandy has been determined to keep in her line of offerings.
Outside of this unexpected treat, she currently offers a wide range of snackable, spreadable, and flavorful garlic products. With now-organic offerings ranging from convenient diced garlic to rich garlic scape pesto, Wandy prioritizes what is best for the customer. This movement toward thoughtful harvesting has also been matched with her biodegradable and recyclable packaging methods.
Manually preparing these well-packaged products is not only time-consuming but also can cause carpal tunnel. Fortunately, 2021 was the first year Wandy could move away from this hands-on work and onto automated processing with machinery. It was the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) that helped her with this upgrade as she was awarded over $40,000 of reimbursement funding.
Taking her accelerated peeling and dehydrating process into account, Wandy shared, “The VAPG made it possible for me to be more efficient.”
Working faster was just one of three objectives she had for her VAPG funding. In addition, Wandy focused on how she could introduce social media to her operation and innovate her web presence and marketplace as well. Although she may not have had much experience with these plans, she was able to enlist the expertise of professionals who provided much beneficial advice to her company’s identity. The website adjustments have since elicited a wave of positive feedback from customers, proving this to be a successful use of the VAPG funds.
The remainder of Dragonfly Hill Farm & Kitchen’s grant award was utilized for a crucial part of being a value-added, produce-focused company: food safety. Not only does this aspect of the business impact the lives of customers, but it also influences a producer’s chance of being affiliated with other sales outlets. Therefore, Wandy took this opportunity to obtain documentation of her guidelines and kitchen procedures to establish a standard of how she prepares her food.
“It brings joy just knowing there’s something to look forward to,” she indicated. “I just want purpose. That’s what keeps me going.”
Wandy is ready to embrace whatever is heading her way. Her open-mindedness for the future and trying something new like the VAPG has gotten her to this point and will help her continue advancing for years to come
