Thanks to all who contributed to the Vermont Farm Fund last year, we had money ready to lend out when Jeff and Melanie Carpenter applied for a loan to help expand their established herb business, Zack Woods Herb Farm. The Carpenters dehydrate and sell their certified organic medicinal herbs in bulk to third-party herbal product manufacturers, as well as retail outlets making private label teas and herbal products.

As Jeff and Melanie also use their farm-grown herbs to make their own tea blends, they know how much better their local organic ingredients are than the lower-grade imports being used in many US manufactured herbal blends. Imports can be sourced from farms with questionable agricultural and labor practices.

As demand for high quality, locally sourced, certified organic medicinal herbs has grown, the Carpenters have been consistently selling out of their harvest and have had to turn customers away.

The $10,000 VFF loan will help Zack Woods procure a tractor mounted sickle bar mower to harvest their crops, instead of cutting them by hand with field knives. Other new equipment on the couple’s buy list will automate the process of removing stems from the dried herbs and mill the leaf into a “cut and sift” industry standard grade.

“This no-hassle, low-interest loan is coming at the perfect time to take our business to the next level. These enhancements will help increase our output and profitability, which will in turn enable us to hire more paid help.” – Jeff and Melanie Carpenter

All images courtesy of Zack Woods Herb Farm.