Herb Hub Supports Local Growers

Herb Hub Supports Local Growers The Rural Action Herb Hub in southeast Ohio supports local growers and foragers in bringing their products to market. The non-profit organization (Vol. 48, No. 4) offers a shared, approved kitchen space and equipment for processing field and forest herbs, seeds and roots.  “Herb Hub has been in the works for a couple of years,” says Sara Sevy Tremayne, Rural Action. “We’re finally up and running. We want to be educational as well as providing service, having people come in and see and use equipment they could use on their own farms.” The Herb Hub offers a complete range of equipment for washing and drying products, including tanks, dehydrators, a freeze dryer and drying racks. Some equipment, like an elderberry destemmer, is available to borrow. A main goal is to help the local economy. Herb Hub users have included a fresh basil grower who normally sells to area grocery stores. “He had an extra 84 lbs. and saw an opportunity to dry them and sell them later,” says Tremayne. “Another brought in cone flowers, and we shredded them to make a tincture. We have people bringing in shiitake mushrooms, lemon balm, mint and bee balm to dry. We’ve even had people make backpack meals with the dehydrator and freeze dryer.” Besides assisting people with their products, the Herb Hub offers workshops on processing and preserving. “We had one on tincture making, another on handling practices, and an elderberry event. People brought in their elderberries to destem.” ASD and the AHHH have curated a network of bulk herb buyers across the country. “They also put out a sheet of in-demand product, such as lemon balm,” says Tremayne. “If we have lemon balm growers, we can help get them tied in.” AHHH and the Herb Hub also assist growers and foragers in supplying larger quantity buyers. “A company may ask for 100 lbs. of a certain product,” says Tremayne. “No one may have 100 lbs., but we may have 10 with 10 lbs. each. We can aggregate it so our growers connect with that company and get a better price.” In its start-up year, the Herb Hub’s costs were covered by a grant, and growers have been able to use the facility and equipment free of charge. In the future, it may need to charge fees. “We’re still working out details on charging,” says Tremayne. “We’re leaning toward a monthly fee, such as $50 for limited amounts and more for larger amounts of processing.” Rural Action’s goals for the Herb Hub are to support existing agroforestry growers and foragers, as well as new ones. “We hope having our infrastructure in place will encourage new growers. It can be scary to invest in growing or gathering herbs. When they’re ready, we’ll be here for them.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Rural Action, 9030 Hocking Hills Dr., The Plains, Ohio 45780 (ph 740-677-4047; info@ruralaction.org; www.ruralaction.org).

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