COLLINSVILLE, Okla. — An idea planted on a Collinsville farm has grown into a booming business on Main Street in Collinsville.
"It started with us, and 5,000 bees in the back of Chevy Tahoe," says Ash Winfield.
Ash and his wife, Carrie Beth, are the co-owners of Farm Hippie. A business with a buzzworthy backstory.
"We became beekeepers about five years ago, and from the beeswax that we harvested, Carrie Beth started using those to make skin care products," says Winfield.
After taking their products to several farmers markets, these Collinsville beekeepers decided to create something unique, Farm Hippie.
"We're actually a registered farmers market with the Department of Agriculture in Oklahoma. We just brought everything indoors, and we're open year-round," says Winfield.
Here, the Winfields sell their products and help others sell theirs.
"You can come and find anything that you'd find at a farmers market right here at Farm Hippie. We have everything from fresh milk and dairy from Swan Brothers out of Claremore, to bread and cookies and cupcakes, we have a farm fresh egg co-op that's available, beef producers, pork producers, then a huge amount of artisans and craftsman," says Winfield.
And they tell 2 News Oklahoma it's all Oklahoma made or sourced.
"We opened about 3 and a half years ago with under 40 vendors, and we've grown to 160 now," says Winfield.
Ervin Robinson is one of the many merchants. The 85-year-old woodturner took up the hobby just five years ago.
"I like that it's keeping me busy... keeps me doing something," says Robinson.
Plus, it's paying off.
"Last month, they sold 21 of my bowls!" says Robinson.
Lori Beth McDonald says her Okie Bee Farms honey sales are sweet too. Selling year-round is also a bonus.
"It's a game changer that I'm not depending on trying to make money in a certain part of the year," says McDonald.
Farm Hippie broke the mold when it comes to farmers' markets in Oklahoma. It was the first year-round indoor farmers market in the state. The owners had to work to change the law to make that happen. A bill was passed in 2019 and went into effect in November 2020.
"Making it legal to have an indoor farmers market. Making it legal for home-based food producers to bring their products and go somewhere outside of an open-aired farmer's market," says Winfield.
Up next, Farm Hippie plans to bring something new to Collinsville, a non-profit called Farm Hippie Community Incorporated.
"We want to bring back more of that generational heritage. We want to bring back community education, and we want to do some basics like what are the basics of gardening, and how do you can food so that we have food security," says Winfield. The non-profit plans to do that through outreach, education, and programming. Community is the heart of Farm Hippie, and this storefront makes shopping locally simple.
"Everything here is made by a neighbor that I want to support," says McDonald.
"We're really just a lot of small businesses doing business together," adds Winfield.
Farm Hippie, sowing the seeds of peace and love with deep Oklahoma roots.
"We have a Farm Hippie family here. It's a passion of ours, and we're just so thrilled to do it!" says Winfield.
Farm Hippie is open Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, click here.
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