October 27, 2020

Meet JoAnna Hayes of Jalapeno Acres in Western Slope

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to JoAnna Hayes.

JoAnna, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My husband and I found a diamond in the rough several years ago. It was a bank-owned and ran down farm. We bought it and started chipping away and resorting to the land. Now have a house here and a haven for our family. Every spring, we grow and sell a small crop of organically grown tomato and pepper plants. We sell them through our Facebook page. Also, we staring beekeeping a few years ago and now we have raw honey for sale.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Goodness no! We have had to deal with late Colorado freezes destroying most of our own garden in 2019. In our first year of beekeeping, most of our bees left and didn’t return! However, we are learning valuable lessons all the way.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jalapeno Acres story. Tell us more about the business.
We area small family farm business. It is part-time for both of us. The main items we sell at the moment are Raw honey year-round and organic vegetable seedlings in the spring. What sets us apart is we are family operated.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
For one year of my childhood, I lived with my Grandmother on her western Colorado Farm. She survived the depression and had dialed in many survival skills like canning, gardening. That year she taught me patiently how to put in a vegetable garden, harvest produce and put some up for the winter.

Pricing:

Raw Honey $20 per quart
Raw Honey $11 per pint
Spring Vegetable seedlings $4.25

Contact Info:

Phone: 970-210-7076
Email: raisingjalapenos@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raisingjalapenos/

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