In Dirt We Trust

Our hands were in the soil from day one. We weren’t professional farmers, but we were passionate about growing things and entranced with the potential of hemp and CBD. We wanted to create great CBD products, but decided to start at the beginning, with the plant itself. Eagle House Botanicals was among the first 20 farms permitted to grow hemp in South Carolina in 2018, and we never looked back. Now we are professional farmers. 

One of the great things about being an American is that the spirit of entrepreneurship is knit into our bones. It’s completely acceptable to learn new skills and to reinvent yourself many times over. We’ve lived in other countries where the norm is to stay in your lane and the same job for your entire life. We think channeling passions and skills into new forms and directions is much more satisfying.

We weren’t professional farmers, but we are passionate and dedicated students with all kinds of professional and life experiences. Our skills include soil science, fluvial geomorphology, photography, design, art, writing, business development and a do-it-yourself mentality. 

When hemp and its many benefits started exploding globally, we were drawn to CBD as a natural alternative to pharmaceuticals. We were profoundly moved by Sanjay Gupta’s documentary, Weed, and the ways this plant provides better alternatives for children suffering from intractable seizure disorders. We had witnessed the negative impact of seizure medications on quality of life. While we are certainly not opposed to traditional medicine (on the contrary, we are quite grateful), there seemed to be a need for more natural, plant-based remedies that are rooted in ancient knowledge and traditions.

The last few years have been marked by hard work, a sharp learning curve and great satisfaction at building something completely new. We founded Eagle House Botanicals on the belief that there is great value and potential in exploring the healing power of these medicinal plants. Hemp is our main focus, but we have expanded our scope to include other medicinal herbs like echinacea, lemon balm, goldenrod and comfrey. Initially we sought herbalists to help us formulate better, more effective products, but we were quickly drawn in and started studying herbalism ourselves.

Sometimes it seems like we conjured our farm, Eagle House Botanicals, from a little dirt and a lot of sweat, and not much else. We cobbled together the basics and built everything ourselves, from the first greenhouses and Venturi fertigation systems to our sheds, roads and other infrastructure. We studied everything we could find on growing hemp, attended seminars and conferences, and even studied with French hemp farmers. (France had the good sense to never stop growing hemp.)

Friends and family helped us plant our first crop, and even fed us when we were too tired and broke to cook for ourselves. We put everything we had into this passion project, working long hours and emptying our savings accounts. Friends told us that this level of physical labor was unsustainable, but we found new energy in the thrill of our exciting enterprise. There is great satisfaction in learning something completely new at any age. Even more pleasure and pride comes from building it with your own hands.

We had plenty of setbacks and made colossal errors, but even our failures helped pave the road to more knowledge and new directions. We’ve remained committed to the idea that growing hemp and other medicinal herbs ourselves gives us the right foundation for our company. We still look forward to full farm days, to being outside in the fresh air with our hands in the dirt, growing plants and connecting to nature. We love creating products, but we still keep our hands in the soil because there are so few things you can count on in life. In dirt we trust.