Rural Missouri - September 2024 - 28
RM | OUTDOORS
Herbs
Iron
&
Lifetime gardeners grow
backyard businesses together
A shared love of gardening brought Jamie Jackson and Will Dobkins together. The two bring a combined 40 years of gardening experience to a pair
of successful businesses they run out of their home located near Squires.
by Jim McCarty | jmccarty@ruralmissouri.coop
T
hey met at a festival where Will Dobkins was pitching
his hand-forged garden tools and Jamie Jackson
was selling her herbal products. She needed a
better way to pry tough roots out of the ground. He
had just the thing.
" I like to dig up dandelion and chicory roots, " Jamie
recalls. " He was going over all the tools, and I remember he
said, 'You can get the dandelions right out of your garden
with this one.' I still have that trowel he sold me. "
For eight years they were just friends, helping one
another at homesteading festivals and drawn together by
a love of gardening. Then they began dating, married and
made offi cial a home-based business partnership that is
fl ourishing near Squires in the Ozarks.
Will's Homestead Iron draws on the knowledge passed
down from three previous generations of blacksmiths to
make gardening tools purpose-built to stand the test of
time and hard use. From his forge comes tools made to
last generations.
Jamie launched Missouri Herbs to provide relief for
28 RURAL MISSOURI | SEPTEMBER 2024
people suffering from a variety of ailments with salves
made from organically grown or wild-harvested plants. She
uses recipes once common among rural people, and plants
others would consider weeds. " And what drew us together
was our love of gardening, " Jamie says.
" Our businesses really do puzzle-piece together very
well, " says Will. " Her business is slow and steady. Where
mine is feast or famine. I've got from the end of February
until midsummer to make money. Then I'll have another
short run from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and then
everything dries up. Missouri Herbs is consistent, all year,
all the time bringing in that little bit to pay the power bill
and grocery money. "
The two businesses, which are served by White River
Valley Electric Cooperative, dovetail in other ways as well.
For example, when Will comes up with a new design for a
garden tool, he takes it to Jamie's garden to get her opinion
on whether it functions as promised.
" It makes it real easy to dial things in, because I can
give it to her and she can tell me, 'No, the handle is too
big for my hands,' or 'It's too heavy, ' " Will says. " I can run
right back up to the shop and reprototype it. "
Rural Missouri - September 2024
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - September 2024
Contents
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - Cover1
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - Cover2
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - Contents
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - 4
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - 5
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - 6
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - 7
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Rural Missouri - September 2024 - Cover3
Rural Missouri - September 2024 - Cover4
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