Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana & Billy Dugger.
Ana & Billy, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2012, my husband (Billy) and I had graduated college amid a recession in Virginia. We practiced aquaponics on a hobby level, growing basil and other herbs in our laundry room. An opportunity arose when some vacant family property became available for us to realize our bigger dream that would ultimately be Billy’s Botanicals. We saved as much money as we could from our bartending jobs and moved down here into the 1930s farmhouse on the property. Over the past decade, we have grown our business and family here, purchasing the property when we got married and had our first son in 2017. At that time, we primarily sold our aquaponic produce to restaurants. When covid shut everything down, we decided to focus more on selling directly to our customers. We increased our market presence and began doing farmbag drops to our neighbors and friends. This pivot helped our farm diversify in an important way. Now, we keep ourselves quite busy dropping farm bags, working our weekly flagship farmers market at Forsyth Park in Savannah, and servicing some of the top area restaurants.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh boy! I could certainly fill this section. First, starting our farm required deep pockets we didn’t have. We had saved a significant amount of money to start but couldn’t have dreamed of how difficult it would be in those first few years. Debt has been a big stressor for us. It wasn’t until about 10 years in did we turn a corner where we no longer needed to work 2-3 jobs at one time.
Aquaponics, our primary method of growing our all-natural produce, is a fickle beast. We raise fish in the same body of water that the plants grown in. This symbiotic method of growing involves a great deal of experience with fish husbandry. After 10+ years, we have it down but had some big fish die-offs in the beginning. These were expensive and heartbreaking mistakes that definitely made for a lot of challenges. We ended up building a seafood processing shed to process and sell our tilapia but have had such success in recent years that our beloved “seafood shack” is primarily used to source wild-caught local seafood. These days our tilapia live the good life unbothered providing nutrient-rich water to our system. The seafood portion of our business now comes from our pristine coastal waters. We source shrimp, fish, and bivalves for chefs and customers alike.
Concerning obstacles, covid 19 really did reshape how we operate our business. At the time, we relied heavily on restaurants that supported our farm. Furthermore, we both worked in restaurants to supplement our income. When they shut down, it was incredibly scary. We had a greenhouse packed with no sales outlets. We had other friends that farmed in the very same boat. On the fly and exclusively using social media, we started offering farmbag drops with our produce and seafood. Additionally, we used other farmers we knew from our farmers market and their products to compliment ours and provide a comprehensive grocery drop with exclusively local, organic, and sustainable goods. Everybody loved it, and the program that was just supposed to get us through a pinch thrives to this day.
Every mistake, loss, and pivot has provided us with a fresh perspective on how to operate our business. Even a flood in 2022, while devastating at the time, gave us some perspective and support from the entire community. They lifted us up and out of the literal and figurative water. All these obstacles have only doubled our commitment to serving our community with fresh, local, sustainable food free of toxic chemicals that plague our current food system.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
We practice aquaponics, organic gardening, seafood mongering, and floristing on our small family farm in Richmond Hill, GA. Our family has a history with cancer, and we forge forward with that in mind. Everybody deserves access to healthy, good, fresh food. We really want to encourage our community to get outside, go to your local farmers’ markets, support your local foodways, and eat your greens and seafood. Your body, your community, your environment, and local economy will all thank you in so many ways.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Passion is paramount. Nobody is in the food business that isn’t all in.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.billysbotanicals.com
- Instagram: @billysbotanicals & @flowersbyand
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Billysbotanicals
