Spring
FARM TAB
Published by The Paper of Wabash County | March 31, 2021 | www.thepaperofwabash.com
Herb your enthusiasm Couple turns fun of growing fresh herbs into small business By Mandy Mahan mmahan@thepaperofwabash.com
Katey and Joey Till, owners of Morning Glories, took their hobbies and turned them into a small business growing, drying and mixing herbs to sell at local farmer’s markets. Katey, hailing from Fort Wayne, and Joey, hailing from Warsaw married in 2001. The couple moved into their first home in 2003 in South Whitley, which is where their gardening journey began. “Joey had a garden and just wanted to grow vegetables,” Katey told The Paper of Wabash County. “He’s always been interested in organic gardening, so he researched and talked to a lot of gardeners on how to successfully do it. He spent an especially large amount of time researching how to properly compost. He built his own compost bins and would bring home all kinds of materials needed to get the right balance. Soon, he was making yearly journals on the successes and failures of his garden. He discovered that one of his specialties was growing garlic.” Katey eventually convinced her husband to grow some herbs to supplement the meals she cooked. “I’ve always really loved cooking and wanted him to plant fresh herbs for me to cook
with,” she said. “So, Joey planted a small herb garden on the side of our house, which I did a very poor job caring for. Joey eventually took it Katey Till of Morning Glories shows off a mix she created from her husover because bands dried herbs (top photo). Scenes from the process of gardening, canning he couldn’t and setting up at the Wabash Farmers Market (photos to the left). Photos stand to see provided. those poor plants looking so pitiful. He selling dried herbs and garlic would be successful. “She loved the idea of having a vendor sell dried transplanted some of the herbs and garlic, but didn’t think that we’d get very herbs into the main garden and they ended up growing many people interested in purchasing plain dried into amazing, hearty plants herbs,” Katey told The Paper. “She suggested that we thanks to his organic garden- make and sell mixes that contained our herbs. So ing techniques and compost. that’s how the idea of creating mixes was born.” The couple still opted to sell the dried herbs and They were so beautiful, I sugsome varieties of garlic, along with only one mix that gested to Joey that he sell both the herbs and garlic at didn’t sell very well. “Over the course of the season, I would think about the farmers market. I thought it could be a niche. all of the meals that I enjoyed making for our family,” He liked the idea but at the Katey said. “I then started creating mixes of the recipes I had been making for years. The mixes would time, blew it off.” One winter, Joey contain only the dry ingredients for these recipes. The noticed the way that customers would then be required to add their own Katey was cooking fresh ingredients. Our booth ended up doing fairly with herbs she had well that first year and we’ve grown in success every saved and froze from year since.” Morning Glories is now going into their fifth year of the garden, and was selling at farmer’s markets, and the third year of sellinspired. ing at Wabash Farmer’s Market. “You see, at the end of Joey told The Paper that the name, Morning Glories, each growing season, we’d have an abundance came to him easily. “My dad was a gardener,” he said. “We had a whole of beautiful herbs, but wall of morning glories that grew up on the front of didn’t really have a way to salvage them,” said Katey. our house. When it came time to name the business, “Most people didn’t want to the name Morning Glories felt right. I was so excited about the name. I had no doubt that was what we were be given herbs. So, all of that food would go to waste going to name it.” The duo told The Paper that their range of products once the first frost came. I discovered that freezing them continues to grow. “We originally started out making only a few mixes was one way we could still enjoy our bounty. Joey and marinades. Some of those mixes included our popular Meatloaf Mix and Chili mixes,” said Katey. watched me pull a hand full of leaves from a Ziploc bag and “We now offer a wide range of products that include crumble them into a sauce that I mixes, seasoning blends, soups, bread mixes, a popwas making at the time. He was corn mix, Hot pepper flakes, a rice mix, a vegetable dip, a breading mix for deep frying, as well as our sininspired by it and wondered if we could sell frozen herbs at gle dried herbs. Last year we added a Chicken Salad Mix and a Guacamole Mix that we couldn’t keep in the farmer’s market.” The idea of freezing the stock. People would buy us out of these two mixes herbs was eventually given each week at the Farmer’s Market. “We also offered a new Garlic Peppered Salt that is up on due to lack of practicality, but the couple decid- made from the leftover garlic from the previous seaed to try drying the herbs son. Two years ago, I was excited to introduce a new instead. After trying a line of teas. Last season we partnered with Cordes handful of drying tech- Blackberry Farms to introduce two new blackberry niques, they settled on teas and they were well received by our customers. We the technique of dehy- now sell at least five different teas.” Morning Glories products can be purchased at the drating. Katey began plan- 2021 Wabash Farmer’s Market. Morniing Glories is ning for the Columbia also on Facebook, and can be contacted through the City Farmer’s Market and con- page to order online during the Farmer’s Market season. sulted with the Market Master to see if