Building The Appalachian Sage from scratch has been a journey of pure grit and grace. I didn’t come from a world of tech or fancy website training — just a deep determination to learn, mess up, start over, and keep pressing forward until I got it right. This site was born out of a hundred do-overs and a thousand whispered prayers.

Each click, each page, each late-night cup of tea has been part of a dream to share what runs through my family’s blood — the old healing ways of the Appalachian mountains. My hope is that The Appalachian Sage becomes a gathering place for those who are curious about the ancient medicine in our leaves, roots, bark, and wild weeds. The kind of knowledge that once lived in every cabin and on every front porch — where healing hands and good hearts met the wisdom of the woods.

I’m no tech expert, but I’ve learned to walk between two worlds — the digital and the natural — to build a bridge where both can meet. Every line of code, every post, and every picture is a seed planted toward a greater harvest of knowledge and connection.

As this project grows, so will I. There’s still so much to learn — new tools, new platforms, new ways to bring these old teachings into the light. But I’m all about it. With patience, curiosity, and that mountain determination, I’ll keep tending this dream until it blossoms.

I want The Appalachian Sage to be more than a brand — I want it to be a classroom under open skies. A place where young and old alike can learn to recognize a fox paw print in the mud, the track of a mountain cat in fresh snow, or the healing promise of a plant most folks walk past without noticing.

This is a space where we remember that the earth is still speaking… and we’re still listening. 🌿

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🌾 Rooted in Kentucky Heritage

Much of what you’ll find in The Appalachian Sage Shop is influenced by the soil that raised me — Kentucky soil rich with memory, work, and pride. I grew up on a small farm where a good tobacco crop each year meant a roof that didn’t leak and food on the table. We weren’t smokers, but tobacco helped us get by, and it taught me what steady hands and honest labor could build. You’ll soon see wall prints in the shop showing the life of a tobacco plant — from seed to harvest to the proud day it heads to market — because that’s a story worth preserving.

The same hills that grew our tobacco now raise the grain that feeds Kentucky’s other proud tradition — bourbon. It’s the industry that keeps my lights on today, as it does for many of my neighbors. Out here, I’m surrounded by good-hearted folks — Mennonite, Amish, and families who work at the distilleries — all of us living clean, honest lives and standing proud in our Kentucky heritage.

And before the bourbon and the factories, there were men like my grandpa. He was a moonshiner — not a man of crime, but a man of compassion. He used the money he made from selling his shine to feed his children and to help others who had even less. I remember riding with him as a child, seeing him pull over to pick up someone walking barefoot along the roadside, drive them into town, and buy them a pair of shoes or a warm coat. At Christmas, he’d do the same for families who had nothing. He was rough around the edges but tender at heart, and he taught me what true generosity looks like — quiet, unspoken, and given freely.

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🌼 Carrying the Story Forward

My goal is to build pride in Kentucky ways, its products, and its people. Every design and creation in The Appalachian Sage carries a touch of that — the colors of our fields, the rhythm of our work, and the spirit of resilience that’s run through these hills for generations.

As the shop grows, I’ll be adding items meant to compliment this learning journey — pieces that spark curiosity in children and adults alike. Some will celebrate Appalachian life through clothing and keepsakes, others will connect to Kentucky’s rich traditions in tobacco, bourbon, and farming. Each piece tells part of our story, blending heritage with heart.

I hope to help children and adults alike rediscover what’s been forgotten — to know the old ways as surely as they learn the new ones. Education will teach them the technology of tomorrow, but someone has to pass down the heart knowledge of yesterday — the knowing of herbs, healing, weather signs, and the stories that once tied families to the land.

That’s what The Appalachian Sage is here for — to honor the past while building a bridge to the future, one story, one creation, and one lesson at a time.