MEET KARI:

THE HEART BEHIND HAMBONE’S MERCANTILE & INDIGO FOX & OLIVE CO.

At The Barn & Basket Market, we believe knowing the hands and heart behind the products matters. Every vendor has a story, and Kari’s is one rooted in nature, education, community and a desire to help people reconnect with the land around them.

Kari is the owner of Hambone’s Mercantile and Indigo Fox & Olive Co., located in Eustace. She brings an incredibly unique variety of products to our market, including handmade pasta, gourmet mushrooms, lion’s mane tincture, herbal tea blends and accessories, foraged spices, wildcrafted jams and jellies, and native plants.

But her journey did not begin with a traditional business plan.

After graduating from college, Kari began ethically collecting seeds from native plants to propagate on her own property. As people started requesting certain species, she began searching for those plants while collecting for herself. That eventually led to selling seeds and plants online.

The more time Kari spent among wild plants, the more interested she became in all the ways nature already provides for us.

She began wildcrafting jams and jellies from foraged fruits and eventually started selling those, too. Along the way, she realized how deeply people wanted to understand nature and feel more connected to the earth. That realization led her to begin teaching foraging classes. When her students started asking about the benefits of wild herbs, Kari developed herbal tea blends designed to support the body. From there, she added tea accessories made from clean, natural materials such as glass and stainless steel.

Once her products were available in stores, she noticed that many people were interested in herbal teas but did not always know how to approach them. To make tea feel more familiar and inviting, she created a shortbread cookie using butter infused with tea. Her hibiscus tea shortbread cookies quickly became a customer favorite. Those teas are ultimately what brought Kari to The Barn & Basket Market.

While we were talking one day about ways she could expand her product line and grow her vision for a nature school, she casually mentioned that she knew how to make pasta. I lit up and practically demanded that she bring it to the market! And that is how Kari’s career as a pasta maker began.

Her handmade pasta quickly became one of her most popular products, and is a weekly staple in our own home. During her first few weeks of stocking it at the market, she could barely keep it on the shelf.

A BUSINESS BUILT BY LISTENING

Kari describes herself as an “incidental producer.” At heart, she feels called to be a student and an educator. Nearly everything she makes has come from someone saying, “I could use this,” followed by Kari realizing she has the knowledge and ability to create it. Her goal is always to make the simplest, highest-quality product possible.

Everything is created by Kari’s own hands. Her native plants and wildcrafted products are seasonal, which means availability depends on what the land provides each year. For example, her American Beautyberry Jelly sold out months before the next berries would be ready, also another favorite in our own home. Rather than forcing production, Kari waits and watches the land until each plant or fruit reaches peak ripeness.

She appreciates that rhythm.

Working with nature has taught her to slow down and accept that some years simply are not the year for a particular plant or fruit. When that happens, there may be less available for that season, and that is okay. Ethical care of the land is at the center of everything Kari does. Because so much of what she creates depends on healthy land, she must know exactly how an area has been managed before foraging from it. Her ingredients come from her own property or from land belonging to people she knows and trusts.

Her personal favorite product is American Beautyberry Jelly. The beautyberry plant provides beautiful seasonal color, natural insect-repelling properties and nourishment. Kari especially enjoys using it to begin conversations about what nature provides and what previous generations understood about survival.

MORE THAN PRODUCTS

One product Kari wishes more customers knew about is her lion’s mane tincture.

As someone with ADD, Kari says adding the tincture to her morning coffee helps her feel as though she has better follow-through and is less likely to forget why she walked into a room. She also feels it helps her place less pressure and urgency on herself throughout the day.

Kari’s work extends beyond the products she brings to the market. Through Indigo Fox & Olive Co., she offers hands-on, STEM-based classes covering biology, conservation and habitat health. These classes are especially designed for homeschool students and give children the opportunity to become the scientist rather than simply reading about science from a book. Kari loves watching these experiences spark the imaginations of future scientists.

That passion comes from real experience. Kari is a wildlife biologist by education and is also a peer-reviewed author of multiple scientific publications in botany and parasitology.

THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME

The name Hambone’s Mercantile carries a very special meaning.

While Kari was in college, she had a large rescue dog named Diesel, an English mastiff and Rottweiler mix. Diesel was her wilderness partner and made it possible for her to confidently explore remote areas while studying plants. Although he was truly a giant teddy bear, his size provided protection and gave Kari the freedom to focus on the wild things around her. After Diesel passed, Tyson, another mastiff, became her companion. Tyson may be a “big chicken,” according to Kari, but he still goes with her because he knows that is where he belongs.

Kari has always loved giant dog breeds, and they have always walked beside her. Hambone’s Mercantile was named in honor of all those big, meat-headed “hambone dogs”, especially Diesel, her first Hambone Dog.

WHY SHOPPING SMALL MATTERS

When asked why supporting small and local businesses matters, Kari’s answer perfectly reflects what we believe at The Barn & Basket Market:

“We matter to each other.”

Kari tries to purchase something from another vendor whenever she restocks because she understands what even a small purchase means to a maker. Five dollars may feel like little more than an energy drink at a convenience store. To a large franchise, it is a drop in the bucket. But to a small business owner, that same purchase feels like someone intentionally chose them.

It feels like support.

It feels like relief.

It feels like a stamp of approval on something they carefully created for another family.

Shopping small improves the quality of life for our neighbors while helping preserve the care, connection and quality that can so easily become lost in our modern world.

GROWING ROOTS IN EAST TEXAS

Kari moved to East Texas from the DFW area in 2024. She has loved exploring the area and learning about the history of the Piney Woods. Her journey has not been without uncertainty. After being laid off from her wildlife biology position, the businesses she had planned to grow slowly on the side suddenly became sink-or-swim ventures.

She is now working to launch and grow two small businesses at once. While that brings plenty of stress, it has also shown Kari what she is capable of accomplishing. Her dream is to grow enough that she can invest back into the community by creating jobs and improving the quality of life for herself and her neighbors.

She describes her businesses in three words:

Integrity. Community. Connection.

We cannot think of three better words to describe what Kari brings to The Barn & Basket Market.

We are so thankful she is part of our vendor family and that our customers have embraced her products. The next time you visit the market, take a moment to explore Kari’s handmade pasta, teas, mushrooms, tinctures and seasonal creations.

When you purchase something from Hambone’s Mercantile or Indigo Fox & Olive Co., you are receiving much more than a product. You are supporting years of knowledge, careful stewardship of the land, a love of teaching and one woman’s dream of building a business that nourishes and connects her community.

Learn more about Kari and her businesses:

Hambone’s Mercantile www.hambonesmercantile.comwww.facebook.com/HamboneMarket

Indigo Fox & Olive Co. www.littleindigofox.comwww.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577673264119