A Big Step for Our Little Farm: Uglie Acres Is Converting the Garage Into a Farm Store Room

Something exciting is happening behind the scenes here at Uglie Acres.

We’re growing, but we’re doing it in a way that still feels like us: close to home, connected to our family farm, and focused on the small-batch homemade food our customers have come to enjoy.

Uglie Acres has received approval for a zoning special exception to convert our farm’s garage into a farm store room. This is an important step toward eventually allowing customers to visit the farm for pickups of their favorite jams, jellies, fruit butters, fudge, and other homemade treats.

The store room is not open yet, and customers cannot currently visit the farm for shopping or pickups. There is still work ahead, and we do not have an opening date to share. For now, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what the approval means and why it matters so much to our family.

From a family farm to a small-batch food business

Uglie Acres began with the farm, family recipes, and a love of making good food the traditional way.

The story of our jam-making began in a particularly natural way. When we bought the farm, mulberry trees were already growing here. Once the fruit started coming in, Nicole began making more mulberry jam. That simple beginning grew into something much larger. A collection of homemade preserves inspired by the fruit around us and the flavors our family loves.

Today, we make small batch preserves, artisan jams and jellies, fruit butters, homemade candy, and fudge. We grow and use our own fruit whenever possible, and we source additional ingredients from local produce stands, farmers markets, friends, and neighbors.

That local connection is important to us. Every batch reflects the ingredients available to us, the recipes we have collected and adapted, and the care that goes into preparing food in small quantities.

Why a farm store room is such a big step

For more than 13 years, Uglie Acres has sold primarily to customers online through Etsy. We are grateful for every order, message, repeat purchase, and thoughtful review that has helped our family business continue growing.

Customers can also find us at farmers markets, craft fairs, and festivals. Those events give us the chance to meet people face to face, talk about our products, and hear which flavors bring back memories from childhood.

A future farm pickup option would add another meaningful connection. Instead of every order traveling from our kitchen and packing area directly to a customer, some customers will eventually be able to come to the farm and pick up their favorites here.

That does not mean Uglie Acres is becoming a large commercial store. In fact, the goal is almost the opposite. The farm store room will help us stay personal and local while creating a more organized way to serve the people who already enjoy our products.

It is one more step in making room for the business without losing the family-farm feeling at its heart.

The details that make Uglie Acres feel like Uglie Acres

Our products are made with all-natural ingredients, without artificial sweeteners or artificial colors. We focus on creating full, balanced flavors rather than making everything simply as sweet as possible.

The packaging is part of that personality, too. Nicole chose distinctive hexagonal jars because they fit the Uglie Acres style and stand out from other options. Their shape feels a little different and memorable, while the clear glass lets customers see the rich colors and textures inside.

You can see that character in everything from classic grape jelly to hard-to-find mulberry jam and colorful pepper jams. Our current pepper jam varieties include:

• Garlic & Onion
• Grandpa's Sweet
• Sweet Red
• Grandpa's Hot
• Jalapeno
• Fire Pepper: limited supply
• Ghost Pepper
• Reaper Pepper

These are the kinds of products that make a farm-based food business special. Some are familiar favorites, while others are flavors customers may not find at an ordinary grocery store.

Family recipes are part of the story

The farm store room will eventually hold products, but the story behind those products will always matter more than the room itself.

One especially meaningful example is our homemade peanut butter fudge. The recipe comes from Levi’s great-grandmother, making every batch part of a family tradition that reaches across generations.

Recipes like that are why homemade food can feel so personal. A jar of jam or a piece of fudge is not only something to eat. It can remind us of a person, a kitchen, a holiday, a family gathering, or a time when food was prepared slowly and shared generously.

That nostalgic feeling is part of what inspires Uglie Acres. We make food for breakfast tables, care packages, gifts, celebrations, and quiet moments with a cup of coffee. We also make it for people who simply miss the flavors they remember from home.

Growing without losing the local connection

A growing business can sometimes feel as though it has to move farther away from its beginnings. For us, this project is a way to grow while staying rooted right here.

The farm continues to inspire what we make. Fruit grown here may become jam. Ingredients from nearby stands and markets may become part of a new recipe. Family ideas may turn into a seasonal batch or a flavor we return to year after year.

The future store room will support that process by giving us a dedicated place connected to the farm and, eventually, a way for customers to pick up products in person.

But it is important to say again: this is a future plan, not a current shopping option. The room is not open, we are not accepting farm pickups yet, and we are not announcing an opening date at this time.

Until that day comes, customers can continue finding Uglie Acres at selected farmers markets, craft fairs, festivals, through our online shop, and on the Uglie Acres website.

Thank you for helping us get here

The special exception approval is an exciting milestone, but it would not have happened without the customers who have supported Uglie Acres over the years.

Thank you to everyone who has ordered a jar of handmade jam, searched us out for farmers market jam, shared our natural fruit spreads with family, tried a new flavor, purchased homemade peanut butter fudge, or told someone else about our farm.

Thank you for giving small-batch food a place in your home.

We are proud of this next step, and we are taking it carefully. The future farm store room will come together in its own time. When it is ready for customer pickups, we will share those details clearly through our website and social media.

For now, we’re grateful to be building the next chapter of Uglie Acres right here on the farm: one batch, one recipe, and one jar at a time.