Hi, I'm Crystal! It's nice to 'meet you' (and, yes, I'm a total dork).
I'm the owner of Cedar Creek Farmhouse. I am 37 years old (yikes, how did that happen?). I am still a wild tomboy in her teens at heart. I'm the mother of two girls, one has left this Earth and is my personal guardian angel.
I'm married to the love of my life and have been married so long I literally have to do the math now... 18 years this April. On our first date I got an eyebrow ring on a dare (that didn't last very long). But I have a wild streak, let's just say I won the bet (and the guy).
I like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, girlie clothes, funny movies. Office Space is my favorite movie and I can promise you the below scene has come very close to reality in the CCF office as well-- I have a back up printer, just in case this ever happens (it will at some point). I'm stubborn to a fault and I never sleep.
I started this journey in January of 2018 after about a year of deep research into the industry. It wasn't by chance, I lost someone close to me and succulents helped me heal during a really difficult time. I am a country girl and my Mema (grandmother for those of you in other parts of the country) passed away and I was incredibly close to her. After her funeral, the time came when everyone picked something that belonged to her that meant something to them and I chose to take a few of her plants.
I remember her teaching me how to propagate succulents as a kid and it felt like magic when they started to sprout tiny babies from fallen leaves. It is a memory I still hold dear and it's still vividly impressed in my mind.
After inheriting a few from her modest collection I decided, like any good mother, that they needed friends. This idea truly seemed so innocent, but what a slippery slope it's been. I wouldn't trade a moment of my journey into rares, I just wish she were still around to share them with.
I started my pilgrimage, as we all do, at one of the big box hardware stores.
That quickly led to my discovery of the rare succulent world and I was absolutely transfixed. This was one of my first big rares haul:
I began collecting and collecting... I finally realized that I had a serious problem when I hit 250 rares of my own. I realized the time had come when I needed to stop hoarding and share this passion with others. It's a wonderful hobby and I love sharing more than I love collecting. There's something about these plants that have a cathartic healing property to them and I sincerely wanted to share my hobby with anyone and everyone.
I run a small business that has turned into a medium-sized business and we're still struggling to get it 'just right.' I'm human and inherently that means everyday is a learning process (we do our best to improve upon what we have learned on a daily business and grow and get better at what we do).
Scale is hard to do right in small business, we're still fine-tuning it.
I host our weekly uploads, I pull and inspect every plant bought off our website, I write your blog posts and answer your emails. I'm honored that you have allowed me to enter your life via this little community we have here and I am excited to watch it continue to grow and I'm happy you're apart of it.
Presently there's me and one part-time helper that works directly under my supervision, she's a close friend of mine with no succulent background, but are highly capable in business backgrounds. We'll continue to add to our staff as the business grows.
We're based out of Atlanta, Georgia -- yes, I know, not exactly the succulent capital of the world, working on spreading the love here too.
We import from farms we trust and we do our very best to pick highly unusual hybrids, not just your standard-fare rares, to offer you on a weekly basis.
If there's anything else you would like to know about me, just ask! I'm an open book :) crystal@cedarcreekfarmhouse.com