Alliyah Perry: Planting the Seeds of Success with Farm + Flourish
Meet Alliyah Perry-
Alliyah Perry’s journey began with a passion for growing and selling produce at farmers markets. However, she found this approach unsustainable due to time constraints and limited accessibility. This inspired her to conceptualize a unique idea: a grocery store where individual farmers could sell their produce without losing their farm identity.
The vision came to life when a space in what was a coffee shop and roastery in Centralia became available.
This store, named Farm + Flourish, has become a beacon for local farmers and producers to showcase and sell their products, staying true to their farm identity.
With a strong sense of community, Alliyah’s grocery store has become a hub for local producers, offering a wide range of products that cater to the region’s diverse tastes and preferences. This commitment to local sourcing and community engagement has not only received a warm reception from customers but has also set the stage for further expansion and the introduction of a deli or food service.
Alliyah’s store is a testament to the rewarding outcomes of supporting local businesses and building a stronger, more connected community.
This episode with Alliyah Perry is a captivating exploration of entrepreneurship, community engagement, and the transformative power of supporting local businesses.
Alliyah’s journey from farming and selling at local markets to creating a thriving grocery store demonstrates the profound impact that individuals can have on their communities. Her commitment to empowering local producers and fostering vibrant community events is a testament to the lasting impact of such initiatives.
As the episode draws to a close, Alliyah leaves us with a vision for the future, one filled with growth, learning, and an unwavering dedication to her community – a vision that embodies the very essence of Exploring Washington State.
Connect with Alliyah and Farm + Flourish
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Alliyah Perry Farm + Flourish Episode Transcript
Hello, friends, and welcome to the Exploring Washington State podcast. My name is Scott Cowan, and I’m the host of the show. Each episode, I have a conversation with an interesting guest who is living in or from Washington Scott. These are casual conversations with real and interesting people. I think you’re gonna like the show. So let’s jump right in with today’s guest. I’m sitting here today with Aliyah Perry. Aliyah’s got an interesting story that we wanna, We wanna pull a thread on here.
Scott Cowan [00:00:34]:
So what I wanna talk to you about is I found out about you and the sale times and Stealing from them. You you planted a a a seed, and and all of a sudden, you’ve started a grocery store. So I think we Scott a lot to cover. So Yeah. Before you planted that seed, give me a little bit of background about you. What’s your what’s your story before before we get into farm and flourish?
Alliyah Perry [00:01:03]:
I don’t know. I don’t think I have too much of a story. Oh, come on. I grew up In Silkem.
Scott Cowan [00:01:09]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:01:10]:
Silkem Lakewood. Yeah. I’m
Scott Cowan [00:01:15]:
So
Alliyah Perry [00:01:16]:
You know, went to school in local areas.
Scott Cowan [00:01:18]:
Did you go to did you go to to Stockton High School? Did you go to Lakes? Or
Alliyah Perry [00:01:22]:
Nope. I went to Harrison Prep.
Scott Cowan [00:01:24]:
Harrison Prep. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:01:26]:
It’s a public preparatory school.
Scott Cowan [00:01:28]:
Cool.
Alliyah Perry [00:01:29]:
Alright. So what And then I did running start.
Scott Cowan [00:01:33]:
You did running start? Okay. And did you go to college after that?
Alliyah Perry [00:01:38]:
Mm-mm. I just took Pierce.
Scott Cowan [00:01:40]:
You just went to Pierce? Okay. I I went there for a while. Back when I went there, we called it high school with ashtrays because that’s how long ago it was. I was forced to come back then, so, I mean, it was a long, long time ago. But, yeah. Okay. So The article starts off that you decided you were gonna start gardening. What was the what? Why? I mean, not that that’s a bad thing.
Scott Cowan [00:02:01]:
I don’t mean like like why, but like why?
Alliyah Perry [00:02:03]:
I like I love growing things.
Scott Cowan [00:02:05]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:02:06]:
My grandparents
Scott Cowan [00:02:08]:
Grew
Alliyah Perry [00:02:08]:
a lot of stuff. My grandpa loves growing stuff even now Wenatchee he’s, like, you know, older and not doing as well. He still just, like, loves Growing food and growing things. Okay. And, I just clearly caught that inspiration and from going outside and eating whatever things that I could find in their gardens and, Yeah. Just on their property.
Scott Cowan [00:02:34]:
So that guy started. But okay. Look. A lot of us start gardens, and and Thank you. A lot of people start gardens. You know? Even people in apartments, they put a tomato plant in a Scott on the on the the deck or out the front door. You know? But we don’t Go and open a grocery store. I’m I’m teasing you.
Alliyah Perry [00:02:52]:
But Yeah. Because I
Scott Cowan [00:02:53]:
think No. Totally. I think it’s really cool.
Alliyah Perry [00:02:55]:
True. But but so
Scott Cowan [00:02:58]:
What on Earth gave you the inspiration To start a grocery store and and and in Centralia because when you when you started growing, weren’t you in the Seattle area?
Alliyah Perry [00:03:13]:
No. Well, when I started, like I mean, kinda. Kinda? I mean, I’ve been growing all over the place. Right? Like, My my first little garden was at my parents’ house. Okay. I had, like, tomatoes and sunflowers,
Scott Cowan [00:03:28]:
and that
Alliyah Perry [00:03:28]:
was, like, my own personal garden. Right? I was young. I don’t remember how old I was. Okay. But, and then, You know, in Lakewood, when we had our condo, I grew stuff there on the patio. And then, again, when we had an apartment, stuff there on the patio. And so then that just transitioned to our farm
Scott Cowan [00:03:53]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:03:53]:
When we were able to, like, buy enough land to
Scott Cowan [00:03:56]:
So you Bought a farm. Where
Alliyah Perry [00:04:00]:
Well, we bought a oh, sorry. There’s a we have a rescue kitten, and she’s Wild.
Scott Cowan [00:04:05]:
That’s okay. My dog will probably come bursting in at any moment too, by the way. So, you know, he’ll he’ll make his presence now. So what so you bought a farm. So Where
Alliyah Perry [00:04:14]:
I bought a house and turned it into a farm.
Scott Cowan [00:04:16]:
You bought a house and turned it into a farm. So is that down in the Centralia area?
Alliyah Perry [00:04:20]:
Yes.
Scott Cowan [00:04:20]:
Okay. How much How much acre each or, you know, how big is the the farm now?
Alliyah Perry [00:04:30]:
The The land that I used to farm is about a third of an acre.
Scott Cowan [00:04:35]:
About a third of an acre. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:04:36]:
That’s how much is, like, farmed right now.
Scott Cowan [00:04:38]:
Mhmm. And do you Do you want to expand that? Or is Yeah. Or is opening a grocery store taking all of your time?
Alliyah Perry [00:04:47]:
Yes. That. Yes. That.
Scott Cowan [00:04:50]:
Got it.
Alliyah Perry [00:04:50]:
I also do plant starts. So I have, like, a plant start TSA that I do every year.
Scott Cowan [00:04:54]:
Really? Okay. Okay. That’s cool. So so you you grew up kinda with the green thumb, kind of in the family thing. Alright. You Yeah. You carried it over to the condo in the apartment lifestyle, so you you know, mini stuff. You know, mini garden stuff.
Scott Cowan [00:05:13]:
Yeah. Now you’ve got a property down into the Centralia area. Still gotta take a big leap to a grocery store. Still
Alliyah Perry [00:05:21]:
Yeah. A stone. So, basically, It’s huge. It’s a big I mean, it was a big step even from where I was. So I can ask you for my future question. Doing the farmers market.
Scott Cowan [00:05:29]:
Let me interrupt you. I’m gonna ask you. Okay. Well, Let’s yeah. Tell me the farmer’s market. But I I wanna ask you a question before. So what’s
Alliyah Perry [00:05:35]:
the farmer’s market? I
Scott Cowan [00:05:36]:
mean, I know
Alliyah Perry [00:05:37]:
So, basically, I was growing a bunch of stuff And I was giving it away or I was eating it all and trying to can it all. Right. And age old story, then people start selling Yeah. Like, everybody does that.
Scott Cowan [00:05:51]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:05:51]:
And so I then loved it. I did 4 farmers markets. I, you know, expanded my growing area a ton more than what I had. I do, like, intensive Farming practices. K. And yeah. And so, basically, I just was, like, producing quite a bit and I did a lot of plant starts, sold a lot of plant starts. And, yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:06:20]:
So basically, I just, like, Really loved what I was doing and then saw that it was hard to sell things, and the Farmers market’s only a certain time of year.
Scott Cowan [00:06:31]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:06:32]:
Yeah. On certain days. Mhmm. You know, 11 to 4 on Tuesdays or Fridays or 11 to 3 on a Sunday or
Scott Cowan [00:06:39]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:06:40]:
You know? And those are not super accessible times for everybody. Mhmm. And, you know, It’s our markets, weekday markets, it’s homeschool moms, preschool moms, or, Like senior citizens, the seniors. You know? Mhmm. Mhmm.
Scott Cowan [00:06:56]:
K.
Alliyah Perry [00:06:57]:
And so that doesn’t make for the Best. Oh. You know, foot traffic. And then they still have fine foot traffic, and farmers markets are great and amazing. Mhmm. I love them, and I’ll never stop doing farmers markets. I love that. You know, and it’s my farm and not the store.
Alliyah Perry [00:07:13]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. And and so but I just you come to the realization when you do it, Even for a little bit that, like, this is not the most sustainable thing, and there are other ways. And I for some reason, I’m really good at, Like, finding a hole in the system and just, like, plugging it.
Scott Cowan [00:07:31]:
Okay. Alright. So now I gotta ask my question. Yep. Kinda want you to go back to I’m I’m teasing you, so don’t take don’t take this this is meant to be humorous. Okay. Whose idea was it to open a grocery store? Yours? Mine. So how did you pitch it? How’d you pitch it the 1st time? You know, you’re you’re thinking about, like, I think I want a grocery store.
Scott Cowan [00:07:55]:
We could do this. That could get better you know, More accessible to people. It’s open better hours for more people. I can see your logic, but how’d you pitch it to your husband To give him a
Alliyah Perry [00:08:08]:
well, I didn’t pitch it to my husband first. Okay. I pitched it to my friend Devin.
Scott Cowan [00:08:11]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:08:13]:
And we were at the farmer’s market and it was slow. Uh-huh. And I was like, So I have this idea, right, where we were all together in 1 space, but not but, like, in a more traditional grocery store Exciting.
Scott Cowan [00:08:26]:
Right?
Alliyah Perry [00:08:28]:
But we are all our own individual farms, so we didn’t all lose our farm identity. And just everybody have to grow carrots and everybody have to grow broccoli, All the same type. All, like you know? But we still were able to, like, sell and we could be accessible to everybody. And At first, we were talking about, like, a coop or, you know, a farmer’s coop or this or that or the other thing. We were just kinda, like, throwing ideas around for weeks, and, it just kind of eventually snowballed into this.
Scott Cowan [00:08:59]:
Alright. So Your husband’s a part of this. Right? You know, we obviously. So what did he say when you brought the idea to him?
Alliyah Perry [00:09:09]:
I think he’s just a, like, a Sweet, great guy. And he is just like, I think that sounds great. I, you know, I never come to him when I have these ideas. I never come with, like, this much of a plan. You know? I don’t come with, like, a the tiniest plans. I have already thought it through.
Scott Cowan [00:09:24]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:09:24]:
Probably talked to other people by then, and I was just like, here’s my idea. And he’s like, that seems It’s great.
Scott Cowan [00:09:30]:
So why do I have the the the the vision of you, like, with a PowerPoint going? Okay. So here’s my pitch deck. Slide number 1. Boom. Boom. Boom. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:09:39]:
So It’s like that, but verbally. It’s like a verbal PowerPoint. Okay. I’ve talked through all of the things that I could think of.
Scott Cowan [00:09:45]:
Know the objection’s gonna come here, so you’ve got your counter over here. And then Yep.
Alliyah Perry [00:09:49]:
I love it. I love this. Exactly.
Scott Cowan [00:09:52]:
This is awesome. This is what I was hoping you were gonna say. This is this is because I love these stories. I love it when people do things that are, to a lot of people, scary. They’re like, Oh, I need the security of my my 9 to 5 job or, you know, I I think very in a box, and I don’t I might like to do something, but I’m gonna just do Yeah. The safe and the the safe thing. Okay. So You talk to your your your friends, your peers, you’ve talked to your husband.
Scott Cowan [00:10:23]:
Everybody’s kind of onboard with this.
Alliyah Perry [00:10:27]:
Mhmm.
Scott Cowan [00:10:28]:
It’s still
Alliyah Perry [00:10:29]:
I mean, not everybody’s on board. Well yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:10:31]:
But but you you you got enough that you’re you know? You wanna move forward. Like, okay. But now Yeah. It’s still just It’s still just an idea. Right? It you don’t have a space. You gotta take that that big step. Now Like I told you before we hit record, your space is an old coffee roaster that I
Alliyah Perry [00:10:52]:
Yes.
Scott Cowan [00:10:53]:
Many not many years ago, about 2015, I wrote a series of posts, a 100 cups of coffee in a 100 days in Washington state. I visited a 100 coffee shops over a 100 days. And well, that’s not true. I I wrote an article for every day for a 100 days. And that was a coffee shop that I, remember and Mhmm. It was because
Alliyah Perry [00:11:13]:
it was so great.
Scott Cowan [00:11:14]:
Yeah. Well, it was it was this kind of cool vibe. I got a kick out of his I’ll call it a Frankenstein coffee roaster. The guy, you know, built it himself. Right? It wasn’t you know, you go into a coffee shop in Seattle and you see the same, you know, The the same machines. This guy had, you know, something that looked like shop class, and it was cool. But my buddy and I were in there, and I’m like, This is really a cool space. I really, really like it, and I really like his coffee.
Scott Cowan [00:11:42]:
And it was one of my, it’d be in the top 5 of the coffees that I enjoyed throughout throughout my journey through the state. In fact, I kept That’s amazing. I keep meaning to go back there. And I’m like, how would I be surprised? So This this space came open. Right? And you guys took a lease on it, I’m guessing. You know? Yep. And You is the the coffee roaster the the equipment’s still there. Right?
Alliyah Perry [00:12:12]:
So that coffee roaster is no
Scott Cowan [00:12:13]:
longer there. So that coffee so he he took that away. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:12:17]:
She did.
Scott Cowan [00:12:17]:
She okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:12:18]:
She did. She the the, Lucy
Scott Cowan [00:12:21]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:12:22]:
She, I believe it went to a family friend that also does coffee roasting. So it was still kind of, you know
Scott Cowan [00:12:30]:
Got it.
Alliyah Perry [00:12:30]:
Filled with the family.
Scott Cowan [00:12:31]:
But you guys Family friend. Are roasting. So you have a coffee roaster in there. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:12:34]:
Cool. So we’ll coffee roaster in this space.
Scott Cowan [00:12:37]:
And did you have any experience roasting coffee before?
Alliyah Perry [00:12:40]:
Nope. Somebody else taught One of the old employees had a roast coffee stuff from Allen Cedar Homestead, and she roasts the coffee now.
Scott Cowan [00:12:49]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:12:50]:
And it’s I’m I’ve Tried. I’ve, like, I’ve, like I haven’t even tried really. I’ve, like, watched her do it. She’s, like, taught me like, showed me what she looks for and all of those things. I have not I have not actually tried, but I’ve, like, tried to take in the information.
Scott Cowan [00:13:06]:
So many, many years ago, I worked for Starbucks Coffee in their corporate offices. And that giant building down you know, the old Sears building in So to, big I mean, you never really realize how big that thing is until you, like, start walking around it, it’s huge. And inside the I’ve
Alliyah Perry [00:13:21]:
never done
Scott Cowan [00:13:22]:
it. Yeah. It’s a 110,000 square feet per floor, and it’s 9 floors. So it’s it’s
Alliyah Perry [00:13:26]:
Per floor?
Scott Cowan [00:13:27]:
Per floor. Yeah. It’s huge. Because it’s the old Sears distribution center. It was the old where they would fill catalog orders. And there was this
Alliyah Perry [00:13:35]:
It makes sense.
Scott Cowan [00:13:36]:
Circular slide you’d throw your packages and then they’d go to the bottom. It was it was a cool beef and I was in there before Starbucks had all of I mean, I was this was in the nineties, and so Starbucks was less than a 1,000 stores then. And the roasting plant was over on Airport Way. And there the joke was the ceremonial burning of the beans, because burnt coffee stinks. It has this horrible smell. Well, there’s there was a small coffee roaster inside the corporate headquarters that they use for demonstrations. And one day, I was there, and the guy burned the beans and the whole you know, just it was. So careful, you know
Alliyah Perry [00:14:12]:
Actually, burnt beans, bad. Roasted coffee beans, so good.
Scott Cowan [00:14:16]:
I mean, I love coffee.
Alliyah Perry [00:14:17]:
The best
Scott Cowan [00:14:18]:
Oh, yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:14:18]:
I love it. Sometimes Yeah. Some of my favorite things are walking up to the store when Steph has either just roasted coffee or she’s actively roasting Coffee?
Scott Cowan [00:14:27]:
Yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:14:27]:
It is the best.
Scott Cowan [00:14:28]:
So No. But if she ever burns a batch, you’ll wanna stay away from the store for the day and keep the windows open. It’s just it’s just not It goes from amazing to awful pretty darn quick. Alright. So you guys took over the space, and it was kind of In my memory of it is this kind of this it had multiple, like, rooms with big archways through it. So it’s kind of a It’s not a what I would call a typical grocery store. Like you know what I mean? It’s like, it’s so it’s a it’s a little, I see a kitten, by the way. Sorry.
Scott Cowan [00:15:01]:
There’s a little kitten on the screen, folks, for those of you who are just listening to the audio. There’s a cat. Very cute kitten coming over to see what’s happening here. So It’s it’s not it’s certainly not, you know, your traditional grocery store setup. Right? And Mm-mm. And how long so walk me through this this question. So you you found the space. Obviously, you might have looked at a bunch of spaces.
Scott Cowan [00:15:28]:
Is this the one you Selected. Yeah. Need some renovations, I’m sure, to convert it over blah blah blah blah blah. So how long did Take you from the day you got the keys to the day you opened the doors to the public.
Alliyah Perry [00:15:46]:
So I got my the keys in June
Scott Cowan [00:15:48]:
k.
Alliyah Perry [00:15:48]:
And I opened December 2nd.
Scott Cowan [00:15:51]:
So 6 months, you know, a lot of work.
Alliyah Perry [00:15:54]:
Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:15:55]:
Lot of work.
Alliyah Perry [00:15:56]:
Yeah. Yep.
Scott Cowan [00:15:57]:
And everything went smooth. Not there was no problems. No No. Yeah. Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:16:05]:
So share with me Right. Mhmm. Yep. I know everything went Perfectly.
Scott Cowan [00:16:09]:
I but I’d love to hear the stories of when things go bad because we always learn something. So what give me share share with us something you didn’t expect.
Alliyah Perry [00:16:20]:
This is something I should have expected, but I didn’t because I had multiple friends Let’s help me. And I kind of knew, but the there was a wall the brick wall that has been painted k. That was painted Crazy colors, multiple different times, and I’m stripping the brick to restore it back to original. I know.
Scott Cowan [00:16:45]:
I know.
Alliyah Perry [00:16:46]:
It’ll be cool. But It’s it’s one side of the wall is easy. Honestly, like, super easy, going great. Not a problem. The other side? Oh, so bad. It’s so So bad.
Scott Cowan [00:17:03]:
Yeah. You sure probably
Alliyah Perry [00:17:04]:
My friend and I
Scott Cowan [00:17:05]:
Yeah. K.
Alliyah Perry [00:17:07]:
My friend and I, we’re working on it For every single week, many hours a week. With that same friend, Devin. Yeah. Yeah. It I mean, we have Paused. Maybe. Indevitably. I don’t know.
Alliyah Perry [00:17:21]:
But it’s It’s
Scott Cowan [00:17:22]:
a work in progress. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:17:23]:
It’s it’s a work in progress. And people are, Oh, wow. It’s so artistic. It’s so nice. And I’m like, no. It’s just half done in a quarter painted.
Scott Cowan [00:17:33]:
Oh, okay. Alright. Oh. So so that that kind of what you thought would be a project that would take you, you know, I’ll say a week, is taking you Yeah. Indefinite time. Yeah. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:17:46]:
Yes. The other thing is the health department.
Scott Cowan [00:17:49]:
Thank you.
Alliyah Perry [00:17:49]:
Just, you know, having the health department Put me through the ringer of, oh, we lost your application for three and a half weeks, and, oh, you know, we Forgot to get back to you for a week Cowan just so many so many
Scott Cowan [00:18:05]:
So how How has it been dealing with the governmental agencies that get to have an opinion? Are they, Besides them being a little, you know, clumsy and lose paperwork, but When they show up, are, you know, people nice and they are they trying are they are they trying are they, like Like, you need to fix this or we have to have you do this, but are they supportive and and encouraging?
Alliyah Perry [00:18:37]:
So, honestly, we it was already a commercial kitchen.
Scott Cowan [00:18:40]:
K.
Alliyah Perry [00:18:41]:
So it was already certified. It was a done deal. I didn’t all all I had to do was paperwork recertification, essentially. Okay. And then bring in refrigerators and make sure that they had thermometers. So I really didn’t have a ton to do. Okay. So when she came in, the health inspector came in.
Alliyah Perry [00:18:58]:
He basically like, Okay. Everything’s good. They she checked off the things Good. Bypassed. It was really easy.
Scott Cowan [00:19:04]:
K. That’s good.
Alliyah Perry [00:19:07]:
It just took them
Scott Cowan [00:19:08]:
Yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:19:09]:
Now 4 months to get to me.
Scott Cowan [00:19:10]:
Hey. It could’ve been worse. They could’ve taken 4 months to get to you and then then and then told you you needed, you know, some new new system that you had no idea that you, you know. Yes. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:19:20]:
Totally.
Scott Cowan [00:19:21]:
One of the other things I read, though, so the commercial kitchen one of the the benefits of the commercial kitchen is it allows other Small growers, I’ll call microfarmers. How’s that? It’s probably not the right term. But, you know
Alliyah Perry [00:19:34]:
Farmers. Any farmer of any size.
Scott Cowan [00:19:36]:
So now they can By using the commercial kitchen, that opens up other distribution channels for their products. Correct?
Alliyah Perry [00:19:45]:
Yeah. Yep. So, we call it like oh, gosh. Why can I not think of the word? My brain just
Scott Cowan [00:19:51]:
Well, it’s a cottage permit, I think is what
Alliyah Perry [00:19:54]:
So that’s what you you people use for the farmers market.
Scott Cowan [00:19:57]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:19:58]:
But the commercial kitchen is, basically the step above that. Right. Value added Products is what I should say. Okay. So basically, when I if I were to grow blueberries, I do grow blueberries, but if I were to grow enough blueberries, I could then take those blueberries and use them, make jam. Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:20:11]:
It’d
Alliyah Perry [00:20:12]:
be called a value added product. You’re adding value to the things that you’re growing. K. So therefore, you can sell it for a higher higher price. And that’s a lot of What makes farmers money
Scott Cowan [00:20:21]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:20:21]:
Is is value added products.
Scott Cowan [00:20:23]:
Right. The yeah. Not the not not the blueberries themselves, but blueberry jam or Apples
Alliyah Perry [00:20:28]:
I mean, blueberries are so good.
Scott Cowan [00:20:29]:
Oh, yeah. They’re awesome.
Alliyah Perry [00:20:30]:
But They sell for a good price.
Scott Cowan [00:20:32]:
Yeah. Yeah. But but still, I mean, you can yeah. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:20:35]:
You can yes. For sure.
Scott Cowan [00:20:36]:
So
Alliyah Perry [00:20:37]:
Value added products.
Scott Cowan [00:20:40]:
What so what do you currently Like, if I walked into the store tomorrow, what would I see? What products are you carrying?
Alliyah Perry [00:20:51]:
A lot, I think. Obviously, squashes and garlic and shallots and potatoes and all of those things that you would normally do. But we’ve got popcorn, we’ve got granola, Trail mix, applesauce, dry beans, tortilla chips, and then salsas. We Scott like 4 different types of salsas. 5 yeah. Four different types of salsas, juices, CBD drink. We’ve Scott, so much stuff.
Scott Cowan [00:21:35]:
So how many approximately have
Alliyah Perry [00:21:37]:
all dairy. Dairy cheese.
Scott Cowan [00:21:40]:
And these are all from small farms or small growers? Or
Alliyah Perry [00:21:44]:
Yep. Okay. Generally or small businesses. Sorry.
Scott Cowan [00:21:47]:
So how many about how many Farms and small growers do you guys have on the shelves?
Alliyah Perry [00:21:59]:
That is variable. And there’s not just Farms and growers. It’s also food businesses. Right? So, like, the salsa and the chips are from Jalisco. They’re in Shelton, and they’re just they’re they’re food processor. Mhmm. Salsa’s so good, though. So I I don’t really know.
Scott Cowan [00:22:21]:
And are they
Alliyah Perry [00:22:24]:
Probably over, definitely over 30.
Scott Cowan [00:22:26]:
Over 30?
Alliyah Perry [00:22:26]:
Probably over 40.
Scott Cowan [00:22:28]:
Alright. And how has it been received by these small it’s even more more exposure for them. More, you know, more, you know, Open better hour not better, but different hours than a farmer’s market. It’s open during winter where the market down there, I don’t think the Centralia Farmers Market’s open during the winter, is it? Okay. No. So allowing them to extend the the window of opportunity to make revenue, So how has that been received? I mean, are you are people
Alliyah Perry [00:22:56]:
Mostly positively. Mostly Almost everybody has been positive. There’s been a few people that Cranking people. Yeah. K. People that, you know, think they’re better or blah blah blah, all the things. But Okay.
Scott Cowan [00:23:09]:
And how’s the how’s the public? How’s how’s the the People in Centralia, how’s that been?
Alliyah Perry [00:23:13]:
I think it’s been going really well. Yeah? Yeah. I I have been kind of blown away with the amount of of people that have come into the store. I really thought it was gonna be so slow and so hard, but it has honestly been much, much, much better than
Scott Cowan [00:23:26]:
That’s awesome.
Alliyah Perry [00:23:27]:
I could’ve Kind of hoped for.
Scott Cowan [00:23:28]:
That’s awesome. So what do you hope to keep adding to the product mix? Is there is there something that you’re You know, you’ve got dairy and all that, but do you do you hope more I mean, what I mean, it’s obviously gonna
Alliyah Perry [00:23:42]:
change just more produce.
Scott Cowan [00:23:44]:
More pros? K.
Alliyah Perry [00:23:45]:
More produce, I think, is, you know, just something that’s gonna happen
Scott Cowan [00:23:49]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:23:50]:
As the season continues.
Scott Cowan [00:23:51]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:23:53]:
And then just Expanding into more other products like we I mean, we have Scott. We’ve got, look I mean, actually, locally made salt from San Juan Island.
Scott Cowan [00:24:02]:
Yeah. From San Juan. Yeah. They’ve been on the show before. That was that’s a cool thing they’re doing up there.
Alliyah Perry [00:24:09]:
Yeah. That’s right. I love it. The the Amarydronis smoked salt is Literally, I could have it constantly.
Scott Cowan [00:24:16]:
So I see. You just you just Cowan a grocery store for yourself is really what you do.
Alliyah Perry [00:24:20]:
Yes. Okay. Absolutely. The trail mix? Yeah? Oh, yes. Hummus? The hummus? Oh my goodness.
Scott Cowan [00:24:28]:
So where’s the hummus coming from?
Alliyah Perry [00:24:31]:
That is from Olympia, from YOLA Okay. From Olympia.
Scott Cowan [00:24:35]:
K. So you’ve got stuff from the San Juans, Shelton, Olympia. Where What other communities can you rattle off for us?
Alliyah Perry [00:24:44]:
Oh, gosh. All over the place. Most of our produce is from Lewis County. K. Almost all of it. If you consider Rochester, Lewis County, then all of it.
Scott Cowan [00:24:52]:
On a on a bad day, on a good day. I don’t know. It’s it’s it’s
Alliyah Perry [00:24:55]:
Exactly. Yeah. That’s controversial.
Scott Cowan [00:24:57]:
What I
Alliyah Perry [00:24:57]:
said was Controversial.
Scott Cowan [00:24:58]:
Well, I know, but we’re I’m joking around that. I I I know. But yeah. But it is. It’s it’s weird. A couple yeah. It’s like central
Alliyah Perry [00:25:05]:
very close. We’re very close.
Scott Cowan [00:25:06]:
A couple of Centralia addresses are actually in Thurston County. They say Centralia, but it’s Thurston it’s just yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:25:12]:
It’s very strange.
Scott Cowan [00:25:13]:
A little bloat blurry up there.
Alliyah Perry [00:25:14]:
Okay. It’s all over the Please. But yeah. So Palouse is our furthest away one. That is where our dry beans I’m from
Scott Cowan [00:25:23]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:25:26]:
And Snohomish County. We’ve got a few things from Snohomish County. Yeah. A couple things with Whitby Island.
Scott Cowan [00:25:34]:
K. So so the the Puget Sound area is well represented. The west side of the states where I mean, the the police is the
Alliyah Perry [00:25:40]:
east side. That’s where I’m trying to stay.
Scott Cowan [00:25:42]:
You’re trying to stay on the west side? K. Mhmm. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:25:45]:
As as much as possible, obviously. K.
Scott Cowan [00:25:47]:
You’re not gonna let anybody from Oregon. You’re not gonna let anybody from Oregon, so I
Alliyah Perry [00:25:51]:
don’t know. Yes. We’ll let That’s a
Scott Cowan [00:25:52]:
beautiful weekend.
Alliyah Perry [00:25:53]:
I have friends who are growers in Portland,
Scott Cowan [00:25:56]:
and I’m
Alliyah Perry [00:25:56]:
not gonna be like, duh.
Scott Cowan [00:25:58]:
That’s really gag because I always just you know, Portland’s dead to me. It’s the kind of the Burning gag. So but there’s there’s really cool like, yeah. I’ll yeah. There’s a lot of really cool stuff. There’s a lot of really cool stuff.
Alliyah Perry [00:26:09]:
Coming out of Portland.
Scott Cowan [00:26:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. I had the head chef for Burgerville on, and, and and I like Burgerville. Okay? You you don’t look like this without liking Burgerville. And, but but the only Burgerville, you know, Centralia. Right? And I didn’t realize that Burgerville is actually a Washington steak company. They’re out of Vancouver. I thought they were an Oregon company all this time.
Scott Cowan [00:26:36]:
Yeah. Anyway Yeah. I digress. But they do some inter I one thing about Burgerville I like is they they work with a lot of farmers, and they do they do some interesting like, Bring in fresh veggies and all that and seasonal stuff to you know, it’s not like corporate completely corporate food. So that’s cool. So do you guys serve any food there? Is there any, like, a deli type situation or anything?
Alliyah Perry [00:27:03]:
Eventually, there will be.
Scott Cowan [00:27:04]:
Yeah. Eventually? Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:27:05]:
Yep. I just kind of yes. There will be. Yep. And we’re trying to use the stuff from the the food, the leftover food from the store or food from store that just like, it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s just, like, it doesn’t look perfect anymore. Right. You know, so people are less likely to buy it.
Scott Cowan [00:27:18]:
Or
Alliyah Perry [00:27:18]:
if it comes in and it’s a little, like, Wonky Mhmm. Which happens all the time, which is fine. The food is still perfectly fine and edible.
Scott Cowan [00:27:25]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:27:25]:
You just know that that’s not gonna sell first. Mhmm. So, therefore, using that In place of, in place of buying something from this from the grocery maker or the grocery store.
Scott Cowan [00:27:35]:
Do you guys sell any is there any bakery? Do you carry any baked Mhmm. Products? Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:27:40]:
Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:27:41]:
Cool. So what hours are you currently open?
Alliyah Perry [00:27:46]:
11 to 8.
Scott Cowan [00:27:47]:
11 to 8
Alliyah Perry [00:27:48]:
we’re closed on Tuesdays.
Scott Cowan [00:27:50]:
Why why Tuesdays? Just out of curiosity. You have because you want a day off, but
Alliyah Perry [00:27:54]:
The Chehalis Farmers Market. I mean, yes. I do. I need a day off, but also for the Chehalis Farmers Market.
Scott Cowan [00:28:00]:
Okay. Alright. Mhmm. So 11 to 8. And are you
Alliyah Perry [00:28:06]:
11 to 8. And then Saturdays, 11 to 5.
Scott Cowan [00:28:11]:
But what about Sundays?
Alliyah Perry [00:28:13]:
11 to 8.
Scott Cowan [00:28:14]:
Okay. That’s okay. I’m gonna say that seems weird to me because not in a bad way. Just weird. Why so why 11 to 5 on Saturdays, but 11 to 8 on Sunday.
Alliyah Perry [00:28:22]:
We go to church. Our church starts at 5:30.
Scott Cowan [00:28:25]:
Perfectly good reason. Perfectly good reason. But, you know, normally, Because of church, people, you know, they do
Alliyah Perry [00:28:31]:
Sunday.
Scott Cowan [00:28:31]:
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I know. Alright.
Alliyah Perry [00:28:34]:
We were church shopping for a while, and then we Assumed we were, you know, gonna be going to, like, a Sunday service, and we’re like, oh, we might have to, like, open later on Sundays. And then we found this church We’re like, we love it.
Scott Cowan [00:28:48]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:28:49]:
It’s great. Okay. It’s our place, and, also, it’s Saturdays at 5:30.
Scott Cowan [00:28:54]:
Okay. Alright. Alright. Yeah. So So the deli the deli’s on the horizon. What else do you wanna see? I mean, what like, I’m gonna ask you to paint a picture. I call you up in a couple of years, and I go, how you’ve been? You go, things are great. I am so happy.
Scott Cowan [00:29:13]:
We’re doing this is doing what I wanted to do. What what is what would that be?
Alliyah Perry [00:29:19]:
I mean, I think It’s multifaceted. Mhmm. Probably it will outgrow the space.
Scott Cowan [00:29:27]:
Okay. I
Alliyah Perry [00:29:28]:
it has been the reception has been so much so that, like, We’re gonna outgrow that space.
Scott Cowan [00:29:34]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:29:36]:
So I’ll probably be in hopefully, be in a new Space. If not, the space will look very different than it was than it does now.
Scott Cowan [00:29:43]:
K. Will the brick wall be finished? Oh, let’s hope. Oh my goodness.
Alliyah Perry [00:29:51]:
If it’s not, somebody help me. I I think holding having more community events.
Scott Cowan [00:30:00]:
K.
Alliyah Perry [00:30:02]:
We do we do events Now we do, like, classes.
Scott Cowan [00:30:06]:
Like, what type of classes? What are you doing?
Alliyah Perry [00:30:08]:
Watercolor classes, hat printing classes. We just did a stone workshop.
Scott Cowan [00:30:13]:
So That was really fun. I you don’t you don’t have that type of class at Safeway? No. I’m thinking of grocery store. I might you know, the so I’m looking at this as a grocery store, but you don’t you don’t see, you know, Watercolor classes at at Safeway, Fred Meyer. No. So Oh.
Alliyah Perry [00:30:33]:
Oh. Oh. Oh.
Scott Cowan [00:30:34]:
What has been the motivation what has been the motivation to do This type of classes, is that what the community wants?
Alliyah Perry [00:30:43]:
Well, I think it’s just like I I wanna make it a community space.
Scott Cowan [00:30:46]:
K.
Alliyah Perry [00:30:49]:
And so bringing the community in through classes, I kinda thought was a great We’ve doing that. No.
Scott Cowan [00:30:55]:
It’s cool. I I really think it’s a great idea. It’s just Yeah. You know, like like like you said, it’s multifaceted. So I think that’s, you know, another facet of That’s that’s very cool. Yeah. So are you gonna continue is your hope to continue to increase the number of classes or a wider variety of classes
Alliyah Perry [00:31:12]:
or Both.
Scott Cowan [00:31:13]:
Yeah. Do both? Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:31:14]:
Yeah. And then and they’ll stop in the summertime as things get really busy for me on the farm, Also, as there’s less space in the store Mhmm. For physical classes
Scott Cowan [00:31:25]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:31:27]:
Then, Yeah. We’ll just stop doing them. Stop scheduling.
Scott Cowan [00:31:31]:
So if I remember right, when I was there, when it was a coffee shop, do they have a little outdoor patio area? Yep. Do you still have that?
Alliyah Perry [00:31:40]:
Yep.
Scott Cowan [00:31:41]:
Are you obviously, when we’re recording this, it’s February. You’re probably not doing much with it right now. But do you what do you hope to do with it come spring, summer, maybe fall?
Alliyah Perry [00:31:51]:
Yeah. So, in the winter, We did when we first started, we did, Christmas trees.
Scott Cowan [00:31:59]:
Oh, okay. Hoping to
Alliyah Perry [00:32:00]:
do that again. Cool. I’ll just put Christmas trees out there
Scott Cowan [00:32:03]:
and Yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:32:03]:
Tell them. Right? The spring, I do plant starts. My farm does plant starts, so I’ll just have plant starts
Scott Cowan [00:32:11]:
So what your farm, what what plant starts do you what are you doing?
Alliyah Perry [00:32:16]:
Edible plant starts.
Scott Cowan [00:32:17]:
Okay. Like I
Alliyah Perry [00:32:17]:
do all edibles. So, like, tomatoes, 1st, cilantro, nasturtiums, marigolds
Scott Cowan [00:32:25]:
Wow.
Alliyah Perry [00:32:26]:
Onions, green onions.
Scott Cowan [00:32:28]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:32:28]:
I mean, just So many things. Cabbages.
Scott Cowan [00:32:31]:
Okay. And so you you mentioned earlier
Alliyah Perry [00:32:34]:
lettuce.
Scott Cowan [00:32:35]:
You have a CSA for plant starts? Did you it was Mhmm. So I’m a city guy. My idea of outdoors is walking, like, from my car to the mailbox type thing. You know? But when I think of CSAs, I think of, like, veggie and boxes of of produce, not starts.
Alliyah Perry [00:32:54]:
Yeah. Yeah. CSAs are such a diverse thing. Mhmm. Yeah. CSAs are such a diverse you can have so many different CSAs. You can even have a seed seed days, where you just buy I think it’s Adaptive Seeds.
Scott Cowan [00:33:09]:
Interesting.
Alliyah Perry [00:33:10]:
I could be wrong on that. It’s Adapt to Seeds or maybe Deep Harvest. One of the our local seed companies
Scott Cowan [00:33:18]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:33:18]:
They have a seed CSA.
Scott Cowan [00:33:20]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:33:21]:
And so you just you buy in. Right? The a CSA is you buy in to a farm’s products Mhmm. And you get it either in certain intervals or all at the same time, but you buy early Mhmm. When we need the money. Right. Because we have to put up a lot of upfront investment
Scott Cowan [00:33:39]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:33:39]:
Right now when not a lot is growing Mhmm. Versus, You know, in July, when we’ve Scott, so many things happening and we’ve already invested a bunch of money
Scott Cowan [00:33:50]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:33:50]:
And so you generally will get a good discount On on that. Bye.
Scott Cowan [00:33:56]:
Walk me through walk me through your CSA. When would I If I wanted to participate in it, when when when are you doing that outreach to get new people involved and walk In the next few weeks. In the next few weeks. Okay?
Alliyah Perry [00:34:12]:
Mhmm.
Scott Cowan [00:34:12]:
And then I would purchase For you know, is it a is it a tiered system? Do you have set prices? Yep. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:34:23]:
Yep. Yeah. So, the biggest one, I think, You can get multiple, but, oh, you know, 25 plant starts.
Scott Cowan [00:34:30]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:34:30]:
And you either get a a 6 pack or, you know, 25 6 packs or 25, Three inches or 25 4 inches.
Scott Cowan [00:34:37]:
Okay. So let’s say I buy potato. Let’s say I get 25 6 packs. Do I get to choose, or is it what you okay. It is. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:34:45]:
Yeah. I have a list of things that I’m growing, and you can tell me what you want.
Scott Cowan [00:34:51]:
Okay. So I could say I want
Alliyah Perry [00:34:53]:
gonna have Yeah. You know?
Scott Cowan [00:34:55]:
I want 6 tomatoes. I want 6 green onions. I want 6 Cilantros, 6 basil, and Mhmm. 6 carrots. Mhmm. Okay. Cool.
Alliyah Perry [00:35:05]:
Yep. And Not carrots. I don’t do carrots. But yes.
Scott Cowan [00:35:09]:
Okay. Okay. That’s fine. That’s okay. So what so if you don’t do carrots, why what do you how do you make your choices of what you’re starting? Like, do you like them? Are they do you know they work well or what?
Alliyah Perry [00:35:24]:
Yep. All of the above. Also, things like carrots, A lot a lot of times don’t transplant well.
Scott Cowan [00:35:31]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:35:32]:
And so not starting something that doesn’t transplant well too.
Scott Cowan [00:35:35]:
Okay. So, like, what tomatoes are you gonna do this year? Do you know? I
Alliyah Perry [00:35:40]:
mean, a lot of them. I did 80 different varieties 1 year What? For myself. Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:35:48]:
Obsessive?
Alliyah Perry [00:35:50]:
Obsessive a lot. Yes. Okay. So for the Plain start CSA. For the CSA Right. I generally have people pick just a few. They I mean, they get a curated
Scott Cowan [00:36:03]:
Right. Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:36:03]:
Of what I’m going to be growing. Mhmm. And I grow other varieties as trials for myself. Right.
Scott Cowan [00:36:10]:
So I had to put you on the Scott. What’s your favorite tomato?
Alliyah Perry [00:36:13]:
It’s a hard
Scott Cowan [00:36:14]:
I know. Hard. You’re on the spot. You
Alliyah Perry [00:36:16]:
know? The the but that is what you know. Top 3.
Scott Cowan [00:36:19]:
Alright. Top 3.
Alliyah Perry [00:36:20]:
Oh, excuse me. My top 3. The Paul Robeson, it’s a slicer tomato. It’s a like a dark, dark, dark slice of tomato. It’s Incredible. Mhmm. The story behind it’s really great. The other one is a newer one for me.
Alliyah Perry [00:36:34]:
It is, Gosh. Prairie Fire.
Scott Cowan [00:36:38]:
Prairie Fire.
Alliyah Perry [00:36:39]:
It is so tasty. K.
Scott Cowan [00:36:42]:
It it
Alliyah Perry [00:36:42]:
has, like, a super high brix level. It’s a super high break cell level, which means it’s high sugar content.
Scott Cowan [00:36:48]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:36:48]:
It’s like a paste tomato though.
Scott Cowan [00:36:50]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:36:51]:
But it’s a really small paste tomato. Okay. And then the third one, That’s hard.
Scott Cowan [00:36:58]:
Like, Pete, can I have your top
Alliyah Perry [00:36:59]:
Probably like a good San Marzano or
Scott Cowan [00:37:01]:
Okay?
Alliyah Perry [00:37:02]:
You know, something classic like
Scott Cowan [00:37:04]:
We’re gonna stick with tomatoes. What’s an overrated tomato?
Alliyah Perry [00:37:07]:
Love it.
Scott Cowan [00:37:08]:
What’s Oh, gosh. What do you think is overrated?
Alliyah Perry [00:37:11]:
Early girl.
Scott Cowan [00:37:11]:
Really? But
Alliyah Perry [00:37:13]:
it’s early girl. Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:37:14]:
But it’s the the benefit of it is it it’s what? Like, 60 days and you you’re it’s producing. So we’re all
Alliyah Perry [00:37:23]:
Like some okay tasting taste.
Scott Cowan [00:37:25]:
We’re all impatient.
Alliyah Perry [00:37:26]:
We don’t wanna waste varieties.
Scott Cowan [00:37:27]:
We don’t wanna waste 62 days. We want a tomato in Scott videos. Come on now. I I you know?
Alliyah Perry [00:37:33]:
There are other varieties that are that are just as fast that are much tastier.
Scott Cowan [00:37:37]:
Alright. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:37:38]:
And And I’m probably gonna get flack for saying
Scott Cowan [00:37:40]:
That’s okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:37:40]:
About the early bird because I have very bad he loves the early bird.
Scott Cowan [00:37:43]:
Well, it’s it’s, I will say and not not growing plants myself, you know, and all that. But I will say that the fact that I’m aware of the early girl means that they’ve done a really good job of of Marketing in in it probably
Alliyah Perry [00:37:59]:
Home Depot and Lowe’s have pushed it.
Scott Cowan [00:38:01]:
Yeah. Exactly. I mean, if I walk through a Home Depot or Lowe’s, oh, tomatoes. Oh, early girl. Yeah. Okay. Early It’s like cherry tomatoes. Like, I don’t even know Mhmm.
Scott Cowan [00:38:10]:
I don’t even like, I’ll call them a cherry tomato, and I’m sure there’s other names for That size tomato is I don’t know. You know? It’s like, oh, it’s a cherry tomato or, you know, something that looks like aroma. Oh, it’s aroma. Okay. Art what’s your favorite vegetable to grow? Tomatoes. Tomatoes are your favorite?
Alliyah Perry [00:38:30]:
Oh, absolutely. I specialize in nightshades, and so I I like I said, I grew 80 different varieties. That’s that’s interesting. Don’t if I didn’t like it, I would not eat quite that many. I also really love garlic.
Scott Cowan [00:38:42]:
Okay. Cool. I mean, they go well together too, so that’s a good thing. So I agree. So your CSA, You specialize in nightshade, so you’re gonna have a lot of peppers, tomatoes. So
Alliyah Perry [00:38:56]:
we grow a lot of peppers too.
Scott Cowan [00:38:58]:
Lot of so what’s a good So when I think of peppers, you know, I think it’s warmer climates, more sun. I don’t think of and I’m joking. You know? Centralia is wet, gray, dreary. I would say that about it.
Alliyah Perry [00:39:08]:
Yep. Okay.
Scott Cowan [00:39:08]:
Anyone asked you today’s wet, grand jury if I’m
Alliyah Perry [00:39:11]:
being Exactly.
Scott Cowan [00:39:11]:
Yeah. Fair. But, you know, we get hot here. You guys don’t get hot like we do. We we get your like you do? Yeah. We get a 115 degrees. I mean, it gets it gets re it’s it’s like Vegas here, like, hot. Okay.
Scott Cowan [00:39:26]:
So you don’t get that very often. You if it’s a 100 degrees in Centralia or Seattle or Tacoma, we’re all crying because it’s Yes. It’s in inhumane.
Alliyah Perry [00:39:35]:
I am. Yep. And 1 year, we had, like, 12 days over 9 years. It was, Cowan, crazy.
Scott Cowan [00:39:42]:
So I I grew up in the Tacoma area. I lived almost all my life in Western Washington between Seattle and Peop. And 7 years ago or so, we moved over here to Wenatchee. Well, I went to college in Ellsberg, So a bit that I like Central Washington, but I didn’t really know the weather. Like, we moved over here. It’s like, oh, I know it’s hot. It’ll be fine. Oh.
Scott Cowan [00:40:03]:
Well, I remember living in Tacoma, and if it’s a 100, we didn’t have air conditioning. It was It is horrible. Crazy.
Alliyah Perry [00:40:11]:
It was miserable. Miserable.
Scott Cowan [00:40:12]:
I also remember
Alliyah Perry [00:40:13]:
Everybody’s complaining.
Scott Cowan [00:40:14]:
Oh, I remember living in Tacoma, and it was 35 degrees. It was miserable. I I still wear shorts We’re actually at 35 degrees. It’s below 0. We’re gonna put some pants on type thing. I mean, it’s the weather can be really different. So when I think of peppers, though, I think of, You know, a warmer climate to grow them, Scott of sun. I think I’m wrong because you’re growing them, and you’re in Centralia.
Scott Cowan [00:40:39]:
What are you growing? What grows well in in our more modest climate?
Alliyah Perry [00:40:43]:
I mean, you can grow most anything.
Scott Cowan [00:40:47]:
Yeah. I’m glad.
Alliyah Perry [00:40:48]:
I grow a lot of jalapenos because those sell really well.
Scott Cowan [00:40:50]:
Do you like jalapenos?
Alliyah Perry [00:40:52]:
I do.
Scott Cowan [00:40:53]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:40:54]:
I do. My husband likes really hot stuff.
Scott Cowan [00:40:57]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:40:57]:
So we’ve grown, like, the jalokia or the, like, scorpion or Ghost pepper, things like that. You grew ghost peppers in
Scott Cowan [00:41:08]:
in Western Washington? Really?
Alliyah Perry [00:41:11]:
Successfully. Yes. In fact.
Scott Cowan [00:41:13]:
Do are you are you growing these in greenhouses? Or are these
Alliyah Perry [00:41:16]:
Nope. Just outside.
Scott Cowan [00:41:19]:
It’s not that I don’t believe you. I’m just surprised. Okay? So not like
Alliyah Perry [00:41:22]:
Shocked. Everybody’s always they’re like, what? How? Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:41:25]:
So, yeah, jalapenos are extremely Popular?
Alliyah Perry [00:41:31]:
Yes. Very.
Scott Cowan [00:41:32]:
What’s your what’s your favorite pepper?
Alliyah Perry [00:41:35]:
My favorite pepper?
Scott Cowan [00:41:36]:
Yeah. What do you go for?
Alliyah Perry [00:41:39]:
Either, like, a Tabasco or a Jimmy Nardello.
Scott Cowan [00:41:42]:
Jimmy
Alliyah Perry [00:41:42]:
Or any snacking pepper. Any snacking pepper is so good. Anything I could just, like
Scott Cowan [00:41:47]:
Really? Okay. Mhmm. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:41:50]:
Yeah. But
Scott Cowan [00:41:50]:
But you’re not a fan of the habaneros, the ghost peppers, and the the crazy stuff?
Alliyah Perry [00:41:55]:
No. I no. I like to not be in pain. And I get a kick You know?
Scott Cowan [00:42:01]:
My kid loves my son loves bat. You you know? Yeah. Not I’m a wimp. I I like the flavor, but the heat the heat, the the burning. Yeah. Yeah. Not my thing. Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:42:17]:
And I get a
Alliyah Perry [00:42:18]:
It needs to actually have flavor too.
Scott Cowan [00:42:21]:
Right. So Yeah. A good friend of mine, started in the farmer’s markets a spice rub business, and he,
Alliyah Perry [00:42:29]:
What’s it called?
Scott Cowan [00:42:30]:
It was called Belly Rub. He, he passed away a few years ago. And, I just remember I was kinda helping him with the marketing and getting him over here into Eastern Washington type thing, things like that. And, There’s a meat, butcher shop up in Montlake Terrace called Double D Meats, and he Mhmm. He, Oh, he was selling, like, 10 cases a week there. I mean, they were just it was flying off the shelves. I mean, it was Dang. So have you been to Double D Meats?
Alliyah Perry [00:43:01]:
I’ve heard of it. I think I’ve been there. I’m sure.
Scott Cowan [00:43:03]:
It’s it’s a cool it’s a cool shop, but they have, like, rows of hot sauce and rows of of spice rubs. Right? And, Yeah. The hot sauces are, like, advertised like gasoline in the sense like, this will kill you. Try it. It won’t taste good, but it’ll kill you. Try it. And I was just amazed at the at the volume of of hot sauces that people are selling. Just Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:43:31]:
Do you
Scott Cowan [00:43:31]:
guys sell hot sauce at the grocery store? Not
Alliyah Perry [00:43:34]:
yet. I’m looking for a good one. I’m probably just going to wholesale it from somebody
Scott Cowan [00:43:41]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:43:42]:
From the Olympic Farmers Market, but I’m also I’m looking for something else It’s 2.
Scott Cowan [00:43:47]:
What else? I don’t know.
Alliyah Perry [00:43:51]:
I don’t know. I haven’t found it, you know, when I Find it on the
Scott Cowan [00:43:56]:
Hot sauces I mean, there there there’s a crowd that will appreciate them, especially if they’re Yeah. Local type thing. Yeah. Same with, like, spice spices and all that stuff. There seems Yeah. There’s a Yeah.
Alliyah Perry [00:44:07]:
That’s another thing, spice blends, that I really need to get on to.
Scott Cowan [00:44:11]:
Yeah. There’s a There’s a, yeah. I was shocked at how well received his his spice, his spice rube was was received by the Marketplace.
Alliyah Perry [00:44:21]:
People like to eat good tasty food.
Scott Cowan [00:44:23]:
Yeah. And it was a it was a yeah. Anyway, we go we go way down a rabbit hole on that. We won’t okay. So You’ve got your you’ve got your farm. You plant start CSAs. You got a store. Teaching classes in the store.
Scott Cowan [00:44:39]:
You Scott a coffee roaster in the store. What do you do in your free time? Because you doesn’t sound like you’re doing a lot. So
Alliyah Perry [00:44:47]:
You know, honestly, I’m kinda lazy.
Scott Cowan [00:44:48]:
I know. Well, you like, when we schedule this, you’re like, I could do it any day. I’m wide open. No. You I’m just kidding. What you also have an event planning business, though.
Alliyah Perry [00:44:58]:
Yeah. The South of Washington Fantasy events.
Scott Cowan [00:45:01]:
And how did you get started doing that?
Alliyah Perry [00:45:05]:
My friend, Christie, kinda roped me into
Scott Cowan [00:45:07]:
it. K?
Alliyah Perry [00:45:10]:
But also that I we just we work so well together Mhmm. But I just kinda like Yeah. I mean, I love it. Right? Like, how’s
Scott Cowan [00:45:20]:
it going? Doing this?
Alliyah Perry [00:45:23]:
A year.
Scott Cowan [00:45:24]:
A year? Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:45:25]:
A year.
Scott Cowan [00:45:27]:
And
Alliyah Perry [00:45:27]:
Yep. A little over a year now.
Scott Cowan [00:45:29]:
A little over a year. And and how many events are you putting putting on?
Alliyah Perry [00:45:34]:
So we’ve done 2 so far.
Scott Cowan [00:45:36]:
Cowan.
Alliyah Perry [00:45:38]:
And then I think we’re we haven’t decided if we’re gonna do the second one again. Mhmm. But we’re for sure gonna do the first one that we did. It went really well, the Centralia Fantasy Festival.
Scott Cowan [00:45:49]:
The Centralia Fantasy Festival. Where where was that held at? Don’t say Central
Alliyah Perry [00:45:53]:
Valley. Fairgrounds.
Scott Cowan [00:45:54]:
At the Fairgrounds.
Alliyah Perry [00:45:55]:
Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:45:56]:
And how many people attended this thing?
Alliyah Perry [00:45:58]:
It’s about 2,000.
Scott Cowan [00:46:01]:
And you had you ever put on an event before?
Alliyah Perry [00:46:05]:
Nope. This was our 1st event.
Scott Cowan [00:46:07]:
It went flawlessly?
Alliyah Perry [00:46:09]:
I mean, it went way better than we thought.
Scott Cowan [00:46:12]:
Did it? Okay. So you thought it’d be like an object failure train wreck and it we landed the plane. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:46:18]:
I mean, the plane landed, and it was, like, shinier than when we when we took off. Okay.
Scott Cowan [00:46:25]:
Yeah. That’s Yep. Scary and impressive simultaneously. Yeah. So when would you do if when you do this one again, when what time of year is that held in?
Alliyah Perry [00:46:34]:
So it’s gonna be July 5th, 6th, 7th.
Scott Cowan [00:46:36]:
July 5th, 6th, 7th? Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:46:37]:
Yep. We already have the date. We’ve already started advertising. We are. People are so excited.
Scott Cowan [00:46:44]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:46:44]:
Our Facebook event has, like, over 5,000 people interested.
Scott Cowan [00:46:50]:
Wow. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:46:51]:
So Very exciting.
Scott Cowan [00:46:52]:
And so why don’t you elaborate on what the event is, like, for somebody who doesn’t have a clue? Let’s let’s tell them more.
Alliyah Perry [00:47:07]:
You know, look at vendors. There’s music. There’s, watering minstrels. There’s people doing skits. There’s
Scott Cowan [00:47:17]:
All
Alliyah Perry [00:47:17]:
types of things. Right?
Scott Cowan [00:47:19]:
So just It all genres. So that doesn’t that get a little confusing? Mm-mm. No?
Alliyah Perry [00:47:27]:
No. Honestly not.
Scott Cowan [00:47:28]:
Okay. Alright. Nope. We have wandering minstrels, music, vendors. We had 2,000 people.
Alliyah Perry [00:47:36]:
Food.
Scott Cowan [00:47:37]:
Food. Okay. So what type of food are we selling at these things? I always get a kick out there.
Alliyah Perry [00:47:41]:
Pizza.
Scott Cowan [00:47:42]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:47:43]:
Last one had Mexican food, Laos good. Laotian food. You know?
Scott Cowan [00:47:48]:
Laotian food. That’s
Alliyah Perry [00:47:50]:
Laotian food.
Scott Cowan [00:47:52]:
Where was the where were they from? Were they from Vancouver?
Alliyah Perry [00:47:56]:
Mm-mm. I think they’re from Tacoma area.
Scott Cowan [00:47:59]:
Okay. There was a I’d
Alliyah Perry [00:48:00]:
have to check, mate.
Scott Cowan [00:48:01]:
There was a Vancouver’s farmer Farmers Market had a low Asian food vendor there, and it was quite interesting.
Alliyah Perry [00:48:11]:
Really good.
Scott Cowan [00:48:12]:
Yeah. It was really good. It was really quite interesting. Okay. So you’re doing that. Summertimes are slow because nothing’s happening in a farm.
Alliyah Perry [00:48:22]:
Summertime. Yeah. Nah. Nah. Yep. We did it in May before, and we did it Memorial Day weekend. We had a lot of people say, oh my gosh. I was camping.
Alliyah Perry [00:48:31]:
I wish I knew. I should’ve knew. But mostly, we got great weather, and we are planning on doing it all outdoors This year.
Scott Cowan [00:48:38]:
Uh-huh.
Alliyah Perry [00:48:39]:
And we all know that you can get lucky 1 year What? Memorial Day weekend having great weather.
Scott Cowan [00:48:46]:
That’s why the plane was clean in the rain.
Alliyah Perry [00:48:50]:
Yes. K. That’s And we had great weather. You know, it rained like a tiny bit, and it kept it not hot. And the whole that 2nd day, it was right early in the morning before we even started, then it didn’t rain at all. And we were like, this that’s not gonna happen every year.
Scott Cowan [00:49:08]:
No. No. No. Even that early in July could be.
Alliyah Perry [00:49:12]:
It could be. I mean, if you But
Scott Cowan [00:49:14]:
The 4th July, you know, will rain and then typically, we’re okay after that.
Alliyah Perry [00:49:18]:
Okay. Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:49:19]:
Well, that’s awesome.
Alliyah Perry [00:49:20]:
Yeah. So 5th, 6th, 7th. And,
Scott Cowan [00:49:25]:
yeah. Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:49:25]:
We were kind of shooting for a good weekend that people were gonna be out and about and doing things, but also Not in June
Scott Cowan [00:49:33]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:49:33]:
When, you know, another Renaissance fair is gonna be. The reason I think that we we really Our
Scott Cowan [00:49:40]:
one of
Alliyah Perry [00:49:41]:
our biggest motivations was the Washington State Renaissance Fair moved from Puyallup up to Monroe. Mhmm. And That’s a long ways for people to travel.
Scott Cowan [00:49:51]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:49:52]:
And Especially, it’s a costume. Yes. And Paste a Charlie is directly Wenatchee Seattle and Portland. Right. No. You Right?
Scott Cowan [00:50:00]:
Yeah. You can draw from both both major metropolitan areas. That’s it’s a great idea. I think it’s a I think it’s a really good idea.
Alliyah Perry [00:50:06]:
And it’s at different Times are not the exact same days
Scott Cowan [00:50:09]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:50:11]:
As the other 2, and so people can kind of go wherever.
Scott Cowan [00:50:15]:
K. Alright. So I’ve got some questions I ask all my guests. So this is Mhmm. And we’re gonna come back to you in a second, but I got I gotta interrupt and ask a couple questions now. So As you know, I love coffee.
Alliyah Perry [00:50:27]:
Yes.
Scott Cowan [00:50:27]:
Where’s a great place to get coffee in Centralia? You could say your own place, but
Alliyah Perry [00:50:33]:
My store.
Scott Cowan [00:50:33]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:50:33]:
I really I think the Ethiopian beans that we have are really, really good.
Scott Cowan [00:50:37]:
K. So do do you drink coffee?
Alliyah Perry [00:50:39]:
Really, really good. I do.
Scott Cowan [00:50:40]:
K. What’s your go to coffee drink? What do you how do you like coffee?
Alliyah Perry [00:50:45]:
So coffee Specifically, probably like a mocha, but I’m really into matcha. I’ve got a really good high quality matcha at the store
Scott Cowan [00:50:58]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:51:00]:
For the the casual portion.
Scott Cowan [00:51:02]:
You drink it out of the The
Alliyah Perry [00:51:03]:
coffee house
Scott Cowan [00:51:04]:
I’ll call it a gourd for lack of a better word, but are you one of those people that has the the little round? What are they were they made out? Are are they gourds that they have in the straw?
Alliyah Perry [00:51:16]:
Oh, no. I don’t have that.
Scott Cowan [00:51:18]:
You don’t you’re not okay. You’re not one of I mean, there’s some I’m
Alliyah Perry [00:51:20]:
not that cool.
Scott Cowan [00:51:21]:
Well, it’s not cool. It’s it it I don’t wanna say it’s not cool. I don’t mind saying it’s not cool. It’s not because it’s cool, but it’s like it’s almost like they They just keep keep it going. It’s like they keep at it’s like a I don’t know. It’s I don’t know enough about it to to Don’t know if that’s cool or not. I’ve just seen people get carried I mean, people get carried away with coffee too. Let’s let’s be honest.
Scott Cowan [00:51:44]:
I mean, You know, you can buy a $10,000 coffee, espresso machine for your house if you’re so inclined and
Alliyah Perry [00:51:51]:
Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:51:52]:
Okay. Matcha. Why why matcha? Gotta
Alliyah Perry [00:51:56]:
So good. For 1, it is so good.
Scott Cowan [00:51:59]:
So how’d you get exposed to matcha?
Alliyah Perry [00:52:02]:
My friends, probably. My husband’s friends, they drink matcha She drinks matcha. And, yeah. And I tried it, and I was like, that’s good. And then I had to try, Yeah.
Scott Cowan [00:52:18]:
And so you carry a good, you you guys have a good matcha at the store? Mhmm. Alright. Cool. Alright. Alright. So once again, Centralia, I’m gonna get in there around lunchtime. Where’s a great place for lunch in Centralia?
Alliyah Perry [00:52:31]:
So my 2 probably my 2 favorite lunch places is probably, like, Don’s Delectables and British Bites.
Scott Cowan [00:52:39]:
K. Why?
Alliyah Perry [00:52:41]:
Why? They both have vegan good good vegan vegetarian options.
Scott Cowan [00:52:44]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:52:45]:
And, like, multiple, not just, like, 1 or 2.
Scott Cowan [00:52:48]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:52:48]:
We both have multiple good
Scott Cowan [00:52:50]:
So what do you what what would you recommend? If I said, hey. I’m hungry. I turn it over. You can pick for me. What would you What would you pick?
Alliyah Perry [00:52:59]:
From which one?
Scott Cowan [00:53:01]:
The bites.
Alliyah Perry [00:53:02]:
British Bites? Yeah. British Bites. The Vegetarian chili is really good.
Scott Cowan [00:53:07]:
Vegetarian chili.
Alliyah Perry [00:53:08]:
And then yeah. And the last time I went there, I had their brie, tomato, and rocket Arugula sandwich. And it has, local, microgreens on it. Mhmm. So good. Okay. So good.
Scott Cowan [00:53:23]:
Alright. Alright. The last question I ask all my guests. You have to answer this one. There’s no getting out of it. Okay?
Alliyah Perry [00:53:29]:
So
Scott Cowan [00:53:29]:
in in I’m very serious here. It’s, and we have to explain why. So it’s here it is. Here’s the question. Cake or pie, and why?
Alliyah Perry [00:53:41]:
That’s super easy. Cake for sure.
Scott Cowan [00:53:44]:
Really?
Alliyah Perry [00:53:46]:
Yes. Go on. I I do not really like pie that much. There was and I think part of the reason is because I’m stubborn. There was a kid in my 5th grade class, and he would always say, I love pie. Hi. Uh-huh. And so in my brain, I was like, I don’t like pie.
Alliyah Perry [00:54:04]:
But, like, but honestly, there’s so many different varieties of cake. There’s so much You can do and also just, like, straight up chocolate cake, like the one that you get at Costco. Like, Costco chocolate cake.
Scott Cowan [00:54:16]:
So good. So There’s no right or wrong answer to that question. K? The reason I gave you kind of a startled look is that pie has been running away with it. Everybody says pie. Like, the last 10 people, you’re the first one It said cake. What? Yeah. No. It’s I’m What? I’m so I’m not saying you’re right or wrong.
Alliyah Perry [00:54:40]:
Like, I frosting?
Scott Cowan [00:54:42]:
See so
Alliyah Perry [00:54:43]:
The frosting is the best part.
Scott Cowan [00:54:44]:
I know, but still see so many people say it’s too sweet. They want, you know, So the fact that you like the the frosting is counter to the recent guests on the show. Okay?
Alliyah Perry [00:54:58]:
Yep. Some countercultural now with the cake. Anything good or bad.
Scott Cowan [00:55:01]:
No judgment. No judgment. It’s judgment free zone here. Cake or pie. We we celebrate both. It’s interesting to me though. And the other thing that was interesting about your response is you answered, like, Cake. It’s easy.
Scott Cowan [00:55:19]:
No. Oh, yeah. No. No. Super. Did you see a bubble with a thumbs up on the screen?
Alliyah Perry [00:55:27]:
Yes. Yep.
Scott Cowan [00:55:29]:
Are you doing that?
Alliyah Perry [00:55:31]:
I’m not. I am not at all. It’s happened multiple times. I don’t know.
Scott Cowan [00:55:37]:
Are you messing with me?
Alliyah Perry [00:55:39]:
I’m not.
Scott Cowan [00:55:40]:
I I
Alliyah Perry [00:55:40]:
I honestly wouldn’t even know how to do it.
Scott Cowan [00:55:42]:
I’m on a Mac, and I know that there is, There’s some I mean, I can go up here. No one can see this but you and I. So just for fun, Reactions. And, you know, I can do things like this. Cowan. And and and so there’s the thumbs up. All I did was snap my fingers. And it I I warned you we we off the rails frequently on the show.
Alliyah Perry [00:56:11]:
Love it.
Scott Cowan [00:56:12]:
Okay. So so to recap, we’re gonna recap some things here. You’ve got a farm. You’ve got a plant start CSA. You sell it for farmers markets still. Right? Is it 4? Are you doing No.
Alliyah Perry [00:56:24]:
No. Down to anymore. I stopped doing 4
Scott Cowan [00:56:27]:
And so how many do you do? How many are you gonna do this year?
Alliyah Perry [00:56:29]:
This year, I’ll probably just do 1 or 2.
Scott Cowan [00:56:31]:
Just oh, just 1 or 2. Okay. So let’s just say 1.
Alliyah Perry [00:56:34]:
And not and not very often.
Scott Cowan [00:56:35]:
And not very often. Okay. And you’ve got the you’ve got the the grocery store. You’ve got the events business. Got a young kitten to take care of.
Alliyah Perry [00:56:44]:
I’ve got 13 pets.
Scott Cowan [00:56:48]:
Thirteen pets. Thirteen. So the numbers that I want the audience to focus on in this episode is 80 types of tomatoes and 13 pets. Alright, folks? That’s your takeaways. Eighty? Eighty and 13. Eighty and 13. Okay. So 13 pets.
Scott Cowan [00:57:05]:
Yeah. Let’s tell us what they you know, what are they?
Alliyah Perry [00:57:10]:
So If you say fish,
Scott Cowan [00:57:11]:
it’s not fair. I mean, you know, can’t can’t
Alliyah Perry [00:57:13]:
No. The fish don’t count.
Scott Cowan [00:57:14]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:57:14]:
The fish don’t count. Alright. We’ve got 7 ducks.
Scott Cowan [00:57:18]:
7 Ducks.
Alliyah Perry [00:57:19]:
We’ve got, this kitten, this rescue kitten. Mhmm. And she is soon to be adoptable.
Scott Cowan [00:57:25]:
Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:57:27]:
We’ve got 2 cats of our own. We’ve got a dog. We’ve got 2 turtles. Okay. And we had a snake. He just passed away though.
Scott Cowan [00:57:35]:
That’s a lot. That’s a lot.
Alliyah Perry [00:57:39]:
Mhmm.
Scott Cowan [00:57:40]:
Alright. So 80/13, the CSA, the grocery store, the farmer’s markets, the the the events.
Alliyah Perry [00:57:51]:
Whew. Sorry.
Scott Cowan [00:57:52]:
What didn’t we talk about that we should’ve? What did we overlook? I feel like maybe we overlooked something. I don’t know. I’ve gotta ask. You know, what what didn’t I ask you that I should’ve asked you?
Alliyah Perry [00:58:01]:
I can’t think of anything.
Scott Cowan [00:58:04]:
K.
Alliyah Perry [00:58:05]:
I don’t know if I elaborated fully on, like, my vision for the Store? No. You didn’t. So let’s let’s
Scott Cowan [00:58:10]:
let’s no. Let’s let’s let’s unpack that for a couple minutes. Tell me, what is your vision for the store? What do you because I kinda started off asking you that was gonna be, and then we we got sidetracked. So what’s the vision?
Alliyah Perry [00:58:22]:
I think just a a biggest Big, like, view is just expanding even more
Scott Cowan [00:58:28]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:58:29]:
You know, to a a bigger space, hopefully, Or, I don’t really know. Just kind of definitely expansion, hopefully doing, more coffee Stuff. I really kinda like that. I’ve been liking it. Events. I really like the events. Mhmm. Hopefully, get just getting more Farms involved Right.
Alliyah Perry [00:58:54]:
And getting more food businesses, wanting to sell in the store
Scott Cowan [00:58:57]:
k.
Alliyah Perry [00:58:58]:
Is another thing. Good.
Scott Cowan [00:59:00]:
So let’s wrap up with this. Where can people find out about all this stuff? Where where where like, if I’m a a a a A food grower or I’m, interested in maybe teaching a class or I’m interested in finding and coming in and shopping, Where can we find you? Where can people find you? Both physical location address and online. Where where where do you want people to look?
Alliyah Perry [00:59:26]:
Yeah. So our address is 202 South Tower Avenue in Stejoe, Washington. And on our biggest platforms are Facebook Instagram. Those are pretty much the only ones I use.
Scott Cowan [00:59:39]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:59:40]:
And it’s farm and flourish or farm and flourish.
Scott Cowan [00:59:43]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:59:44]:
Generally, we have, like, Plus sign to farm plus flourish.
Scott Cowan [00:59:47]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [00:59:47]:
The farm and flourish is
Scott Cowan [00:59:49]:
k.
Alliyah Perry [00:59:49]:
You’ll find us.
Scott Cowan [00:59:50]:
Here’s a glaring glaringly obvious question that I didn’t ask. How’d you come up with the name?
Alliyah Perry [00:59:55]:
My husband came up with it.
Scott Cowan [00:59:57]:
Your husband came up? Okay.
Alliyah Perry [00:59:58]:
My husband came up with it. The previous place, was called Flourish Cafe. Mhmm. And also my has most of mostly, my husband kept he kept saying Nature Nurture Pharmacy, Nature Nurture when he was talking about the business
Scott Cowan [01:00:11]:
Mhmm.
Alliyah Perry [01:00:12]:
Before we had named it. And I don’t know why he was doing that. It’s it’s another local food local business. Mhmm. They’re naturo path. Yeah. We work together a little bit. Really love it.
Alliyah Perry [01:00:25]:
It’s a great great space. They work with local farmers as
Scott Cowan [01:00:28]:
well. K.
Alliyah Perry [01:00:29]:
And And he just kept saying it over and over again. And I’m like, it’s not nature nurture. Like, our business is not gonna be called nature nurture. It’s already a A business that’s established.
Scott Cowan [01:00:39]:
They might not like us.
Alliyah Perry [01:00:40]:
Right. No. They would not like it if we did that. No. And and I I was like, well, maybe there’s a reason for that. And one of their their tagline has flourish in it.
Scott Cowan [01:00:51]:
Uh-huh.
Alliyah Perry [01:00:51]:
I knew I wanted to have Something, with farm in it. And so when he said that, I was like, well, that’s perfect.
Scott Cowan [01:00:59]:
Gotcha. Alright.
Alliyah Perry [01:01:01]:
And And can you stop calling a Nature Nurture Pharmacy now?
Scott Cowan [01:01:04]:
And does he has he stopped?
Alliyah Perry [01:01:06]:
Yes. Of course. Of course.
Scott Cowan [01:01:07]:
Of course. Okay. Alright. Cool. Well, you know, this is really cool that you’re doing all these things. I I love I one of the things that’s fun for me about doing this is I get to talk to people. I’ve you know, I don’t know if our paths would have ever I might have come in looking for the coffee roaster. I get you.
Scott Cowan [01:01:23]:
What happened here? It was 10 years ago. Yeah. But, you know, I
Alliyah Perry [01:01:27]:
That happens Often.
Scott Cowan [01:01:28]:
Yeah. I might have I might have stumbled in there, you know, looking looking for a coffee place. But, you know, it’s unlikely our paths would have crossed. Right? You know? And so I’m I’m Scanning the newspaper, and I I see this article. It caught my eye. I read it. I thought, well, this is really cool. And then, you know, so I just reach out, and some people don’t respond.
Scott Cowan [01:01:45]:
Some people respond. Well, you freaked me out by calling me after I just literally changed my phone number that day. I was like, what other is happening? You know? And and and so I’m
Alliyah Perry [01:01:55]:
a phone numb I’m a calling person.
Scott Cowan [01:01:56]:
Yeah. No. And that’s I love that. You know? And and and but most people just, you know, Email me back a year later going, hey. I forgot about this, which is fine. Yep. Yeah. But, you know, you’re doing all these things, and you’re the The other thing that we didn’t touch on is what I think is really cool, is that you are doing it in a small community, that has Lewis County has some some challenges just like a lot of our small communities.
Scott Cowan [01:02:25]:
Food is there’s There’s not a lot of food choices available for people. It’s, you know, it’s not like Seattle where you got a grocery store on every every Street corner and 2 on several of them. And so you’re you’re doing this and you’re and you’re helping to I don’t wanna say revitalize, but you’re you’re helping to keep the the downtown core of a small town viable. I like that. I think that’s cool. So kudos to you. I’m I’m really glad you guys are doing that. Could be doing it in Seattle, it’d be just as cool.
Scott Cowan [01:02:58]:
No offense to to anybody, but I
Alliyah Perry [01:03:00]:
the fact that you’re doing it definitely different.
Scott Cowan [01:03:02]:
Yeah. And it’s got challenges. It it unlike, you know, small towns have their own set of challenges just like every place. But But I think it’s very cool. So good on you, and,
Alliyah Perry [01:03:13]:
Thank you.
Scott Cowan [01:03:13]:
I I wish you all the best, success.
Alliyah Perry [01:03:17]:
Thank you.
Scott Cowan [01:03:18]:
So do you have any last words you’d like to say?
Alliyah Perry [01:03:22]:
I don’t think so. I, maybe just support your local farms If you’re not local enough to to come visit the store, look you can Google. There are resources, for finding local farms that have CSAs Mhmm. Food businesses instead of, you know, shopping. I mean, instead of, you know, going to a, you know,
Scott Cowan [01:03:47]:
Big box.
Alliyah Perry [01:03:48]:
Business that is a corporation. Go to a small mom and pop foods business. Things like that. Just supporting actually local This is, especially in this crazy time right now. We don’t fully know what’s happening, but some people think they know, other people don’t. Whatever people’s opinions are Right. We have to support our actual community.
Scott Cowan [01:04:09]:
Right.
Alliyah Perry [01:04:09]:
And while McDonald’s is local because it’s right up the street, it’s not say as local as, you know, something else.
Scott Cowan [01:04:16]:
Well, the money that’s being spent at a small business tends to stay in the community that’s being spent at.
Alliyah Perry [01:04:20]:
For sure.
Scott Cowan [01:04:20]:
Where the money that’s being spent at a corporation does help Local people get their paychecks. Totally. The profits are going back to Wall Street and being distributed to, You know, other other entities that Mhmm. You know, voting with our donors locally is is a really powerful thing for people to be able
Alliyah Perry [01:04:38]:
to do. It really is. And honestly, like, when you do those things, you help people, like, pay their mortgages. Yeah. Exactly. Like, your your Burger from wherever you’re going, this mom and pop shop is literally helping them pay their mortgage Exactly. And helping them, like, pay their child’s tuition.
Scott Cowan [01:04:55]:
Right. A 100%. Yeah. 100%. Well, thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. Of course.
Alliyah Perry [01:05:00]:
Of course. Thank you.
