The Farm at Red Hill

03/06/2026

Today’s the big day. 20 years ago today we became a registered company. I clearly remember our first day at the Charlottesville City Market. The take was $35. An inauspicious beginning (and Richard was ready to pack it in and return to electrical contracting) to something that would grow bigger than we had hoped and last longer than we could have imagined.

So here we are 20 years on, nearly 7 million units of salsa and dips, along with tens of thousands of pounds of fresh tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, ginger and turmeric, and hundreds of dozens of rainbow eggs sold, and we are forever grateful to all of you, our customers and retailers, for your continued support throughout the years.

We couldn’t have done it without your fierce support of local food and small family farms and we never for one minute forget that y’all are the reason we wake up and get to do what we love each and every day.

Thank you.

Richard and Wendy

03/06/2026

This early taste of Spring is just what we needed to put memories of February’s frozen tundra behind us. Although with our greenhouse space we were able to enjoy an advance look at what’s to come. From the bright hibiscus blooms to the flowering lemon and lime trees to the blossoming olive trees, this space is alive while the outside was under inches of solid ice. A neighbor once told us she thought our greenhouse was “the happiest place on earth” and it’s hard to disagree.

10/07/2025

Yesterday I got a call from a customer who had a tree nut allergy and was trying to find out if she could eat our salsa. Our conversation got me thinking about how we handle allergens versus how other companies do.

We manufacture a lot of products in our facility, some of which contain dairy or sesame or tree nuts all of which are in the big 9 of allergens.

Many companies have a statement on their label saying the item was produced in a facility that also uses -followed by a long list of allergens. I guess this is a warning that they are not sure if the item you purchased is free from the allergen or not and so if you are allergic perhaps you should stay away.

Interesting side note I read that when sesame was recently added to the list a number of companies began adding just a smidge of sesame to their recipes and declaring the allergen on their label. This way they didn’t need to adjust their manufacturing process to protect from sesame, they just declared it contained it.

We took a different path regarding how we control allergens. All of our products that contain one of the big 9 indicate so on the top label. We manufacture items containing allergens on separate days from other products. So on a day we manufacture a dairy item, that is all that we make that day. This ensures no cross contamination during production.

All of our equipment is commercial grade, stainless steel which makes it very easy to clean and sanitize after each batch of product produced.

But then we go even one step further. We don’t just trust our sanitizing methods, we verify the results which in turn gives us validation that what we are doing is actually keeping everyone safe. On a regular basis we swab our equipment and send the swabs to a certified lab to test for allergen residue. In the nearly 20 years we’ve been doing this the tests have always come back negative- verifying and validating our methods.

The final step of testing gives us peace of mind that our products are labeled correctly and free from cross contamination and therefore safe for all to enjoy.

08/11/2025

Delivering to Kroger stores this morning when something caught my eye. Look at that great map showcasing some of our favorite local brands, especially that one right outside Charlottesville! 😁

Thank you Kroger for walking the walk not just talking the talk. We so appreciate your support of local and you carrying our fresh hummus, dips, salsas along with our fresh ginger, turmeric and horseradish in just about all the Virginia stores!

Eat well. Buy local.

07/31/2025

You know our queso dips are great on nachos, tacos and the like, but what else can you do with them you ask. Well, did you know they also make a creamy, easy mac & cheese dish?

All you need is a box of your favorite noodles and a tub of either The Farm at Red Hill Mild Queso, or if you like a little heat, a tub of the spicy queso. Cook your noodles, drain the water and then stir in our queso dip - a little or a lot depending on your desired level of cheesiness!

An easy cheesy side dish with no chemicals or added colors. The cheese is pasteurized, so safe for all and it comes from cows that have not been treated with rBST. Enjoy!

07/04/2025

People always ask us why did we decide to start a farm. For us it was an easy decision, food brings people together and good food makes people really happy.

From Richard’s time in the Antarctic where Steak’ums were not just a curiosity, but considered gourmet, to our travels around the world, food has been the constant in forming friendships and understanding different cultures.

We lived in Moscow during the late 1980’s and food brought people together in a completely different way. We spent many hours in food lines shoulder to shoulder with the local babushkas not knowing what we were waiting for, but still hoping they wouldn’t run out before our turn. We missed out on the Egyptian oranges and the Cuban sugar, but were lucky to score a can of mystery meat whose label told us it was “barnyard animal”.

When we lived in Belgium our neighbors all made their own elderberry wine. I was invited for drinks often and either they were trying to help me with my Dutch or trying to make some money off of me as there was a 1 Belgian franc charge for every English word I used. Apparently a glass or two of their wine was the ticket to speaking fluent Dutch!

In Cuba we were able to tour an organic farm. Honestly the lack of chemical fertilizers and pesticides really made growing organically an obvious choice. There wasn’t much food to be had in Cuba when we were there in 2017, but you could hang out on the Malecon with your mojito and watch the fishermen try their luck.

The bounty of food we saw in Vietnam was incredible. While still a communist country at heart, the farmers markets over flowed with food. Watching the women in the morning drive on a moped through traffic while carrying their produce they were hoping to sell that day was amazing and completely frightening!

Food is the great unifier. In countries where food is bountiful, to those where it is still being rationed, we’ve found everyone around the world has their favorite dish and they jump at the chance to share it and their story.

That . . . is why we chose to do what we do.

06/26/2025

Are you a scooper or a dipper? Either way we have the salsa for you.

Our original Mild and Medium with the green labels are made with fresh tomatoes. They are chunky and great for scooping.

We made our blue label Cantina Style salsa after watching our neighbor carefully dipping her chips in our salsa to get the liquid but avoid all the “chunks” (translation the actual vegetables!). These are made with cooked tomatoes and are much saucier - perfect for dipping.

Either way you choose to eat your salsa we’ve got you covered. And on sale at Whole Foods and Kroger for the 4th of July!

06/19/2025

I’ve got a number of motivational posters hanging in my office but today this one really spoke to me as I was tracking an order I need go from Georgia to Florida and then back to Georgia again. Not sure if JB wrote these lyrics especially for growers and small business owners, but he definitely got it right.

We’ve done a lot of laughing (and truthfully our share of crying) in these 20 years. TFARH almost didn’t make it past the first farmers market back in 2006. During our verification visit from our extension agent he was super supportive (not) telling me that statistically I had a 1 in 10 chance of making it to the third year. Nothing motivates like someone stomping on your dream. Challenge accepted!

If there were mistakes that could be made - we made them. We learned that just because the greenhouses are “ventless” doesn’t mean you don’t need to vent them - learned this after all our tomato and pepper blossoms dropped from the buildup of a gas byproduct of our propane heaters. There went several months of preparation and anticipation.

We also learned that, in its own way, lettuce will continually yell at you. Whether it’s trying to alert you to the grey mold that is starting to grow. Or perhaps trying to tell you that while one white fly or aphid doesn’t look bad, they have a million friends that will be dropping by for lunch - tomorrow. Then there is the midnight siren (an actual alarm system) when it is trying to tell you it is about to freeze because the heater misfired and the temp in the greenhouse is falling fast. Lettuce was truthfully worse than any GC we had worked for as electrical contractors!

We learned a lot those first few months. And luckily we remembered to laugh (usually after a short but good cry). And all this was before we even got to our first Charlottesville City Market!

Thanks for following along on our 20 year journey. Next time - our first market and how Richard swore we were done after one day.

06/10/2025

We’re going to take a quick commercial break before we get back to the burning question of does lettuce yell or not. (See previous post.)

People are always asking for suggestions of how to use our products besides just as chip or veggie dips. With it being picnic season I thought I’d pass along one of our family favorites. Three ingredients is all you need: potatoes, Dijon mustard and The Farm at Red Hill Creamy Dill dip, to make a quick and fresh take on potato salad.

I’m not a chef and don’t play one on Facebook so this is as easy as it comes. Boil the potatoes until soft, cut to size and mix in Creamy Dill and Dijon to taste. Eat warm or chill to serve later. You can get fancy and add some hard boiled eggs as well for a German potato salad. Using our dill dip allows you to make an oil free dish (vs regular mayo) and the dip already contains all the spices you might want to add. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more of our almost 20 years of memories in the next post

06/05/2025

Back in 2006 we didn’t start out as a maker of salsa and hummus, we actually started out as a farm growing the ingredients to make those items. Why would we want to close up our electrical contacting business and start farming was a very common question and one usually framed with a hint of “you must be crazy” behind it.

Honestly we were tired of the construction world where people were always yelling about something. Richard just kept saying “lettuce doesn’t yell at you” and so up went the greenhouses and The Farm at Red Hill was born.

Had we ever farmed before? No. Had we produced food products for sale versus just a bring a dish pot luck? No. But hey, what could go wrong?

It has been an amazing —almost 20 years. Keep following along as I fill you in on just how many things could actually go wrong that first year!

06/03/2025

It is almost impossible for me to believe that in a short 6 months from now The Farm at Red Hill will be 20 years old! Did you know that the average lifespan of a small business is 8.5 years and that only 32.8% make it past ten years? I thought I’d start our celebration early since I’m horrible at posting yet have so many people to thank and experiences to share! Some of you may even see yourselves pop up in these posts - you never know - so hopefully you will follow along on this incredible journey.

05/16/2025

The rain has stopped and the barbecues are heating up. This is a great time to visit your local mid-Atlantic Kroger where our hummus and salsas are now on sale. Additional varieties are available at select stores including our popular Cantina Style salsas. Enjoy!

Family farm owned and operated by Richard and Wendy Harrison.
Fresh, No Preservatives, No Added Sugar, Gluten Free!
Salsa, Hummus, and Dips.