Meet Congaree and Penn
Meet Lindsay and Scott, the couple behind Congaree and Penn– a Florida farm dedicated to agriculture and culinary endeavors, and gathering the community to enjoy both. Visit their space for a tour of the farm, taste of their new cider, or for a farm-fresh meal!
Tell us about yourself! What made you want to start your business?
We began in 2014 as a tiny rice farm, and we’ve since grown to include agritourism offerings, farm to table restaurant service, private events, our own cidery, and a burgeoning native landscape tree business. The farm is 330 sprawling acres with the quonset hut acting as our restaurant, event space, cidery, and manufacturing facility.
What kind of challenges have you had to overcome as a small business owner? How has COVID-19 affected your business?
Permitting has been our biggest challenge. Navigating our way through the hoops of gaining the many permits and certifications to do everything that we do has been a job all in its own. Building our team has also been a long process; we’re so proud of the staff we have today.
The pandemic has been scary for every business. But when we realized that the great outdoors and our many acres were an asset and a safe space, we were able to thrive. Don’t get us wrong; it’s been a hard year, but we are definitely lucky.
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is to diversify your offerings. All of the sectors of our business work together to keep us going. Sometimes it’s August and not many people want to hang out on a farm when it’s 100 degrees. But many people do want to sip on an ice cold cider, no matter the temperature.
What are your goals for the new year?
We grew pretty quickly in a few short years, and we’ve pivoted quite a lot this year, so, frankly, we’re looking forward to a 2021 where we can keep doing what we’re doing, perfect the details, and hopefully raise some capital for bigger endeavors later in the decade (like offering overnight stays).
What are you inspired by lately?
Travel. We are always inspired by travel, but so much more than ever before.
And what inspired your cider?
Our cider was inspired by the plethora of breweries in Northeast Florida. We have so many great beer producers, but cider is much more rare. We’ve always tried to fill the niches of what others aren’t doing.
Any advice for people looking to start their own business?
You’ve got to persevere. There are SO many setbacks in not only starting a business, but keeping it going. Stay the course, even if it’s winding.
On style – ours is always changing, and I’ve learned that that’s okay. Maybe it looks cohesive to the consumer, and that’s super great, but my (Lindsay’s) designer head is always changing its mind and shifting with the seasons.
What is your creative process?
We always start with an idea. We have a lot of them, and some of them aren’t great. So it’s whittling them down to what we think will work, and even then we’re sometimes wrong. Our process is a lot of talking, a lot walks with the dogs, a lot of trying to imagine what could be.
When it comes down to design, I’m very good at procrastinating. I’m always scared to start new projects. It’s daunting, so I procrastinate, and then I’m left to whip something up more quickly than I should, but I’ve found that I work best that way, under pressure.
You're based in Jacksonville. What spots/businesses/makers are your favorite in town?
We love Taqueria Cinco. And Sun-Ray Cinema. We’ve paired the two pretty often throughout the past couple of years, and even a bit this year!