We took a hiatus over the winter and a bit of the spring,
but we’re back. We hope you have all
enjoyed the crazy weather sent our way in the last few months and are ready for
real spring and summer to settle in the Mile High City.
Flaming Garden is more than ready to get out and meet new folks to introduce them to our tasty jellies.
If you’ve missed us, then you haven't visited our website,
www.flaminggarden.com which is awaiting your visit and an order for more jars. If you're out and about you can now find us on Saturday mornings at the
Cherry Creek Farmers Market at the Mall on 1st and University in Denver. We look forward to seeing you there.
Interview with the Owner
In this post we'll focus our attention on the
founder, creator and genius behind our delicious products, Rebecca/Becky
Bennett. She is a true entrepreneur who
has taken a simple holiday treat/gift and turned it into a rockin’ new business. I spoke with Becky last autumn and asked her
about Flaming Garden, her inspiration and her life as an entrepreneur. Here is what I found out.
Personal Information and Background
Becky is married to Dan and they have two young boys, Braden
6, and Taylen 5. The other members of the family are Deuce, a golden retriever, and Tank and Farrah, their Mastiffs. Needless to say, even without Flaming
Garden, Becky has her hands full.
Becky’s background is in ranching, working as an EMT on an
ambulance, and being a desk jockey at an insurance company. But, hidden deep down inside is an
entrepreneur who will not be held back by convention or ‘the system.’ Her first entrepreneurial endeavor was tying
halter ropes when she worked a ranch with her first husband in Nevada. She also competed in Rodeos a bit back then.
After moving to Colorado, she started her first business,
Soul Source, with Dan which turned out to be just a tax write off. Her next enterprises were Two Hearts
Tropical, breeding cyclids from Africa, and Caring Hands massage staring her
husband, Dan, as the masseuse. When she
and Dan closed the fish breeding business they embarked on a jelly journey,
Flaming Garden, that has been lots of hard work, yet very rewarding.
Inspiration
I asked Becky what has attracted her to all of these
endeavors. She told me that the halter
tying was a draw for her because of the intricacies involved in the work. Halter tying is an art and she enjoyed the
challenge of creating a perfect product.
This love of an artistic challenge has been a driving force behind her
unrelenting creative spirit. Her other
endeavors interested her because they involved working with animals or were a
creative outlet.
How Flaming Garden Came to be
We talked about Flaming Garden and how that all began. A friend of Becky's from Hawaii taught her how to make Jalapeno Jelly many years ago. Becky enjoyed the making the jelly so much that she began making it every year at the holidays as a gift for
friends and family. After a number of
years she started playing around with other flavors to go in the jelly. When these became a success, she began
working with other types of chile peppers like Habanero and Jolokia. She enjoyed the creative challenge here of
developing flavors using hot peppers and sweet fruits or savory vegetables. Her new creations were such a success with
friends, family and co-workers that she decided to try to sell some at a
company holiday craft fair. When she almost sold out, she decided this might be a
new business. Flaming Garden was born.
Pepper Creativity
I had to ask her how she comes up with all the creative and
delicious flavors. Her response was that
she gets ideas and inspiration from many places. She
herself dreams up so many ideas that most of them are still dreams. Friends and family have also given her ideas
that she has tried and made a success.
For instance, a friend suggested pairing jalapeno with pomegranate. It is now one of her best-selling
flavors.
When we talked about using the jelly as an ingredient in
cooking, she said she wasn’t sure how it all started. However, she does remember a customer telling her that
they put the Strawberry Jolokia over Vanilla Ice Cream and it was
delicious. She and Dan tried it
themselves and it's now a favorite dish.
This inspired Becky and Dan to start experimenting with different uses
for the jelly. If you’ve been following
this blog, you will know that we have recipes on our website and I have posted
many ideas here. Becky and Dan have used
the different jellies for grilling and marinades, as well as toppings for
various appetizers. I asked Becky if her
two boys, Braden and Taylen, like the jellies.
She said they do, but that she makes them special batches without the
peppers.
Worker Bees
As for who does the work for the business, Becky said it’s
mostly her and Dan. Occasionally they
have friends help with cooking when they need large amounts of product, like
preparation for People’s Fair and Pride Fest. The boys help out once in a while, with Mom,
stirring or taking lids off new jars so they can be sanitized and filled. Dan does most of the heavy lifting and helps
to jar the cooked jelly. He's also a
great salesman and loves to talk with customers at events and markets.
Flaming Future
Flaming Garden is not just a jelly business though. As some of you may already know, Becky makes
excellent pickled Jalapenos and hot habanero dill pickle relish. She also makes hot dill pickles by brining
them with habaneros. While these items are
not part of the Flaming Garden website yet, you can always contact Becky to ask
about them. There are plans
for expanding the product line in the near future to add more jellies and
increase production of the pickled Jalapenos and dill pickle products.
Becky’s ultimate goal for Flaming Garden is for it's products to be
available in your favorite local grocery store.
While sometimes this seems like a pipe dream, I believe that Becky will
make this dream come true. She obtained
a degree in business management a few years ago and is preparing Flaming Garden
for their next big step.
Conclusion
Becky is a most excellent creative mind with an impeccable
business sense. She has created a much
loved family of products that has a bright, HOT future. Becky hopes that you will come along with her
and the Flaming Garden family on this journey.
She wants to ‘wow’ and ‘inspire’ you with flavors.
So check out our website, if you haven’t been there yet, and
look for us at farmers markets and events this summer.
As usual, I will keep the blog updated with our calendar, so subscribe to the blog and keep current on our activities. We love to see you and hear about your latest
adventures with when “Sweet Meets Heat!”
All our Farmers Markets this year are with Colorado Fresh Markets. 
