Located in the farming community of Franklinville, where Mystic Botanical Farms is located, was purchased back in the early 1960's by the owner of the company's grandmother, Airforce Veteran Joan Peifer.  Originally a dairy farm and converted to a chicken farm before Joan purchased the property, she began raising her family with blue collar roots.

A strong tough woman, Joan (pictured) began raising her 5 children by herself, shortly after her husband passed away in the mid 1960's.  With her oldest being only 11 years old, Joan was able to provide a life for her kids by working multiple jobs, growing vegetables, and raising livestock to help support her family.   She was adamant that her children get involved with the farm life and other sports.  Her children were involved in 4H and horse showing as well as maintaining life around the small farm that involved tremendous responsibility and hard work.

As time passed on and the Peifer family grew, Joan's children began having their own families and moved off the property bringing only one of them back!  In the late 1980's, Bill Peifer, the oldest child and only boy, along with Chrissy, his wife at the time, bought the farm off his mother where they would raise there only son.  The farm went from a combination of small vegetable farming and livestock to rodeo training, horse and cattle raising and alfalfa cultivation. 

If one thing is for certain, change is inevitable in life.  What was, is no longer, and the future that seemed so far away comes knocking on your door.  Bill and Chrissy went their seperate ways.  Chrissy would still stay within the community of Franklinville and Bill would continue the farm and drive tractor trailer full time.  With his dad getting older, the farm in transition, and many conversations between father and son of what to do with the place when he inherits it, the direction was unclear.  

There were many ideas that Billy had for his father's place.  "I thought about growing Christmas trees, setting up a farmer's market, even starting some type of community garden, but nothing seemed to give me a sense that it would be worth the effort and be able to make enough money to support myself and family without having to work another full-time job.  I also thought about starting a Vinyard, but a Winery was not allowed on the property.  "Ever since my late 20's, I was interested in mushrooms and mushroom cultivation and used them as a supplement to help my cognitive function and immune system, but I didn't have enough of the puzzle pieces together to truly explore that path." That was until, Billy met his future business partner Jim.

James grew up in Pennsylvania and went to the prestigious W.B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences where he learned various horticulture and agriculture techniques. There he learned to raise crops, operate farm equipment and work with livestock. He was the vice-president of the largest chapter of the Future Farmers of America in the country. He graduated 16th in his class.  Following high school, James worked on a dairy farm, while pursuing agricultural studies. He was responsible for the milking and care of the cattle as well as miscellaneous farm tasks to include operating agricultural machinery. 

Shortly after graduating high school and working on some local farms, Jim joined the Army and served his country with pride. He gave 14 years of his life to the military before medically retiring in 2018 due to combat-related medical issues. He served as a paratrooper with the esteemed 82nd Airborne Division as well as in the highest (executive) levels of the Army. He served two tours in Iraq and one 15-month tour in Afghanistan.  He also obtained a BA degree in English Maryland University College and a Master of Professional Studies from Georgetown University while serving.

As with many combat vets, life after the military can be difficult.  Jim returned home and began the journey of being a single father, raising his two girls and working as a mountain bike mechanic at a local bike shop.  The unfortunate reality of conflict overseas has left many to deal with the emotional pain of war.  Many combat vets deal with these issues by using harmful opioids prescribed by doctors manufactured by Big Pharma. Although, this wouldn't be his path, Jim still suffered with his health. "Using different mushroom species as an aid for my cognitive support was an added game changer for my health and wellbeing."

After discovering the benefits of mushrooms, "I was obsessed with learning about them, the nuances of cultivation, and how it can impact people of all walks of life for the good."  Once Jim found the passion, there was the issue with having the space and land to explore this newfound obsession.  

Billy and Jim first met when Billy and his wife, Skyler, came into a local bike shop to buy mountain bikes for a sport that they were getting into called "Adventure Racing".  "Jim was our sales guy who sold us the bikes.  I felt a good energy from him the moment we met and I could tell he was a genuinely good guy."  "To be honest, they were the first customers I ever gave my phone number to" according to Jim.  "I really don't know why except I felt like they weren't going to be bother me."

After there first meeting, Jim and Billy would stay in touch and talked, but neither of them new what one another's interests were aside from mountain biking.  "It wasn't until Skyler went to the bike shop to get our bikes tuned up", Billy said.  "Somehow her and Jim got on the topic of mushrooms and Jim mentioned that he needed land. Skyler had mentioned that I also wanted to pursue this, and had property, so we wound up talking on the phone that evening and the rest is history.  We basically began working on our business every day from there."

Stay up to date on the journey of Mystic Botanical Farms.  You can follow them on Instagram (link below) or feel free to reach out and share your story about mushrooms, recipes, or interesting things you have found while foraging.  They would love to hear from you.