Our Story

In 2019 We (Dustin(Papa D) and Brittany(Mama B) began growing seasonal produce and raising chickens to give our family cleaner and healthier food options, controlling what goes into the ground plays a big part in the health of the soil and subsequently the food grown in it. We discovered that just because a label said so did not always mean it was a clean product. Out of that desire we saw the need in our community for clean produce options and Brittany had years of family favorite canning recipes to give us a shelf stable option. At the end of the year we started leaning towards the decision to take our adventure full time. What an adventure it was about to become.

At the beginning of 2020 we officially started Abundant Acres Farm. We took part in a training program from the Fauquier Education Farm, for beginning farmers, and Dustin would go on to work part-time in the summer, to continue to learn sustainable farming practices. We were also accepted into their incubator program, which gave us space and resources to help grow our farm. During this time our oldest daughter Lillian also started her budding flower business.

Then it happened. The pandemic hit and everything shut down. We had seedlings in the ground and no way to sell the upcoming harvests. We began to offer delivery options and pick up from our front porch, but it wasn’t enough. This was just a small part of what we would become. At the end of 2019 we had experienced some of my(Dustin’s) dad’s(Poppi) hot sauce. In 2020 half of our crop would be peppers because, well we like spicy food and Britt being from Texas it just had to be done, we experimented with a lot of peppers. We went to Poppi with an abundance of peppers problem and said “Hey with the markets closed and produce going bad faster than we can sell it, what do you think about us making and selling this sauce?” We had jellies, pickles and now hot sauce to sell in the off season. Well the rest as they say is history. We became known for our pepper jellies, hot sauces, seasonings and now BBQ sauces. This was just the tip of the iceberg as the pandemic would cause supply chain issues. We used a commercial BBQ sauce in our hot sauce and it became impossible to get, we didn’t want the cheap, poor quality ingredient kind. So Dustin said let’s make our own! Several months later our KC Supreme was born. Problem solved, delicious BBQ sauce introduced to the world, and the start of Papa D’s Smokehouse! There is so much more to come from Mama B’s Pantry, Papa D’s Smokehouse and Poppi’s Hot Sauce and we are glad you are on this flavor adventure with us!

Poppi’s story: My dad really enjoyed spicy food. We used to joke that he would even put pepper flakes on his cold cereal. I also like hot sauce, but not as intense as my dad. I prefer flavorful recipes that have a good amount of spice. When cooking, one common challenge people face is using too little spice. It takes a generous amount of spice to create flavorful dishes.

About 40 years ago, I was at a sandwich restaurant in Maryland. The sauce they gave me was extremely hot but delicious. I decided to buy a bottle for my dad. When I got home, I put a lot of the sauce on a spoon and took it to my dad's office. I wanted to see if it would burn his tongue (not very nice of me, I know). Luckily, my dad was smart. Instead of eating the whole spoonful, he just had a little taste. He immediately said, "Wow, that's really hot!" From then on, everyone in our household loved the sauce.

I've always searched for tasty hot sauces for my dad to try. While traveling for work, I sampled hot sauces from various places. In my forties, as I developed a passion for cooking, I decided to create my own special sauce to give as gifts at Christmas. During the 2020 Pandemic, one of my sons, who is a farmer, asked if he could make and sell my signature sauce. From there, things took off. Poppi's Hot Sauce has become a favorite among hot sauce enthusiasts, and we hope you'll love it too. We grow all our peppers naturally, and produce the sauce right here. We can't wait to share some delicious sauce with you in the future.

Thanks for supporting us.

Enjoy!

Dustin, Brittany & Poppi