Ever since her first sale 12 years ago when she moved from Louisiana, Kimberly Pendygraft has been living her dream. She is passionate as ever about her hand-made jams, pickles, pie fillings, bath bombs, and more. She has been lining her tables with hand filled jars at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market for five years.

However, the connection she has with Louisiana is hard to completely break. Pendygraft spends every winter down there, and this time, she’ll be starting up a second plant.

Pendygraft began by using homegrown ingredients from her backyard, and has now transformed that hobby into award winning products.

“I’ve won a lot of awards,” Pendygraft said. “I won an award for my beets, I won an award for my sweet heat pickle, and then I won an award for the whole entire line.”

Pendygraft has her products in grocery stores such as Meijers, Argus Farm Stop, and People’s Со-ор.

A fan favorite product is her bath bombs. To make them, Pendygraft requires a 3D mold, baking soda, citric acid, SLSA, polysorbate 80, fragrance, and cream of tartar.

The difference between pulling a widely sold brand of bath bombs off the shelf compared to pulling a handmade bath bomb off the shelf containing a more personal story, is immense.

“I think everybody kind of just appreciates the amount of work that we put into everything,” Pendygraft said. “It’s not like going to a grocery store and just pulling it off the shelf. Somebody actually did it.”

Pendygraft said that not giving up is the best thing she ever did.