By Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Stone Hollow Farmstead
Trading clear, blue skies for urban skyrises, Alexandra Stone Flowers’s entrepreneurial journey began when she first moved from her hometown, Crestline, to Los Angeles, California, in order to study product development at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Growing up visiting her family’s farm, Alexandra cultivated a love for all things green–living off of the land. Around this time, Alexandra’s mother, Deborah Stone, who was a veteran of the day-spa industry, was also interested in creating her own medicinal skincare line from organically-grown products that she could grow at the farm.
Deborah traveled to various skincare labs, learning about how to make products and what they would cost. While plant-based benefits remained her top priority, she was thrown off, learning that most labs she consulted valued return on investment more than customer satisfaction.
“My mom had a spa, and her passion even back then was skin care,” Alexandra says. “I think she had this way of making women feel exceptionally beautiful, and I loved hearing her passion for it.”
While in college, Alexandra began doing makeup for a few clients, helping her to realize how much she, too, loved making other people appreciate their natural beauty. She enjoyed providing her clients with tools to combat skin issues or even to accentuate facial features they really liked about themselves.
After she graduated and returned home to Alabama, Alexandra and her mother teamed up to transform their family’s farm into their dream business–Stone Hollow Farmstead. Originally, the Stone family purchased the 80-acre farmland in 1999 as a picturesque escape from the urban hustle and bustle of everyday life; however, in 2006, Deborah and Alexandra decided to capitalize on their newfound interest: green, sustainable skin care.
By this point, Deborah was already dabbling in growing and distilling products from their farm’s garden, and she was eager to teach Alexandra, too. The mother-daughter duo started out making formulations of Plantago major, which is actually an invasive weed with numerous healing properties that most would not know by name but would by sight.
“I think the knowledge of different herbs and how to beneficially use them as ingredients to combat skin concerns was the real journey that we went on,” Alexandra says.
Over the last 18 years, Deborah and Alexandra focused on growing herbs with medicinal properties, eventually branching out to grow and sell flowers, vegetables, dairy products and more. Today, Stone Hollow Farmstead has grown to become a vertically-integrated company, featuring 100 above-ground herb boxes, licensed goat dairy, creamery, cannery and cut-flower farm.
The Stone family along with a handful of passionate employees manage the entire estate, growing, distilling and selling all of their own products online and in their permanent storefront in Pepper Place in downtown Birmingham. While the farm is seasonal, the Stone family practices succession planting, where they plant crops in intervals to ensure a continual harvest.
With Christmas being Stone Hollow Farmstead’s biggest retail season, such a style of planting enables the farmers to stock up for their booming fourth quarter. One unique aspect of the business is that whenever one visits Stone Hollow Farmstead’s store, there will always be new products to sample, thanks to each season’s varying harvests.
Year round, however, customers can always look forward to Botaniko Skin Care products–the brainchild of Deborah and Alexandra’s partnership. This skincare line offers a range of products, including cleansers, elixirs, hydrosols, face masks, CBD products, body satins and more. Every product is made in-house from crops grown at Stone Hollow Farmstead.
One of Botaniko Skin Care’s best-selling products are the hydrosols, which are the water content of a plant yielded from the distilling process. Dubbed as the new aromatherapy, hydrosols offer a healthier alternative because not only are they distilled from fresh leaves, fruits, flowers and more, they are also simply aromatic waters that are easier on the skin, meaning they can be often applied topically with less reactions in comparison to essential oils.
“I think that’s something beautiful and unique that we offer that most people don’t know a lot about,” Alexandra says.
The Post Sun and Burns (Immortelle and Lavender) hydrosol, for example, is made of 100-percent pure hydrosol and is recommended in light spritzes to assist with sunburns and sun poisoning. This natural remedy is a great alternative to corporate, aerosol, after-sun products and is also great for all skin types, especially those with sensitive skin.
While Stone Hollow Farmstead is known for its skincare line, one would be remiss not to try any of the cannery’s products, such as the Lemon Verbena and Dill Blossom Jelly.
According to stonehollowfarmstead.com, “The lemony-tart verbena herb pairs beautifully with savory dill blossoms in this floral jelly, making it a prime-supporting cast member to wherever you choose to use it. Blend a few tablespoons into softened cream cheese and spread on toasted baguette rounds and garnish with fresh dill fronds. Buttery biscuits become more sublime with a generous dollop. Brushing some onto just-roasted fish will let the complex flavors melt into its flaky layers.”
These organic jams and jellies are not just great toppings, but they also make delicious salad dressings, salmon glazes, marinating sauces and even useful products to deglaze pans. Several of these products have even been featured on T.V. shows such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Made in America” and more.
The Blissful Breakfast Gift Box, which was listed as one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things 2023,” is a handcrafted assortment of wildflower honey, sprouted flour pancake mix, Stone Hollow Floral Honeysuckle Jelly and rose geranium syrup. Alexandra recommends this gift box for anyone looking for the perfect, gender-neutral gift.
The Movie Night Trio Gift Box, which made Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Things 2022,” is made of Lady Finger Heirloom Popcorn; rosemary, bay and peppercorn-infused oil; and rosemary and thyme sea salt. This option is one of Stone Hollow Farmstead’s best-sellers and is sure to delight all film fanatics.
“We have a huge commitment to sustainability,” Alexandra says. “When you are purchasing from our family farm, you can rest assured that it’s going to be a high-end product.”
Reflecting back on the last 25 years, Alexandra says she never would have imagined how her family’s farm would grow from a “summertime pastime” to a thriving business. Part of their success, she believes, is from the farm’s location, and better yet, the people who support their mission.
“I think Alabama in general is the best-kept secret, but I think that our local community is really special and puts an emphasis on supporting local businesses,” Alexandra says. “One aspect I love about [Shelby County] is the kindness and the warmth that the community brings. I think that community is important for the local people that we interact with.”
It is because of these community members that Alexandra says she and her family get to do what they love every day. If there is anything more empowering than a fulfilling career, it is that her customers believe in her enough to support her mission, she says.
For that, Alexandra will never stop creating with her customers in mind, thanking each one for turning her family’s dream into a reality.
To learn more about Stone Hollow Farmstead, inquire and purchase products or stay up to date on events, visit stonehollowfarmstead.com.
The Farm Stand
Stone Hollow Farmstead’s products can be purchased online and in more than 500 wholesale locations across the U.S. Visit the business’s store, The Farm Stand, in person at The Market at Pepper Place at 2825 2nd Avenue South in Birmingham. Whether you shop in person or online, check out some of our favorite, seasonal products. (Be sure to inquire about what is in season when you shop).
