Chef Chat: Bootlegger Botanicals

Macy Rawls and Josh Haley have been working in the organic farming industry for around 10 years, and there’s no sign of stopping as they hope to expand Bootlegger Botanicals to become the biggest heirloom farm in northeast Louisiana. Operating out of Rayville, Macy and Josh are fixtures at the farmers’ markets in Ruston and Monroe, where they offer organic produce to the surrounding communities. We chatted with Macy to learn more about the farm and what’s next on the horizon. (Spoiler alert: Bootlegger Botanicals has opened a food truck!)

I was expecting a bigger fight, but it seems that people are kind of ready for change and they’re open to the idea of what we’re doing, which is growing produce organically in the dirt with just sunshine, water, and some fish emulsion. (I’ve caught the fish myself and made the emulsion myself, or compost that we’ve been working on for a year.) I was expecting some pushback to that, but people have been really open and supportive, which makes me so much prouder of this community—that they’re willing to hear me out about taking care of our bodies better and taking more care about what we’re putting into them.

Oh, fall! I love, love fall. Summer is wonderful with okra, squash, and tomatoes. I mean, that’s all fun, but when you’re out there working in the heat and the okra is making you itch all up to your elbows and shoulders, it can be a bit much. There’s something about the fall, when the sun sets a little earlier, and the temperatures aren’t quite as extreme. The pumpkin vines are sprawling out and the sunflowers are blooming. It’s a special time, and that’s probably just the connection to harvest in general.

We’ve just gotten a food truck [Bootlegger’s Bistro] set up in Rayville, and we’re going to start serving all our locally sourced vegetables. We kind of have a surplus now, even though we’ve kind of maxed out all our restaurants and local markets, so we’ll be doing our best to cook and serve our own vegetables out of a food truck. So, Bootlegger’s Bistro is the next step in the Bootlegger story, and we’re really excited to just keep growing and serving our community.