Jenny Hauf grew up in Milwaukee on Laura Ingalls Wilder, L.M. Montgomery, and the wild shades of green in her father's and grandparents' gardens. She was obsessed with life from the beginning, forever chasing grass stains and dreams of dirt and leaves. 

Since 2006 Jenny has been devoting her life to plants. Her education in sustainable agriculture has taken her from the picket fences of Virginia to the sandhill crane's mating grounds in northern Wisconsin; from the sheep and goat pastures of Italy's Piemonte to the technicolor fields of County Cork; from a French herb farm with a view of Mont Blanc to an apple paradise in the back roads of central Maine.  

Before starting Muddy River Herbals, Jenny created and curated the medicinal herb collection at Allandale Farm, introducing homegrown medicinal plants to the people of Boston. When she's not elbow-deep in herbs you can find her writing, landscaping, or doing something—anything—with wool. You can find her elsewhere on the web at Herbstalk, where she is a contributing writer, and at her archived blog, Spokes and Petals.

Read more about Jenny in the Summer 2016 issue of Edible Boston. 

Matt grew up in Hyde Park, not far from where the farm is now. His parents instilled in him a love for nature with frequent trips to the Blue Hills Reservation to hike and appreciate the animals, insects, and plants that inhabit the forests and meadows of Eastern Massachusetts. After graduating High School, Matt then retreated into the woods of the Adirondacks to study Culinary Arts at Paul Smith’s College where he further fell in love with the natural landscape.

In 2008, Matt decided to explore the food system we rely on for food, drink, and more by working and living at Overlook Farm in Rutland, MA. There he had his first experiences with agricultural production while working in the land’s organic fields. Overlook was also where Matt and Jenny met, forming a partnership that would bring them from the fields of Massachusetts to Europe, where they would explore European culture and farming methods, and back again.

While Jenny was hard at work creating Muddy River Herbals, Matt was hard at work getting his grad degree, thinking a move away from the kitchen would be a good change. While this initially proved to be true, he quickly realized that transitioning to an office was not the best for him as he longed for the gardens he had been working in as a landscaper throughout grad school and the fields of the farms he had experienced over the years. After an eye-opening honeymoon with Jenny in Acadia National Park, Matt came back with a renewed need to spend more time amongst the wonders of nature and decided to leave behind the office once and for all to join Jenny in establishing and running Muddy River Herbals. He even gets to spend some fun time in both the kitchen and the office!