Gypsy Hill: 'Family Hobby Turned Business'

by LeighAnne Manwarren

Patrick O’Neill had grown up in the French Corridor of New Orleans, learning from his family how to grow herbs.

Now, Patrick and his wife, Margaret, sell Patrick’s family recipes at eight farmers markets including the Oak Marr Farmers Market.

“Patrick really likes the Oakton farmers market because of the camaraderie of all the farmers at the market and he really appreciates that especially being retired,” Margaret said.

The O’Neills began selling old family recipes seven years ago as a hobby for Patrick who had retired from their home in Vienna.

Margaret, a school teacher, said she and Patrick began selling rubs and dips at Vienna craft shows and later decided to try to sell at the Vienna farmers market and have been expanding ever since.

“We have always had some herbs and then about 10 years ago we took what had been our flower beds and my husband, when would find an unusual plant or herb, would start planting,” Margaret said.

Because there are only a few herbs they can sell fresh, Margaret said they dehydrate them with their dehydrating machine to sell later.

Afterward, the O’Neills began to relearn Patrick’s old family recipes.

“We started playing around with old family recipes, which were very difficult because his grandmother had written down a pinch of this and a pinch of that and determining what a pinch was,” Margaret said.

With these family recipes, Margaret said Gypsy Hill is different from other rubs and dips in that they do not try to sell old rubs and dips, are made by hand with no salt or preservatives.

Gypsy Hill has also been selected as one of “Virginia’s Finest” through the Virginia Department of Agriculture, she said.

Rubs are a dry marinate whereas dips are for dipping food. Margaret said to put the rubs in a plastic bag along with the meat, poultry or tofu that you want to marinate to get the flavors to sink in.

Margaret said the Gypsy Hill is a family business with their daughter making sweet dips and marketing Gypsy Hill once every week for the business.

“What started out as a family hobby has grown into a business, a sort of full-time job for my husband,” Margaret said.

Patrick who markets at the Oak Marr Farmers Market each Wednesday morning is always happy to help his customers decide which of the dips and rubs they should try on their next meal.

To learn more about Gypsy Hill rubs and dips, visit its website, http://www.gypsyhillfoods.com.

Oak Marr Recreation Center hosts the Oak Marr Farmers Market weekly, from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesdays.