Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Detmer.
Hi Matthew, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My first job at the age of 14 in 1997, was washing dishes at a local college dining hall for $4.15 an hour!
I saw “large-scale” food production at a place with their own farm, a seating area as big as a football field, and a butcher room in a weird, cultish basement.
I did a lot of baking; I tried so many different foods at church potluck suppers and big family events from Florida to Indiana and everywhere in between.
I didn’t always “fit in” growing up, so food was frequently my happy place, and it was easy to begin a career in the service industry for me as I grew to a working age.
I have done time in the grocery business, fast food, pizza delivery, Italian, Korean, French, all kinds of global fusion, and ultimately fine dining. I cooked, managed, and bartended at some really neat paces!
2007 is when I started a consulting business of my own in. The goal was/is to help new restaurants launch and to save failing restaurants from impending closure.
I helped revamp a really neat dive-bar in 2008, and a western bar in 2009.
I have had some amazing clients over the years and have some really great success stories. I still offer this service and can really help struggling business owners find a way out of their crises.
In 2008 I landed a contract with a small local ATM company which I grew to be a multi-million dollar company.
Then in 2015, I secured a beautiful property in downtown Fountain Inn, SC where I started working the land. I planted peaches and blackberries, got some chickens, and the rest is history.
I really doubled down on food production during Covid, and the seeds I planted so long ago are finally bearing fruit.
At the end of 2024 I left my 16-year career at the ATM job to pursue farming full time.
Today, over a year later, we also raise ducks, worms, chicks, microgreens, and all kinds of other plants at Berry Hill Farm.
I create art and film, write, work the land, build programs, and spend time with my family.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Staying motivated to get up every day and do the hard work can be a challenge.
I’m also easily distracted, so I can leap from project to project and never actually get anything done.
Scooping bird poop in the early morning can be pretty cold and wet, dealing with an animal death is devastating, and inclement weather can really be a setback.
Discipline is important, Foresight and timing are big.
Patience and consistency. Waiting for plants to grow, telling people about your business and getting new ideas literally as you speak them.
Learning new skills, gaining traction, getting seen: you just have to keep showing up with a smile on your face doing something that you love.
Hurricane Helene really wrecked our area at the end of 2023, and we spent over 8 days with no power. Naturally, as a food producer, we became the pseudo food source for our surrounding neighbors for a week. At that time it really dawned on me that I needed a career change, so I took the leap of really starting this farm as well as a party rental business, and really committing to spread goodness from my own home-base, outwards.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Besides farmer, I am an artist, musician, software developer, author, and producer.
Early crypto adopter – I used to heat my chicken coop with Bitcoin mining heat exhaust.
Chef, filmmaker, currently working on my 2nd film: “Finding Fantasias” which documents my journey to become the officially recognized world record holder for the largest collection of Fantasia on VHS.
I am into all kinds of art forms: painting (murals, oil, hybrid), tattooing, sculpting, programming, architecture (i have fully remodeled an historic home), music, and have so many different little projects in the works!
I have an entire shed dedicated to computers, vintage tech, and music. I am fascinated by the thought of running a highly sustainable homestead and constantly work to be more efficient. I hope to contribute to conservation efforts locally and build some IOT weather devices for hobby purposes with my wife.
I also volunteer alot in the community, spent 2 years as the PTA treasurer at the middle school, help the high school with theater sets and productions, and even spend time as an ambassador for the city chamber of commerce.
I am baking a lot of bread: stecca, yeast rolls, and focaccia, and love making elaborate meals at home, and treasure the time shared laughing around the table.
I have won fortunes, searched for treasure, and won against incredible odds, but NOTHING beats cooking a steak in my backyard with a beer in hand.
What’s next?
Excited to showcase some thematic pop-up restaurants this year, sell some high quality goods at my produce stand and at the local farmer’s market.
I am currently filming the documentary and writing a scifi/horror novel.
I will have 3 kids in high school next session, so I will definitely be looking for ways to get involved even more over there!
My mantra has become “God grant me the means to help others.” Excited to watch my community grow and to increase our farm outputs so I can “stay put”.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://matthewdetmer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cretinous_real/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579917553022
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-detmer/
- Twitter: https://x.com/Cretinous_Real
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/upstate-party-rental-greenville
- Other: https://fantasiadao.com/
