Rising Stars: Meet Kelli Pitrone

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelli Pitrone. 

Hi Kelli, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Bellbrook, Ohio, and always had a strong interest in food. Growing food, cooking, watching FoodNetwork, those were always my hobbies. I went to OSU and majored in Medical Dietetics to become a dietitian. I had always wanted my life to revolve around food, and I’ve continuously worked towards that throughout my life. 10 years ago, my husband and I moved to a small farm outside of Yellow Springs. I’ve been able to slowly build it up while working as a home visiting dietitian for the children with medical handicaps program. During the pandemic, my dietetics jobs hours were cut and my Children’s daycare closed. I had a lot of time to work on my passion projects. During the last 3 years, I have been able to really focus on Pitrone Farms and was able to open an Etsy shop, Earth Dyed Goods. At the farm, we provide weekly egg deliveries, meat chickens, and weekly vegetable offerings. With the Etsy shop, I am able to use food scraps and naturally occurring ingredients to dye textiles such as kitchen towels, aprons, and baby/toddler items. It’s always a continuous goal to revolve my life around food! 

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?
It’s had its ups and downs! A working farm is always a lot of hands-on work. Weeding, working the gardens, tending the animals, while keeping littles ones happy is a continuous challenge. My kids are a huge help with the farm which makes it extremely enjoyable seeing them learn. For the Etsy shop, it’s something safe for the kids to also help with and has taught me so much about managing time, budgets, goals, etc. It’s so fun being able to use colors from nature. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Professionally I’m a registered dietitian. I work with children on nutrition and health and wellness. I’m also a farm owner and food producer and an owner of a natural dyeing business called Earth Dyed Goods. I’m most well-known for cooking and producing food and for my craft business. I am most proud of my family and the Farm Dinners we have put on in the past. We took a break this year because our littlest is headed to kindergarten, and we wanted to spend as much time with her this Summer as possible. What sets me apart from others is I love to learn new things, and I’m very good at being new/bad at something, and it has served me so well throughout life. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Spending time at my grandma’s house. It was calm, peaceful, steady, and so fun. 

Pricing:

• Eggs $5.00/dozen
• see Etsy shop for pricing Earthdyedgoods.com

Contact Info:

• Website: Earthdyedgoods.com
• Instagram: @kellipitrone @earthdyedgoods

Image Credits
Taylored Social
Lena White