It is the co-op’s vision to support and strengthen community connections with our local producers – so here are their stories! In this Meet Your Producer series, we will highlight our neighborhood farmers, ranchers, and producers so you can see and hear what they’re all about. Support local!
Summit Hill Gardens
Patsy Sneed
Chanute, KS
pksmeed@gmail.com
About Summit Hill Gardens
Patsy Sneed has lived on her land for the past 40 years. Her 65 acres is host to Summit Hill Gardens Soaps - her business of 13 years, where she makes around 85 different bars, as well as a Wedding Venue and Event Center, and an Airbnb. She also supplies soap to The Merc Co+op and Parsons Family Pharmacy.
About the Soaps & Soap Making
All of the bars from Summit Hill Gardens are made with high quality, natural ingredients in the workshop built by Sneed’s son on her land. She crafts a wide variety of bars - from shampoo bars to those made specifically to help soothe psoriasis. She uses herbs like hibiscus or cocoa for color, coconut or sassafras for exfoliation, and a wide range of oils for different benefits.
Soap is made with oil, or a combination of oils, and sodium hydroxide, or lye. Both ingredients are just warm when combined, blended with an immersion blender - the rest of the ingredients (additional beneficial oils, essential oils, herbs, etc.) are added quickly, and the mixture is poured into a mold. It becomes very hot and nearly transparent as the ingredients interact. The soap will cure for 3 weeks to allow it to firm up, and make it gentler on the skin.
Sneed began making soap with her grandmother on her farm as a child. Her grandmother used the fat from their animals with lye to create a pure white soap. At about 17, her mother was trying to convince her to learn to cook. When Sneed showed little interest, she suggested soap making instead. The pair made soap together for a time, mostly plain white soap. But then a friend approached Sneed about making a bar just for her - she had recently undergone chemotherapy and needed something for her delicate skin. Sneed created Snow White’s Secret, and now she produces around 85 different bars for a wide variety of uses, scents, and benefits.
No spice is safe. Sometimes when my family comes to visit, they’ll be looking for a certain ingredient and start asking where it is - then they answer their own question - in with the soap.”
Her newest exploration is salt bars, using different salts from all over the world for cleansing and purifying properties. Today she makes soap with her granddaughter - who has started her own line: Violet’s Vibes has soaps for your mood, like one perfect to start your day.
What’s the vision of your operation?
I try hard to make healthy bars that people love to use. My customers are my friends, and when they say “I just love your bars” it’s really fulfilling for me.
What do you like most about the work you do?
I enjoy the creativity. I might be eating good food, something like a beautiful dessert, and I’ll think “that would be a good bar.” It’s a lot of fun.
About the Venue
Sneed says she’s hosted weddings a long time. Her sister-in-law partnered with her in the beginning as the officiant, and they built two spaces outdoors for the ceremonies to take place.
Now Summit Hill Events Center hosts about a dozen weddings a season. This year, they’ve made significant changes to ensure guests safety amid the pandemic: installing plexiglass guards at the bar and placing socially distant markers on the floor, limiting attendees that can be inside their building, going over standards with the guests to keep everyone safe.
Next year, she hopes to host 15 weddings, and has 6 booked so far.
It seems you like to experiment - do you have anything in particular planned for the future?
At this point, I’m redoing things. I see the whole place as one - the Airbnb, the venue, the soap shop. Now it’s upkeep. As the daughter of a farmer, I never want to stop. The work is never done. But I’m trying to relax and enjoy my family, my grandkids more. That’s what’s next.