Welcome to Fresh

Locally-owned and operated Welcome Farms, LLC, is dedicated to providing certified farm- to-table food for anyone in the area wanting to live their happiest, healthiest, and best life!

Welcome Farms, LLC is a veteran-owned, Thibodaux-based farm renowned for their raw honey and fresh garden vegetables. Originally hailing from Baton Rouge, founder Samantha Joseph moved to Thibodaux in 2009 with her husband, Luke Joseph, and their two young kids— which is where the first seed of their gardening interest was planted.

“I was originally working as a Registered Nurse, but as I progressed in the career I noticed the hours of the job were just too much to handle,” explained Samantha. “My husband, who served with the United States Marine Corps for eight years and was deployed in Iraq in 2003, and I both wanted to find jobs where we could spend more time with our kids— that was always our goal, and I was determined to find a job where I could do that. We just weren’t sure what it was.”

Samantha explained that she began to grow interested in pursuing farming when she and her family moved to a new “5-acre property in Thibodaux in 2018, where they now operate Welcome Farms. “We discovered three feral beehives on our new land, which was shocking, but we decided to make the best of it,” chuckled Samantha. “So we did a little research on how to beekeep, thinking it might just be nice to have a little fresh honey in the house– we had no idea what it would grow to become!”

The Joseph Family began selling and gifting their specialty honey to friends and family, and after an abundant harvest in 2019, Samantha decided to bring their product for the first time to the Live Healthy Thibodaux Market. Following the success of this debut, and while still working as a part-time nurse, Samantha and her husband decided to expand what they brought to the market and start growing fresh vegetables. “People loved it and we noticed pretty quickly that there was a huge demand for this fresh food,” said Samantha. “We started to have professional labels made to properly brand our products, and so Welcome Farms was officially born.”

The growth did not stop there, and with the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns, the Joseph Family were able to devote large amounts of time to their budding business. With the added help of their family and kids, Welcome Farms continued to grow, offering a delicious variety of yellow squash, radishes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, okra, fresh pickles, celery, dill, bread and butter, eggs, chickens, and of course, their signature raw honey.”

“Although we continued to get more invested in our work as the years passed, it wasn’t until 2023 that things seriously picked up– we began to sell out at markets, and then this past fall, I got a phone call from Chef David Sonnier at 531 Liberty Cafe in Houma. He asked if we ever considered selling to restaurants, which we hadn’t before,” explained Samantha. “He was very interested in purchasing our fresh ingredients for the restaurant— he would call weekly, ask what we had, and place an order. That’s when my husband and I realized that Welcome Farms could really be something big.”

Soon after, Chef David began connecting other local chefs with Samantha and her family at Welcome Farms to meet the demand for fresh, farm-to-table goods in restaurants. Welcome Farms now supplies homegrown ingredients for a number of different restaurants, including Cinclare (Chef Logan), Fremin’s (Chef Kevin), Cristiano (Chef Lindsay), and 531 Liberty Cafe (Chef David). Welcome Farms operates “Spring” and “Winter” gardens out of eight 60-foot beds, and offers a personal touch that would be difficult to find elsewhere. “If chefs ever have a particular request, we are always happy to accommodate them,” said Samantha. “If someone wanted a certain vegetable that we hadn’t grown yet, we often say, ‘hey, let’s try it and get it ready for next season!’ We are here to work for and with the community.”

However, providing local chefs and home cooks with fresh food is not the only way Welcome Farms is serving the Terrebonne-Lafourche area. Samantha has taken the time to invest in outreach, particularly with local children, to teach them about nature, gardening, and elementary biology. “Just recently, I was able to give a small workshop at the Terrebonne Parish Public Library to students about chickens, bees, and gardening,” said Samantha. “We had so much fun playing with real beekeeper equipment, learning about the life cycle of a chicken and the egg, and more. It was amazing to see how much they picked up in just one day.” Participants in the workshop got to pet one of the chickens from Welcome Farms, see the difference between a store bought and farm fresh egg, learn about what seeds need to grow, and create a fun “dirt” snack.

“As we continue to grow, I want to expand our focus on outreach and create an in-house field trip experience, where I can go to different libraries or schools and teach our kids these important lessons,” said Samantha. “We want to be a good resource for local kids to learn about this lifestyle and where their food comes from— it doesn’t just appear at the grocery store! It’s a new concept for us, and we are excited to see where it goes.”

For the Joseph Family, the success of Welcome Farms has had a tremendous impact on their quality of life, and their love for the work they do is apparent. “Both Samantha and I have spent our entire lives in service of others, as active duty military and within the medical field,” explained Luke. “So getting to provide for our community in this new way—through fresh, healthy, homegrown food— has been a great experience for us and our family.”

Samantha echoed similar sentiments, saying, “For me, it is just wonderful to be able to own my own time again while still finding a way to help out others. There are obviously very difficult and time-consuming aspects to gardening, and it can be very difficult– but I love knowing that if I need a break or time to do something with my kids, I can do that. It is such a privilege to spend this time with them while serving the community.”

As far as the future of Welcome Farms, there is nothing but blue skies and bright days ahead—as they continue to nourish both bodies and spirits, the Joseph Family’s legacy of love for the land and dedication to community will be around for years to come!