Rachel McGourney, Owner / Operator:

Rachel McGourney is a farmer and clinically trained herbalist from the suburbs of the Lehigh Valley. She is the visionary of So Well Rooted and runs all farm operations.

Growing up, running through the woods of Haycock township, she has always been privy to an outdoors based lifestyle. Before graduating high school, Rachel started working full time as a garden technician, installing and maintaining gardens across south eastern Pennsylvania.

After graduating high school in 2021, it was clear to her that she would walk a somewhat untraditional path. Instead of college, she packed up and moved to the most northwest corner of the country, near Bellingham, Washington. She spent the spring and early summer work trading to learn about regenerative, organic farming on an herb farm (Moon Valley Organics). That experience gave her the confidence and clarity to pursue clinical herbalism education for 3 years at the Arbor Vitae School of Traditional Herbalism (2022-2025). It also fed her curiosity to learn more about health, longevity, local food systems, and how to tread more lightly on Earth.

When she returned home from her stint in the Pacific Northwest, she immediately began working on small, organic vegetable farms in the Lehigh Valley, including Blackbird Farms and Crooked Row Farm and Market. Throughout the entirety of her clinical herbalism studies, she was also learning the ins and outs of commercial farm operations from production and crop planning, to customer relations, to marketing, to irrigation systems, to CSA management. There was an insatiable desire to help contribute to a more resilient local food system and to empower herself and others to have autonomy over their health and wellness wherever possible/within their means.

I‍n 2025, she moved to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina to work on a diverse, mixed enterprise farm. With a no till vegetable market garden, pasture-raised broilers and turkeys, pasture raised layer hens, a rotationally grazed flock of sheep and cows, forest-raised pigs, and hundreds of perennial crops including mulberries, hazelnuts, peaches, paw paws, pears, blueberries, apples, and more, Wild East Farm has given her two focused and dedicated seasons working closely with and mentoring directly under the owners/managers.

Now, she is pursuing her own project. Right back to her roots in the Lehigh Valley, Rachel is launching So Well Rooted on ½ acre of leased land. A dream she has held onto since the beginning of her farm journey in early 2022, So Well Rooted is the culmination of five seasons of working on multiple small, commercial, and organic operations married with her deep love and study of herbalism. Farming gives Rachel a deep sense of fulfillment; allowing her to serve her community, live in alignment with her values, and follow the rhythms of the seasons.

Outside of work, you can find her hiking, spending time with her dog, Stoney, and her partner, Jadon, making tea, or practicing yoga.