Where Piles of Dirt Become Dreams Realized: Hand Picked Nursery

Hand Picked Nursery is a veteran-owned, family-operated business that offers a wide selection of plants and flowers. Now located on 25 acres in the McGee Crossroads community near Benson, I sat down with owner and plant enthusiast Reinhart “Reebok” Elboeck and his son, Brennen Elboeck, to discuss the beginnings of the business and what visitors and residents of Johnston County will discover at Hand Picked. 

Baby chicks are peep-peeping in the corner of the office as I walk in to talk to Reinhart (Reebok to most, a nickname holdover from his Navy days) and Brennen. They are also working to incubate ducks. One of many, many projects happening concurrently at Hand Picked Nursery. Reebok and Brennan co-own and co-manage Hand Picked together. I start most of my interviews with a simple (and complicated) question: How did you get here?



“Twenty-some years ago, I wanted 200 strawberry plants in my garden,” says Reebok, “and I went to Home Depot. They wanted $3 per plant. And I'm like, I am not spending $700 to buy 200 strawberry plants. So I went online and found a company that was selling them bare-root. I got 1,000 plants for $250 and put 200 in my garden. Then I started searching for how I could get rid of the other 800.”

Reebok began his R&D by finding a place on eBay that was selling them for a decent price but shipping them in a priority box. He knew he could do it better and outprice the other middlemen. He was a self-described price-reducer in those days. He sold the 800 extra strawberry plants online in two weeks and turned a profit. 

“I told my wife, I'm like, oh, I think I've got something here. So then, for about 5 years, I was selling plants on eBay and making an extra twenty grand a year while I was working in the restaurant industry. Once I started getting a little busier, I started selling on Amazon. My business went from $20,000 to $150,000. I was working 70-hour weeks with the restaurant work, plus the 30 to 40 hours per week it took to sell the plants.”

That sounds like 3 full-time jobs, but Reebok was able to quit his restaurant gig about 6 years ago. COVID ramped up the business. Everyone wanted to grow plants in their home or yard. Plus, e-commerce in general was booming because people couldn’t shop in-person. And Reebok was still running the business solo out of his home. 

Brennen chimes in, “The businesses grew 110% for two years in a row. That was before we were even in our current location.”

Reebok continued, “At first, my wife was like, no, we’re not moving. But then the FedEx trucks were coming into our neighborhood. Not vans, trucks with 54-foot trailers, twice a week, dropping off pallets and plants, because we had our business in my backyard. After we got our first complaint, my wife was like, okay, we gotta go. So I had to find a piece of property, and we found this place.”



This place being the 25-acre property they are on now off of Hwy 50 and Ennis Road in Benson. The goal at first was just to find a piece of land where he could manage the business. But then Reebok found a place in the McGee Crossroads area with room to grow on. He started thinking of what he could build to offer to the public, a Walt Disney World without the rides. It is very clear from the back and forth, as I interview them, that Reebok is the ideas guy, where Brennen is a data and logistics guy. Which means the father-son duo complement each other well.

I ask Brennen how he came into the business, “I was in the fitness industry, and I still have the company. It's an in-home personal training company where my team of trainers go into people's homes and train them in their own space. And then about 4 years ago now, when my Dad bought this place, I decided I wanted to come help out. I had been running my business for about 4 years at that time and had some skill sets. So I was like, ‘Hey, dad, let me come run the family business with you’ and now I mostly help with operations and e-commerce strategy.”

Reebok agrees with my earlier assessment: “Yeah. I’m the dreamer. He's my integrator.”

Brennen smiles and nods, “He’s like a CEO, and I'm like a COO.”

Since Brennen mentioned it specifically, I ask about the e-commerce side of the business. Hand Picked Nursery aims to save customers time, money, and effort by delivering plants directly to their doors, eliminating the hassle of in-store shopping and transportation. But you can, of course, also purchase many types of plants and products on-site. Hand Picked Nursery has a physical presence here in Johnston County that brings people in to buy on-site, but they also have a national reputation in the market. People search for them on Google, eBay, Amazon, and Etsy. The popular YouTuber The Millennial Gardener promotes their product.

In addition to plant offerings, the nursery provides resources such as planting instructions, growing tips, and guidance on hydroponics and aquaponics. They also offer a quality guarantee, ensuring each plant is healthy and well-cared for before it is shipped.

Reebok expanded on their hydroponic goals, “We have many hydroponic towers. They have 80 holes on them that can grow 80 strawberry plants, 80 herbs, whatever we want to do. We have a greenhouse here that has 40 towers, and we're working on being one of the first hydroponic strawberry-picking greenhouses. That changes the game for pick-your-own strawberries. You can pick in a wheelchair, at night, in the rain. It makes the experience more accessible.” 



Reebok is committed to building something beyond a great place to buy plants, “To me, this is an adventure island deal. It’s a destination. It's not just selling plants.”

Brennen added, “I was talking to a customer on Saturday, and they had just popped in because they saw us on Facebook, and she didn't realize there was so much to do here.”

At Hand Picked Nursery visitors will find a garden center, multiple themed greenhouses, a dog park, a petting zoo with farm animals, a flower picking field, 8 pieces of gym equipment spread out on the property that create a 5K walking trail, a game center with two pool tables, a ping pong table, a coffee truck, plus a large outdoor chess/checkers and Yahtzee board. 

There is also a new metal building that will soon be a classroom building with a commercial kitchen inside. Private parties can rent any or all the spaces out for events. Reebok and Brennen have future plans for more pick-your-own products, a CSA program, and more amenities to rent out for private events. 

“We're just constantly building. We both think in about two years, we should be completely done. But for this year at least, our goal is to polish what we have before we keep growing.”

Reebok’s entrepreneurial spirit extends to those around him. He wants Hand Picked to have a homestead community feel.

“Everybody that works for me, I tell them I hire entrepreneurs, I don't hire employees. Everybody has the opportunity to sell on my property, and I think about 80% of them take that opportunity. One of my employees did a plant exchange this weekend. We let her use our space and she rented it out for a small fee for each vendor and walked away with some money that day.”

They let their customers sell on-site too. One customer grows blue agave plants in abundance which she brings to Hand Picked for them to sell. In exchange they let her take growing and cultivation supplies for free to keep growing blue agave plants. Reebok says that is the sort of relationship he’s looking to cultivate in the community. 



They also have a non-profit called Schools Need Support. It is dedicated to empowering schools, educators, and surrounding communities by providing the resources needed for successful fundraising campaigns. With a mission to equip organizations with the tools, guidance, and support necessary to maximize their impact, the organization is committed to helping every campaign reach its full potential.

Reebok is very passionate about this foundational aspect of what he is doing at Hand Picked Nursery, “Our goal for Schools Need Support is fundraising and giving away plants. We just donated about 1,200 plants to 17 different non-profits for fundraisers that help them raise money. In the future I want to start donating greenhouses to schools and things like that. We currently have volunteers, ages 12 and up, come in to learn how to care for the succulents and other plants. They learn a skillset and we get help with on-site plant care.”

Through the volunteer program, the organization Growing Forward partners with Hand Picked Nursery to connect volunteers with meaningful opportunities, supporting the propagation of succulents for the Plants of Hope Initiative. This program brings greenery and positivity to schools and communities by donating succulents and cacti, inspiring growth, wellness, and a brighter future.

Hand Picked Nursery also has events throughout the year open to the public. Brennen mentioned the weekly farmers market, which has been growing. That happens every Saturday. Plus, put these additional events on your calendar with details coming soon:

Easter Eggtravaganza - April 12th
Love Ya Momma - May 10th
Strawberry Festival - May 31st 



To end the interview I ask what Reebok and Brennan feel is the most rewarding thing currently about Hand Picked Nursery.

Reebok says that online it’s about the growth and recognition they’ve built over the years, “but here, on-site, it is the recognition of the community. The people who visit and get excited about what we’re doing. I feel like the mayor of a little city sometimes, because I give probably 10 tours a week. And you know, four years ago the tour was like, well, this dirt pile is going to be this, and this dirt pile is going to be this. And now those dirt piles are actually functioning things. That feels good.”

Brennen agreed, “I was going to say I feel the same way. I mean, it's really cool. Like this year, especially, I think we're all really feeling a shift because the dirt piles are things now. We kind of opened prematurely and sold the vision along the way. So it has been really cool to see what we built and see all the people come out and have fun. The online branding, it's been really a great thing. But in person, it's great to see the community that we’ve built.”

And there’s still more to build! And time still for a few more ideas, a few more dreams; it seems Reebok has an endless supply. As we wrap up the interview he mentions the mushroom farm he just bought. 

“Carolina Mushroom Farm has been a mushroom farm since, I think, 2016 or 2017. They grow amazing mushrooms. The previous owner wasn’t able to keep up the farm anymore. So he came to me in December and I just had to buy it. We're going to take it to the next level with grow-your-own kits and tinctures. We're actually expanding the lab and we're going to grow mycelium for over 25 different mushrooms.”

You can visit Hand Picked Nursery in person at 233 Ennis Road, Benson NC. And you can shop their online store at handpickednursery.com.