Feeding the World Gardening Tips

Not everyone can say with complete conviction that they are living the life they’re meant to live. Jenn Neubauer is one of the lucky ones who can.

The former corporate sales executive left that life behind to settle back in her hometown of Westhampton Beach and focus on living life more sustainably — to use her word — which includes tending a large garden that feeds into a farm-to-table philosophy and inspired her popular and ever-growing Instagram account, hookandgarden.

“I have always gardened,” Neubauer said. “And it was probably a year before COVID that I started to share tips and tricks on how to garden.” To her surprise, there was an audience eager to see it. While thousands of other Instagram pages offer similar advice, Neubauer’s strength lies in sharing practical tips through fun, visually compelling posts that are also aesthetically pleasing.

“I started the Instagram page as a way to showcase this place we live in, how to garden, and this more sustainable style of life, because it’s how I was raised and it’s how I wanted to raise my children,” she said.

Though born in the area, her family moved upstate when she was young and lived on a 75-acre dairy farm. It was there that she discovered a love of the land and learned to work it. Life was tough with her father commuting — he maintained an established construction business locally to help make ends meet — so they eventually returned to the East End. Neubauer graduated from Westhampton Beach High School.

A quick scroll through hookandgarden reveals gardening as the central theme. But when Neubauer first launched the page, she was documenting a lifestyle embracing the full bounty of the area, including the “hook” in the Instagram handle, referring to food pulled from local waters.

“I’m big into the water. I was raised on the water — my Dad always had a boat. I think that’s a garden as well. So the sea is just as much my garden that I learned from as my land garden,” Neubauer said.

Gardening quickly became the main focus of the feed due to high demand. When COVID hit, the page really took off.

“There was this feeling of scarcity, or people being unsure of what was going to happen. That’s when my account really grew because people were concerned about the food supply and where their food was coming from,” Neubauer noted.

On Instagram, Neubauer has nearly 27,000 followers, while her TikTok, started a couple years later, has grown to 62,000 followers. All content is created and curated by Neubauer herself. Considering the many feeds on similar topics, the recently divorced mother of one and stepmother of two is finding a way to break through the noise.

“I’m not just growing food, I’m taking that food and translating it to the table. For me, wellness is part of the entire experience. I provide a space where people can connect with me in a more holistic lifestyle way. It makes it, I think, a little more approachable, a little more real.”

Two years ago, after being laid off from her software sales job, Neubauer turned her online success into a brick-and-mortar venture: Local Provisions, a shop tucked in an alley in Westhampton Beach.

“I had hookandgarden on the side as kind of an artistic expression. I was always fearful of leaving corporate because it was safe and secure. Then my life was turning upside down. I decided it was time for a change. It’s my way to connect with my local community and bring garden-to-table treats to them,” she said.

Billed as a “wellness café,” the shop offers fresh, healthy food made with seasonal, local ingredients — much of it from her own garden. It’s a popular spot for cold-pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, and other carefully selected items from local food artisans.

Often, the produce from her garden inspires the café menu, which changes with the seasons.

Neubauer is also passionate about curating goods from local vendors. She seeks out people “doing what they do best” and brings their products to the store. “It’s called Local Provisions because I wanted a place where you can go in and get all sorts of provisions — whether handmade by someone else or myself. It’s just a little nook of local goods.”

It’s not just food. One example is Bhum, a company that makes tallow skincare balm. Tallow is rendered beef fat often used in soaps. Bhum takes byproducts from beef production on a North Fork farm and turns them into something new — a process that aligns with Neubauer’s commitment to sustainability.

Another Local Provisions product is a dog treat made with wet grain from a local brewery, preventing that grain from becoming waste.

“I really like to find people who are passionate about what they do and share this local love with the community that inspires me,” Neubauer said.

Though hookandgarden has followers worldwide, Neubauer values how the café has helped her become part of the local fabric.

“It gives me a chance to connect with the community I live in, but I also have this incredible platform to connect with people around the world. What a beautiful way to leave a legacy — teaching people how to grow their own food and where food comes from. That connection is being lost, but there’s a resurgence of interest. It’s something I’m wholly passionate about and feel is why I’m here.”