Our Story

Robin and her siblings as children
Founder Robin Mason with her siblings in Appalachia

Who Are We?

On a daily operational basis, Tree Of The Field is a rural, entrepreneurial agritech business with associated manufacturing partners and stakeholders throughout Appalachia. We are dedicated to utilizing the capable, innovative, creative, giving characteristics of our region to meet real human and environmental challenges. Appalachia has been called a pharmatopia because of the richness and diversity of the natural environment. Tree Of The Field recognizes and responds to the treasure of this place, with the most advanced scientific and technical product development facilitation.
 
Appalachia is also a rich storehouse of human potential. The men and women who forged the coal industry, laid the foundation for America’s industrial revolution. For more than 100 years, the forest of Appalachia have supplied wood products for the nation’s homes and commerce.  In Southern Appalachia, textile science has changed the way that the world uses fiber. This is the birthplace of yesterday’s moonshine that motivated auto racing and today Kentucky’s leading industry is aeronautics.

Robin's father in the orchards of Eastern Kentucky
Robin's father in the orchards of Eastern Kentucky

The children and grandchildren of Appalachia are bold and capable. They bring fresh perspectives and see value added solutions in our natural reserves. This generation of Appalachians have created annually renewable, dispatchable green energy. This energy is being researched and tested on the industrial level for electrical production and it is available at the consumer market in 2 products including the Fiber Flame log and The Pit Kit. Other products support healthy solutions to persistent challenges like natural weed suppression and supporting the honeybee population.
 
In 2019, the Skeeterlog®, smoke dispersed insect repellent, became an exclusive product of Appalachia. Today, every Skeeterlog® that is sold, anywhere in the world, comes from Appalachia. This unique product has the capacity to empower people to effectively fight mosquitoes without applying chemicals to their skin surfaces and without the inhalation of aerosols. Other related products like the Skeeterlog® Chiminea kit joined this exclusive Appalachian production along with RediFlame  natural Fire Logs, RediFlame natural Grillers, and Fire Starters.
 
We at Tree Of The Field believe that natural, effective, affordable solutions can be found with focused research and the utilization of human capacity when creative capabilities are unleased and supported through teamwork. We are Appalachians working from foundations of environmental and cultural strength to develop superior solutions and products through performance driven science.

Who are we? The real answer is that: We are Appalachians, following Providence, respecting our resplendent environment, and building our futures together.

 


Young man with bourbon logs
Seth, holding our finished Bourbon Log products

Our Unique Business Model

Tree Of The Field employees a business model of Place Based Entrepreneurship that partners with existing, businesses working in the agritech/biomass sector, at the production level. These partnering businesses are already located in proximity to raw materials and they have functional infrastructures. Contract manufacturing agreements between Tree Of The Field and partnering production businesses are a win-win agreement for all parties. Through catalyzing existing processing plant revenues with innovative coproduct approaches, both efficacy of resource use and profitability are enhanced.
 
In Tree Of The Field’s Place Based Entrepreneurship model, processing locations in the heart of Appalachia are strategically advantageous. The Place Based Entrepreneurship model supports product diversification, skill expansion, and labor enhancement cooperation, to capture the value-added revenues which have historically left Appalachia. This model enhances local economies, while utilizing environmentally sustainable practices to create highly effective solutions, from existing, undesignated biomass, to meet existing human needs, using science proven technology.
 
The place based entrepreneurship model centralizes packaging, branding, marketing, sales and distribution efforts to optimize the profits of Tree Of The Field biomass products, without duplicating research and development or marketing efforts. The result is effective, environmentally responsible, all-natural products that appeal through product packaging, intentional convenience, and science proven performance.


Fiber fuel logs
Finished fiber fuel logs ready for packaging

Our Core Values

A core value of Tree Of The Field, is to produce products that enrich our environment and the lives of our team members and customers. We make every effort to use renewable resources, locally sourced materials, environmentally responsible practices, and humane decisions. We believe in what we do, why we do it, and in each other. We set high standards for material, workmanship, and design.  We embrace creativity and dignity in labor and community strength.
 
Tree Of The Field has assembled a diverse stakeholder team that grows and learns while building a vision for regional economic opportunity through product development and profitability.  At the stakeholder, advisory, and synergistic level, we are a cadre of entrepreneurs, academics, agricultural extension agents, college students, business people, a minister, environmentalists, international economists, a world renowned green chemist, government leaders, a couple of industrialist, a coal miner who has become a mountain top removal site farmer, a lab owner, a harvesting company, and a few young adults who are eager to follow a proactive vision.


Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I buy Tree of the Field and Rediflame products?

You can support us by buying our products at our online store, or at any of the national or local vendors listed on this page.

Are your logs or pit kits subject to firewood moving regulations?

No. Our fiber fuel logs are made from an all natural fibrous crop grown right here in Kentucky. Because they are packed by hand they do not contain invasive species such as the Emerald Ash Borer.

What is fatwood?

Fatwood is wood from old pine stumps. It is made from splitting the stumps of pine trees that contain a high concentration of natural resin. As the stumpwood hardens over time, the resin or sap concentrates to create an all-natural, 100% organic, chemical-free fire starter. We include fatwood sticks in our patented Pit Kit for easier fire starting.

Do you ship outside of the United States?

We do not currently ship internationally via our online store. However, we are sometimes able to make accommodations, dependent on shipping rates. Please contact us for more information.