CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- As a young, single woman, Mattie Skaff created a successful business in the middle of historic Lewisburg.

People flocked to Mattie's Mountain Mud on Washington Street to enjoy a great cup of coffee and conversation. Her business became a focal point for the community, and her customers supported her in many ways. She set goals for herself for quality and community commitment.

Now married, she is still roasting her coffee to her own exacting standards, and she has managed to balance work, marriage, and healthy living into all she does.

Even though her roaster has moved across the border to Virginia, anyone who lingers over a cup of coffee at Taylor Books in Charleston or gets a cup of coffee to go from Pies and Pints in Fayetteville is a customer.

She married Charles Lynn Barnes and moved onto the farm his parents bought when they were newlyweds. Her in-laws own 700 acres in Virginia, and the property is bordered on three sides by national forests.

"I think I have figured out how to make it all work. I am roasting coffee the way I think it should be done, and with my husband I am leading a balanced life," she said from her home in New Castle, Virginia.

When she operated her store in Lewisburg, she frequently drove over the border to buy the pastries she served with her coffees. She was not pleased with all the travel, but she wanted to serve the best quality she could find. At that time, she was also debating a move with the man who would become her husband.

Moving the roasting operation to the Virginia farm seemed to make all the pieces of her life fit, she said.

She said she uses "the highest quality beans we can get. They are certified organic and Fair Trade." She has streamlined her roasting operation to be energy efficient. Her business is classified as a "coffee plant," she said.

When she had a retail business, she had to give her attention to many details. Now that she can concentrate on the roasting, she believes her business is more successful. "I'm more focused. I have more clarity about what I am doing."

She gets up early to start roasting the first batch of beans for the day. As her web site explains, she has accumulated 20 years of experience in the process, and she slow fires the beans in small batches to guarantee freshness.

After that first early morning batch, she returns home to make breakfast for her and husband. She makes all her food from scratch, a great skill she learned from her mother-in-law.

Besides roasting beans, she is also growing plants from heirloom seeds and saving the seeds. In a trial effort this year, she gave away heirloom seeds for tomatoes and peppers to customers. She would like to be able to do more in the future. 

She has organized her roasting business in such a way that she can work short shifts. That means the beans are fresher, but it also means she has more time to fit in all she feels is important to her life. In addition to cooking for her husband, she takes time to hike around the farm with her dog. "We hike several hours a day," she said.

When she worked in Lewisburg, she played the cello. Now she plays the viola. "I sometimes play for the cows on the farm. They are the best audience."

Like a growing number of people, she believes in the value of eating food that is grown locally. By eating local foods, many people realize they are using less petroleum products in the transportation of food. But the idea of eating locally grown food is also an old idea that many people simply grew away from.

Several restaurants in Virginia and Pennsylvania serve Mattie's Mountain Mud coffee. In West Virginia, customers can find it served in Charleston, Lewisburg, Fayetteville, White Sulphur Springs and Slatyfork. Customers can also order from her web site www.mattiesmountainmud.com or call toll free at 1-877-389-1477.

Barnes has many good memories of her business in Lewisburg and all of the people who helped her succeed.  She also has many family members who still live in Lewisburg. "I think I have bridged one life into the next," she said. "You must be true to what you want to do, and I believe I am able to live that life now," she said. 

Reach Susan Williams at susanwilli...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5112.