Niche Agriculture Takes Root

Niche Agriculture Takes Root

Meet three “agripreneurs” who are cultivating creativity and tapping into nature’s goodness

By Ann Foster Thelen

Iowa’s soils are rich and abundant. The sky is clear and vast, with rays of perfectly timed sunshine stretching to embrace lush rolling landscapes. Across the state, it’s a fertile canvas for agriculture to flourish. Beyond the valuable rows of soybeans and corn, and intertwined among farms producing wholesome proteins, lie spaces of prospering niche agriculture. Three of Iowa’s agripreneurs share how they are thriving by cultivating fresh herbs, growing nutrient-rich wheatgrass and tapping into sweet maple syrup.

Pickle Creek Herbs

Infusing flavors with culinary chemistry

About 15 years ago, Jocelyn and Tim Engman traded their Chicago-area chemistry jobs for what might have been deemed crazy and impossible at the time – creating a thriving business on a 100-acre Iowa family farm near Fairfield.

“I grew up on the farm, and even though Tim grew up in a Chicago suburb, his parents were raised on farms in South Dakota,” Jocelyn explains. “When my dad retired from farming, we quit our jobs as chemists and moved to Iowa.”

Today, the couple is the proud owner of Pickle Creek Herbs. They grow herbs, berries, tomatoes and garlic, which they then use to create herb-infused olive oils and vinegars, soaps, salves, deodorants and lip balms. The products are available online and in nearly 80 Iowa retail locations, plus the Engmans are regular vendors at the Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market and Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers’ Market.

The Engmans take the process from seed to store and make everything themselves, using recipes perfected over the years. Jocelyn’s educational background – earning a degree in chemistry alongside her husband at Central College in Pella – is especially handy when pairing and infusing herbs.

Tim Engman sells Pickle Creek's products at the Des Moines' Downtown Farmers' Market.

All of Pickle Creek’s products are made in a State of Iowa-certified kitchen near the farm. Infusing oils and vinegars can take anywhere from a day to a week depending on the flavor character Jocelyn is working to create with products.

“There are a lot of timing issues with infusion to get everything just right,” she explains. “Some are created by temperature heating. The State of Iowa has strict guidelines for shelf stability of food products, so we’re rigorous with our processes.”

While the seeds for the herbs and heirloom fruits and vegetables get started in tunnel greenhouses, everything is moved directly into the ground for the growing season. The couple loves growing heirloom varieties due to the remarkable genetic diversity and taste.

The concepts for pairing herbs with one another or different foods come from ideas and experimentation. Jocelyn tells people to do the same thing when cooking with infused oils and vinegars.

“It always comes down to what flavors you want in a food or dish. The vinegars – with their acidic nature – make exceptional marinades,” she explains. “One of my pork recipes calls for marinating the pork and apples used in the dish in our balsamic vinegar. It creates an incredibly delicious meal.”

For more information, visit picklecreek.com.

Mini Caprese Salad

• 1 pint heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved

• 1 package mozzarella pearls

• 1 handful Greek basil leaves

• 2-3 tablespoons Pickle Creek infused olive oil

• 2-3 tablespoons Pickle Creek infused balsamic vinegar

• Sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

Place cherry tomatoes and mozzarella in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Toss well and spoon onto a large, shallow platter. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with the fresh basil.

Fresh Wheatgrass Girl

Changing the world with wheatgrass

Kerri Rush is widely known throughout Iowa as “The Wheatgrass Girl,” with a knack for making healthy taste great. Flourishing in a career working as a graphic artist for Adobe, her path to building a successful business was somewhat a twist of fate.

She started growing wheatgrass in 1996 when her mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon, liver and lymph node cancer. After researching alternative healthy ways to boost her mom’s immune system, she discovered wheatgrass and juicing. She became hooked on the benefits of wheatgrass, and today, her mom is thriving and so is Kerri’s business.

Kerri Rush harvests her wheatgrass, which she turns into nutritious green juice.

Kerri opened the Fresh Cafe & Market and a fresh juice stand at the Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market in 2006, where she continues to be found every Saturday morning during the market season. An award-winning chef, she specializes in juices, smoothies, salads and anything that can be made with fresh produce.

“While I can’t legally make any health claims about wheatgrass, I simply know how much better I feel and how others tell me it makes them feel,” Kerri explains. “In just 2 ounces of wheatgrass, there are 12 grams of protein, and the nutrients are equivalent to having 3 to 5 pounds of a dark green leafy salad.”

Wheatgrass is a plant grown from the red wheatberry, which produces high concentrations of chlorophyll, active enzymes, vitamins and other nutrients. Chlorophyll, which makes up more than 70% of the solid content of wheatgrass juice, is the basis of all plant life. It is often referred to as “the blood of plants” and closely resembles the molecules of human red blood cells.

“When I started my business, I told my mentor, ‘I’m going to change the world with wheatgrass. It’s the king of all vegetables,’” Kerri explains.

That mantra guides Kerri every day as she strives to make wheatgrass common by helping people learn how to grow it themselves, integrate it into fresh foods and reap the nutritional benefits.

Kerri Rush juices fresh wheatgrass at her Des Moines' Downtown Farmers' Market stand.

Whether traveling throughout the metro area delivering wheatgrass in potted plants for customers to use in their juicers or as readyto-use frozen pods or juice, Kerri’s passion for her ag niche is contagious.

“I don’t believe in telling people what they should or shouldn’t eat, but rather I love to share the benefits of adding one really great thing to what you’re already doing,” Kerri says.

For more information, visit freshcafeandmarket.com.

Berry Popsicles

• 1 ounce Fresh Wheatgrass Girl wheatgrass juice, fresh or frozen

• 1/3 cup Fresh Wheatgrass Girl heartbeet juice

• 3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Combine all ingredients in blender, and blend until smooth. Pour mixture into popsicle molds and place the wooden popsicle sticks three-fourths the way down. Place in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Run the popsicles under warm water for about 15 seconds to remove from the molds.

Great River Maple Syrup

Tapping into a tree’s gold

Near the Mississippi River, the small northeast Iowa town of Garnavillo is home to Great River Maple, a company tapping into the sweet success of maple syrup.

The company, aptly named for the Mississippi being the “Great River” and located right off the Great River Road, is prospering with products not typically produced in Iowa.

“The business was started about 12 years ago by my in-laws Dan and Dorinda Potter,” explains Jeremy Turek, who along with his wife, plays a significant role in business today. “My father-in-law is a former dairy farmer and dairy nutritionist. We make the syrup on the original dairy farm that’s been in the family for several generations.”

Great River's 100% natural maple syrup comes from the sugar bush trees on the family’s multigenerational farm, which was originally a dairy farm.

The 100% natural maple syrup comes from the sugar bush trees inherited from Dan’s great-grandfather. Many of the farm’s original buildings are still standing and have been repurposed to fit the needs of the maple syrup-making business, such as a state-certified commercial kitchen. A barn from the 1800s serves as the host site for the family’s Annual Maple Festival, which takes place each March and draws approximately 650 attendees annually.

“To make our syrup, we tap about 4,000 sugar maple trees over four to six weeks,” Jeremy explains. A maze of 34,000 miles of connecting lines takes the sap downhill with gravity power and into the sugar shack, a farm building initially built for sheep between 1914 and 1920.

To make maple syrup, trees are tapped when the sap naturally starts flowing in the spring. It’s maple syrup-making time when the leaves start coming back onto the precious maples, which are at least 8 inches in diameter. When this happens, the trees pull sugar from the roots to bud the leaves.

Danielle Turek, daughter of owners Dan and Dorinda Potter, creates unique recipes that incorporate her family’s maple products.

“When the trees are tapped, we take about 1% of the sugar out of the tree, and it replaces itself naturally,” Jeremy explains. “When the sap comes out, it’s 98% water and 2% sugar. It takes about 43 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of 100% pure maple syrup.”

Great River Maple’s products are available online and across Iowa in grocery stores, specialty stores, the Iowa State Fair and Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers’ Market.

One of Jeremy’s favorite parts of the business is sharing how people can use their syrup products, including maple sugar and maple cream.

“Beyond the traditional uses on pancakes, waffles and French toast, maple products are also delicious on pork, salmon, desserts and as a natural sweetener in coffee and lemonade. There are so many wonderful ways to enjoy pure maple syrup,” he adds.

For more information, visit greatrivermaple.com.

Bourbon Maple & Black Pepper Smoked Salmon

• 2.5 to 3 pounds salmon, skin on and cut into 4-inch strips crosswise

BRINE:

• 1 quart water

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup kosher salt

• 1/2 cup Great River Maple Bourbon Aged Maple Syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

PER FILLET:

• 1 tablespoon Great River Maple Bourbon Aged Maple Syrup

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix brine ingredients until completely dissolved. Put salmon in zip-top bag and pour in brine. Refrigerate 4 to 8 hours. Drain brine and pat salmon dry; continue to dry salmon in refrigerator for another 4 to 6 hours or overnight to form a pellicle (a sticky layer on the outside that helps absorb smoke).

Once pellicle is formed, brush each fillet with maple syrup and add freshly ground black pepper on top.

Preheat smoker to 170 degrees F. Place salmon fillets on the grate, skin side down. Smoke with apple or pecan wood until the fillet reaches 145 degrees F (about 4 to 6 hours). At about 3 hours into cooking, drizzle more syrup over the fillets (do not brush on as it will remove the pepper).

This recipe won first place in the Bourbon Aged Maple Syrup Category at the 2019 Iowa State Fair.

Visit iowafoodandfamily.com/magazine/niche-agto win $75 in products from one of the businessesfeatured in this article.