Thielen
and Candy Freeman are surrounded by hundreds of blue ribbons, plaques, firstplace shadow boxes and many recipes on Thielen’s kitchen table July 8 in Grey Eagle. The competitive bakers reminisced on approximately three decades of baking over freshly baked blueberry muffins and warm scones.
BY SARA EISINGER STAFF WRITER
MELROSE — Over freshly-baked blueberry muffins and warm scones, blue ribbon baking buddies Candy Freeman and Lois Thielen relived approximately three decades of fierce Minnesota State Fair baking competitions.
Scattered around Thielen’s kitchen table were award-winning conversation pieces — hundreds of state fair
ribbons, plaques, first-place shadow boxes and recipes.
“I compete in cakes, almost all the quick breads, gluten-free and international baking,” Freeman said. “I would say I probably have about 500 ribbons from first, second, third, fourth and fifth between the state and county fair, and about 75 blue ribbons.”
Last year, Freeman won the Supreme Baker Award for best all-around baker.
“In 2022, I had seven or eight placings out of 20 or so entries in the state fair,” Thielen said. “I have two best-of-class awards for quick breads in 2013 and 2016. I usually enter about four plain dough breads — white, whole grain, whole wheat and potato; banana, lemon and vegetable quick bread loaves; Bundt coffee cake and scones;
a chiffon cake or two; several Bundt cakes and the vegetable cake, which now has to be made as a single layer. I occasionally enter other lots, such as the international baking for a cake or bread. I also enter the honey baking and enter five or six items, including a yeast bread and several quick breads.”
While making baking history, Thielen and Freeman have gotten to know American chef and radio personality Andrew Zimmern, recipe developer and food blogger Jessie Sheehan and pastry chef Zoe Francois.
“I met Zoe Francois in 2022,” Freeman said. “I had gotten a blue ribbon on my angel food cake.
Bakers page 2
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in Falcon Heights. Freeman has earned more than 500 state and county fair ribbons over the years.
She did a show with my angel food cake on Magnolia Network, which was really fun. That was aired in August 2023.”
Getting interviewed by Zimmern was a state fair highlight for Thielen.
“We know Chef Andrew Zimmern personally,” Thielen said. “He put us on a state fair food video in 2013.”
That same year, Thielen won best of class for her pumpkin bread, and Freeman won the best cake in the state.
“Andrew Zimmern came up to me and said, ‘You might have a pretty good chance this year,’” Freeman said. “Lord behold, I got the grand cake that year. It was an orange pound cake. It was from Pat Sinclair’s cookbook. I had met her at a Scandinavian gift shop the year before. I love orange and I put a little orange liquor in it for fun. It won the best of the butter cakes and all the cakes for the grand cake.”
Freeman motioned to a large shadow box beside her.
“I have won two grand cakes,” Freeman said. “The one in 2021 was a two-layer white cake with lemon curd and buttercream icing.”
Thielen was the first of the pair to bake competitively.
“I started competing at the county fair 51 years ago,” Thielen said. “I come from a long line of fair competitors. My mother
competed in county fairs and the Minnesota State Fair in grains and sheaves. She had a passion for farming. So, that is what she did for about 30 years. She won a lot. I decided to compete in baking because that was my niche.”
Thielen entered the state fair with good friend Jean McDonald in 1994.
“Jean and I baked our little heads off that first Sunday and went down on Monday morning to enter,” she said. “I had seven entries, and I placed on two of them. I was excited to death.”
Freeman joined the ladies approximately two years later.
“My first year, I got a blue ribbon on oatmeal muffins, so that was exciting,” Freeman said. “I was hooked. It is the highlight of my summer.”
The three competitors entered baked goods at the state fair together for several years.
Eventually, McDonald moved on to
other things, and the baking trio became a duo.
But Thielen and Freeman knew each other long before they started competitively baking.
“We went to the College of Saint Benedict at the same time,” Thielen said. “I met her once at a supper, then I didn’t see her again for 17 years until we went to the same Pampered Chef party.”
Thielen graduated in 1976. She became a reporter, author and photographer. Thielen has
also compiled various cookbooks. Meanwhile, Freeman graduated in 1977. Freeman worked as a teacher at Melrose Public Schools for 34 years. Thielen writes and tries new recipes in her free time. Freeman also spends a lot of time baking new recipes. Throughout the year, Thielen and Freeman enjoy many food-related activities together.
Bakers page 3
Publications bli ti “The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.”
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They make hot cross buns during Holy Week before Easter and currant jelly in July, when Freeman’s currant bushes produce tart red berries.
“We thought it would be fun to have a full traditional German Oktoberfest dinner in October,” Thielen said. “I do the meat, homemade German bread, egg coffee and homemade potato salad. It was my mother’s recipe. Candy does this really elaborate black forest torte and German spaetzle dumplings.”
“We are each allowed to invite up to four people as guests,” Thielen said. “The other rule is every year it has to be somebody different. We usually have 12 or more people. We have had up to about 20 guests.”
Freeman said she enjoys giving baking demonstrations.
“I love to meet people, talk food and talk recipes,” Freeman said. “Melrose Day at the Minnesota State Fair was August 2016. At the fair, we did demos with Swany White Flour, Stony Creek Dairy, Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar and Scherer Enterprise (formerly in Melrose).”
Thielen showed spectators how to make oatmeal carrot muffins using Stony Creek Dairy milk. Freeman demonstrated how to make a cake with beer.
“I took half my kitchen (along),” Freeman said.
Thielen agreed.
“Candy always takes half her
kitchen,” she said.
Mid-August is when the real fun happens.
“We load up the van, which is filled to the brim,” Thielen said. “We can barely squeeze ourselves in. We go down the Saturday before the fair opens … The honey baking goes down three days after that on the Tuesday before the fair opens. Winners are announced online beginning at opening time the first day of the fair.”
Freeman’s present goal is to win the international baking competition.
“This year, I am making dessert from the Middle East,” Freeman said. “It is a beautiful dough filled with apricot jam, pistachios and cream cheese. It looks like a little crescent, but it is actually a cookie.”
This past year, Thielen has worked to perfect banana bread.
“A couple of years ago, it had 117 entries,” she said. “I want to win in banana bread.”
Soon, Thielen and Freeman will take their annual trip down I-94 to the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights. But winning is not everything.
“I want to beat the best version of a recipe,” Thielen said. “I like the occasion when I can beat my own record. I have grown tremendously as a baker. It makes me grow, stretch, try harder. I don’t settle for OK. It has to be the best I can do. It makes me a better baker. It carries over to your other cooking, too.”
Most importantly, competitive baking has brought Thielen and Freeman closer and has allowed them to share recipes with new people.
cake with cream cheese frosting and edible flowers
summer of 2023 at Candy Freeman’s home in Melrose. The recipe came from a
The cattle barn roof and side wall had caved in and collapsed. The machine shed was ripped from its foundation and was in pieces in the woods. Dan’s vehicle was completely totaled, and the grain bins were dented. Machinery that was in the shop had been tipped over, tangled up with other pieces of equipment and broken.
Once the cattle had been checked on, the cleanup started almost immediately. With the help of 15 to 20 people, the Zenners were able to get the rubble removed from their yard and the woods surrounding their home.
“People just kept coming to help,” said Al.
After five days of cleaning up outside, the cleaning moved inside. The Zenners’ basement flooded due to complications caused by
the storm, and the entire lower level of the home had to be emptied and will need to be redone.
The physical damage to the property will take months, if not years, to rebuild. Items with sentimental value, buildings that stood for decades and years of hard work were gone in an instant.
“You can either sit there and say ‘poor me,’ or you can count your blessings — and we’ve been counting our blessings a lot this week,” Elizabeth said.
The entire Zenner family — and all their animals — were uninjured during the storm, and that is all they could have asked for Elizabeth said.
The Zenners were not the only ones who experienced loss. The same storm traveled throughout Stearns County, causing damage in varying amounts from farm to farm.
Roger Meyer was enjoying a car show when he received a storm alert on his phone. He headed to his home near Melrose, but the storm had reached his farm before he did.
all my evergreens were gone,” Meyer said.
Out of 15 evergreens that once lined Meyer’s driveway, he found nine of them had been destroyed. As Meyer pulled further into his driveway, he was faced with something he never thought would happen to him.
A large grove of trees lined the north and east sides of Meyer’s property. The grove was devastated by the tornado, leaving an uncountable number of trees down.
A machine shop near the grove of trees suffered extensive damage, however, the equipment inside the shop was left untouched. Almost half the roof was completely ripped off, along with both sliding doors. The west side of the shop was lifted out of the ground nearly two feet, leaving the anchor beams exposed.
Across the driveway, a silo had the top completely ripped off, leaving pieces of it sprinkled all over the property. Upon further inspection, the entire silo had also been pushed approximately 2 inches on the cement foundation.
The trees along his driveway were nearly all gone.
“As soon as I came over the hill, I could see
The building near the silo housed round hay bales and Meyer’s semi truck. The front of the building was smashed by fallen trees and ripped apart by the wind. Meyer had to cut the doors of the building open because the building was so damaged. The semi that was inside received very minimal damage.
Like a lot of things in life, the harder you work towards something, the more rewarding it is once you achieve it. This is one of the many lessons I learned while in 4-H as a youth. I was involved with the program for 11 years, and, in that time, I made a lot of projects, friends and memories.
a smile on our face.
Even though I graduated from 4-H over a decade ago, every year around this time I reminisce on my county and state fair memories. I participated in project areas from needle arts to baking, from woodworking to geology, and of course showing cows. I had the regular project areas such as sewing, baking, crafts, photography (pre-digital) and dairy cattle I did every year, and as the years went by, I would try something new every year. By the time I graduated from 4-H, I had participated in cooking demonstrations, playing piano in the talent show, geology, embroidery, flowers, woodworking, quilting and horse related projects in addition to my usual projects. My last year in 4-H, I had 22 non-livestock projects and brought four dairy animals — and that was just during the county fair. I also volunteered at several of the day camps the county put on for younger children to learn the basics of sewing or cooking.
By Tiffany Klaphake
For several of my years in 4-H, I was a county ambassador and helped on the non-livestock judging day. I also helped during many of the livestock judging contest by handing out ribbons and sometimes record keeping for the judge. I was also the manager of the ice cream stand that served as a fundraiser for our county’s 4-H program. While I enjoyed the role, it meant being at the fairgrounds the entire duration the stand was open. Once the stand closed for the day, I helped the final shift clean up and count the money that was taken in for the day. Most nights, I would not get home until midnight. I was always at the fairgrounds but not always at the stand. Occasionally I would field a call from the crew about an ice cream machine that was acting up. I had to figure out why the machines were not working and find a solution. Also, every four hours, a new 4-H club would come in to work a shift, and I had to be there to train in the new team each time. That role taught me about leadership through teaching others and problem solving.
The week of county fair was a busy and stressful one, but it was equally if not more rewarding seeing my projects do well. The days leading up to the fair were filled with washing and clipping cattle, putting finishing touches on posters, baking and picking flowers or vegetables from the garden. Every year, I told myself I would start sooner next year so I wouldn’t feel so rushed. Quite often I would start early and get a few projects done ahead of time, but so many of the projects, like baking, flowers, vegetables and clipping cattle, all had to wait until right before the fair — along with a couple projects I could not decide what theme to use.
Exhibiting these projects, especially the livestock, taught me sportsmanship. We did not have top-of-theline genetics and were seldom the top of our class. We still each entered the ring with our head held high and
As county fair season starts to wind down and the Minnesota State Fair starts next week, I remember the excitement and joy of exhibiting at the state fair, too. Our family’s cattle were not registered nor World Dairy Expo quality by any means, so just making it to the state fair was our goal. My brothers and I were there for the experience, not the ribbons.
Another reason I treasure these memories is because my 4-H club has since disbanded. That club played such a huge part in my upbringing; it is sad to see it go away. My mom was in 4-H growing up, and her 4-H club disbanded several years ago, too. While 4-H might have previously been centered around agriculture, today it encompasses so much more. There truly is something for everyone.
My kids are still young, but you can better believe that they will be in 4-H a few years from now. They do not have to show dairy cattle; they can exhibit whatever interests them. No matter what they do, there is so much to learn through the 4-H program.
Town: Upsala | Grade: 9
Parents: Dan and Sarah Roerick Upsala FFA Chapter
What is your involvement in FFA? I just started doing the general livestock judging team, but in the past I’ve sold fruit and helped with the petting zoo.
What has FFA taught you so far? How to work with other people and make new friends.
How do you intend to stay involved in agriculture after your FFA career? I am going to school for ag business or animal science.
What are you involved in outside of FFA? 4-H, livestock showing, summer league softball and theater.
What is one thing people need to know about agriculture? Farmers work very hard to produce healthy, quality products for consumers throughout the world. They deal with fluctuating prices and weather events that are out of their control.
BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
SOUTH HAVEN —
What’s in a name? For JK Bees, the name is not the whole story.
Not only does the South Haven farm make and sell honey, but they also offer homegrown mushrooms and homemade jams and jellies.
The owners, John and Karen Berglund, operate the farm as both a business and a passion
project — and it is anyone’s guess what interest they may try next.
“(Karen) never said I was crazy,” John said. “I said, ‘Let’s build a building and sell mushrooms,’ and she never said, ‘You’re out of your mind.’”
The Berglunds started raising bees in 2005. They had an orchard with about 50 fruit trees at the time, so they wanted the bees for pollination; John learned how to raise the insects through the University of Minnesota. They began with three colo-
nies, which, in their first year, produced 35 gallons of honey, 17 of which came from one colony alone.
“We got so much honey, it was like, OK, what do we do with it?”
Karen said. “Then, I started doing the Buffalo farmers market the following year and selling it that way.”
Today, the Berglunds sell at farmers markets in Buffalo, St. Cloud and St. Joseph.
The Berglunds classify their honey as wildflower honey, but with the fruit, clover, catnip and other plants around, they are not certain what varieties end up in the mix.
“Bees have everything they can choose from,” Karen said.
Honey collection is a straightforward process for the Berglunds. First, they puff smoke into the beehives; this
Karen and John Berglund tend to the mushroom grain bag sterilizers July 3 at the JK Bees farm near South Haven. The Berglunds started raising mushrooms in 2011 after the previous year’s economic crash.
makes the bees eat the honey to save it from the perceived fire. The honey consumption makes the bees lethargic, allowing the Berglunds to collect the honeycomb. They remove the honey from the combs with a centrifuge extractor and bottle it in 12-ounce, 1-pound, 2-pound and 4-pound jars. They have owned up to 20 colonies, but the farm has yet to match the 35 gallons produced in their first year.
Berglunds page 12
“There were a lot of years I haven’t gotten honey, and I don’t know if I’ll get any this year,” John said.
Naturally, John has been stung while attending to the bees; sometimes, they will even get him through his protective beekeeping suit.
“One year, I had some Africanized bees, and they were really nasty,” John said. “You opened (the hive) up, and they would fly out in your face. Usually, they don’t follow me past the gate. These would follow me out to the road and back. The only way I could get rid of them was (to) go inside the garage, in a dark place, and they’d fly out the door.”
The produce benefitting from the bees’ pollination is often used in the Berglunds’ canning. Karen grew up doing water bath canning, and she learned pressure canning after marrying John. When they began selling their honey at farmers markets, she made jams and jellies out of the fruited plants they had on their land, selling those products as well. Some of the types she makes include strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, grape and rhubarb, as well as aronia berry, honeyberry, currant, roasted garlic and jalapeno varieties.
“I’m trying to make them what you can’t get at the grocery store,” Karen said. “I wanted more unusual flavors. … I tend to rotate my flavors in and out, depending (on) what I’m in the mood to make and what people want to buy.”
Because Karen uses a low-sugar pectin, her canning recipe is fairly consistent across the different kinds of produce.
“I just need eight cups of juice and the rest of the stuff to go with it,” Karen said. “Then, I water bath it.”
Karen has received plenty of positive feedback from customers on the jam. They generally like the lower sugar, and it seems like everyone has a different favorite.
John’s interest in mushrooms started with some experiments in his kitchen, and when there was an economic crash in 2010, he figured he would make mushrooms into a new source of income. He
went to the West Coast in 2011 for a weekend seminar to learn how to grow mushrooms. In 2016, the Berglunds built their current greenhouse and mushroom-growing building, allowing them to grow a wide variety: shiitake, oyster, reishi, lion’s mane, chestnut, nameko and more.
Berglunds page 13
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John Berglund checks on blackberries growing on the JK Bees farm
July 3 near South Haven.
Much of the farm’s produce is used to make jams and jellies.
it’s been infected and won’t turn out a mushroom,” Karen said.
Normally, mushrooms start with a master colony that can be expanded, but because that process is time-consuming and could lead to contamination issues, the Berglunds buy the grain spawn — a grain-filled bag which is infused with mushroom mycelium — and expand the crop from there.
Mushrooms are susceptible to different kinds of mold, so the Berglunds are careful about the sterilization process for the bags of grain.
“If the bag turns green, we know
John typically harvests mushrooms within a week of the farmers market where they will be sold. They almost always have shiitake and oyster mushrooms available, as well as a small amount of lion’s mane.
“Lion’s mane is good for nerve regeneration,” John said. “All mushrooms have some sort of medicinal properties.”
While the Berglunds could keep growing their mushrooms year-round, they do not have a winter market, so John leaves them alone during the colder months and starts again in the spring.
Each aspect of the farm has pests that must be managed. The produce draws hungry birds, skunks, raccoons and possums; the skunks eat bees as well, so they will go after the hives. The mushroom house, while well-enclosed, still has floor drains which can let in mice. Tree frogs also invite themselves in, but they are after insects, so they are more welcome.
Although it is often tough to maintain the variety at JK Bees, the Berglunds like being able to produce such a range that benefits themselves as well as their customers.
“It’s work, but it’s also fun,” Karen said. “We like the freshness, (and) it’s nice to produce something people want that they can’t get otherwise.”
John Berglund wears his bee suit to attend to his bee colonies July 3 at the JK Bees farm near South Haven. In their first year, the farm’s bees produced an unmatched record of 35 gallons.
and Alexandria.
BY RAE LANZRATH STAFF WRITER
SAUK CENTRE
Most farmers grow sweet corn to earn extra cash during the summer. Leon Duchene grows it to support local high school students and to raise funds for two foundations close to his heart.
Duchene, a Stearns County native, followed up on a family member’s suggestion in 2021 and started Sweet Corn for College. The side business provides employment for local teenagers who are earning money for college. The effort, which started as a stand at the end of Duchene’s driveway, now has fresh sweet corn stands managed by students in Spicer, Sauk Centre
To manage a Sweet Corn for College stand, students have one requirement to fulfill: they must donate $1 for every dozen ears of corn sold to one of two foundations that Duchene supports — the Lilleberg Family Foundation or the Never Surrender Inc. charity.
The Lilleberg Foundation was created by the family of Nickolas Lilleberg, Duchene’s long-time best friend. Lilleberg died in 2016 from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The
foundation raises money for families who are affected by cancer and gives scholarships to students pursuing college degrees in agriculture-related fields.
Pat Duchene, Leon’s brother, died in 2015 from complications caused by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Leon and Pat farmed together near Padua on the same farm where Leon is now growing sweet corn.
Duchene page 16
Duchene from page 16
Teenagers working the stands in Sauk Centre and Spicer follow the same daily routine as Dulas. They are paid for their work after Duchene figures out donation totals.
Duchene’s wife and daughters put a lot of hours into Sweet Corn for College. Duchene’s two daughters, Claire and Anna, are involved in all aspects of the business, from helping sell at the end of their driveway to picking the sweet corn with their parents. Twelveyear-old Claire created a website for people to learn all about the business. Duchene’s parents, Greg and Diane, still live on the family farm and help wherever they are needed.
“It’s a family operation,” Duchene said.
Duchene grows corn at his family farm near Padua and near his home in Spicer. He plants 2-3 acres of sweet
Dulas
to attend C oncordia College in Moorhead to study business.
corn every spring. Aside from sweet corn, Duchene grows wheat, soybeans and field corn at his family farm.
Along with Sweet Corn for College, Duchene runs a similar stand in the fall — Pumpkins for Post Secondary. Pumpkins for Post Secondary is almost identical to Sweet Corn for College; however, there is only one stand located in Spicer.
With sweet corn’s short harvest time, Duchene has learned to plant in five successive rounds to vary crop maturity. Over the course of a few weeks, Duchene plants multiple varieties of sweet corn, all of which will be ready to harvest at different times. This helps extend the length of time his sweet corn stands are open. On average, Sweet Corn for College sells 100 dozen ears of corn per day between the three locations.
Duchene’s future plan is to keep his Sweet Corn for College business open for years to come. He enjoys helping local teenagers provide funds for college and having the means to support charities in memory of loved ones who have died.
“You have to take care of people,” Duchene said.
BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE | STAFF WRITER
MORRIS — Growing up on her family’s dairy farm, Elizabeth (Golombiecki) Anderson’s life has always revolved around agriculture and farming. Her wedding day was no different.
Anderson and her husband, Dustin were married June 29 at their home near Morris. Their home is a farm site from a retired cattle farmer. While the couple do not house any livestock at their farm, the original sheds on the site were still in good condition.
“We are starting our life out here, why not start it out by having our wedding here,” Anderson said. “That way we will have that memory of it at our home.”
The couple’s relationship blossomed when Dustin purchased a farm site two miles from the Golombiecki’s 70-cow dairy farm. Dustin grew up in town but wanted to find a place in the country to call home. He frequently stopped by the Golombiecki place to borrow equipment to do yard work and fix up the old farm site. This was not, however, the first time the two had met.
“Dustin actually used to work for Golombiecki Farms back when he was in high school,” Anderson said. “Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would be back helping on Golombiecki Farms.”
time job in town, he helps his wife and brother-in-law out on the farm when needed.
“The joke when we were dating was, I was dating him for his health insurance and he was dating me because he wants some land,” Anderson said. “He wants seven more acres that border the farm site he owns.”
When the young couple started to plan out their big day, they knew they wanted to have their ceremony out at the house where they would start their life together, but originally were not going to have the reception there.
“The more we thought about it the more we liked the idea of having the reception out here too,” Anderson said. “We looked at other venues and learned that you only have so many hours to set up or have to use a certain caterer and they were all so expensive.”
Anderson page 20
While Dustin maintains his full-
At the time neither party thought much of it, but in 2019 Anderson’s father passed away. Last summer right after Anderson got engaged, she went to her neighbor to share the exciting news, without hesitation the neighbor said he would walk her down the aisle.
“I had someone read off that story at the wedding right before I walked down the aisle,” Anderson said. “I also had pendent with my dad’s picture in my bouquet, so my dad was with me walking down the aisle. For me that was just so special.”
Another highlight of the day for Anderson was going over to her family’s dairy farm to take some of their wedding pictures.
“We were really happy with how it turned out.” Anderson said. “If I was to do it all over again I would do it the exact same way.”
“My husband also built my watering system,” she said. “We pump from the pond and it pumps up to behind the garage. He has a series of six big tanks. From there, it is pumped down to the garden and goes through drip lines. He also built me a cooler. Cooling the flowers gives them time to relax and adds to their vase life.”
Harvest time also means cutting flowers and decorating arrangements to sell at the St. Joseph and Cold Spring farmers markets.
“My granddaughter, Isabella, helps me with the markets,” Justin said.
“She comes Tuesday and Thursday mornings when I am picking.”
Justin said she has always had a rather creative eye. She took art classes in college. She even taught art to grade-level students.
“I never felt like I had a green thumb,” Justin said. “It is a lot of trial and error and a lot of mistakes... just like when I was teaching kids art. You are not going to learn to draw on your first drawing. You have to practice, just like you
practice everything else.”
Justin did not have extensive gardening experience when she started planting, she read books and researched online.
Justin learned what flowers grow well together.
flowers is showcased
“If you are doing a cut flower garden, you can crowd your plants because some will grow taller,” Justin said.
Justin quickly learned what each plant needed to thrive.
“You have to pick in the morning,” Justin said. “It is the best time to pick because the flowers have more water within their stems. They are straighter and stiffer.”
Despite constant weeding and pruning, cool and wet weather conditions have impacted the Twin Hearts cut
flower garden this season.
“I started lisianthus during the first week of January,”
Justin said. “They are so slow. You have to babysit them for a good four months in your home until they are ready to go into your garden.”
The lisianthus typically bloom in mid-July. This year, becuase of the wet conditions they probably will not bloom until the end of July. Several of the flowers at Twin Hearts perfer hot and dry conditions, therefore, are behind normal blooming times according to Justin. “I collect and keep
track of the rain we have had,” Justin said. “In some weeks, we have had two-and-a-half inches of rain. It means the flowers are standing in mud so they are not growing like they should. I like it cooler to work in, but the weeds have gotten so far ahead of me.”
Nonetheless, Justin has kept her delphiniums, heliopsis, hibiscus, snapdragons, cosmos, sunflowers, marigolds and other flowers vibrant this season. She has even managed to compete with
local floral shops.
“When you grow local flowers, you are going to be able to grow flowers that the florists cannot get,” Justin said. “The reason the florists cannot get them is because most flowers are shipped from other countries.”
Along the way, Justin decided a chemical-free garden was the way to go.
“I try to have everything chemical-free down in the garden,” she said. “I use organic fertilizers and pelleted chicken manure. When growing
local flowers, the whole industry tries to be as chemical-free as possible. I only use chemicals in harvest buckets.”
There could be a bug bite or two, but cut flowers at Twin Hearts are grown as organically as possible for the safety and well-being of all.
“I enjoy the flowers, arranging bouquets and all the colors,” Justin said. “I like sharing that beauty with others. These flowers are so fresh and long-lasting. It is just nice to put smiles on people’s faces.”
