Mahtowa flower farm preps for first growing season
May 3—MAHTOWA — Growing up in North Dakota, Heidi Wanzek always thought farming was endless fields of corn and soy.
However, after Wanzek and her partner, Em Klein, traveled the country as artists and worked on small farms, they developed a new appreciation for agriculture. Now they are employing their experience at Prairie Rose Farm and Floral, a regenerative flower farm in Mahtowa.
"We're making sure that we're fostering health in the ecosystem, not just farming it and taking what we can from the earth. ... I feel like that's how a lot of farming tends to operate," Klein said. "And we're really trying to add to the environment, not reap its benefits."
Prairie Rose started last year when Wanzek and Klein began renting a plot of land from a local farm to grow flowers and sell them wholesale. They moved to their small farm in Mahtowa last summer and are prepping the farm for their first growing season at their new location.
Both Wanzek and Klein come to the Northland from the Chicago arts scene. As artists, their approach was to salvage and repurpose as many materials as they could. Though that may sound like it has little to do with agriculture, they still employ that same philosophy as farmers.
"We kind of bring that with us, like this respect for the materials you're using, and anything you're doing," Klein said. "So when it comes to farming, obviously, we're gonna take that to it as well, because you're working directly with the earth and you want to honor it."
For Prairie Rose, that means healthy soil. To do this, Wanzek and Klein use a no-till method of farming, which means instead of tilling fields before planting, they create channels to plant the seeds. This minimizes soil disturbance and allows organic matter from previous crops to enrich the soil.
Being an organic farm, Prairie Rose doesn't use any chemical products on their plants.
The physical grit it takes for two people to operate a farm while maintaining Prairie Rose's aesthetic sensibilities is evident through Wanzek and Klein's backgrounds. Both have worked in sculpture. Wanzek has experience in woodworking, farming and landscaping. Klein has been employed as a tattoo artist and welder.
"The flower aspect of it is kind of the thread that pulls it together because it brings in that creative aspect into the farming," Wanzek said.
Being their first year at the new farm, Wanzek and Klein are still figuring out the growing rhythm and how to extend the season as much as possible in the Northland's notoriously short growing season. They plan to grow flower varieties that provide a steady stream of crops from spring through the fall.
"I prefer looking at the whole farm as an ecosystem in itself," Wanzek said. "And, I mean, we're always trying to approach it in a way where we're like letting go of control a little bit and observing what's happening, and working with those patterns that are already existing instead of trying to fight them."
However, this isn't the easiest climate for a commercial flower farm, preventing Prairie Rose from growing certain floral industry standards.
Still, Wanzek and Klein are determined to grow a range of textures, colors and shapes that allow for steady variation in their bouquets. They will grow some standards like sunflowers and cosmos, but also specialty varieties like flowering tobacco, clarkia, lace flower and Queen Anne's lace.
Klein and Wanzek will sell their flowers at local farmers markets and events, and wholesale to area florists. They will also provide floral designing for weddings and events.
Starting a small farm from the ground up is not easy. For Wanzek and Klein, the support from local farms, businesses and the public who have lent them resources and shared enthusiasm for their vision has allowed Prairie Rose to come to fruition.
"The community is there," Klein said. "It's been really amazing."
