Christy Hohman and Lissa King Sumption met some time ago at Lissa's art gallery in Longville, Minnesota. They discovered mutual interests and had similar dynamic personalities and, over the years, became good friends.
One of their shared passions was gardening. Serendipitously, after both had retired from successful first careers, these two enterprising women joined forces three years ago and formed a new business venture. They started a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm and named it after their individual gardens, King Gardens and The Neighborhood Gardeners.
My friend, Jan Streiff, has long known Christy as a business colleague and friend. Because Jan had so often teased me with wonderful descriptions of Christy's amazing house and garden, Jan and I recently wrangled an invitation to visit. Christy then invited us to Lissa's, knowing we would appreciate her garden.
The homes and gardens. Christy's home on Squeedunk Lake in east central Cass County might be the earthiest I've even seen. It's difficult to tell where the forest ends and her home begins. The wooden structure blends seamlessly into the surrounding north woods and the extensive glass windows reflects the summer sky. Indeed, it looks as if the home sprung up from the forest floor like a giant mushroom. No wildflower or sapling was destroyed to build this home.
Instead, Christy gardens inside her home. One must duck under branches of a huge fig tree just inside the front door. Visible through a glass wall is a bougainvillea which climbs 20 feet to the ceiling and is recovering from a winter infestation of insects.
Through another door and around a corner is an amazing water feature (remember, inside Christy's home). A stream flows over rocks and tumbles around water lilies and cyperus before spilling down a waterfall into the most romantic, small pool. (Hot tub is too mundane for this exquisite space.) The bottom and sides of the pool are tiled in a mosaic pattern of white, green and blue pieces. A grotto is presided over by water spirits.
Several miles away along rural gravel roads and past scenic lakes is the home and garden of Lissa, and the contrast is astonishing. An immaculate golf course comes to mind. The buildings, garden and tall Norway pines arise from a very green carpet of grass. Vivid flowers of all sizes and colors are everywhere. Overflowing hanging baskets seem to be hung from any conceivable spot and container gardens are lush with bright annuals. Throughout the landscape, perfectly manicured beds contain gorgeous combinations of perennials, grasses, vines and shrubs.
The CSA. While Christy and Lissa have very different homes, gardens and styles, they agree completely about running their CSA. They agree on the heirloom varieties of tomatoes to grow, in addition to types of other vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers. They also agree on how to grow their plants and, crucial to their business model, agreed early on to be entirely organic.
Crops are grown at both Christy's and Lissa's...and the tidy rows and healthy plants could be on either property. A large portion is grown under tunnels (a.k.a., hoop houses) where temperature and watering can be controlled. In addition, many beds have been established outside for cut flowers, potatoes and other vegetables.
The CSA has 28 customers which, in turn, means lots of building projects and other heavy-duty chores. To that end, Christy and Lissa are helped by their respective partner and husband, Grant Goltz and John Sumption. Lissa commented, "Between John and Grant, they can figure everything out."
Their attention to detail is clearly evident. At the beginning of the season, each member received a container garden fully planted with a good selection of herbs. (What a cool idea.) From the women's perspective, though, it also saved time and energy. They don't have to tend and to cut herbs all season, and can focus instead on their vegetables and flowers.
Christy and Lissa also offered a flower share. With this option, clients receive a bouquet of fresh flowers in addition to their weekly vegetable delivery. (Sign me up.) Again, it's a win-win-win. The women can indulge their passion to grow flowers, earn extra money and, at the same time, make their clients happy. Christy said, "We planted 13 flats of Bells of Ireland and every seed germinated," so, for awhile at least, the bouquets might be heavy with Bells of Ireland.
Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are. ~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Rarely does a house and landscape blend together seamlessly–one easing into the other so that the whole is harmonious, tasteful and perfectly satisfying. Landscape architects, designers and gardeners continually strive for just that feeling.
Nurmijarvi, the home and garden of Josette and Dave Koets of Finlayson, succeeds. When Josette first saw the sturdy log home surrounded by a sauna, other nice outbuildings and fruit trees, she thought "Everything just feels right."
The home sits on a slight rise and is built of big Norway pine logs that have darkened handsomely with age. An open porch with log railings runs the entire length of the home. Mature trees and woodlands protect the property from the north and west while a row of crabapples border the south edge.
Indeed, it all just feels right.
Josette and Dave bought Nurmijarvi in 2006 from Elaine and Cary Steeg, who were also the original builders and named the property. While reading through the abstract, Cary discovered, "Nurmijarvi was the mailing address of the area before Finlayson was a town." Translated from Finnish, the name means "grassy lake."
Josette and Dave are refugees, of a sort, from busy lives and careers in the Twin Cities. Fate intervened in 2005 when Josette was laid off from her teaching position in the Stillwater Area Public School District. She searched outside the metropolitan area for openings and after considering two other offers, accepted a job at East Central Public Schools as a Family & Consumer Science teacher.
Dave retired from his employment with the State of Minnesota Weights & Measures Division and currently works seasonally as a gypsy moth trapper for the Department of Agriculture.
The back story. In some serendipitous way, Josette and Dave discovered gardening together. They met while attending college at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. "Everything just clicked with both of us," Josette remembered when they established their first garden in 1972.
After graduation, the couple worked their way west and eventually ended up in Minnesota where they "always had gardens," according to Dave. "We broke ground in New Ulm, Little Falls, McGrath and Stillwater." Dave admitted that, at first, the vegetable and fruit plant choices were "pretty basic stuff. But slowly we expanded and every year we tried some new things."
Since the bounty exceeded what they could consume fresh from the garden, the couple quickly honed canning, freezing and storing techniques. Josette remembers one evening meal when their two children were young: "We figured the whole meal cost us 5 cents."
Current practices. Dave considers "care for the soil" a primary goal. They spread layers of well-aged sheep or horse manure and till them in. They mulch with leaves and straw which slowly breaks down and adds more organic matter to the soil. Judging by the healthy look and feel of the soil and the vigor of the plants, the couple has triumphed.
That their plants are thriving is a key reason the gardens at Nurmijarvi are relatively pest-free. Two issues have plagued their plantings in the past but both are now under control. To combat late tomato blight, Dave sprays a fungicide in two timely applications. In addition, he began placing crushed egg shells (a good source of calcium) at the base of tomato plants and blossom end rot has disappeared.
The outbuildings and kitchen at Nurmijarvi are busy places in late summer and fall. Josette and Dave prepare and can tomatoes and salsa. Josette cooks batches of jams, jellies, vinegars and syrup. They freeze beans, beets and tomatoes and potatoes, onion, winter squash and Brussels sprouts are put in winter storage.
The final project of the season is clean-up. Josette said "Everything is picked, tilled and cleaned up. We're ready to be done with it."
Personal touch. Even though the gardens are a joint venture and there exists a division of labor, Josette is the primary tender of ever-expanding flower gardens. She is a true plantswoman–using a variety of means to get the plants she wants to grow. She takes cuttings and divisions and travels to various nurseries. Some plants from her Stillwater home were transplanted to Nurmijarvi.
But what strikes one almost as much as the interplay of colors and the profusion of blossoms are the personal, sometimes whimsical touches Josette inserts.
In addition to ready-made artistic pieces–a stone statue, vivid red glass hummingbird feeder, weathered copper dragonfly and wind chimes–Josette has crafted her own. She created a rustic trellis with long, curving branches of birch. In another part of the landscape sits a birdbath she made and embellished with pretty tiles and stones.
Passing the torch. The passion that Josette and Dave devote to their gardens is being passed on to the next generation in two important ways. Their children, Sara and Steve, who "grew up on real food," Josette said, caught the bug and are establishing gardens at their own homes now.
In addition, each year Josette reaches hundreds of children in her classroom. She said, "I feel strongly that kids should know the origins of their food sources, that there is more than one kind of tomato and what 'fresh' really tastes like. I bring veggies from our garden whenever possible for our foods labs; hopefully the 'gardening bug' clicks with at least a few of my students."
This also appears in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.
