Today we’d like to introduce you to Caitlyn Bell.
Hi Caitlyn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Caitlyn Bell & I am the farmer-owner of Stone Hearth Farm & Garden. My fiancé, John Wiederhoeft, and I began our farming journey during the winter of 2020. But to rewind a little, our story started further back. We met in our first year of college at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, and we’ve been together ever since. We spent the first 7 years of our relationship living and working in Minneapolis, knowing we wanted to live a more sustainable lifestyle someday. As my career shifted from advertising to following a passion for sustainable, local food — starting a farm became a more attainable dream. In early 2020, we leaped to leave the city and moved in with John’s parents on their hobby farm in rural Madelia, MN. I started working for a nearby vegetable farm (Cedar Crate Farm) while John continued to work as an independent arborist and commute to the Twin Cities. While I farmed and learned, we started making more concrete goals toward starting our own farm business. During the winter of 2020, we took the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course, and that program helped jumpstart our dreams. And with that, Stone Hearth Farm & Garden was born! We officially launched with cut flower bouquets and a 10-member flower CSA in the Spring/Summer of 2021, and later that fall, we launched our dried floral products of floral wreaths and dried bouquets and pressed floral art as well. We are proud vendors at the Mankato Farmers’ Market & specialize in unique mixed bouquets and arrangements. In our second year, our growing space has more than doubled, and our CSA has grown to 30 members. We’ll also be trialing some fun food endeavors this season, including fermented hot sauce, pickled items & more.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not! When hitching your wagon to Mother Nature, nothing is ever as easy as you want it to be! Our first season (in 2021) was a drought year, which challenged us in many ways. Not only was it hard on the plants, and watering became a daily chore, but it was hard on our bodies and added many stressors to the business. It was trying, but we quickly learned how to adapt to what was given us. And also how to make the best of what we had. We could still attend most of the markets with a decent inventory, and we fulfilled our flower CSA every week, so it felt like we were successful even under these hard-growing conditions. We learned so much in our first year, and we’ve made some big infrastructure changes to help the business grow sustainably, including investing in drip irrigation for the flower field, so we save a lot of time from the hand watering we did last year.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Stone Hearth Farm & Garden, we strive to grow beautiful cut flowers to brighten our community. We follow holistic, sustainable practices to ensure you are getting the best quality blooms and you can feel good about the flowers you put on your table. Our seasonal, fresh flowers are available May through September via a 12-week summer CSA program and at the Mankato Farmers’ Market most Saturdays. Our naturally dried flowers and floral creations are available during the fall & winter months at local craft markets and the Winter Mankato Farmers’ Markets. We believe fresh flowers should brighten a room and enrich your soul. We try our best to farm alongside nature and encourage our pollinator friends to stop by too. We specialize in unique mixed bouquets with flowers that might be new to you. What sets us apart is the quality of our flowers. We harvest our flowers at their peak stage to give you the longest vase life at home. You can expect bouquets from us to last about a week, and sometimes longer! We are proud to farm the land we steward and aim to leave the land better than we found it. Sharing beauty through cut flowers is one of our most rewarding endeavors. The creativity we put into each bouquet and the smiles on your faces when you choose one to take home makes all the hard work worth it. We can’t wait to share the bounty of the seasons with you!
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking?
I think it’s safe to say that we are no strangers to risk-taking! We started our business amid a pandemic with little farming experience under our belts. We’re first-generation farmers and are whole-heartedly figuring it out as we go! We have a great community behind us and some great farming mentors (thank you, Dan & Lara Zimmerli!), but we took the leap and have been rewarded for taking that initial jump. We believe in following our dreams. We know great things can happen when you respect your intuitions, speak from the heart and live your passions. And that includes taking some (calculated) risks!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stonehearthfarm.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonehearthfarmandgarden/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stonehearthfarmandgarden
Image Credits
All images were taken by me or John and only represent our products or our likenesses.
