Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Podgornik.
Hi Diane, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
I was a science teacher at Proctor Schools for the first half of my career. I enjoyed teaching environmental science, geology, biology, astronomy, engineering, robotics, and more. I spent a lot of time attending, assisting, or coaching many of the activities and sports that my children were involved in throughout the years. After my last child graduated, I retired from Proctor and started building a farm on my property in Canosia Township, just outside of Duluth, MN. My husband and I opened an Airbnb on our property and started hosting families. The families loved the animals and walking the farm.
Our friends stopped over all the time to enjoy the farm and that is when I realized that we should make the farm a place where families could come and spend time with the animals and play on the farm. We had already planted many different types of berries and fruit trees on the farm and built a nice barn and pasture. We added Dinoland, a playground, yard games, a fire pit, a wagon route through the woods, a sandbox, and more. We opened to the public in the fall of 2020.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The pandemic hit and I was originally working on releasing quilt patterns that I had created to the public. All quilt shows were canceled and that is when my focus changed from quilting to the Whoopsa Daisy Farm. My Airbnb was empty and I needed some income. I started sewing and selling facemasks on Etsy and was able to replace all of my Airbnb income for the entire year.
We were all stuck at home and that is when it became obvious that if we were ever going to finish building the farm and open it up, this was the year. My husband did not see my vision at first, but let me go ahead with my plan to open the farm in the fall. On opening day, he sat in a lawn chair and watched then he said “I finally get it.” The next day, he started building me a wagon to tow behind my John Deere Gator and he built a wonderful wagon route through the property. We now work together on the creation of the farm.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have a Biology degree and a teaching degree. I always considered myself a very left-brained person. I never considered myself creative. But, I love to sew, garden, and work with wood. I have now discovered that I can make just about anything. I come from a family that is very handy. My father and brother are electrical wizards. My sister and I sew everything. My other brother is an artist. We all love boating and grew up on the water. I decided to take my woodworking to a new level and attempt to build a boat. I spent 2 years building a 22′ cabin cruiser. I bought a book of plans and figured out how to build it step by step.
I would buy materials as I went, just in case I got stuck, or screwed it up. But, I completed the project, and last summer I rented a dock and enjoyed the summer on my new boat. I am also proud of a set of quilts that I was able to create with my sister. They were accepted into a traveling exhibit and book called “Fly Me to the Moon”. The quilts were part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing. Our quilts depicted the Voyage of the Apollo Spacecraft to the moon and back. They were scientifically accurate and were meant as an explanation of the stages of the flight to the moon and back. They were hung at the Houston Space Center during the astronauts’ 50th-anniversary celebration in 2019.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Please come visit the Whoopsa Daisy Farm. It is in Duluth, MN, and is open to the public on weekends, August-October. We also host field trips, birthday parties, and special events. The Airbnb is open year-round on the property. Visit our website for more details at www.whoopsadaisyfarm.com.
Pricing:
- $7.00 a person for Fall Family Weekends
- Airbnb $175-$250/night
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whoopsadaisyfarm.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/whoopsadaisyfarm
