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Fly Over Country Scribe

Frozen In Time

1/14/2025

Our lakes seem to be the result of quick-freeze wizardry, brought about by our typical January weather. Frozen in motion complete with cars traversing the frozen sea and a village of fish houses popping up on the tundra-like planet.

Inside our greenhouses, the sterile dormancy of January is reflected in a clean palette of new germination benches, waiting for the seeded trays to be placed in careful alignment. Soon, springtime temperatures will be introduced to the seeds and soil and the cycle will begin again inside.

Down Time

12/9/2023

Greenhouse benches, sanitized for spring,
Now to dormant respite, these shortened days bring.
As cold sub-arctic lips kiss the mirrored lakes,
Smoothing out the ripples and long-lost summer wakes.
Now, lengthened nights blossom with dancing colored beams
And dormancy envelopes even swiftly flowing streams.

Swan’s Song

10/28/2023

As the fall colors begin to fade, our local trumpeter swans remain to squeeze every possible day out of our ice-free season. Docks now begin their long dry land vigil, waiting for the next open water season. Diving rafts pulled out onto last summer’s grass, look out onto misty water, now rapidly cooling as cold air presses any remaining warmth from our lakes. The only blooms now are plastic pin-wheels in wilted flower pots.

Oh! Oh!

8/18/2023

The prairie blazing star is beginning to show color, the cup plants are blooming, and the vegetable garden is maturing. Finally, a big rain has blessed our parched summer. Yes, the season is changing. Many signs now as the days shorten and our mum crop in the greenhouse is beginning to bud.

Getting the Lead Out

7/10/2023

Now is the time of summer to see some of the native plants that send up unique and beautiful flower spikes. The dazzling Lead Plant is now in full bloom. There is also the graceful beauty of Culver’s Root, the rugged Hoary Vervain, and beautiful displays of Wild Lupine.

We now have a very good stock of most native plants in our greenhouses. It’s time to get the lead out and plant those pollinators.

June 16th, 2023

6/16/2023

We are now re-filling our greenhouse benches with lots of native plants for summer and fall plantings. We were happy to have a 4-H group of young gardening enthusiasts come to see how we propagate and grow in the greenhouses here at Glacial Ridge Growers. They each took home a plant to grow for the summer and got to see the fall mums in their formative stage as the 4-H’ers anticipate their fall mum sale fund-raiser.

A Compressed Season

6/1/2023

May has been very busy at the Greenhouses here at Glacial ridge Growers. With April not being very conducive to gardening, we have had plant sales compressed into a shorter time. It has also been a spring of compressed bloom-times for some of our native plants. Prairie Smoke, re-twigged dogwoods, wild lupines, and baptisia are all currently blooming. Enjoy them while you can.
As I continue to pursue my vegetable gardening, I am spending less time on my knees as I grow more of my veggies in raised beds. I have compressed more of my production into less but more intensive space.

Into the Great Wide Open

4/17/2023

Recent warmer weather has allowed us to open up greenhouses and bring spring air into the greenhouses. This week we will begin shipping plants to some of our customers. Soon spring will surely be upon in full measure. Time for our plants to begin their journey “into the great wide open.”

Bright and White

3/29/2023

As flamboyant colors begin to rage brightly in the greenhouse, winter’s whiteness still rages outside. As greenhouses fill, we know the snow eventually must recede. We feel we live the green dream each day as we are greeted by longer days and ever-quickening plant growth. Sharing our greenhouse production with 4-H garden enthusiasts also gives us hope for new young plant-lovers.

March 10th, 2023

3/10/2023

The agricultural class from the high school in Alexandria, Minnesota, along with their teacher Linnay Schweisthal visited our greenhouse on Thursday. Jeremiah Stark, one of the owners of Glacial Ridge Growers, led the class on a tour of the plant production facility.

Propagation, seeding, transplanting, and general requirements for a heathy crop were the topics of the tour. Growing with sound, sustainable, earth-friendly techniques was also part of the discussion.

The high school class will soon be receiving small plants from Glacial Ridge, which they will transplant and grow in the greenhouse at their high school. What a great opportunity to share our love of plants with a new generation of growers!