Local greenhouses see good sales

But as the weather warms, the sun shines and the grass greens, people are increasingly itching to get out of the house and rediscover life's simple pleasures, including the earthy joys of gardening.

Business has been notably blossoming at two area legacy destination greenhouses, which dodged a huge economic bullet this spring with their state designation as "essential" businesses.

Milaeger's

celebrates 60th

While able to hang the "Open" sign to welcome customers, in many respects the local greenhouse business has taken on a new look this year as the trade adapts to life in the COVID-19 era, implementing a variety of health and safety precautions to protect customers and staff.

"We're very conscious of the safety of our employees, as well as our customers," said Kris Milaeger Reisdorf, co-owner of 60-year-old Milaeger's. "We've doing everything we can to ensure their safety … curbside pickup, online ordering, delivery … It is very safe to shop here — and that's our ultimate concern."

main campus at 4838 Douglas Avenue in Caledonia, and a four-greenhouse campus at 8717 State Hwy. 11 in Sturtevant.

Reisdorf notes the sheer size of Milaeger's Douglas Avenue facility lends itself well to the de rigueur public health and wellness practice of social distancing.

"You can disperse and not be in a crowded situation," she said. "There's not much worry about running into somebody or having a crowded situation. The environment is very open … because we have such a large campus here. People feel very safe here."

As the 2020 gardening season gets underway in a time of unprecedented COVID-19-driven social and economic upheaval, Reisdorf reports "amazing" seed sales and "very strong" sales of flower and vegetable bedding plants, thanks in part to a noticeable rise in the number of novice gardeners.

As large segments of the population stay home due to the state's "Safer at Home" order, school closures and sharply-spiking unemployment, many are discovering — or rediscovering — the simple, old school joys of various home arts and crafts, including gardening.

"We find that we have quite a few new gardeners that have never had a vegetable garden before that are planning to have one this year … Grow it yourself and harvest it yourself," Reisdorf said. "There's a particular satisfaction and enjoyment that people get from saying, 'I did it myself. I was able to grow this plant from a really tiny plant and now it's something that has fruit that's edible.' And, I think, people are also finding beauty that they're never taken the time to look at before."

And after a long Wisconsin winter followed by a seemingly unending spring of pandemic-driven home isolation, Reisdorf said people are eager for a sense of new life and hope in the midst of uncertain times.

"People are happy to be in an environment where everything is blooming," she said. "The flowers are out and there's a bit of hope, I think. People … are ready to plant and anxious to be outside … People are saying, 'Thank you for being open. I needed this.' I think we all need something more positive in our life right now."

Nine-generation tradition

Spring plant sales are also growing at Wayne's Daughters Farms & Greenhouse, 2429 43rd Street in Raymond, one mile west of I-94 between Highways K and G. The farmstead has been in the family for nine generations, dating back to 1839.

With customer and employee health foremost in mind during the ongoing pandemic, co-owner Sandra Loppnow said several new health and safety protocols have been rolled out at Wayne's Daughters including a minimal contact checkout, adjusted operational hours, social distancing occupancy limits in greenhouses, limited staffing and services, staff use of masks and gloves and curbside pickup service.

COVID-19-spurred prohibitions against serving food saw the temporary suspension of the farm's longtime tradition of offering free popcorn to customers.

To simplify its operations this year in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Wayne's Daughters' "city" location at 6207 Douglas Avenue in Caledonia will be closed to retail, serving as secondary growing space. Between the two sites, Wayne's Daughters operates 50 greenhouses.

After opening for phone and online sales two weeks ago, Loppnow said heavy sales volume led to the suspension of additional phone and Internet orders, particularly after the farm site was opened to retail sales on April 24. The only phone orders still being taken are those placed by the disabled and homebound.

"It got so busy we couldn't run both (retail and mail order)," she noted of phone and online sales. "It's full up to capacity. We can't take anymore … We thought we'd be really slow. That's why we opened up the online. It has been a real surprise to us."

Retail traffic has also been significantly up at Wayne's Daughters.

"We were surprised how busy it's been, there's so many people coming out here," Loppnow said. "I'm just amazed — all ages, and a lot of elderly people. Even today, it's a rainy day and so many people are here … just to get out of the house and do something and see something … You can see it's just good for their souls. You can see their mood just lifting and a sense of hope. They're itching to have a purpose and to bring back some sort of semblance of what their life was like this time of year."

With "not enough seed to go around" to meet both retail and commercial demand and growing disruptions in the nation's food supply chain, Loppnow said "people are scared," with the farm's supply of vegetable bedding plants already in short supply.

"They're buying more than ever and earlier than ever," she said. "Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower — just everything. I'm very surprised at the numbers of vegetables going out."

A particularly big hit with customers this year have been Wayne's Daughter's "party basket" flowers, which have proven to be a COVID-19-inspired random act of kindness gift to brighten people's spirits.

"People were buying three, four, five, six of them because they were dropping them off on their neighbor's doorstep," Loppnow said. "A lot of people called to say what a joy it was to look out and see the flowers. A lot of people are doing good deeds with these little flowers … People are really thinking of each other. It's just something to see…"

Photo Credit: Adam Rogan, The Journal Times

Source: The Journal Times

Source: The Journal Times