Country Gardens Flowers,Vegetables, Plants
507-642-3386 507-236-6816 507-236-6372
Lewisville, Minnesota 56060
Member of Mankato Farmers Market & MN Grown
Country Gardens was founded in 1985. We headed off for the local Farmers Market, not knowing anything about it. A friend had told us about it, but didn't have any details. We had a good supply of eggs & some overgrown red beets. We arrived in Mankato old town district early on a Saturday morning. There were a crowd of people in a small parking lot. It was the market! A man came up to our car, asked what we had to sell, showed us a place to park. The rest is history, as we are entering our 23rd year.
Country Gardens had a high of 18 acres of vegetables at one time. As time went by, we have settled in to a 5 acre spread. We do more specialized items now. Our Sangria watermelons are still sought by the customers. Due to the varied nationalities of the customers, we have a lot of ethnic vegetables, such as eggplant, hot peppers, herbs & greens. I have been raising tomatoes in a greenhouse for a number of years. They are ready for sale by mid June & last until the end of October. These are in the ground grown, not hydroponic.
A number of years ago, the lady selling Gladiolus flowers at the market retired. We started growing them. We have somewhere around 12,000 bulbs that are planted & then dug every year. We sell the flowers, in bunches, 6 stems to a bunch. Our largest day in 2007 was 108 bunches.
We also did bedding plants for many years. But because of many changes & high cost of raising them, we have cut way back. Now we supply the county 4-H federation with plants & baskets. The members go to their friends & neighbors in February & take orders. We raise the plants to fill the orders. The few days before Mother's Day they pick them up & deliver to the people. 2008 was the second year & was nearly 50% more than the year before. The 4-H uses this money for their State Fair trips in August.
Our family is me, Bernie, my wife, Bertha, & our hard working son, Bernie Jr. We get some help from the little grandson & granddaughter, Jordan & Audrianna.
We are located halfway between Madelia & St. James, Minnesota, just off of State Highway #60. We welcome visitors any time. You can get a grand tour of the place & even take some farm fresh eggs with you!
Waiting for Farmers Market to open, August 16, 2007. Bernie Jr., Kevin, & Mary.
Grand kids like to sell at the Market.
Jordan on the left, Audrianna on the right.