Celebrating Minnesota Grown with Untiedt's
Celebrating Minnesota Grown with Untiedt's
Minnesota Grown is synonymous with Untiedt's Vegetable Farm. Of the nearly 50 local producers we work with during the key harvest months of August, September and October, Untiedt's provides Kowalski's customers with more varieties of Minnesota Grown produce ...
Minnesota Grown is synonymous with Untiedt's Vegetable Farm. Of the nearly 50 local producers we work with during the key harvest months of August, September and October, Untiedt's provides Kowalski's customers with more varieties of Minnesota Grown produce than any other single local farmer. They also operatate a number of garden centers and roadside stands throughout the Twin Cities metro area and even provide the Minnesota State Fair with their famous sweet corn!
Untiedt's motto is "We Grow for You," but it might just as well be "We Pick for You," as every single piece of Untiedt's produce is picked by hand. This includes tomatoes (Beefsteak-style, San Marzano, heirloom and grape), sweet corn, winter squash, green and wax beans, Zestar and Honeycrisp apples, yellow and green zucchini, pumpkins, watermelon, Sugar Cube cantaloupe, muskmelon, chub cucumbers and many more!
Whether you think of hand-harvesting as "the old-fashioned way," "the hard way" or "the rightway," it has simply been The Untiedt Way for 49 years.
In 1971, without any experience in family farming, Sue and Jerry Untiedt settled 40 acres of farmland in rural Wright County near Waverly, Minnesota, along the banks of the North Fork of the Crow River. Over the years they added about 1,500 acres plus four daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren to their little farming experiment. Produce variety expanded, too, from sweet corn, pumpkin and squash to more than 40 flower, fruit and vegetable crops.
Growing top-quality produce that tastes amazing while minimizing the use of nonrenewable resources and the effort of farm labors has yielded success for this now third-generation family farm. Production continues to prosper with responsible, sustainable land management rooted in creativity, learning and harmony.
Harmony among family, employees and the environment guides decision-making at Untiedt's, where they believe and respect an old Native American adage: "We have not inherited these lands, but borrowed them from our grandchildren." Company standards dictate that education be as much a farm product as actual produce. For this reason, Untiedt's conducts regular farm tours, hoping to be a positive, contributing force in the farming industry as they share what they have learned about the land and stewardly land practices. Their efforts help guide those who wish to better understand nature and agriculture and who lack the opportunity to experience farm culture and processes firsthand.
Recently the Kowalski's team took a literal field trip to Untiedt's to freshen up their understanding of the special practices and technologies in place at the farm. Their farming techniques not only provide the best produce in the Twin Cities, but more importantly, they protect the land, the soil and the animals at the farm.
Take a look at a few of the special ways Untiedt's is leading the way in local agriculture:
