HOLLANDALE, Minn. — Lauri Jensen never used to like to cook. Then she joined Hilltop Greenhouse & Farms' Veggie Club, and the entire experience shifted her approach to preparing food.
Asked what she loves most about being part of the CSA program, Jensen was quick to say, "Everything. It's fresh produce weekly. I'm not really a cook, but it's encouraged me or gotten me involved in cooking different recipes because of what you get. It's made cooking fun again."
Hilltop, located a mile north of Hollandale, Minn., is a unique place in that it survived after a tornado wiped it out in June 2010. Owners Glenn and Gretchen Boldt lost their home and their business after the EF4 leveled everything on their property.
The saving grace, to them, was the help bestowed by friends and customers alike. "Families say they've lived here all their lives, and they don't recognize the place anymore," Gretchen Boldt said of area veterans. She knew earlier that June day that "it was a bad day. You just call them 'tornado days.'"
After the storm clouds passed, close friends, neighbors and customers turned out to aid them, Boldt said.
The Boldts lived in a trailer for more than a year as they underwent a reconstruction process. She never doubted that rebuilding is what they'd do – though she likens the tornado to a "death."
"We love what we do," Gretchen Boldt said. "We had customers – believe this – coming and buying plants. We were dragging plants out of the wreckage and dragging them off to the side. You don't know what else to do. We had customers coming and buying plants off the racks, just to help us out."
Since that day, Hilltop has undergone a rebirth. They landed the cities of Albert Lea and Austin as clients, with the cities adorning their streets with hanging floral baskets and planters. "She's got a great product and she's awesome to work with," said Kim Underwood with the city of Austin.
"We love Hilltop, and we love their work," echoed Susie Petersen of the Albert Lea Convention & Visitors Bureau. "(Gretchen) does a beautiful job. We __have gotten the most wonderful comments as visitors come in. It's a beautiful downtown that we have."
Hilltop also expanded its business by adding the Veggie Club, with weekly pick-ups during an 18-week period starting in June in Owatonna, Albert Lea and Austin. Hilltop has about 70 of those loyal, vegetable-loving customers now. Their motto is fresh, fresh, fresh.
"We grow great veggies that will last into fall," Gretchen Boldt said. "Our broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower. We try to do a nice variety." Gretchen even sends a newsletter to all of her Veggie Club customers, and includes a recipe. This season she'll add tips and tricks for preserving the vegetables into fall.
Hilltop hosts planting parties, too, where people come and create their own hanging baskets or planter of flowers. Gretchen has as many as 25 people per planting party. More and more, what they're doing at Hilltop is educating customers, she says, versus merely selling retail merchandise. "With a few helpful tips, it's amazing how good (your flowers) can be."
They've come a long way since the devastation dealt them in 2010, and an even longer way from when they started with one small greenhouse back in 1986. The Boldts found their way from western New York to Minnesota because Glenn had landed a job here, but soon enough they located the Hollandale property and knew it was home.
"We knew we couldn't work for anyone else," Gretchen Boldt said. "We had to farm again."
