Reflections on 10 years of Nursery Ownership

A lot has happened since 2013, when we decided to take the leap and become nursery owners.

We’ve added a few more people to our family. We’ve also said good bye to too many of our close loved ones.

We’ve had some great crew members come and go, retire, move on, and join us.

We’ve had the best customers who continue to support what we’re doing here in our backyard.

We’ve learned so much about each other, ourselves, running a business, and life.

We survived a global pandemic that many small businesses didn’t.

We planted many, many trees and shrubs in people’s yards, that bring them joy.

We’ve overworked ourselves, and we’ve set some boundaries so we can have more family time.

We’ve changed this business in ways that fit us and the lifestyle we intend to live.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on what’s happened since 2013.

The one thing that’s remained constant is our love for this land, our family, and continuing to serve you the best way we can.

Cheers to TEN YEARS!

Put a sticker on it.

I am so excited to share a super fun behind the scenes project I’ve been working on.

When we travel, I get ideas for creative ways to add a little more FUN to our business. We were up at the lake and went into our favorite ice cream shop, only to find some fun acrylic stickers to add to our water bottles (we love our YETIs).

After spending close to $20 on stickers for our family, I thought, why don’t we have some stickers for Natural Plus, so our customers can decorate their water bottles (or computers, or notebooks, or cars, or whatever they want!)

So I asked my very talented friend Ayesha if she would be up for the challenge of helping me make this project a reality. And she was. We met for a call, dreamed up the concepts, and she went to work. You know what’s cool? She created these illustrations of the nursery without ever having visited. (But now I can say she has been here all the way from Canada— another super cool fact if you ask me!)

So without further ado…. Here are the 4 new Natural Plus stickers available now:

Stickers available for purchase at the nursery!

The Impact You're Making When You Choose to Support Our Business

The Impact You're Making When You Choose to Support Our Business

We couldn’t do this business without you, our customer. So I wanted to share a little behind the scenes on how much your support means to us, and what it actually does for us. Your support keeps our business going but also gives us flexibility for our family while we have small children.

While it may seem that the only way to support a small business is to purchase something from them, that is far from the truth. Supporting us can mean telling your friends about us, liking, commenting, sharing our posts on social media, subscribing to and reading our emails, referring friends, and even reading this blog.

When you do choose to support and purchase from us, here is the impact you are making:

1. You provide me (Mary) the opportunity to be a mom first, then a business owner. We can afford to have employees, so that we can work ON our business and not IN it all of the time. Having employees also allows me to work when I can, and to spend most of my days taking care of Holtan. When the new baby comes, I will be able to make that a priority. While I don’t get a “maternity leave” I get something better… I don’t have to “return to work” after 3 months at home. I can I get to still be at home with my new baby and my family.

2. You help us create a life we love, by taking some time off in the winter for our family, and having a flexible schedule when we need it. This is especially important this winter as we prepare to add another family member to our clan, but this also includes our extended family, being able to be there for them when they need us too. Family is what matters most to us, and you allow us to live this out day after day.

3. You’ve maybe seen the quote, but when you buy from a small local business, an actual person does a happy dance. This is absolutely 100% true. I get so excited when I hear from one of you that you are interested in something we are doing! You empower us as business owners to keep doing what we’re doing, which in turn provides jobs for other families, and helps sustain our communities.

4. As you support our business by coming to us with questions, referring us to your friends, and just talking about us in general, you empower and encourage us to learn more about being business owners, and connect with other business owners in our community. This just builds a stronger network of people supporting other people and you just can’t argue with the benefits of that!

These are just a few ways you are making an impact when you choose to support and purchase from small businesses like ours. We want to thank you for continuing to show up for us, and we are looking forward to Spring 2020!

It's strawberry picking time!

Picking (or eating) strawberries at the Furleigh Farm

Holtan and I had a blast at the Furleigh Fruit and Vegetable Farm picking our own strawberries.

We took the golf cart over, spent some time in the fields, ate our share of the sweet treats, and took more than enough home to share with friends and family.

And we WILL go back again this season.

If you haven’t checked out the Furleigh Farm for fresh picked strawberries (you pick or buy them already picked), don’t miss out!

I also love the Furleigh Farm for other vegetables throughout the season AND they are the hub for the North Iowa Fresh Bounty Box this year. There is so much opportunity to eat local!