A farming family in Sturgis has been promoting the health benefits of home-grown food for more than 20 years.
Now, they share their message by offering educational opportunities for visitors on their land.
Michelle and Rick Grosek own and operate Bear Butte Gardens an organic farm in Sturgis . They offer tours of their 120-acre farm which include activities designed to teach visitors about agriculture.
Michelle said they started with a small farm stand in 2018, at first only growing vegetables. Over time, they expanded to sell their own poultry and beef.
Michelle said they need a combination of customer-based services and off-farm income to fund their operation.
“We try to be pretty diverse, we have a lot of different ways that we are getting income coming in," she said. "The agritourism is a strong one, but mostly during the nice weather in South Dakota. So on the off season the, we really work on, like today I am canning a lot, and we're drying and freezing stuff to have to sell through the winter months.”
The Groseks participate in a Community Supported Agriculture program that's a pick-up model which helps bring income to the farm. Customers subscribe to a weekly or bi-weekly share of fresh organic vegetables. But with this system, customers pickup their produce which saves the Groseks money on delivery expenses.
Source: sdpb.org
Photo Credit: agritourismsd
Categories: South Dakota, Crops