This hasn’t been an intentional journey. But, it has been long. With many many small steps. And only recently with bigger more intentional steps.
Two early experiences planted seeds in me that only now are germinating. One, was my Great Grandmother, Hilda. I remember my visits to her house when I was young in rural Wisconsin. She was always outside with her straw hat on, a hoe in hand, and tending to her row after row of flowers. I now know she grew many Zinnias. A flower variety that we also grow!
The second experience is from my parents George and Darleen. My parents had 2 large(very large) gardens on there 3.5 acres of land. And they grew a little bit of everything. All the vegetable you can imagine, but, as a child I mostly remember enjoying the peas, green beans, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, and fresh sweet corn! But, they also had grapes, fruit trees, and flowers!
So, while the passion for gardening never took hold, little did I know it was just dormant - these memories were from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Then, in 2008, I started my first vegetable garden. I can’t even tell you why. Prior to this I had no interest in gardening - not one! But, I started. And, I am not shy of working hard. So, I worked, added compost to the soil, leaves as mulch, wood chips in the aisles as I know I didn’t want to weed. And, it was a success and we were able to share. And, it was rewarding and fun to spend time outside with the kids.
Then in 2014, I got bored of gardening in the summers and decided to try and grow vegetables in the winter! And as you can see in the picture we had some more success and even more joy to see these green thriving plants in the middle of the winter where it is snowy and cold outside!
And then Covid happened….and it was so depressing….and I had so much time on my hands. And we decided to give back! To grow cut flowers and give the flowers away to the medical community. We grew all sorts of flower varieties. Many thrived and many did not! So, we were in the middle of a big learning curve! But, when we gave the flowers away to medical personnel going through those tough Covid times, wow, little did we know how powerful flowers truly are! And how grateful people were! This is the energy we fed off of and kept us wanting to learn more!
And then we became introduced to Dahlia’s - by accident! We saw this yellow flower, in the picture on the right, in our garden and we just loved it! It was grown from seed from a flower mix that we had bought. And when friends and family would come over and all ask….what flower is that? So, I began to research. And found out it was a dahlia and that they can be grown from seed or from a tuber. This started us down a Dahlia journey that we are now on and learning a little more every year!
Here is our harvest from one of our Tuesday deliveries in the summer of 2023! We have learned a lot and we keep learning more! The variety and beauty of the dahlia is hard to beat! But, with over 300 dahlia blooms a week we needed to figure out a new place to donate these flowers and spread some more joy!
From 2019 - 2024 I had the privilege to work at Otterbox. They have a strong history of philanthropy and encourage all of there employees to give back to there community. They Grow to Give!
This gave me a more structured and supportive way to find my way in my way to give back.
So, with the help of some fellow employees, Otters, every Tuesday and Friday we delivered dahlia’s to the residents at Columbine Health Systems. The picture on the right is from the residents and employees! Wow, the power of flowers!
And now we are starting Pedaling Pedals! We are growing and selling seasonal specialty cut flowers to the local community via our website and also at the Fort Collins Farmer’s Market. And we will be selling Dahlia tubers and Peony roots to the greater United States.
All sustainably and locally grown in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Thank you and we hope to see you soon!