When it comes to value added Agriculture, Holly and Barry Mawby have captured the very essence of thinking outside the field.

(Holly Mawby, gardendwellers Farm) "When I came back to North Dakota, we had lived in southern Minnesota for quite a while, I knew that I had to have my hands in the dirt and be back in horticulture."


Holly & Barry wanted to get back to growing but first they had to find a location. Their search led them to the nearly abandon town of Churchs Ferry.

(Holly Mawby) "With the infrastructure still being here the street lights, the side walks being right on the corner of two major highways we just decided that this was a really nice place to do this."


What this is...is gardendwellers Farm.

(Holly Mawby) "We are a large scale herb farm. We sell to restaurants and whole food stores. So we do two production lots full of different varieties of herbs." From oregano to rosemary, marjoram to tarragon the Mawbys have it covered. Combine that with their floral field and theme gardens it adds up to a whole lot of work.

(Holly Mawby) "We've got about five acres total, two-two and a half under production.

(Barry Mawby, gardendwellers Farm) "It's mowing, it's tilling, weeding certain beds. Thursday nights and Friday nights it's a harvest whether it's raining or not."


And Saturday it's off to Grand Forks for delivery and to the Farmers Market.

Considering that both Holly and Barry have full-time jobs outside the garden, they're pretty much going not stop from sun up to sun from the last frost of the season to the first frost in the fall. And then the winter season begins.

(Holly Mawby) "As far as our season as a business it is year 'round because I do a lot of public speaking and of course everyone has their gardening Saturdays and their gardening days between January and April."


Someday Holly and Barry hope the gardendwellers grows big enough for Holly or Barry to quit their full-time job and focus solely on the herbs.

(Holly Mawby) "And that's what we've been doing as a business is taking one small step at a time."


And thyme just happens to be one of the key ingredients that has brought the Mawbys success so quickly.

In Churchs Ferry, with Your Eye On Agriculture, Shaun Sipma KX News. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list