Our story
The Pollinator Patch owes its name to my husband Chris. He established the pollinator patch, our back two acres, by converting corn stubble into native perennials for habitat for his passion: wildlife. The patch was our first mark on this bit of land and provided the name for our business.
In addition to the native blooms, I grow dahlias, flowers so pretty that I am still amazed that they can thrive in Ohio. I sell most of the dahlia blooms wholesale to local florists. From August to mid-October, I harvest dahlias and elate as I watch my blooms go out into the world.
I grow the dahlias using organic methods — fertilizing primarily with composted steer manure, controlling weeds with landscape fabric and straw mulch, and managing pests by bagging blooms. The results, the blooms, are pretty great.
Our Family
Janell
I was raised on a dairy farm, then trained as an engineer, and since have tried to find my way back to farming. I worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer with organic cacao farmers in Panama, as a laborer at an organic farm in southeastern Ohio, and as an agricultural engineer for governmental soil and water conservation efforts. I continue to work full-time, now in GIS and taxmapping, and hustle dahlias on the side.
Chris
My husband Chris borrowed a tractor and a drill to plant our back two acres in native grasses and wildflowers during our first weeks at our property. He is an engineer with a marvelous mechanical mind. The Pollinator Patch exists because he brings life to old machines that plow new beds and move mountains of plant debris and compost.
Our Kids
Our son gives the best hugs. He sees when words are destined to fail and opens his arms wide. His preferred hairstyle is a mohawk, and his favorite dahlia blooms are the itty bitty white pompons of Small World.
Our daughter shyly delights in the spotlight and fills the air with emphatic observations. She hates being separated from her big brother, and her favorite dahlias are the massive burgundy blooms of Spartacus.
Our Farm & Our Products
We are proud of what we grow and how we grow it. Our blooms are field fresh, harvested at their peak, and sold locally. Our dahlia stock is meticulously tested for virus. The tubers are carefully hand dug, labeled, divided and stored.
We are committed to conservation. We resurrect and rebuild old machines and reuse what we can to reduce our consumption and waste. We reserve half of our property in prairie and woods, planting trees and native wildflowers while managing invasive species. We believe that we are investing in something larger than ourselves.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
— Wendell Berry (original version of quote)
