It started with pansies

LAKE CITY, Minn. — Kay Siewert’s gardening joy is cut flowers — specifically keeping fresh flowers on the altar at her local congregation, Trinity Lutheran Church-Lincoln.

“No matter what you are doing, you can be giving thanks to God, and you can show your appreciation to God and show your appreciation to others,” Siewert said. “This is just one small way of giving back to the church.”

Siewert donates three bouquets from her rural Lake City garden to her church each Sunday: one large bouquet for the altar and two for the sides of the sanctuary. For special events such as a pie social or a funeral, Siewert will also bring bouquets for the tables in the fellowship hall.

“It’s … an artistic thing that I can arrange these flowers, enjoy that artistic part, give them away, or use them for a week and then do it again next week,” Siewert said. “It’s not something you keep for a long time.”

In early October, Siewert brought 25 bouquets to an area local church for a funeral, just a few days after a frost.

“I think the Lord knew I needed these,” Siewert said.
“There was frost on the grass, but it wasn’t enough to take the flowers.”

Besides flower gardening, vegetable gardening and fruit gardening, Siewert is a mom of four sons — most of whom are grown — and also helps part time on Hyde Park Holsteins, operated by her husband, Kevin, and his family near Zumbro Falls. The dairy milks 700 cows, and Siewert helps feed the approximately 180 calves on milk every evening.

“I like raising the boys on the farm,” Siewert said. “That’s been a blessing, and they’re very involved with the farm. … (However) my husband knows I’m part time.”

Gardening has been her passion. It started at 2 years old, when her mom gave her a little plot of garden edged by rocks to tend. Each year, she would grow pansies.

“I still like pansies,” Siewert said.

Her mom is still alive and gardening today, and Siewert will look at seed catalogs together with her mom. Her mother-in-law is also a gardener so Siewert has gardening buddies on both sides.

“I share plants in both directions, (with) both moms,” Siewert said.

When planning her flower garden, Siewert looks to have flowers at their peak throughout the season.

“I want things to be blooming really early, all the way till really late,” Siewert said. “Then I have some flowers like these hydrangeas, they will dry well, so I can use them in the fall after it freezes.”

For winter flowers at church, Siewert has 35 amaryllis bulbs. She will bring five up from the basement each week.

“I’ll have two or three blooming for church every week,” Siewert said. “It’s hit and miss, because they don’t all grow at the same rate. … But whatever, it’s always fun in the middle of winter to have some fresh flowers.”

A new recent cut flower favorite has been dahlias. Siewert has eight varieties and plans to expand. This year, she cut flowers off them for about three months.

“If I can have something that will bloom for several months that’s really valuable for me,” Siewert said.

Siewert also grows a large vegetable garden for her family. Some of the vegetables include lettuce, spinach, kale, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, peppers, beans, zucchini, cucumbers, squash and pumpkins. She also grows fruit including strawberries, blackberries, apricots, cherries, raspberries, plums, apples and pears.

In summer, Siewert will bring entries to the Wabasha County Fair. She enters categories for floral arrangements, fresh fruits and vegetables, and canned or baked goods. In 2023, she was the Wabasha County open class premier exhibitor.

“(I take) whatever I can grab pretty fast,” Siewert said. “I just walk out to the garden, (and) whatever looks good I pick and take. … We have such a small county fair, so they need people to bring things. I feel like, well if people don’t bring, it’s not fun.”

Siewert cans and freezes and gives away fresh produce to friends and employees at the dairy. Her gardens are weeded by hand, although those close to the house have mulch for aesthetics.

“I like to dig in the dirt,” Siewert said. “I don’t use any plastic, and I don’t use any sprays. I just hoe and get down on my hands and knees.”

She spends time a few days a week in the gardens. The other days are generally spent doing yard work.

Her husband’s gardening contribution is manuring the garden each year. Over the 20 years they have been at their current farm, Siewert said the soil has improved significantly. Her kids, while at home, have mainly focused on the dairy and other activities.

“If I want time alone, I can definitely go to the garden and get time alone,” Siewert said.

Throughout her gardening endeavors, Siewert keeps focused on her faith.

“I feel like I plant the seeds, (and) the Lord waters it and makes things grow,” Siewert said.