Rural Frazee U-Pick flower field offers discount prices and welcomes kids

By Robert Williams

Editor

Cassie Thompson has a green thumb and needed something to do with it, despite having a full-time job and a large family. What to do exactly, did not come to mind right away.  ¶  “I don’t have a defining moment,” Thompson said. “I’ve always had a garden and grown vegetables and such, but I don’t actually love doing stuff with vegetables.”  ¶  The rise of small agricultural businesses in the area, despite the short growing season, helped point her in the right direction of a U-Pick Flower Field.  

¶  “Lately, I feel there has been a lot of “support local” and quite a few in a 40-mile radius that do flowers, so I was well, that might work,” she said.

At first, she and her husband Ethan planned to expand their regular garden to run a roadside stand and some deliveries.

“Then you go down the social media wormhole and YouTube and see what other people do and then I thought about making it more of an experience, instead of just picking up and leaving,” she said.

Last fall, Cassie joked with Ethan about using a large field on the front portion of their property in Evergreen Township. That soon came to fruition. Cassie and Ethan have lived on their farm for 10 years and the field her flowers have taken over was baled for most of that time.

This year, Thompson has been concentrating on growing annuals and does so because she wants to keep her flowers at a more reasonable cost.

“My hope was we’d be somewhere people could go to with kids; I know some people are a little more expensive because they have those premium flowers, but we have lots of sunflowers, snapdragons, zinnias,” said Thompson. “There are lots of varieties, but not so sophisticated.” 

Thompson’s love of providing a place for kids to enjoy nature comes from her own love of children. She and Ethan have eight kids.

The two met while in high school. Ethan graduated from Menahga and Cassie is a 2008 graduate of Frazee-Vergas High School. They both graduated from North Dakota State University, married during Cassie’s senior year, and then moved back to the area.

Cassie is a nurse at Essentia Health in Detroit Lakes and made the decision to grow flowers and sell them affordably just last year. Aside from a run of tulips this past spring, White Fence Flowers has only been open for two weeks. Business has been coming in simply by word of mouth, but the view helps, as well.

The field in bloom frequently stops traffic with the view of flowers surrounded by a white fence on County Highway 39.

“Or we’ll be out there and people will slow down,” she said.

Initially, Cassie was going to do just bouquets but as a frugal person, she wanted to justify the cost of her flowers. Part of the experience is coming out to the farm to enjoy the peace and quiet.

“I think if more people got out of towns the world would be a better place,” she laughed.

Customers are invited to use the flowers as backdrops for photos and just experience nature.

Plans for the future are to build on what worked the first year and a repair of the roadside stand that was wrecked during the last batch of storms that passed through on July 31.

“This year has been mostly learning – I’ve learned so much,” she said. “We’re just kind of getting the word out there.”

Cassie’s flowers can also be found for sale at The Monarch Coffee House in Frazee occasionally.

White Fence Flowers is located 12 miles from Frazee at 15515 County Highway 39, just south of the Country Road General Store and Toad Lake Store.

Her U-Pick flower garden is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Fridays 5-8:30 p.m.

Other dates and times are available for groups of at least four pickers. Reach out via Facebook (White Fence Flowers) with a specific date and time request.

Costs are $20 per quart jar and $7 for a kiddie jar. Cash or Venmo are accepted.