Saturday, April 20, 2024 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres Saturday, April 20, 2024
PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #861 Sauk Rapids, MN 2 Second Ave S Suite 135 Sauk Rapids MN 56379
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume 11, Edition 05
Cultivating
life, beauty in times of woe
Big Poppa Plantery owner out to be so easy. It was so cool to turns hobby into lucrative business watchWithit grow.” diagnosed attention-deficit/ BY SARA EISINGER STAFF WRITER
BELGRADE — Jasmine Barkley found herself jobless in June 2020. Bored and stuck indoors due to pandemic restrictions, the future Big Poppa Plantery owner purchased her first house plant with no inclination it would bring new life to so many. “I needed to embrace the idea that houseplants aren’t just plants,” Barkley said. “They bring healing, happiness and peace.” Located in Belgrade, the indoor plant business outgrew its original 700-square-foot space to flourish in a home, equipped with a 20- by 20-foot room. The new room is large enough to hang the extra racks and shelves needed for up to 40 species of succulents, cacti, tropical plants and more to total approximately 1,000 house plants. Presently, Barkley sells at farmers markets in Richmond, Rice, Cold
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Publications The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
Spring, Sauk Rapids and St. Joseph. Recently, she was invited to sell at Belgrade Hardware. Plants can also be purchased online. Barkley’s indoor plant business sprouted following a spontaneous shopping trip to a hardware store plant department. “I thought, ‘I want a succulent from Mexico,’” she said. “I picked plants from Mexico because my grandma immigrated from Mexico to the U.S.” Barkley chose cacti and succulents, but things did not pan out at first. “I wanted plants I could relate to, and I killed them all,” she said. “That was when I decided I was going to make this work. Then, I picked up a heart-leaf philodendron. I thought it was pretty, and it turned
hyperactivity disorder, Barkley said she tends to hyperfocus on activities she finds enjoyable. “It turned into something I was always thinking about,” she said. “I was on the internet to research all of the time, and it grew from there.” Barkley learned about the peace lily, Monstera deliciosa, snake plant and philodendrons. She learned which plants were considered pet friendly, such as zebra plants, Hindu ropes, triostars and African violets.
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Jasmine Barkley holds a plant in January at Big Poppa Plantery in Belgrade. Barkley cares for 40 plant varieties and up to 1,000 plants at a time.
Barkley page 2
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Zanzibar Gem and philodendron plants are among the vast selection customers can choose from at Big Poppa Plantery in Belgrade. Owner Jasmine Barkley started growing and selling plants during the coronavirus pandemic, sprouting a hobby into a full-fledged business venture.
This month in the
COUNTRY: Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on May 4, 2024
5
Horses promote positive change at Heartland Girls' Ranch Benson
7
Looking for rocks, making memories Tiffany Klaphake column
11 Homegrown love baked into every bite Cold Spring 15 Connecting growers to buyers, educating about food Little Falls 19 Flowers, vegetables, knowledge abound Greenleaf Township
21 Country cooking St. Anthony 22 Nothing outstanding Nancy Packard Leasman column 25 Using land to its full potential Litchfield