Meet Michelle Grosek | Organic Vegetable Grower

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Grosek and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, what do you want your legacy to be?
I think when a person gets into their 50s they do some self-analysis about what they’ve accomplished so far (a little) and what is left to be done in their life (a lot). I do not work out in the gardens and greenhouses by myself now as much as I used to because I have some great people helping with those tasks, but occasionally I have a day of quiet gardening and contemplation time and my meandering thoughts pretty much always come back to the same place: If I have made just one person feel comfortable in their own skin and allowed them the space to learn something that will be fulfilling to them, then I have been successful. I like to share information with people in the hopes that they can take some piece of that information and go on and have their own light bulb moments and opportunities to share with someone else. I have realized I will never get rich off of the bits of knowledge I have because I like to just freely give them away here and there. 🙂 Ultimately, I just want to be remembered as being kind and patient with just a hint of getting pissed off now and again at big money, big politics, and big hypocrisy. It’s okay to live a gentle life and still get mad sometimes if you can find a productive way to work through that madness.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have done a few seemingly unrelated jobs in my life and feel they have all pointed me to exactly where I am today. I started out counting change and folding washcloths in my parents’ laundromat in Newell, South Dakota, when I was ages 2 to 8 years old in the 60s/early 70s. When I went to kindergarten I did not understand why all the kids didn’t know how many pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars were in a dollar. I still get some peace of mind from folding washcloths and towels! At 13 I went to work at a Tastee Freez drive-in and realized being a carhop/waitress absolutely was NOT my strong point and moved up to soda fountain and cook positions as quickly as I could. I stayed with that job all the way through high school and had a blast. Out of high school I had the chance to be a dental assistant and then a nurse’s aide in a nursing home and then eventually heading up a very small medical records department. When my kids were young I started contracting medical transcription to do at home and continued that for 15 years.

Eventually I went back to school and got my bachelor’s degree in business and marketing and my husband and I then started a nonprofit organization focusing on making the arts accessible to all ages, but specifically kiddos. This organization lined up music, art, and theatre instructors who worked one-on-one and with groups to expand the arts offerings in our small community. After seven years of daily organizing with that organization I decided it was time to step away and go to my true calling, working in the soil and growing things. My mom had a small garden when I was a kid and that was her quiet place after work and she loved working in the garden and preserving the food that came out of her garden. The garden was always a peaceful, happy place for her as it was for me when our own kids were young and helping me in my garden. I had become a Master Gardener along the way and worked part-time in a local greenhouse during their spring planting seasons and I was ready to get out from behind a computer everyday and get outside into the fresh air and get my hands dirty.

Every single job I have had in my life has helped prepare me for what I am doing now. Growing organic vegetables and helping people eat more nutritiously often times takes me back to the years of typing up doctors’ notes and lab results during my transcription days not to mention all the dental office experiences and nursing home nutrition discussions. Everything comes full circle for me from playing in the dirt as a kid to now focusing on building soil in my gardens while building nutrition in the vegetables I grow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I always enjoy showing people around our area or giving them ideas of places to visit. Our farm is just a few miles outside of Sturgis, South Dakota. We are very near a geologic feature called Bear Butte, emphasis on the long “u” sound. A butte is essentially a small mountain, often isolated from other mountains, with often steep sides. Because Bear Butte is isolated away from other hills and located out on the prairie, it is a very visible and interesting feature. We have a wonderful view of the butte from our farm and always suggest friends and customers to go to the visitor center at the state park and learn the Native American beliefs about the mountain. Our farm is located just on the edge of the Black Hills and we do have a vacation rental on our farm. We encourage our guests to participate in the many outdoor activities available locally including hiking and biking the Centennial and Mickelson Trails, cross-country and downhill skiing in the winter, boating and fishing in the summer, driving the scenic byways through the Black Hills, researching the history of prospecting and gold mining in the Hills, and of course the cavalry encampment at nearby Ft. Meade. Sturgis has its own distinct tourism draw with the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that brings in a half million people to the area during the first full week of August. Our daughter, Veronica, is the Director of the Sturgis Area Chamber of Commerce and supplies us with all of the area event listings and attractions. We also like to share local live music venues with our guests so they can get a feel for the strong music scene in the Black Hills area.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh wow! So many people and groups and books! My first shoutout goes to my husband for supporting my ideas, hobbies, and dreams always and without hesitancy. He has always kept a full-time job with good benefits so that I could work part-time at home to be with our kiddos, then so I could go back to school and start a nonprofit organization, then so I could step away from that and start my gardens and greenhouses on our farm. Whatever I do he is 100% involved in when he is not at work. I honestly do not know how he does it.

Next, I need to give a big shoutout to my family. My parents instilled in me a sense of entrepreneurship, women’s equality and rights, being kind while also taking no BS from anyone, and looking at both sides of a topic or situation. I am the youngest of five children and my siblings are all extremely supportive of me and my endeavors and frequently join in on the chaos of gardening, beekeeping, canning, starting a new business, etc. I know they always have my back.

My two kiddos are my dream people. I strive to be more like them as they are good people and are two of my best advisors in life. It is very fulfilling to work hard to raise your children and then at some point realize that you can relax a little and maybe even lean on them when needed.

I am surrounded by such capable and inspiring people from my friends to other local food producers to organizations and institutions helping with trainings, idea-sharing, research, and maybe even financial support now and again to just keep growing good food and educating the public about local foods. Right now I work quite a bit with South Dakota Specialty Producers Association, Dakota Rural Action, and South Dakota State University and SDSU Extension and I enjoy their support of the small organic producer in a big nonorganic corporate world.

I share two books as my go-to inspirational reads: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman.

Website: www.BearButteGardens.com

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