Spring is Year-Around at Extended Seasons in Bagley
Tue, 04/21/2015 - 10:26am
admin
By:
Pam Goebel
As a novice gardener but a dedicated foodie, I was intrigued by the new store in Bagley called ”Extended Seasons Indoor Gardening”. Entering the store, you are greeted by owner, Dan Swanson. Dan is originally from Mankato, where he met his wife Cherish (Hagen), originally from Clearbrook. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gordy Hagen of Clearbrook.
When Cherish accepted a position at BSU, it was the perfect opportunity for Dan to open the store that caters to his passion: high quality food production, with no weeding!
A friend sparked his interest in hydroponic container gar-dening about five years ago.
With the intense focus now on healthy, clean eating and obtaining foods that contribute to our health, Extended Seasons is an exciting new addition to our communities.
Can you imagine going to your living room and snipping fresh lettuce, peppers and herbs for a salad in January? Or how about kale for your smoothie in February? This is something I am definitely ready to try!
The store focuses on home hydroponic gardening. In the hydroponic garden, plants are started and grown with no soil (and no weeds!) and are maintained with a timed pump that bathes the roots in nutrient rich water. Dan starts with reverse osmosis water and adds nutrients so he is able to have better control over what the plant receives.
Dan has different displays to look at in his store that are in the growing stages for produce such as brussel sprouts, all kinds of peppers and lettuces, kale, herbs, melons, peas and more! Hydroponic gardening, even though you are using water, uses 70-90% less water than traditional gardening. If you are using this method indoors, you basically need to control the season with lighting, and with LED lighting this is becoming more cost effective all the time. It is easy to adapt to your space limitations as well, even using a shelf in a bookcase!
Hydroponically grown plants actually grow faster, since the nutrient is supplied directly to the plant ready to use, instead of having to extract those nutrients from the soil. You can also do hydroponic container gardening outdoors in the summer. (Still no weeding!)
Dan has designed and sells different kinds of set ups to begin your own hydroponic gardening system, and even has classes to help get you up to speed. Classes are held twice monthly for $10 or $15 per couple. You can register online for classes at www.extendedseasons.com, and of course, check him out on Facebook. Classes can also be arranged for interested groups.
Dan additionally sells many items for traditional gardening, such as bat guano and worm casings. These are natural ways to add nutrients back into our soil, which is depleted every year through traditional gardening. These nutrients are free of weed seeds and won’t contribute to the “I hate to weed” issue. (Is there a theme here?) Extended Gardens can help you with your seeds as well, stocking heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.
Extended Seasons Indoor Gardening attracts customers from all around our area, since the closest similar business is located in Duluth.
In addition to the hydroponic systems and accessories in the store, wife Cherish also makes and sells a line of natural soaps, lotions and laundry detergent.
You will find Extended Seasons at 613 Central St. West in Bagley.
Store hours are 10-6 Tuesday-Friday and 10-2 on Saturdays.