Our Story
Meet your farmers, Caitlyn & John Wiederhoeft
We took the leap to leave the big, bustling city of Minneapolis and moved to the Wiederhoeft hobby farm in rural Madelia in the spring of 2020. Caitlyn started working for a nearby vegetable farm (Cedar Crate Farm), while John continued to work as an independent arborist in and around the Twin Cities. While Caitlyn farmed and learned, the two of us made more concrete goals toward starting our own farm business. We read many books, bought a few chickens, took the Farm Beginnings course through the Land Stewardship Project and with that, Stone Hearth Farm & Garden was born! The farm business was launched in the spring of 2021. We provide our farm goods via CSA, the Mankato Farmers’ Market, wholesale at the St. Peter Food Co-Op & Graze Food Co-Op & small events/weddings. With now four seasons under our belts, a newly minted marriage and a tiny house John built us onsite, we have grown to include cut flowers, a 55+ member Flower CSA, dried flowers & floral creations, sourdough bread & other scratch-made baked goods, fermented hot sauces, canned goods & more to our offerings! Stick around to follow our journey, us young farmers are ready to grow for you!
Our Values
We believe in being good stewards of the land and improving it for future generations to come.
We care deeply about the environment and commit to following sustainable and regenerative farming practices. We also strive to make homes for as many pollinators as possible.
We believe that all animals under our care should live full, happy lives. We’ve found that happy animals and their byproducts taste better. They have clean homes, fresh and nutritious food and access to the outdoors every single day.
We think sharing the bounty of what we grow is the best way to encourage others to do the same. There is nothing like growing food and flowers for yourself, but being able to share it with others makes it all the more fulfilling.
We believe in keeping things as local as possible, meaning we not only farm locally for you, but support our fellow farmers and business owners too! We all have to look out for each other.
We believe in following our dreams. We know great things can happen when we respect our intuitions, speak from the heart and live our passions.
Sharing beauty through cut flowers is one of our most rewarding endeavors. The creativity we put into each bouquet and the smiles on your faces when you choose one to take home makes all the hard work worth it.
We believe in honesty and transparency. Our farm practices are never a secret to you, ask us and we’ll always share. Or better yet, stop out and visit us too!
We believe in taking part in meaningful work. We are fortunate enough to work outside, alongside nature, every day. This allows us to enjoy all the seasons, appreciate the world around us and make sure others will get to do the same.
Our Farm Mascots
The pup
Our dog Yuki is a Border Collie-black Labrador Retriever-German Shepherd-Collie mix and we couldn’t be more smitten! She is very curious by nature and eager to follow us around the farm. She could play fetch for days on end. She is skilled at herding the chickens and loves having a job to do. We love having her sweet nature contributing to our wonderfully, chaotic life on the farm!
The cats
Momo (left) & Egg (right) are our two rescued kitties. Momo is a male Lynx point Siamese and Egg is a female Snowshoe Siamese. Just 6 months a part in age and inseparable since their 3rd day of meeting — it’s like they’re kindred siblings! Since leaving Minneapolis in 2020, the cats have quickly adapted to farm life. Both get plenty of time outside and help us with projects around the farm. They snuggle with us every night and fill our hearts with joy. And now, we’ve added a third kitten to the mix! Little Makita stole our hearts in the summer of 2024 & we love his rambunctious energy. The farm wouldn’t be quite as fun without ‘em!
The ladies
Our first flock of chickens were just 3 laying hens; Scarlet, our Gold Star; Gertrude and Henrietta, our Plymouth Barred Rocks (Gertie is still kicking). Since having them around, we’ve learned that chickens will always have a home at the farm. We increased our flock to 24 hens and the flock will certainly keep growing from there. Our logo pays homage to the original lovely ladies and our first venture into farming & keeping livestock.