DURANGO, Iowa (AP) — As a child, Tracy Merfeld was frequently found at the Dubuque Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.
Her mother, Sheila “Dobie” Merfeld, was the new owner of Dobie’s Flowers & Produce, selling her wares at the market beginning in 1994. Tracy and her younger sisters, Amy and Molly, usually came around.
“It was like a giant game of Tetris, squeezing all the kids and all the plants into the van,” Tracy recalled.
“Their reward was to go to Walsh stores if they were really good,” Sheila added with a laugh.
The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that nearly three decades later, the family business is thriving. Dobie’s offers vegetables, fruits, herbs and eggs, as well as fresh and dried flower arrangements and starter plants, at several farmers’ markets in the area, including Dubuque Farmer’s Market and Dubuque Winter Farmer’s Market. Dubuque.
“I really like being able to give products to people who appreciate them,” Tracy said, as she served customers at the winter farmers’ market on a recent weekend. “You can talk to people who appreciate your stuff.”
Sheila began practicing organic gardening on the Durango family land in 1981.
“I never really gardened in my youth, but it got into my blood,” she said.
The company name is taken from a nickname Sheila acquired as a child.
“I was standing in front of the TV because everyone wanted to watch (the sitcom) ‘Dobie Gillis’ but I didn’t,” she said. “So they were like, ‘Step aside, Dobie,’ and then they all started calling me Dobie.”
Armed with a bright yellow van emblazoned with her company’s nickname, Sheila initially occupied a single stall at the Dubuque Farmer’s Market. The business now spans three stalls – with the yellow van a Dobie trademark – as it enters its 28th summer at the market.
These days, Tracy takes care of the vegetables and herbs for the business, while Sheila takes care of the flowers.
However, the whole family steps in where needed, with Sheila’s husband, David, keeping the equipment running and their daughters helping to arrange the bouquets of flowers.
Sheila hand waters many of her greenhouse plants and checks the seedlings regularly, as the temperature in the farm’s greenhouses can reach up to 100 degrees in the summer. She uses organic fertilizer, soil and pots and reuses all the plastic bins in which she buys her cuttings.
“It’s pretty much convenient,” she said one recent morning, gesturing one of the greenhouses toward hundreds of small plants and seedlings.
Each tray has been carefully marked to distinguish chives, spearmint, thyme, yarrow and other herbs and flowers.
Dobie’s Flowers & Produce has seen its share of hurdles, such as supply chain uncertainties and shortages brought about during the COVID-19 pandemic and summers of dry weather and widespread weeds in the steep, rocky terrain of the family property of 10 acres.
“It’s a lot more fun picking flowers than pulling weeds,” Tracy joked.
Sheila said the family uses a no-till farming method that has skyrocketed production since it was implemented about three years ago.
“Last year we had a bumper crop of tomatoes, peppers and potatoes,” she said, noting that the company also saw an explosion in sales of radishes and carrots.
The farm also has more than 200 blueberries, as well as 180 laying hens and a few roosters.
Business has boomed lately. Sheila said the family is producing about four times more flowers this year than last year due to increased demand. The family recently started growing heirloom roses, which Sheila hopes will be ready for customers in two to three years.
And, after two years at the winter farmers’ market, increased demands for produce led the Merfelds to expand their winter farming options.
Dobie’s Flowers & Produce has two greenhouses: a 20 foot by 48 foot heated greenhouse and a 12 foot by 20 foot unheated greenhouse.
Sheila said the family is building a new, larger greenhouse, which will measure 30 feet by 96 feet and allow for year-round outdoor cultivation.
“So far we haven’t felt the need to grow all year round because we haven’t felt the support from the community,” she said. “Now people are asking for products that we don’t have, but we have the potential to grow them now.”
Once the new greenhouse is operational, ideally in early May, the 20-by-48-foot greenhouse will likely serve as retail space for customers who visit the farm to purchase plants, Sheila said.
Shawn Vera has been a regular customer at the Merfelds’ stand at the Dubuque Farmer’s Market for four years and also visits them at the winter covered market to buy herbs and flowers.
“Their service is just phenomenal, and they have a good variety of products that I can’t find anywhere else,” Vera said.
