(DAKOTA CITY, NE) - Eat where you live. That's the message Peter Andersen and Susan Linderborg are sending to Siouxland.
Next to their home in Dakota City, Nebraska, the couple grows a 100% certified organic garden called "Of The Earth." Peter said he and Susan began their business as a way to educate the community.
Peter Andersen spent his childhood on his family's farm. When he grew up, he didn't want to follow in his parents' footsteps, but over the years, he found his own path.
"It's funny how things grow on you, I suppose. And I think really through time I've gotten much closer to the earth, although I was probably largely unaware of it," said Peter Andersen, co-owner of "Of The Earth."
He and Susan Linderborg started planting produce five years ago. Two years later, they built up their land to create a large, blooming garden.
"We just really wanted to grow our own food. And then once we started doing it, we loved it so much it was like well we can just grow a lot and then actually sell organic produce to our community," Susan Linderborg said, the other co-owner.
In late July, they invited the community to pick straight from their garden for free.
"We've always wanted to have people out to the garden and have them visit, have them be able to pick. Sort of be a kind of educational deal. That's pretty much what brought people out here today, I think," Andersen explained back in July.
Handing out their fresh food for people to see and taste is something both Susan and Peter feel is vital for everyone to experience.
"There's a real cost to this food, you know. And we don't see that when we ship things from abroad or even from California or wherever we're getting our produce," said Andersen. "And if we buy local, we're supporting our community, you know? We're keeping it all in the family."
"It makes me so happy to be out here and get to be outside and just digging in the dirt, even if it's like 1,000 degrees out, it's still amazing," said Linderborg.
Digging day in and day out not only makes them a smile. They're giving away grins, too.
"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy local and it's pretty much the same thing," said Andersen.
