Note: We are deeply sad to say that Harold passed away due to complications from COVID-19 in January 2020. He was a special part of our market community and will be deeply missed. Read his eulogy and a note from the market, as well as a more recent follow-up blog article by Iglika Petrova.
Goldfinch Flowers is owned and operated by Bryan Gjevre and Harold Wilkins. Based out of Baldwin, Wisconsin, Goldfinch Flowers is a company that specializes in cut-flower bouquets and cut-flowering branches. Bryan and Harold, along with an additional three to four employees during the busy summer growing months, spend their time tending to and caring for a variety of plants on the eight acres that make Goldfinch Flowers Farm. These plants are then sold at our farmers market and to wholesalers and retailers.
Bryan is described as “someone born to grow flowers,” as he is said to have planted his first seeds by age four. He attended the University of Minnesota where he majored in ornamental horticulture. His lifelong passion led to much experience working in greenhouses, wholesale and garden centers. Harold also had a lifelong interest in gardening which began at a young age when accompanying his mother to greenhouses. This sparked a desire to learn how to grow ornamental plants. He studied at the University of Illinois, and went on to become a professor of Horticulture at the University of Minnesota for 25 years.
Bryan has been operating Goldfinch Flowers for eight years. As he has a lifelong passion for growing flowers and plants, much of his enjoyment comes from doing something that brings happiness. There is also the added satisfaction of growing plants in the Midwest, where a shorter outdoor growing season brings an opportunity to control the growing of plants during the winter in the basement under lights. Goldfinch Flowers employs sustainable and environmentally sound practices to grow its flowers and flowering branches. The business does not use chemicals until absolutely necessary and relies on plastic and paper mulching, weed hand pulling, and tilling for weed control. Goldfinch Flowers also uses cow manure, in addition to commercial fertilizer, to increase soil quality for cultivating.
