- [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(loon calling) (upbeat synth music) (engaging music) - [Host] Coming up next "Off 90," a floral designer from Mazeppa.

Kids learning about conservation in canoes.

And an award-winning inspirational author from Rochester.

It's all just ahead "Off 90."

(engaging music continues) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music) - [Allie] Like leave the main head, but everything that's coming off on the sides.

- [Van] Would you prefer us to sniff that or pinch that?

- Whichever's easiest.

- Okay.

- It doesn't matter.

- They pinch off like.

- Yeah, they pinch off really easy, but they're also like at sugar stage right now, so it's like so sticky.

(guitar strumming) I mean, it took us like an entire day to plant that row.

And it was like six flats.

I don't know what it is about them.

Hi, I'm Allie Kuppenbender.

I own Bleed Heart Floral Farm & Design.

It's a cut flower farm and design studio based in Mazeppa, Minnesota.

(guitar strumming) Yeah, so obviously the business is named Bleed Heart Floral, so it hearkens to bleeding hearts, which are blooming right now and they're...

I mean, obviously I love a lot of different flowers and like it's kind of like akin to picking your favorite child.

You can't or probably shouldn't do that.

But I definitely really, really have a soft spot for bleeding heart just 'cause like probably one of my earliest memories as a kid is my neighbor had a bleeding heart plant in their front yard, and we'd always like open them up and it was like the lady in the bathtub when you like open the flower.

So I just like have a really like visceral memory of like being a child and doing that.

And I've just always been really connected to like plants and the natural world.

I always wanted to be outside as a kid.

I went to school at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington and got a double major in studio art and sustainable agriculture, which sounds like a weird combination, but it works.

I never expected I'd be a farmer.

Like that wasn't like my dream job as a child, but like I wanted a job that I could be outside.

Like my favorite thing about owning this business is being able to be outside every day in nature.

Seeing the season change.

And I think that's also another reason why I picked like Bleed Heart as the business name is 'cause it really does evoke that feeling of like local flowers.

Like local flowers are really rooted in time and place.

Like you can only get bleeding heart in early spring, like May time, and it's not gonna be growing any other time of the year.

Like there's something really special in, especially like when you're getting married to like have flowers of the time and place that you're getting married.

Like every year if you got married in May when the lilacs are blooming, the scent of lilacs would remind you of your anniversary.

And just like having something like really special that took a lot of care and time and love at a celebration of love.

(guitar strumming) So the first few seasons, it was really just me growing the flowers, cutting the flowers, doing all of the prep work to like transplant and harvest.

All the work was on me.

And as we expanded I really needed a lot more help.

And it's just, yeah, it's like nice to not be by yourself 24/7.

- Can you hold this for me?

Or will it be four?

- Yes, no, there'll be three.

- Okay, because we did four twos.

- Yes, yes, that's... - I love the pansies.

There's tall pansies over there and the pansies over there.

They look like faces, and I think they're just the cutest thing in the world.

And there's so many different colors.

(guitar strumming) (soil squelching) (guitar strumming) The real question is what's your favorite flower right now?

Oh, the answer is what's in blue right now.

(mellow instrumental music) (mellow instrumental music continues) I saw an ad on social media that Allie was looking for some help on the farm, and I immediately reached out to her.

I like to press flowers on my own.

So I thought helping her would help me too.

And I just get to be surrounded by beautiful flowers and creatures, so it was a win-win.

And here I am in the dirt.

(laughs) We are planting poppies, and this specific variety I believe is Hungarian blue.

And then we're gonna be planting bread, bread sand?

- Bread seed.

- Bread seed.

(mellow instrumental music continues) And these get big and beautiful, and the bumblebees love it.

So when it is in bloom, it's a must see.

I can tell you what my least favorite weed is.

Purslane.

And then there's the fun part of harvesting the flowers.

(mellow instrumental music continues) - Van and Taylor are awesome, and it's like amazing to have them here.

We also have another person that works one day a week, Nikki, and it, yeah, it's just great to not have to worry about if I'm not doing it, it's not gonna get done.

- Okay.

- Do you wanna come out with me so you're not bugging them?

- That's where I'm going, where I have to go.

- We just bought 10 acres from our neighbor, so we're hopefully gonna expand into that over over time.

I definitely wanna grow a lot more like perennial-type crops and like woody, like foliage type items or like hydrangeas, dogwood, nine bark, smoke bush, like those types of things that like you need a lot more space to grow them, but they're like kind of a permanent planting once they're established.

They're a little bit less maintenance versus like annuals you have to plant out every year.

So definitely expanding into that and looking more at kind of like permanent or permaculture-type beds into that 10 acres.

And then we're also planning on building a new like studio workspace.

We've been operating out of our garage, which has been like great for the last five seasons, but we're definitely outgrowing it, especially like the cooler space, and we need more greenhouse space.

Cooler and greenhouse space, you always need more of those.

And just like having a designated like design space, especially for like weddings with like better natural light will be really nice.

(somber music) Tulip season is kind of the beginning of like local flower season here in Minnesota.

And that is kind of weather dependent, but usually late April, early May.

And then we go all the way until first frost in the fall.

And then also I run a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

Usually people are familiar with it in terms of like vegetables farm CSA, so you get like a weekly box of vegetables.

Same idea, it's just a bouquet CSA, so you get a weekly bouquet.

I deliver it to a forager every Thursday during tulip season.

And then June, July, August and September.

And it is monthly, so you can kind of pick which months or which flowers you like the best.

If you really like tulips or if you really like dahlia's, go for September.

Yeah, and you can order that through the website.

You can learn more and sign up for our emailing list at Bleedheartfloral.com.

That's where all of the CSAs and different events are available for purchase and kind of keep up to date with what's going on on the farm there.

Happy, happy growing.

It's gonna be a good season hopefully, yeah.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (engaging synth music) (people shouting) (upbeat music) (people shouting) - My name is Emily Casper.

We are currently in Austin, Minnesota on the Mill Ramsey Pond.

We are working on our Canoemobile program from an organization called Wilderness Inquiry based out of St. Paul, Minnesota.

- I'm Tim Ruzek, I'm the Water Plan and Outreach Coordinator for the Cedar River Watershed District.

Also part of Mower SWCD.

(upbeat rock music) So since 2018, we've used most of our state funding every year for aquatic invasive species prevention and awareness.

We don't have a whole lot of motor boat activity on our waterway, so we thought a better way would be to introduce kids to a fun and safe way of being on the water, make 'em appreciate water quality while also teaching them about aquatic invasive species and other ways they can help protect our waters.

So we saw or heard about Canoemobile as a program offered by Wilderness Inquiry out of the Twin Cities, a non-profit.

And we've been a great partner with them since then.

We've done, this is our seventh session of Canoemobile.

(upbeat rock music continues) - [Emily] So we bring six 22-foot north canoes to different locations around the US, and we bring local school groups and individuals out onto their local waterways.

(upbeat rock music continues) - Several thousand kids out on the water, all Mower County public and private schools.

And in recent years, we've added some of our Cedar River Watershed communities of Blooming Prairie, Hayfield, and Hollandale.

(upbeat rock music continues) So when I started with Mower SWCD in 2016, kind of looking for different ways to support schools with their efforts and also get our messaging and the programs across, our initiatives with water quality, flood reduction, water recreation, it was kind of a natural build to from in 2011 we led the effort to get the Cedar River named as a state water trail.

And so as we continue to work on ways, like even a year ago, adding a new canoe kayak axis below the Ramsey Dam out here of continuing to get people acquainted with the river, get them out on the water, see how fun it is, see how calming and relaxing it is.

And I think we're making strides with that.

I think there's a lot more water recreation going on in recent years.

(children chattering) You know, I've always been intrigued by the history of this area and the beauty of it, whether it was back when it was a golf course.

And the few times I'd come out and see, wow, there's this big, you know, for our our case, a big body of water, it's a lake.

Nobody knows about it, nobody's really using it.

So Canoemobile was an opportunity to use this as a way to open this up to other people's eyes that now that this is public land, this is really a jewel for us for natural resources.

We have no natural lakes in our county.

The river is it for us, and this is our biggest lake.

Why don't we get people more acquainted with it?

(children chattering) - I got involved with Wilderness Inquiry in 2021.

I had a friend who worked for them and I thought this job sounded awesome.

I love to get outside, and I love working with kids, so it sounded like the perfect fit for me.

So that's how I started.

(hands clapping) (children shouting) When I'm not doing this, I like to do pretty much what I do for a job.

I love being outside.

I love canoeing and paddle boarding and camping.

Hanging out with my friends, traveling.

This job really gives us a good opportunity to travel, which is awesome.

Last year, I went to 30 states doing this work, so that was pretty cool to get all of that in one year.

(upbeat music continues) Hoping to get kids and people excited about the outdoors.

I want them to get connected with these spaces and appreciate these spaces so that they feel a sense of urgency to protect these spaces as well.

(upbeat music) (children chattering) - The watershed district was formed to reduce flooding, improve water quality, but we've also taken on that other aspect of river recreation, trying to improve that.

We've also led adopt a river efforts, and so that's why we do some fun stuff out here with litter grabbers, trying to teach kids take out what you bring in.

I try to sneak in some history.

I've made the mistake of asking, "Anybody like history?"

And get some head shaking, "No."

But I think they find it interesting when I point out where we'd be all underwater from the 2004 flood, how devastating it can be.

And also why it is like it is today.

It goes back to 1871.

I think people, kids should be interested in a little bit about why things are the way they are today, and that can date back, you know, over 100 years ago.

(upbeat music continues) - [Emily] Yeah, I grew up being outside and really appreciating the spaces that I'm in, and then noticing the trash and pollution affecting the areas really fostered a sense of protection for me to wanna protect these areas as well.

So getting out here, being able to expose people to the outdoors, get them involved in the outdoors, I think is very rewarding for me to see them become passionate about it as well.

(upbeat music continues) - One of the bigger takeaways too is just the smiles on the kids' faces, especially those that don't get this opportunity.

For a lot of 'em, it's their first time on the water.

And some of 'em who use a wheelchair, this might be their only option to do that in a fun and safe way.

And some of those kids are the happiest coming off the river and that's really rewarding.

This Wilderness Inquiry group is amazing, and all the ways they know how to engage and work with kids.

(children chattering) - We want them to know that these are their spaces too, that this is a public space that they can come back here.

It's awesome to be able to get them out of their comfort zone as well.

A lot of these kids, it's their first time in these areas.

It's their first time on the canoe, first time on the water.

So a lot of times they're pretty scared, they're nervous, but then once they try it, they realize that they enjoy it, and they grow from that experience.

And yeah, it's awesome.

(upbeat music continues) - The very first year we said we would cover everything including busing so that the schools could get this experience and see if it was worthwhile.

It was unanimously, "Yes."

And so we just asked since then, other than the COVID year when it was a big, you know, chore for them to make it up, we used the AIS money, again, to help with the programming.

But everybody can come out here to do it for free.

The transportation is just something that the schools have to figure out, but it's a great opportunity to, again, give that to the kids, that experience.

And it is worthwhile with our AIS money because they're learning to appreciate the water, the river, and being good stewards of the river, whether that's picking up trash or not dumping their aquarium, which can lead to like our mystery snails, invasive species downtown to zebra mussels on boats.

So it's a lot of things thrown at them, but hopefully a lot of it sticks.

(water splashing) (water splashing) (upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Harriet Hodgson.

Welcome to my apartment, which is really a gallery.

(somber piano music) So the minute you enter my apartment, you see art.

I started writing books when I was very young.

When I was eight years old, I used to write and illustrate books for my friends in the neighborhood.

I was co-editor of my college literary magazine.

And when I started teaching, I thought, "Oh, I'll write some articles for teaching journals."

And much to my surprise, they accepted them.

And then I thought, "Oh, that is my name in print."

I was so excited.

I taught for a dozen years and finally retired from that.

I figured I'd given teaching all I could, and I thought, "I'm gonna try writing."

And that's what I did.

This is a shelf of the books I have written.

Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of every one, but "Winning" was released in September, and I'm very excited.

It is a finalist in the Indie Book of the Year Awards.

I'm very glad I was a writer married to a doctor.

First of all, my husband was an excellent writer himself.

I'm glad I had other things to think of during the day because if you don't have your own identity, it can be very difficult for a physician's wife.

But I had an identity, I had a purpose.

Basically, I write to figure things out.

I carry a small notebook with me because when I'm at the grocery store, I might get an idea for a book and I jot it down.

I had no idea when I started out that I would write 46 books.

I try to write books that help people.

Writing to help people in the long run helps me.

I'm glad to be here, and when we moved back, I walked out on the back deck and I threw out my arms, and I yelled, "Rochester, I love you!"

(somber piano music continues) And I do love Rochester.

And the people are kind, the people are caring.

(solemn piano music) In 2007, my daughter, who was a composite engineer, worked in Fridley, but lived in Rochester.

So she drove to Fridley every day.

Coming back from a meeting, she was intersecting from a rural road onto a main highway.

(solemn piano music) And apparently didn't see the oncoming car.

The car was hit broadside.

Her daughter was in the car.

One of the nurses from Mayo One called me and she said, "Your daughter has been in an accident."

And she said, "It's very bad."

(solemn piano music) Mayo surgeons operated on my daughter for 20 hours.

And finally the doctor said my daughter was brain dead.

My granddaughter had a mild concussion.

My daughter died on a Friday.

Two days later, my father-in-law died.

And then a couple of months later, my brother and only sibling died of cancer.

And then several months after that, my twin grandchildren's father died from the injuries he received in a second car crash.

(solemn piano music) We were their grandparents, and we're gonna do the best we could.

(solemn music) My husband and I looked at each other and said, you know, "Are we too old to do this?"

We're in our early 70s, but we did it.

We were there at the gymnastics meets, cheering.

We were there at the plays.

(solemn music) We did everything we could.

I began researching grief, and I learned a lot.

I learned about anticipatory grief, post-death grief, grief avoidance, which can be very problematic.

And I thought, "Gee, you know, "researching grief has helped me.

"Maybe it could help other people."

So I had been basically a health and wellness author, and I just switched to grief and grief healing.

My grandson is now a resident, a physician at Mayo Clinic.

Second year of residency.

And my granddaughter married a minister and has two young boys.

(solemn piano music) I think I wrote 40 books because I could not avoid writing 40 books.

There was always a book inside me.

I think because I'm so curious.

I am curious about everything in life.

We moved into Charter House in 2019, and my husband died in 2020.

And you were filming in his bedroom, which was a room of sadness.

It was packed wall to wall with medical equipment.

A week after my husband died, I was shocked.

I went online, and I ordered a round table.

And when it came, I put it in the middle of the room.

But then I realized my subconscious was telling me something.

And I realized that that round table was supposed to be a place of art.

I started doing doodle art early in the morning, and I did doodle art for about 20 minutes.

And in some ways it was like a nap.

(energetic music) And I realized it energized me, it refreshed me.

It took me away from my problems.

And I thought, "Oh, it's a book."

If it helps me, it could help other people.

And so I started writing "Grief Doodling: Bringing Back Your Smiles."

I was asked to serve as Chair of the Arts and Decorating Committee.

What I did not know was that I was in charge of the lobby display exhibit.

And all of a sudden I realized we're going to enter a new month and I had to have an exhibit.

What could I do?

I had a few teapots.

I ordered teapots online.

Charter House residents loved the teapot exhibit.

And the exhibit used to be changed every three months.

Now, I do it monthly.

They're excited about the next exhibit.

The one that's on now is coffee mugs.

I love this one.

"Washington DC was so expensive, "I only could buy half a mug."

(laughs) That's funny.

I wrote "Grief In Your Words" because I realized I had literally done it.

I had written 11 grief books.

And with everyone, I took a healing step forward.

With everyone, I took a step forward to the future that was waiting for me.

And I think attitude counts a lot.

I think the best way I can honor my loved ones is to enjoy the miracle of my life and be happy every day.

Every life is a miracle.

And if you think of it that way, then just embrace the miracle in honor of the loved ones who are gone.

(upbeat music) (upbeat soft rock music) (upbeat soft rock music continues) (children shouting) (people chattering) - [Child] I know, right?

(children chattering) (children chattering) (upbeat synth music) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

(loon calling)