Jamming with garlic
Spranger’s garden leads to delicious food
By Emily Breth
STAFF WRITER
ELBOW LAKE — It is no surprise to be able to find fresh produce and freshly made jelly and jam at Andria and Jacob Spranger’s farm, ANJ Meadows.
“We grow just about everything,” Andria said. “On average, I will spend 5-6 hours in the garden per day. Then, in my spare time, I make my jellies and jams and crochet.”
The garden is close to 5,000 square feet, with a little over 2,300 feet of it covered by a polytunnel.
“One nice thing about the polytunnel is it protects (the plants) from some wind and rain,” Jacob said. “The unfortunate side of it, though, is that we have to water it daily. We try to plant water-loving plants outside to work with nature.”
A value the Sprangers hold closely to them is ensuring they let the crops grow on their own without any outside factors.
“I’d rather sell somebody something that is good quality rather than them getting something from the store,” Andria said. “We don’t add any chemicals or pesticides to our vegetables. It grows how it grows.”
Garlic is one of the products found at ANJ Meadows that has been growing since one year after Sprangers moved to the farm.
“Garlic is actually what started all of this,” Andria said. “We started about seven years ago, and this year we pulled about 3,000 heads.”
The original garlic plants were a gift from Jacob’s grandfather, who had been growing it for many years.
“We started (going to farmers) markets seven years ago, with me sitting in the back of my vehicle with a cooler of garlic,” Andria said. “Now we sell a bit of the garlic online, but most is through markets.”
Some of the leftover garlic one year turned out to be a hit when Andria decided to make jelly with it.
“I was looking through the canning book because I had no idea what to do with the garlic, and I came across the recipe for jelly,” Andria said. “When I used to go to the Hoffman Farmers Market, another lady and I would work together because her bread was really good with the jelly.”
Now the Sprangers attend farmers markets in Elbow Lake and Battle Lake each week. Andria has even taken over running the Elbow Lake market.
“I have gotten a few new vendors this year, and we are working towards getting a winter market set up,” Andria said.
“I learned a lot because I went through a lot of training and classes. It wasn’t required, but I did it so I could be better.”
Along with being a member of the markets, the couple is also a part of Minnesota Grown, Upper Midwest Garlic Growers Association and the Sustainable Farmers Association.
Andria also attends a few bigger shows throughout the year. She now attends about 15 shows but plans on adding more in the future and cutting back on the farmers markets.
“We know we want to do bigger shows since there is more networking with them,” Andria said. “However, I don’t want to give up the farmers markets either, because I like the local people and community.”
Being able to make connections at different events and farmers markets has helped ANJ Meadows expand its market.
“I meet someone new at these events and they will tell me about other events going on, so I am able to find more,” Andria said.
At the markets, Andria sells a range of products, from items she has crocheted to produce, goat milk soap, jam and jelly. The jams and jellies are among the newer products on the farm, having been first offered about four years ago.
“I just saw a need for it in the area because no one else in this area was making jam and jelly,” Andria said. “Right now, I think I have 30-35 different flavors. Some were customer requests, and some were just things I had left over and found a recipe for.”
Some of the most unique flavors that have been made include onion jam and pear Madagascar vanilla bean jelly.
“My favorite part of all this is making the jellies and getting to see people,” Andria said.
As every job comes with challenges, Andria’s is no exception. The biggest one is predators for her plants and animals.
“We moved here about eight years ago and have been slowly growing,” Andria said. “This is actually my family’s farm where I grew up. We lived in St. Cloud for 10 years and then moved back.”
Looking to the future, the Sprangers are not sure what the farm entails for them.
“We thought about possibly getting into the canned goods side rather than the produce,” Andria said. “We really haven’t decided yet; we are just going to keep going and see what happens.”
By Emily Breth
STAFF WRITER
ELBOW LAKE — It is no surprise to be able to find fresh produce and freshly made jelly and jam at Andria and Jacob Spranger’s farm, ANJ Meadows.
“We grow just about everything,” Andria said. “On average, I will spend 5-6 hours in the garden per day. Then, in my spare time, I make my jellies and jams and crochet.”
The garden is close to 5,000 square feet, with a little over 2,300 feet of it covered by a polytunnel.
“One nice thing about the polytunnel is it protects (the plants) from some wind and rain,” Jacob said. “The unfortunate side of it, though, is that we have to water it daily. We try to plant water-loving plants outside to work with nature.”
A value the Sprangers hold closely to them is ensuring they let the crops grow on their own without any outside factors.
“I’d rather sell somebody something that is good quality rather than them getting something from the store,” Andria said. “We don’t add any chemicals or pesticides to our vegetables. It grows how it grows.”
Garlic is one of the products found at ANJ Meadows that has been growing since one year after Sprangers moved to the farm.
“Garlic is actually what started all of this,” Andria said. “We started about seven years ago, and this year we pulled about 3,000 heads.”
The original garlic plants were a gift from Jacob’s grandfather, who had been growing it for many years.
“We started (going to farmers) markets seven years ago, with me sitting in the back of my vehicle with a cooler of garlic,” Andria said. “Now we sell a bit of the garlic online, but most is through markets.”
Some of the leftover garlic one year turned out to be a hit when Andria decided to make jelly with it.
“I was looking through the canning book because I had no idea what to do with the garlic, and I came across the recipe for jelly,” Andria said. “When I used to go to the Hoffman Farmers Market, another lady and I would work together because her bread was really good with the jelly.”
Now the Sprangers attend farmers markets in Elbow Lake and Battle Lake each week. Andria has even taken over running the Elbow Lake market.
“I have gotten a few new vendors this year, and we are working towards getting a winter market set up,” Andria said.
“I learned a lot because I went through a lot of training and classes. It wasn’t required, but I did it so I could be better.”
Along with being a member of the markets, the couple is also a part of Minnesota Grown, Upper Midwest Garlic Growers Association and the Sustainable Farmers Association.
Andria also attends a few bigger shows throughout the year. She now attends about 15 shows but plans on adding more in the future and cutting back on the farmers markets.
“We know we want to do bigger shows since there is more networking with them,” Andria said. “However, I don’t want to give up the farmers markets either, because I like the local people and community.”
Being able to make connections at different events and farmers markets has helped ANJ Meadows expand its market.
“I meet someone new at these events and they will tell me about other events going on, so I am able to find more,” Andria said.
At the markets, Andria sells a range of products, from items she has crocheted to produce, goat milk soap, jam and jelly. The jams and jellies are among the newer products on the farm, having been first offered about four years ago.
“I just saw a need for it in the area because no one else in this area was making jam and jelly,” Andria said. “Right now, I think I have 30-35 different flavors. Some were customer requests, and some were just things I had left over and found a recipe for.”
Some of the most unique flavors that have been made include onion jam and pear Madagascar vanilla bean jelly.
“My favorite part of all this is making the jellies and getting to see people,” Andria said.
As every job comes with challenges, Andria’s is no exception. The biggest one is predators for her plants and animals.
“We moved here about eight years ago and have been slowly growing,” Andria said. “This is actually my family’s farm where I grew up. We lived in St. Cloud for 10 years and then moved back.”
Looking to the future, the Sprangers are not sure what the farm entails for them.
“We thought about possibly getting into the canned goods side rather than the produce,” Andria said. “We really haven’t decided yet; we are just going to keep going and see what happens.”
