Owl Creek Organics

How it began…

In 2011, I was a teacher in Minnesota and signed up for my first honey bee workshop in Hastings, Nebraska to learn about how to keep bees. My interest in bees initially began because of my love for gardening. I had read that bees could increase vegetable production because the bees pollinate the flowers of the vegetable plants. In 2013, I moved back to the family farm to be near my parents and family and to begin my market garden that I had always dreamed of having. That summer, I bought 2 hives. They did make a big difference in vegetable production. Each year after that I increased my numbers. I sold my produce at a variety of markets.

I had always had a love for jams starting when I was very young. Jam with toast and often peanut butter was the best snack and in my opinion, you have to put butter on the toast first then add your other toppings to make it the ultimate tasty snack!  

During a study abroad in Pau, France in 2006, I went  to a jam and jelly shop. They served me toast with 4 different kinds of jams, each in their own little silver dish on a beautiful plate accompanied by tea. I’d never tasted jam that good. The experience stuck with me and in 2014, I noticed a plum tree in the corner of my parents alfalfa field. So I harvested the plums and called my grandma to learn how to make jelly from them. She told me how to do it and with some trial and error, I made my first pink jelly from home-grown plums. I sweetened it with organic cane sugar and it turned out delicious but not every jam I made in the beginning was excellent. Practice makes perfect but I definitely had a knack for it because I have such an interest in making high quality jams.

In 2015, I created an LLC and named it Owl Creek Organics & Natural Products after the live creek that runs through the farm where my parents live. My goal was to sell high-quality jams made with organic ingredients, raise honeybees, produce honey and have a big garden and sell herbs and vegetables.  I did just that for a long time.

As my honey production increased, I started making creamed honeys in 2018 and added spices like cinnamon or dried wild berries to flavor them. They were and are very popular. Some of the most popular are caramel cinnamon roll and huckleberry.

Throughout the years, I have sold my product at markets and shows in Rapid City, Spearfish, Belle Fourche, Bismarck, Dickinson, Gillette, Casper, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Grand Forks, Minot, Pierre and Fargo.

In 2021, I built an overwintering building in South Dakota to store honey bees. The building also has a lot of storage space for honey bee boxes, a storefront and living quarters upstairs. The honey bees go in the back part of it for about 4 months out of the year.

After nearly 10 years of working near my parents and family in South Dakota, I  met my North Dakota husband who is a farmer near McVille and I now reside in McVille, North Dakota.  

Since it started, my business has evolved into what it is today which is primarily a jam and honey business. I still have my buildings in South Dakota. But I am working towards building all of what I had in South Dakota in North Dakota as it is where I now live. I currently have a kitchen and small extracting facility on the outskirts of McVille. It is what I started with in South Dakota. Start small and build up. I am just building up my following in North Dakota, not only buildings (kitchen, overwintering honey bee building, honey extracting facility and storage building), but also my clientele. It took me a long time to build my clientele in South Dakota (I still have a good following there and sell in retailers there). It is not an easy task and it takes time. I built my following in South Dakota by attending shows and farmer’s markets so I could sample out my product. I have been doing the same in North Dakota (going to shows and farmer’s markets). By using local products grown in North Dakota as well as Organic ingredients, I am staying true to my mission which is to sell natural jams, honey and hopefully one day again, vegetables and herbs.