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 Mon-Fri: 8am - 8pm Sat: 8am - 5pm Sun: 9am - 7pm AFTER JUNE 1: Mon-Fri: 8am-6pm Sat: 8am - 5pm Sun: CLOSED Greenhouse Closes July 1 appointments available by request  218-427-2634 |
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For over 30 years the Byrns family has operated Byrns Greenhouse of Zim
Pictured (left to right):
Pat Byrns, Zeke Erickson, Peggy Byrns, Bob Byrns, Isaac Erickson, and owner/operator Deb Erickson, (granddaughter of Peggy, daughter of Bob & Pat, mother to Zeke and Isaac, and wife of Todd)
Theirs started out as a rutabaga and carrot farm in the middle of the Fens swamp near a little town called, Zim, not Zimmerman, just Zim. They grew and harvested, waxed, packed and shipped their produce from warehouses on the farm. In 1969 the warehouses burned to the ground and from the ashes, Byrns Greenhouse was born.
Working under glass and now an acre of plastic the same pride that grew and harvested vegetables is now providing high quality garden and container plants for everyone to enjoy.
Bob and Patricia, Francis and Peggy's son and daughter-in-law, joined them in 1977 and brought 2 daughters with them. The call for Bob and Pat to come home and work with the plants and soil was something they could not ignore. Under Bob's leadership they took a retail/wholesale greenhouse and sod company and turned it into a destination. Originally the Byrns would take their plants to Duluth on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the farmer's markets (which are still held today in the same location it was then). They also would set up roadside stands on Hwy. 53 and sell from them during the summer. Bob's sister, Louise joined the operation in 1985 and a assisted with the growth of the greenhouse.
Deborah, Bob and Patricia's youngest daughter, left home long enough to graduate from the University of Minnesota. After traveling the world with Todd, Deb's husband, a captain in the United States Army, and 2 sons Zeke and Isaac, they've come home to continue the family tradition.
As this first year of Deb's ownership begins, Zeke and Isaac are now starting to learn the skills and pride that makes Byrns Greenhouse of Zim a most unique and well known gardener's paradise, right smack dab in the middle of nowhere. If you drive in for a visit and you peek in the growing room you might still see Bob and Pat sitting on their stools, shoulder to shoulder planting and maybe Grandma Peggy is there too, filling pots with dirt at the young age of 89.
We hope that you will enjoy your visit and take time to relax and breath in the smells of the soil and growing things that are there to brighten even the gloomiest day.
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