Deeply rooted in Houston County

CALEDONIA — What began as a simple farm stand run by Kevin and Kristi Schuldt has evolved into Heartland Blooms-n-Berry Farm — a thriving operation dedicated to seasonal flowers, bushels of berries, organic practices and community events that bring folks together.

For those reasons, the Schuldts have been named the 2026 Houston County Farm Family of the Year.

“We were shocked,” Kevin said. “There’s a lot of other family farms that are bigger than us and that deserve it, too, so we’re very humbled.”

In 2017, the Schuldts made the decision to move from Chicago to Caledonia to take over Kevin’s 156-acre family farm. His parents, Jeff and Colleen, were taking a step back and moving into town, and while the family farm did not originally begin as a berry or flower farm, the roots were planted long before.

“We’re the third generation of farmers here,” Kevin said. “My grandpa grew pretty much everything; he had a big garden and about almost every animal that you could have on a farm — geese, poultry, pigs, sheep. My dad was more into cattle and crop farming.”

Kristi also comes from an agriculture background. Her grandfather still farms in Illinois and was the inspiration for her floral passion.

As the couple settled in, they started planting veggies and Kristi planted flowers. When they had a surplus of produce from their garden, they looked for a way to turn a profit.

“We put up a farm stand during COVID, and we put ‘Pay what you can. We’re all in this together,’” Kevin said. “We had fresh produce and some other things out there, and it went really well; the flowers were going the fastest.”

Kristi agreed.

“We just put flowers out to see if anybody wanted them, and they did,” she said. “It’s just getting bigger and bigger.”

Today, the farm has five acres dedicated solely to growing a wide range of flowers and plants, such as dahlias, tulips, sunflowers, peonies and calla lilies, spread throughout the yard and old pasture land. Year round, the Schuldts ensure flowers are available for spring and summer subscriptions, mixed bouquets at the farmstand, do-it-yourself buckets, wedding arrangements, dried flower and wreath workshops, farm tours and other events.

“When we pick what we’re growing, we try to find unique plants that not everybody’s going to grow in their own yard — otherwise, it’s not interesting for them to come and get them from us,” Kristi said. “We’ve had a lot of failures, (and) we try a lot of different things. Sometimes, they don’t work out, and other times, they’ve been a nice, pleasant surprise.”

Kevin and Kristi perform most of the work on the farm, with Kevin focusing on prepping flower beds and irrigating while Kristi cuts and orders seeds. Colleen, Jeff and a part-time employee visit often to help mow and weed as well.

The business is also known for the raspberry, blackberry and blueberry bushes found on the farm, with the Schuldt children — Henry and Emma — helping pick and taste test. However, the blueberry plants are only 5 years old, meaning customers will need to wait a little longer for a full harvest.

“Kristi likes blueberries quite a bit, so we put in 300 of them right away, which was a big failure because they were a year old,” Kevin said. “Now, we have about 100 plants, (and) they’re starting to take off, but blueberries are a tough one; they’re pretty finicky.”

Using no herbicides, pesticides or artificial fertilizers, the Schuldts take pride in their organic practices. One is the use of specific flowers to attract beneficial bugs and trap pests. Some flowers are wrapped in netting to protect them from bugs, if necessary. Additionally, they utilize chickens to clean and fertilize around the farm.

“I don’t see a benefit of putting spray for bugs on a flower, cutting them and letting people put it on their dinner table,” Kevin said. “We use compost and good, natural fertilizers, so I’m proud of that.”

Despite countless trials and errors, the farm is continuing to grow, hosting two major events each year: Dahlia Fest and Tulip Festival. Local vendors and guests are invited to come and participate by setting up, walking the fields, purchasing flowers and making bouquets.

“It’s pretty special because our local community has really taken us in,” Kristi said. “We have a lot of different places in town that have helped us out, so it’s very promising.”