New farmers collective offers year-round access to locally grown goods

Jennifer Much

Contributor

April 14, 2025

FRIENDSHIP – In Wisconsin, the weather and changing seasons can greatly impact the availability of fresh produce and non-commercial foods available to consumers.

Katherine Garrity – owner of Bloom Fusion Farmers Collective – said she is on a mission to swap that narrative by providing easy access to farm fresh goods.

In her newly opened shop located in the Town of Friendship, she said customers will find an impressive collection of natural and artisan farm-to-table commodities year-round. 

A great idea blossoms

Long before she considered the avenue of business ownership for herself, Garrity said she had been working from home as an accountant.

With a master’s degree in business administration and accounting under her belt, she said she spent her days helping start-ups – devoting the past 10 years to the industry. 

Then, two years ago, Garrity said she sought solitude and space with a relocation that resulted in starting a farm at her grandparents’ seasonal cabin.

“I decided to leave my six-figure accounting job and work the farm and attend farmers’ markets with my husband,” she said. “Our family then moved away from the city with a goal to live a more simple, slow-paced, minimalist lifestyle in the middle of the woods with minimal technology while being dependent on the land.”

The change in pace, Garrity said, allowed her to savor family time and to embrace a new adventure and career.

“After our second (child) was born, I couldn’t handle working at a desk and hearing my husband and kids go out to play with the animals without me,” she said. “Homesteading, growing what we eat, homeschooling our kids and spending all of our time with them became the most important to me.”

Garrity said leaving her traditional desk job was freeing and it felt intentional for her to start her own business.

She said she had also gained beneficial insight from her dad and grandpa as well, who both owned businesses.

“My resume actually says ‘accountant mindset, entrepreneurial spirit,’” she said. 

Up until she left the accounting field, Garrity said there hadn’t been any time available to expand her family’s farming operations.

Luckily, she said this all changed with a simple conversation that sparked a wholesome service to her community.

“I shouted out to my husband, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to have a small store with honey and produce and our farm products that you would otherwise find at a farmers’ market but could shop year-round, daily, in the same space?’” she said.

Though farmers’ markets are a popular venture for late spring and summer months, Garrity said finding fresh, locally grown foods during the fall and winter poses a greater challenge.

“It sounds a little funny repeating that now because this idea that I spoke out loud was basically a grocery store,” she said. “But finding locally sourced goods at a grocery store is near impossible, so there was a need.”

After securing a space at 313 Main St. in Friendship, Garrity said the concept behind her farm-to-table store began to unfold.

“The first item to tackle was a name and logo,” she said. “We needed something that encompassed a passion for the land, a more natural and organic lifestyle and (took into account) that the store would be a collection of amazing products from multiple farms.”

Garrity said she began to brainstorm phrases and images and drafted up concepts surrounding blooms.

She said she landed on Bloom Fusion Farmers Collective – a name which she feels wholeheartedly captures the essence of the store.

“We opted for ‘Farmers Collective’ versus ‘co-op’ since this store is a collective effort and always will be,” she said. 

A real farm-market feel

Upon her recent opening, Garrity said there are already more than 40 vendors who supply products to the collective, which she said will continue to grow. 

“We’re opening the store in three sections, as time allows for expansion,” she said. “I really designed section one-of-three to feel like you’re walking down a street market in Italy.”

Inside, Garrity said window awnings and string lights are hung and live plants bring a freshness to the space.

“We handcrafted a large, live-edge slab into a table to cover with produce like you would find at a street market,” she said.

Garrity said there are also refrigerator units generously stocked with dairy options, including varieties of cheese, milk and butter, and others that hold eggs, snacks and produce.

In the freezers, she said, customers can find different cuts of farm-fresh meats.

Surrounding shelves, Garrity said, are lined with local, handcrafted items – such as pickles, salsas, jams, seasonings, grains, honey and syrups. 

“All of these come from farms that grow the vegetables used and all are small-batch processed into the end product,” she said.

Garrity said there are also USDA-organic coffee beans available for purchase.

“They are small-batch roasted over an open fire,” she said. “There’s no burnt taste to this coffee – it’s all flavor.”

Alongside these products, Garrity said, she hopes to emphasize one important component – that everything is locally sourced and handcrafted.

“To clarify, we use the words ‘handmade and homegrown’ to help consumers understand that items here aren’t made in someone’s kitchen, which isn’t allowed in a retail space,” she said.

Garrity said the collective also carries handmade goods that aren’t regularly found in other mainstream stores. 

“This includes non-toxic cleaning products and laundry detergents; soaps and perfumes; cotton coasters, reusable bowl covers and apparel; hand-carved and sealed spatulas, spurtles and cutting boards; handcrafted and unique special occasion cards,” she said.

Garrity said there’s a plethora of other finds and ingredients that are available, for both consumers and their pets.

“We also have food items that are handmade, such as artisanal chocolates, canned jams and salsas – which are also homegrown; milled grains that are homegrown and harvested; and freeze-dried fruits and veggies, along with freeze-dried single-ingredient dog treats,” she said.

Though consumer needs are continually changing, Garrity said certain items have been increasingly popular in the shop.

“Products of highest demand have been milk in glass bottles, handcrafted chocolates, organically grown potatoes, Amish fry pies, roasted coffee beans and beef,” she said.

When it comes to the products she sells, Garrity said she has her own top picks, too.

“My personal favorites include the milk chocolate truffles, caramel and chocolate-dipped pretzels and chili jam,” she said.

Garrity said she also likes the organic carrots – which she said are more flavorful than conventional kinds – as well as the Kalona Heavy Cream, which is free of additives or thickening agents.

“It is unbelievably hard to find in this area,” she said. 

A collective community of growth

Beyond the many jars of sweet jellies and bundles of produce, Garrity said she strives to offer more than just groceries to her customers.

“This is a community, a collective space and always will be,” she said. “We want the consumer to have easy access to fresh and nutrient-dense products that come straight from the local farmer.”

Garrity said it is important for her to not only support Wisconsin farmers but to extend recognition to artisans, too – especially since there is an extensive behind-the-scenes process involved in getting goods on the shelves.

“It’s not easy to get into retail space or first start with licensing and an approved kitchen,” she said. “When you work on collecting raw materials and packaging the finished products before you can even meet with a large mainstream store to get a contract.”

Knowing the journey that small-batch producers and farms have to maneuver to sell their products is partly what Garrity said inspired her to open the collective, and she is proud to have a space for both sellers and consumers.

“It shouldn’t be difficult to offer or find nutrient-dense foods and non-toxic products in a storefront,” she said. “This is what we need as humans in order to power our mind, body and soul.”

Garrity said this mindset further feeds her goals for the business, which include growth – something she said she has recently experienced firsthand thanks to an economic development grant she received.

The grant, she said, is available to Adams County businesses through the Adams County Economic Development Department.

Garriety said it offers financing packages that assist both new and existing businesses with start-up expenses and expansion. 

“Being awarded this grant was an exceptional honor and 100% appreciated,” she said.

Garrity said she will use the funds she received to complete section two of her shop expansion. The additions, she said, will include several product freezers and refrigerators to make room for even more product lines.

Garrity said she has also been working on “exciting new business offerings” – which include public classes that started last month, as well as becoming a compost drop-off site.

“It will help the earth far more than people realize,” she said. “Over the next five years, we’ll have made an impact on many small, rural towns within Wisconsin.”

In all, Garrity said her business is about more than groceries, but works to educate and instill change in others in the long run.

“Bloom Fusion isn’t just a store with the simple goal of selling products,” she said. “Our drive is to provide consumers with what they need to successfully fuel their body and to take steps toward a more natural lifestyle.”

The store is open from noon to 5 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. 

It is closed on Sundays.

To learn more, follow Bloom Fusion Farmers Collective on Facebook.