‘Broadband access is the great equalizer’
It’s pedal to the metal for Robinson, Inc.
November 10, 2025
ANTIGO – According to Owners Andrew and Heather Augustyn, every season is growing season at Canopy Gardens, and every day is warm and sunny.
The couple said the hydroponic greenhouse and farm market – which is located five miles east of Antigo off Highway F – was established in 1995 by Pam and Pete Augustyn, Andrew’s parents.
Now in its second generation of family ownership, the Augustyns said the business is being reinvented and expanded.
“We have gone through two major greenhouse expansions and multiple product line expansions,” Andrew said. “We use sustainable hydroponic growing methods and avoid GMOs, harmful pesticides and herbicides.”
Andrew said he grew up in the family business, and met Heather when she started working at a country store the family ran in Antigo.
After college and several years pursuing careers outside the business, the couple said they took over operations in 2020 and assumed full ownership in 2024.
“We wanted a business of our own, and I wanted to be home with my family more,” Andrew said.
So, Heather said they decided purchasing the greenhouse was “the right opportunity” to accomplish those goals.
“We decided we wanted to do it as a family,” she said.
Hydroponics in action
The Augustyns said the heart of Canopy Gardens remains the 11-bay hydroponic greenhouse, which is heated by wood waste.
The greenhouses, Heather said, operate on an almost year-round basis, only closed for maintenance in December.
“We remove all plants starting Thanksgiving week, and by Christmas, the greenhouse has plants in it again,” she said. “We need to do a complete clean-out every year to remove any bugs, disease and start over with young, healthy plants.”
Owning and operating a hydroponic greenhouse, the couple said, is about more than planting some seeds and watching them grow.
“You must wear so many different hats,” Heather said. “You have to be an engineer to keep things running. You have to have marketing skills [to get your name out there]. It’s much more than knowing how to grow produce.”
Hydroponic gardening, the Augustyns said, is a method of growing plants in a water and nutrient solution instead of soil.
“We provide the nutrients the plants were intended by nature to have, in precisely the right proportions,” Andrew said, citing two generations of expertise in the process. “Because we use controlled environment technology, we can have the ideal conditions for growth – which allows us to avoid using any pesticides or herbicides while producing the highest quality produce.”
Heather said food has changed over the decades, noting that studies suggest produce grown in the 1950s contained higher levels of vitamins and minerals than what is typically grown today.
“Because we can control exactly what gets fed to our plants, we can have produce that has higher nutritional value than foods grown conventionally these days, bringing our nutritional values much closer to previous levels,” she said.
Andrew said hydroponics offers several additional benefits as well.
“Hydroponics is the most water and space-conserving method of growing currently out there,” he said. “This method of growing also helps prevent soil erosion. Half of the topsoil on the planet has been lost in the last 150 years, causing a loss of fertile land, less nutritious food, increased soil acidity, more water pollution, more floods and plenty of other problems.”
Hydroponics, Heather said, is not a new process.
In fact, she said, according to “Garden Culture” magazine, the first known instance of water-based hydroponics is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 500 B.C., and by the first millennium, the Chinese were using a similar method to grow rice.
For the Augustyn family, Andrew said it started with tomatoes.
When his parents launched their hydroponic greenhouse in 1995, he said their goal was to provide locally grown tomatoes outside the region’s typical growing season – offering consumers an alternative to the bland, flavorless fruits imported from southern areas.
That continues today, Andrew said, with Canopy Gardens growing tomatoes ranging from small grape varieties to giant beefsteaks – all of which are popular with consumers and home processors.
The couple said their on-site farm store regularly sells out of its 30-pound boxes of tomatoes during canning season.
Another long-standing favorite, Heather said, is cucumbers – of which they grow seedless English and Turkish varieties.
“The English are a longer, slightly thicker-skinned cucumber, while the Turkish are a perfect snack size with super thin skin, which makes for a great snack without peeling,” she said.
A growing variety
Andrew and Heather said they are constantly experimenting and looking at ways to add to the product line, with Andrew joking that “free time is a dangerous thing.”
In addition to tomatoes and cucumbers, the couple said the line-up now includes microgreens, lettuce and herbs – produce that is best grown locally, susceptible to problems when transported long distances and unlike tomatoes and cucumbers, is available year-round.
“Lettuce doesn’t do well shipping long distances,” he said. “It’s really a perfect local product to supply to area grocers and restaurants.”
Current varieties include buttercrunch, wintercrunch – which Heather said is their new favorite – along with a wild salad mix.
“As time goes on, we are hoping to add in more types of head lettuce and possibly more salad mixes,” she said.
Microgreens, Heather said, inspire the same excitement at Canopy Gardens.
“Microgreens can have up to 40 times more nutrition than their full-grown counterparts,” she said. “They are nutrient-dense superfoods that are extremely versatile in use and pack amazing flavor.”
The Augustyns said herbs are another part of their operation that’s quickly growing in popularity.
“We originally started with only basil, expanded into chives last season and are starting to experiment with dill this season,” Heather said. “These are some of our favorite things to grow. The smell of fresh basil can’t be beat.”
Next in the line-up, the couple said, came mushrooms – which were actually the brainchild of their oldest daughter, Avia, who was nine at the time.
“Near the end of my fourth pregnancy, Avia decided she wanted her own business and spent hours each day learning all about growing mushrooms,” Heather said. “After weighing her options about starting up her own company or adding mushrooms to Canopy Gardens, she decided to add mushrooms to our operation here. It’s been a fun addition, and we’re happy she came up with the idea. It was a wonderful home-school project.”
Andrew said Canopy Gardens currently offers lion’s mane, black pearl oyster, king trumpet, chestnut, shiitake, pearl oyster and king blue oyster varieties.
“We are still in the beginning stages of mushroom growing, so we don’t always have everything available all the time, but as we gain more experience, we are hoping to make mushrooms a very large part of what we do here at Canopy Gardens,” he said. “This will also be a product that we will be offering year-round.”
Buy locally, support neighbors
After 30 years of operation, the Augustyns said the goal of Canopy Gardens remains unchanged – connecting local farmers and producers with their communities.
“We believe food should be healing and beneficial to the body and sourced locally, when possible,” Andrew said. “We are committed to bringing safe, nutritious and quality produce to Wisconsin and supporting our local communities.”
Andrew said Canopy Gardens has an on-site farm store, including a self-serve option, offering its own products alongside goods from other local producers – such as in-season berries, vegetables, dairy and eggs.
Andrew and Heather said they urge farmers within 90 miles of Antigo who may be interested in offering items at the store to contact them.
“We are always looking to offer more items for our customers,” he said. “We’re not just feeding people – we are helping their well-being.”
He said the farm also offers weekly subscription boxes, available for on-site pickup or for delivery within a limited area.
By next year, Andrew said visitors can expect flowers and garden plants as well, grown in a new greenhouse currently under construction.
The Augustyns said Canopy Garden produce is currently available in Antigo at the farm store, The Green Hen and Lakeside Market.
Other locations within the region, Andrew said, include The Evergreen Shoppe in Elton; Trig’s in Eagle River, Minocqua, Tomahawk and Rhinelander; Prairie Pines in Gleason; Festival Foods in Wausau and Weston; The Red Clover in Wausau; Golden Harvest in Merrill and Rhinelander; and Dave’s County Market in Merrill.
Also stocking Canopy Garden products, Andrew said, are the Two Guernsey Girls Store in Freedom; the Saturday farmers’ market in Green Bay; Three Lakes Town Market; and Save More Marketplace, Bushel & Crate Market and Wild Berry in Minocqua.
Restaurants featuring Canopy Gardens products, Andrews said, include The Dixie, Two Angels and Auntie Em’s in Antigo; Diane’s in Birnamwood; Aiello’s on Wall Street and Last Cast in Eagle River; and Pine Isle and Pi Pizza Co. in Three Lakes.
“Here at Canopy Gardens, when we say ‘local,’ we mean it,” Andrew said. “Our produce is grown here and sold here. The furthest location we sell to is 166 miles away, and most locations are within 65 miles.”
Visit canopygardens.com for more information on Canopy Gardens – which is located at N3000 Orchard Road in Antigo.
