A local duo is offering fresh, homegrown produce.
Golden Homestead Produce is a new small produce company in Lake Francis that Pamela Yule and Jeff Selch started. The pair wanted to share the fruits of their labours with the community.
Yule grew up in Lake Francis with gardening in her blood. Her grandma kept a large garden on their family farm nearby, her mom kept numerous greenhouses with hundreds of plants at any given time, and her dad tended to various fruit trees daily. So, upon moving back to the area with Selch, the two planted their large garden to tend to themselves.
“It was such a poor year for gardens because of the spring, but we had a really good garden, so we decided to share and offer our extra for sale,” said Selch.
Golden Homestead Produce had a huge radish crop this year — and they weren’t just abundant, they were large. They also had a “bounty” of numerous sweet, juicy tomato varieties, making it challenging to keep up with.
Yule and Selch carefully crafted a mix of several soil types and small aggregates in their garden to produce vigorous plants. The blend has dramatically increased their productivity, as evidenced by the 2024 harvest.
Golden Homestead Produce will have more to offer next year. They spent this year not only growing fruits and vegetables but also finding out which ones were best. Through trialling, they found a sweet, tender corn variety they’re excited to grow and sell next year.
“Going forward, we would like to position ourselves to have some unique products that others wouldn’t grow or grow easily in their gardens,” said Yule. “Next year is going to look like expanding our product offering. But we want to ensure we’re offering the best produce, which is why we’re trialing.”
Along with radishes, tomatoes, and corn, they’ll be growing and offering cucumbers and, in the future, possibly asparagus.
Golden Homestead Produce doesn’t use fertilizers or chemicals in its produce. Everything is grown with the traditional soil-based method, with the plants getting plenty of sunshine and fresh water. The ground their garden is on is pesticide-free, and they plan to continue that.
“I think local is becoming more important as people want to know where their food is coming from and where it’s grown,” said Yule. “People deserve choice.”
Golden Homestead Produce is growing and will be diversifying every year. Currently, they have no storefront and offer their produce only by ordering. People can contact them through their Facebook page, Golden Homestead Produce.
