Flourishing together

St. Paul member Carol Longley and her daughter Kate find their relationship and a new endeavor sprouting up and changing alongside their fields of flowers.

Just off Highway 17 in Aledo, Ill., the side of a red barn features an explosion of blue with sunflowers galore announcing that you have arrived at Danndee Flowers. The farm greeter, Wally, a year-and-a-half-old Australian Sheperd, who takes his job (and swimming in the pond) very seriously, bounds up to meet visitors. Today, the sun shines over distant fields of corn and soybean, and the welcome breeze dances through the small field of wheat. But it’s the rows of sunflowers, lavender, cut flowers, and herbs, that call to Carol Longley.

The Longley family farm has been in the Longley family for generations, beginning with its initial 160 acres in 1902. Carol’s husband John is a fourth-generation farmer and while Carol always had a love of gardening, she left most of the farming to him.

Strong roots 
Carol grew up in the St. Louis area but fell in love with Iowa after attending Iowa State University to study dietetics. She later found her way to Mercer County where she met her husband of 46 years, John, a local farmer.

Carol spent most of her 50-year professional career as a dietician, working first in a hospital and later pursuing her master’s in social work.

“I received my master’s in social work to become a better dietician. I wanted to focus on eating disorders, which I did during my time at Family Resources,” Carol said. “Then I worked for Rock Island Schools as a dietician, running their food service operation. The families of Rock Island were great to me. It was fascinating work.”

Carol hired and trained food service staff, developed systems, policies, and procedures for food service, and worked with school administration to create budgets. Carol worked with the Rock Island School District for 15 years before receiving her PhD in dietetics in 2007 and finding her way into a new facet of her career: as a dietetics and hospitality professor at Western Illinois University.

Carol taught everything from basic nutrition, food preparation, and food safety to classes on hospitality and strategic food service management.
“The most interesting class I taught was strategic management in food service. During COVID, people and restaurants had to shift their strategies and the way they had done things in the past for their businesses to survive. That’s what the whole class focused on. How do people and companies pivot and survive long-term, especially during difficult times?”

Planting seeds 
12 years ago, Carol’s daughter Kate took over the family farm, becoming the fifth generation to care for the land. Kate triple-majored in Agronomy, Farm Management, and Environmental Studies at Iowa State University and works closely with her dad, John, to plant and harvest corn and soybeans. In 2020, Kate and John planted a small sunflower patch in hopes of attracting pollinators and helping feed the birds, but that small patch of sunflowers quickly grew into something else.

Around this same time, Carol, recently retired from teaching, was turning her sights on her own passion: gardening, and more specifically, lavender.

“My cousin, who grows lavender, came to visit years before and planted the idea of growing lavender into my head. At first, I kept killing my lavender and I couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t until a visit to my cousin’s land and physically stooping down and holding the soil in my hand did I realize my lavender couldn’t survive because the soil in this area is too good for lavender; there’s too much water retention. Lavender cannot flourish without drier soil, so we ended up planting the lavender on a volleyball court on our property and it took off.”

As lavender and sunflowers began to sprout all over the Longley property, an idea was also planted in Carol and Kate’s minds: a flower farm where guests pick their own flowers! Kate wanted to share the magic of her family farm with others. And thus, Danndee Flowers sprung to life.

But there’s a lot more flourishing on the farm these days than the crops and flowers: Carol and her daughter Kate have quite the partnership blooming! Carol’s background in dietetics, gardening, and hospitality paired with Kate’s expertise in agrotourism and farming makes them quite the pair. The two plant, pick, create, brainstorm, craft, brand, and sell everything from dried or fresh flower bouquets, culinary items, and bath and body products.

Carol said this time with her daughter is cherished. It’s apparent in the way she speaks about their work together and in the way the two work side-by-side.

“Danndee Flowers was a way to take my interest in flowers and the generations of plants that remain here on the farm and turn them into something fun I can do alongside my daughter. It’s a blessing to work alongside Kate. I’ve gained so much regard for her as an adult and a businesswoman and to witness firsthand just how incredibly capable she is. You realize how driven, how mature, how savvy your child is when you work together hand-in-hand. She’s innovative and creative.”

Carol also has some words of wisdom she uses to help guide her along the way.

“When you have everyone working together, Kate and her husband Jason, and John and myself, we can all get so excited and interested in things. There was a sermon at St. Paul more recently and the quote ‘get rid of the need to always be right’ stuck with me. Sometimes we have to let go of the need to be right. It’s one of my favorite quotes and a great reminder.”
Some of Carol’s favorite parts are making memorable experiences for people.

“We had a young man plan to propose to his girlfriend here at the farm. He was so nervous. He came and asked my husband’s advice on how to propose. When they got married the next year, the couple asked us to supply the flowers for the wedding. Getting to be part of people’s special experiences is so remarkable to us.”

Taking shape 
What started just four years ago as handfuls of sunflower seeds is now a 2.5-acre agrotourism destination. A fish pond with kayaking opportunities was added, much to the delight of Wally, the farm dog. A sand pit, a converted flower wagon, and a converted truck make up a safe playground for kids. This year, Kate used GPS technology and imaging to make a soybean labyrinth, like a prayer labyrinth for guests to walk through and use as a meditative experience. Ornamental pumpkins are beginning to grow, and soon, more lavender will appear alongside zinnias, lemon basil, lemon verbena, lemongrass, asters, cosmos, marigolds, and many more flowers ready just in time for fall.
“I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to spend this time with my daughter without this endeavor and our time together has become precious. Life gets busy. Kate became a mother this year. This time together is a blessing.”