2024 Fall Homeland | Pixie Acres

Spreading Joy Through South Dakota Flowers 

Just south of Castlewood, South Dakota, nestled in among corn fields and pastureland,  is the home of Pixie Acres, a picturesque flower farm where the Ruml family raises free-range children and chickens, three springer spaniels, four cats, a few 4-H lambs, and a couple of acres of the most breathtaking flowers. 

Jessie Ruml owns and operates Pixie Acres with her husband, Philip, and daughters, Ava, Bostyn, Collyns, and Drew. After a decade as a dental hygienist, Jessie found herself needing a change. Resigning from dentistry, Jessie wasn’t entirely sure what was next, but unbeknownst to her, spending a summer at home with her daughters, then ages seven, five, four,  and two, would be the beginning of Pixie Acres.  

Like every summer, the Ruml’s planted a sizable vegetable garden but decided to sow some flower seeds as well. Jessie’s eldest daughter suggested selling some flowers at a local farmer’s market, and within a couple of months of returning to her farm-girl roots, having more time with family, and being surrounded by beauty, Jessie’s joy was evident. She recalls her husband looking at her that summer and saying, “I can’t believe how happy you are.” His comment and her realization that she was, in fact, so happy led to a lot of brainstorming for Jessie on how to continue living life on the farm.  

Taking a leap of faith, she turned down two job offers to return to the dental office, and while scrolling social media one day, she stumbled upon a photo of a truck bed full of dahlias in ombre color, and Jessie was hooked. She followed the link to the website, which belonged to a flower farmer out in Washington that offered flower farming classes. After getting Philip on board, Jessie completed a flower farming curriculum and has “just kind of been running with it ever since.”  

Pixie Acres has been a family affair from the very beginning. Jessie credits her husband, Philip, for being a vital part of the operation, acting as sort of a farm manager and doing a lot of the heavy lifting, all while balancing his own career as an orthopedic sales rep. Ava, Bostyn, Collyns, and Drew, now 14, 12, 11, and nine, are vital in the operation as well, helping with everything from harvesting, weeding, watering, and whatever else may need to be done. Each Friday, the entire family works for four to five hours in the studio making market bouquets, and on Saturdays, Jessie and Philip split up, each taking two girls to go sell flowers at the Watertown and Brookings Farmers Markets. She never could have imagined how this would help her girls blossom into employable, responsible, and hardworking young women, but if you spend any time around the Ruml family, it is certainly clear now.  

When asked about the impact this has had on her family, Jessie was short and sweet, saying, “It’s been incredible.” She appreciates the flexibility she has to be a mother, adding that the best part is, “We get to spend the days together, and we get to learn a little bit about each other throughout the day, too.”  

One thing is clear about flower farming– it is not all just sunshine and dahlias.  

“We don’t just frolic through the flowers each day,” Jessie joked. “You have to have some serious grit to do this successfully and to do it well.”  

One of Philip’s initial questions when Jessie floated the idea of starting a flower farm was, “Don’t you think there’s a reason that no one does this in South Dakota?” Pixie Acres’ season runs from April to October, and as anyone who lives in the Midwest knows, the weather does whatever it wants in that timeframe. Jessie has a very realistic attitude towards the challenges of growing flowers in this climate, noting that “you’re going to make mistakes, and you’re going to kill stuff.” Despite the struggle of starting plants after frigid winters, working in seemingly constant wind, and spending day after day doing manual labor, Jessie knows that neither she nor anyone in the family will ever regret this endeavor, despite its challenges. Their growing season may be a bit shorter than most, but they have found ways to embrace the changing of seasons, appreciating the beauty of each one.  

From their very first season to now, they have gone from having around a tenth of an acre in production to two acres, growing between 60,000-75,000 plants a season. At one time, all of this work was done on their hands and knees, so the Ruml’s are very grateful to have had a couple of successful seasons that allowed them to purchase some implements to make the work a bit more sustainable and much more efficient. In addition, they have acquired two high tunnels, making it much easier to manipulate the seasons when necessary.  

Pixie Acres can do it all– from beautiful wedding bouquets and installations to farmers market bouquets to workshops and events on the farm. One of Jessie’s favorite parts, however, is the farmers market because she gets to interact with the customers and see their emotions come across their face when they see a certain flower that they love. “Just to see them enjoying the fruits of our labor” is incredibly gratifying for her after all of the work they put in. She also enjoys hosting events on the farm, despite all the tedious chores that need to be done to prepare for these events. When customers arrive, Jessie loves seeing the joy on people’s faces, adding that “seeing the farm through their eyes is spectacular.”