CARRINGTON, N.D. - Bruce and Merleen Gussiaas have begun what they hope will be a long, successful harvest - one that concludes with their finished product in the hands of customers across the region.
"The crop looks promising, very much so. We're optimistic," says Bruce Gussiaas.
He and his wife own and operate Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery on their family farmstead near Carrington, N.D. The business represents both agritourism and value-added agriculture.
The roughly two dozen separate gardens - which should be at their overall peak in mid to late July - offer a wide variety of trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses, combined with wood, rock and metal sculptures. Much of the wood and metal was converted from other uses by Bruce, an innovative and determined repurposer.
The gardens, along with a garden cottage made from wood grain bins, are available for a fee for group tours, reunions and other get-togethers.
The gardens include many kinds of grapes, berries and fruit that Bruce and Merleen use to make wine. Harvest was just beginning on the sunny June day that Agweek visited.
Bruce and Merleen have strong, deep ties to agriculture.
Bruce farmed for many years. He quit in 2000, when he faced growing economic pressure to increase the size of his operation. He then raised bison until 2009, when the lease of the bison ranch was lost.
Merleen once operated a flower shop. She and Bruce began expanding their farmstead gardens as a form of therapy after their 18-year-old daughter, Katie Jo, was killed in 2001 car accident.
The flowers and garden plots became increasingly popular, and Merleen and Bruce started offering tours.
They opened the winery in 2009, after teaching themselves to make wine, using some of the fruit and berries grown on their farm. The long list of wines they now make and sell, under the Dakota Sun Gardens label, include raspberry, cherry, elderberry, chokecherry, aronia, plum and haskap, among many others.
"We've had a lot of unique wines here," Bruce says, adding that "we try to make our wine taste like when the fruit is ripe."
He and Merleen have purchased the rights to a photo of a bison lying in a snowbank. They plan to add a new wine label, the Black and White label, featuring the distinctive photo later this year.
All the wine - Bruce estimates they'll make at least 14,000 bottles this year - is produced in the couple's winery, located in a converted pole barn on their farmstead. The winery, like the gardens, is open for tours.
Caring for the gardens, giving tours, picking berries, making wine and promoting their product at trade shows and other events is demanding, Bruce says.
"You just have no time in your life (apart from the business). There's never a day when you get up in the morning and don't have something to do," he says.
He adds with a smile, "But we wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it."
Favorable growing weather, at least so far, makes their job more enjoyable.
"I think it's going to be a huge crop of berries. I would be very surprised if it's not," Bruce says.
Bruce and Merleen ask potential visitors to the gardens and winery to contact them in advance. Go to
www.dakotasungardenswinery.com/
for more information.
1/18: Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery (Carrington, N.D.) has earned numerous awards for their wines, including the 2014 Jefferson Cup for their haskap berry wine. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
2/18: Bruce Gussiaas, along with his wife Merleen (not pictured), founded Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery near Carrington, N.D. in 2009 with emphasis on creating unique, high-quality wines made from local fruits. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
3/18: A large buffalo rub rock, gradually smoothed to a dull shine by passing bison rubbing their winter coats on it, sits in the front yard of Dakota Sun Winery and Gardens near Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
4/18: Carrington, N.D.-based Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery incorporates many pieces of metal into signage and art on the grounds. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017 (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
5/18: Merleen and Bruce Gussiaas founded Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. in 2009. The winery offers a wide variety of wines utilizing unique, locally-grown fruits such as rhubarb, raspberry, cherry, chokecherry, aronia, plum, black and red currant, haskap, honey, watermelon, sandcherry and elderberry. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
6/18: The gardens at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. feature many different flowers and plants as well as fountains constructed of various materials, such as this one made from barbed wire and stone. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
7/18: A grain scoop leans on an old grain bin that acts as part of an entertainment space at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
8/18: Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery has created many special edition labels of their wines for celebrations and events, such as the 100th anniversary of Beulah, N.D. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
9/18: Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. offers a wide variety of plants and flowers for guests to observe in addition to rows of aronia, haskap, chokecherry used for winemaking. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
10/18: Rows of haskap bushes are covered by netting prior to being harvested for winemaking at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
11/18: An aronia shrub, which has uses both in medicine as well as winemaking, grows in the front yard of Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
12/18: Haskaps, which will be later made into wine, grow on bushes at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
13/18: Bruce Gussiaas, co-founder of Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery with his wife Merleen (not pictured), speaks about the process of making and marketing the company's wine on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
14/18: Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. offers wines and other merchandise for guests to purchase at their tasting room. Photo taken Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
15/18: Rows of haskap bushes bask in the summer sun at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery near Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
16/18: Growing aronia berries are lit by afternoon sunshine at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
17/18: Growing aronia berries are lit by afternoon sunshine at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
18/18: A metal pelican statue sets the scene at Dakota Sun Gardens and Winery in Carrington, N.D. on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Nick Nelson/Agweek)
