Boondock Enterprises

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Swatara, MN
Boondock Enterprises

We are a family run farm that makes homemade artisan jams, jellies, preserves, fruit syrups, artisan fresh ground mustard, herbal teas and herbal dips.

Boondock Enterprises is a family run farm that makes homemade preserves, jams, jellies, and fruit syrups from the fruits and berries grown without chemicals and pesticides. We also make herbal teas, herbal dips and fresh ground artisan mustard from the herbs grown on our farm. We are personally involved in all aspects of our business - from tilling the soil, pulling the weeds, planting the crops,

harvesting the bounty and producing wonderfully healthy foods you would be proud to serve your family and friends.

08/31/2026

It is time to get your salsa on!
Our tomatoes are ripening super-fast, and we have been blessed with a fantastic harvest this year. We will certainly put up our fair share of stewed tomatoes, and of course I’ll be making plenty of my Tomato Jam—you can find that one in my Etsy shop.

But around here, we go through a LOT of salsa! Between keeping Michael stocked, sharing a few jars with family, and making sure we have plenty available for THE Craft Show at Timberlake Lodge in November, this definitely won’t be our first batch.

There is something pretty satisfying about looking at baskets of ripe tomatoes and knowing that before long they will be lined up in jars on the pantry shelves.
And judging by the number of tomatoes still ripening on the vines…I think we are going to be getting our salsa on for quite a while yet.

08/30/2026

Michael truly is the best gift giver. He has always had a way of finding things that make me smile, but this one may be one of my favorites. He gave me this tumbler, and I absolutely love everything about the message:

“I am not spoiled. My husband just loves me.”

And on the other side, the “Wife Nutrition Facts” gave me an even bigger laugh.

I am very blessed to have such a thoughtful life mate. He knows me well, pays attention to the little things, and somehow always manages to find gifts that are both meaningful and fun. After all these years, he still makes me feel very loved—and yes, maybe just a little spoiled. ❤️

08/29/2026

Twice a year — every spring and every fall — Mike and I make the 2½-hour drive to attend an Amish auction that has become one of our favorite little traditions.

And believe me, this is not your average auction. The auction is held to help support the Amish community’s small school, and a good portion of the money raised each year goes toward the expenses of keeping that school running. It’s one of those events we really enjoy supporting.

But it is also just plain fun. One auction ring is filled with freshly canned goods — jams, jellies, pickles, relishes and all kinds of homemade goodies. Then there are cheeses, farm-fresh eggs and enough baked goods to seriously test a person’s self-control.

Another area is filled with beautiful handmade Amish quilts, baskets and woodworking.

And then come the animals. Goats. Sheep. Chickens. Ducks. Bunnies. You just never quite know what is going to come through next.

On top of all of that, the public brings in items to sell on consignment, so there is always plenty for Mike and me to dig through in hopes of finding a few treasures for our antique booths. And, of course, we did. 😊

We came home with several pieces that will eventually find their way into our booths, spent a lovely morning together and supported a fundraiser we truly enjoy being part of.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning. Although I will admit there are certain auction days when the real victory is making it home without a goat. 😂

08/28/2026

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this…but the small gourds and mini pumpkins are ready to harvest, and this is EARLY! Normally I don’t start picking them until closer to Labor Day weekend, but I’ve been seeing so much color out in the gourd patch that it was time.

I’m still leaving the pie pumpkins and winter squash alone until after that first frost. I always think the colder weather sweetens them up and improves the flavor. But since we don’t eat the decorative gourds and mini pumpkins, there really isn’t any reason to make them wait. And since I’ve already started giving my booths a little touch of fall, the timing actually works out pretty well.

So, these little beauties have been harvested, washed up, and are now making their way into my booths at Annabella's Antique Mall and 's Cupboard LLC & The Closet. Apparently, autumn has decided it doesn’t need to wait for September this year.

08/27/2026

My work areas can look a little chaotic at times because I usually have half a dozen projects going at once. Every now and then I wonder if I would actually get more done if I finished one project before starting another. But there really is a method to my madness.

One project may be waiting for glue or paint to dry. Another might be sitting while the paint stripper does its thing. And then there are those projects that reach the point where it is simply better to walk away for a while before I say—or do—something I may have to apologize for later. 😂 So I move on to something else.

Right now, the dresser, the new display shelf, the entryway table, and the old magazine rack that is being turned into blanket storage are all in various stages of completion. At first glance, it may look like I have a whole lot of unfinished projects scattered around. But give me another couple of days.

One by one, they’ll start coming together, the mess will disappear, and hopefully each piece will turn out just the way I pictured it. Of course, by then I’ll probably have another half dozen projects started.

Apparently that’s just how I work

08/26/2026

I often get comments from people who say it seems like Michael and I are working all the time, and I thought I should probably correct that misconception a little. 😊

We do work hard. We both came from families that taught us the value of putting in a good day’s work, and when we work, we tend to work hard. But we are also incredibly blessed because we both have a real passion for what we do. This farm is a beautiful place to live, and we feel very fortunate that it also helps support us financially. There is a lot of satisfaction in knowing that the work of our hands, our gardens, our orchard and our little business all help make this life possible.

That said, we do have hobbies and downtime. LOL. Both of us are avid readers, and most evenings our home gets pretty quiet as the outside chores are put aside and we settle in with our noses in a good novel. We both enjoy traveling, auctions and fishing. Mike has collected stamps since he was a very young boy, and his collection has grown into quite an impressive one over the years. I love to paint and craft, which is probably obvious if you look closely at most of my everyday clothes. There is usually a paint stain somewhere from one project or another. And of course, we love spending time with family, friends and Archer. Our faith is also very important to us. Sundays tend to be a little quieter around here as we take time for church, rest and reflection.

I think living a balanced life is especially important when you have a lifestyle like ours. We work hard because there is always something that needs to be done, but if we never made time to rest and enjoy the life we are working so hard to build, eventually the work would become burdensome instead of meaningful.

So, this week we will spend plenty of hours picking wild plums, crab apples, tomatoes and corn. We will juice berries, make jellies, work at the shops and tackle whatever else harvest season throws our way. But we will also read a good book, take a walk, spend time with family, work on a few fun projects and probably make time for a little laughter along the way.

Life is very good with a little balance.

08/25/2026

I’ve shared before that my love of making jams and jellies didn’t begin with Boondock Enterprises. It started many years ago in my mom’s kitchen.

Growing up as the oldest of five children, we always had plenty of food on our table. My parents planted a huge garden every year, and we raised all of our own meat. Food was plentiful. Money, however, was not.

My dad was a construction worker, and every year he was usually laid off from the first of December until sometime in April. As kids, we really didn’t understand what that meant. Christmas still came. There were presents under the tree. We gathered with family and celebrated just like everyone else. It wasn’t until I was getting into my early teens that I began to notice the stress that came along with that special time of year.

There were five children to buy gifts for, but there were also grandparents, aunts, uncles and extended family. And both my mom and dad came from large families. So, my mom did what she has always done best. She got creative.

Throughout the summer she gathered whatever fruits and berries were available and turned them into jars and jars of homemade jams and jellies. Then, at Christmas, she would put together large farm baskets for each of my aunts’ and uncles’ families. Inside each basket would be a whole case of homemade jam and jelly — a wonderful assortment of flavors made from the berries and fruit she had gathered and preserved during the summer.

And one of those flavors was Tomato Jam. As a child, I have to admit, I wasn’t very impressed by it. If there was raspberry or rhubarb jam available, that was what I wanted. But I had one uncle who felt very differently.

Every Christmas Eve, Uncle Larry would start wheeling and dealing with the rest of the family, trying to convince someone to trade him their jar of Tomato Jam for one of his other flavors. Apparently, there could never be too much Tomato Jam in Uncle Larry’s pantry. All these years later, as tomatoes ripen in our own garden and I stand at the stove making jam, I find myself thinking about those Christmas baskets and my mom’s kitchen.

It’s funny how some recipes carry so much more than ingredients. They carry memories, people and little pieces of where we came from. So, Uncle Larry, this batch is for you.

https://boondockenterprises.etsy.com/listing/4561379542

08/24/2026

As mentioned, we finished picking the Aronia berries on Saturday, which means another fruit can officially be added to this year’s harvest list.

So far, we have gathered and either frozen, juiced or processed: Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Red Currants, Black Currants, Gooseberries, Jostaberries, Nanking Cherries, Chokecherries, Elderberries and Aronia berries

When I look at that list, I’m reminded just how much has already come out of our gardens, orchard and berry patches this summer! We are still gathering Ground Cherries, which will continue through about the middle of September - and they are heavy this year. And just because the picking is finished on some of the berries certainly doesn’t mean the work is finished. Our freezers are holding bags of Chokecherries, Aronia berries and Cherries that we are constantly pulling out, juicing and processing so all of that wonderful fruit is preserved until I have time to turn it into jams, jellies, syrups and other goodies.

This time of year, we are constantly moving from one part of the garden and orchard to another. Just when we think we have caught up in one area, something else is suddenly ripe and demanding our attention. This week will be no exception. Wild plums, Crab Apples and Apples are all ripe and beginning to fall from the trees, so those will be next on the list to gather and take care of. There is always that little race this time of year — trying to get to the fruit before it ends up on the ground or becomes a feast for the wildlife!

We still have Wild Grapes and Highbush Cranberries waiting in the wings, along with everything coming from the vegetable garden. I am thinking we have 3 weeks of the intense picking. But come January, when the snow is deep and the gardens and orchard are sleeping, all of this summer work will be sitting safely on the shelves and in the freezers. And that makes these very busy August days worth it.

08/23/2026

We have finished harvesting the last of our Aronia berries — otherwise known as chokeberries. Last night the whole family got involved. 😂😂😂 And before I go any further, let me clear up something that causes a lot of confusion:

Chokeberries and chokecherries are NOT the same berry. I would not have Archer out with us harvesting chokecherries - it would not be safe for him (because obviously he likes to sample everything😂). Again - chokeberries and chokecherries are two different species of berry.

Both grow here in northern Minnesota, and both have been harvested and used for generations, but they are very different. ChokeCHERRIES grow on trees in clusters. They are small, deep purple — almost black — and have a fairly large pit. The flesh is tart, astringent and can seem almost bitter when eaten fresh. But when that beautiful dark juice is turned into jelly or syrup? Absolutely delicious!
Aronia berries, or chokeBERRIES, grow on bushes and are much easier to pick. They are also a beautiful deep purple, but they do not have the large hard pit of a chokecherry. They are still quite astringent, but tend to be easier to work with and make wonderful preserves.

Both berries are rich in naturally occurring plant compounds, particularly antioxidants. Aronia especially has been the subject of quite a bit of research for its possible effects on inflammation, cardiovascular health and blood-sugar metabolism.

And this is where this subject becomes very personal for me.

Over the years, because we sell chokecherry jelly and syrup, I have received messages from people battling cancer asking if I have chokecherry pits available. Some have read articles or claims online suggesting that compounds found in certain fruit pits can cure cancer.

Those messages break my heart. These aren't foolish people. They are frightened people. They or someone they love is sick, and they are desperately searching for something — anything — that might help.

But...
Our chokecherry jelly and syrup are food. They are not cancer treatments, and we would never represent them as such. We also do not put chokecherry pits into our jelly or syrup.

Chokecherry pits contain cyanogenic compounds that can release cyanide when the kernels are crushed or damaged -which is why Archer is not allowed chokecherry picking. That is precisely why traditional preparation methods matter. When we process chokecherries, we cook the fruit to extract the juice and then strain away the pits and solids. The beautiful juice is what becomes our jelly and syrup — not the pits.

Nature provides us with some amazing foods, and science continues to discover fascinating things about the compounds they contain. Aronia berries in particular are exceptionally rich in polyphenols and antioxidants, and human studies are looking at their potential health benefits. But researchers also make it clear that more clinical research is needed before therapeutic claims or dosages can be established.

So, are chokeberries and properly prepared chokecherries wonderful foods? Absolutely! Enjoy the jelly. Pour the syrup over pancakes. Stir some into yogurt. Appreciate these beautiful native fruits that generations before us also gathered and preserved.

But whether something comes from a pharmacy, a garden, a forest or an old family remedy, we still need to respect it, understand it and educate ourselves about how it should safely be used. Sometimes the old ways really were wise — not because everything natural was harmless, but because generations learned how to handle what nature gave them.

08/22/2026

I took a break from flipping furniture - well kind of 🤣. I redid my work station and had 2 cabinets that did not have a home. So I called a momma and asked her if her 2 girls would like craft stations. She was all for it. So I asked the girls how they would like their craft cubbies personalized and we now have a moss green cubby and a pink cubby. This was the hard part. The fun part is getting them all tricked out with all the craft supplies I can come up with. I have all types of paper, glue, crayons, colored pencils, paints, brushes, paper mache and glitter (of course 🤣). Am I missing anything?

Address

41512 620th Lane
Swatara, MN
55785

Website

http://www.BoondockEnterprises.Etsy.com/

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