Lazy Toad Farm Shares Its Passion For Plants With The Community

Joe Rand started gardening when he was a child because it was something he did with his grandpa. When he was in sixth grade, he landscaped his parents’ backyard.

When he met his partner, Todd Fussy, and found out they both had a passion for gardening, the two knew they wanted to take their hobby to the next level and share their love for gardening with others.

Lazy Toad Farm was born in 2018 with more than just plants being offered. Ranging from hostas to canned pickles, there is something Rand and Fussy can offer for everyone at their farm.

Rand has a friend who ran the Becker, Minnesota farmer’s market, so he and Fussy decided to take a shot at selling their canned pickles at the market. This was just the beginning of what was to come for the two plant lovers.

One of the biggest events Rand and Fussy hosts each summer is their plant sale. With hundreds of plants for sale along with their pantry items, like jams and honey, Fussy said it’s cool to see people come out to learn more and talk about plants.

“You have a few who come who are really big gardeners like us, but the majority are just people looking for plants and expanding, wanting to learn more and we get to learn stuff, too,” Fussy said.

Each year, Rand and Fussy see regulars who make the trip up to the sale. Rand said it’s nice to catch up with these individuals they’ve formed a bond with and who the pair only get to see once a year.

“It really is about the people and the community that it has built more than the sale,” Rand said. “It’s nice, but it is a little reunion every year.”

Fussy said while helping others, he gets to learn more from them about plants and receives a newfound appreciation for his garden by some of the questions he gets asked.

The two have a vendor at the Becker farmer’s market every Saturday where they also get to see regular customers who rave about their products and make a longer trip just to purchase their products, Fussy said.

Rand and Fussy have full time jobs, so doing that on top of running the garden can have its challenges. Over the years, Rand said the two have gotten better about learning when to call it a night in the garden.

Fussy said he hopes to quit his job at some point so he can run the garden full time. It’s a business, but Rand said it’s truly a hobby for him and Fussy.

“It’s where we find the most joy,” Rand said. “It’s therapy to be out there working in the yard and to be with plants, but it’s also where both of us find joy the most.”

Another motivating factor in starting the garden was to show how the LGBTQ+ community exists within the gardening community, Rand said.

Lazy Toad Farm is in a rural area of Minnesota, and Rand said he wants to combat the misconception that there are no members of the LGBTQ+ community in the rural countryside. Rand added he and Fussy love where they live and have no plans of ever moving away from their rural community.

“There’s a misconception that gay people want to be where it’s all going on in the Cities, but we have a lot of gay friends out in the rural area,” Fussy said.

Rand said he has been connecting with lots of other LGBTQ+ farmers in the area because he wants the community to know there is a place for them in rural Minnesota.

“It’s not just us doing this out here,” Rand said. “We’re trying to make connections between the different farms and build a relationship to support one another; it’s important.”

The biggest misconception the LGBTQ+ farming community faces is that there aren’t any, Rand said. For a long time, members of the community who were interested in farming and gardening didn’t feel the most safe coming out, Rand added.

“There’s a misconception that farmers and ag people are going to be hateful to queer people, and that’s not anything I’ve encountered at all,” Rand said.

Rand said there has been a lack of space for the LGBTQ+ community in the farming community in the past but that space continues to grow over time as more members of the community feel safe to come out and show off their passions.

The only real challenge they face is weather, according to Rand. If it doesn’t rain enough, Rand and Fussy have to spend a majority of their watering their plants to keep them healthy and alive.

But it’s helping people that keeps Rand and Fussy coming back year after year. Neither of them went to school for gardening and do not have professional training, Rand said, as everything they do is through trial and error.

At the end of the day, though, it’s about how the two love to teach people about plants, Rand said.

“If we’re able to help other people feel successful, that’s great,” Rand said. “It’s the best feeling because when we’re helping people, it’s the most meaningful.”

There is a lot to look forward to at Lazy Toad Farm, Fussy said. Whether it’s building a treehouse AirBnb or having a hobby farm, the possibilities are endless for the pair.

Rand loves hostas while Fussy loves succulents. The two balance each other out, which is one of the main reasons they made such a good team when it comes to running their garden.

“We complement each other,” Fussy said. “We’re opposite of each other when it comes to a lot of things, but we go with the flow and balance each other.”

You can check out the Lazy Toad Farm on June 8 and 9 for their annual plant sale from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, you can visit their website at www.lazytoadfarm.com.