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Tony DiMaggio grows herbs and makes his own tea blends. His sales are one-eighth of 1 percent of the tea market, but his blends are unique.
The newest acquisition on the DiMaggio farm is a harvester that cuts the herbs, saving labor. Tony DiMaggio had it custom-built by his Amish neighbors using common parts, for easy repairs.
Cultivator fingers hit weeds but leave the plants alone.
Tony DiMaggio's favorite part of growing herbs is planting seeds in the spring in his greenhouse.
Poppy is one of the herbs DiMaggio grows on his farm. It's not the same plant as used for making drugs.
DiMaggio says packing tea is his thinking time. He designs his own packages and does his own marketing.
Catnip is dried in a dedicated drying shed made from scrap materials.
A Tulsi plant, also known as holy Basil, grows in DiMaggio's field.
Once each year DiMaggio hosts tours on his farm so he can demonstrate to his consumers how herbs are grown and tea is made.
Otis takes a break in the shade of an herb bed during a farm tour.
One of several ways to control weeds is to use three hand cultivators tied together.
DiMaggio uses mechanical and manual weed control on his herb farm near Gilmanton, Wisconsin.
GILMANTON, Wis. – After spending time working on various farms around the world, Tony DiMaggio of western Wisconsin settled on his 20-acre Sacred Blossom Farm to grow herbs and make tea. His custom proprietary blends have become a hit among aficionados of the drink.
LeeAnne Bulman
LeeAnne Bulman writes about agriculture from her farm overlooking the beautiful Danuser Valley on Wisconsin’s west coast. Email genwim2@gmail.com to reach her.
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