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John and Irene Feddema own and operate Dandy Joe on a twenty-seven acre homestead south of Strome, Alberta which has been in the Feddema family since 1903. They grow dandelions and process the roots into tea and “coffee” products.
You can find Dandy Joe products at farmers’ markets in St Albert, Camrose, and, intermittently, at Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market in Edmonton. To learn more about Dandy Joe and their products, check out their Facebook page.
How Dandy Joe began:
John and Irene spent most of their farming years as conventional grain growers and beef producers. In 2005, John became intrigued by a new crop that Alberta Agriculture and Forestry was trying out, rhodiola rosea. It wasn’t long before he was the Alberta rhodiola resource coordinator, traveling around the province, speaking with growers, and evaluating crop success.
John and Irene also grew rhodiola and found that the manual labour involved in keeping them weed free was overwhelming. It seemed impossible to keep the prolific dandelions out of their fragile rhodiola crop. This gave birth to a new idea; they decided instead to work with the dandelions rather than against them. They began harvesting, drying, and processing dandelion root into “coffee” and, in 2011, they applied to sell at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market.
How Dandy Joe is doing it differently:
Learning to grow dandelions has been challenging. Each year John and Irene find new ways to encourage root growth and incorporate more efficiencies into their process. They harvest the roots in the autumn after the first frost, in order to achieve maximum nutritional value. Once the root is harvested, they wash, sort, and shred them in order to lay them out to dry. Once the roots are dried, they can be stored and roasted as required throughout the season.
Irene and John now offer four dandelion “coffee” products and five tea products. They sell their tea and “coffee” both by the bag and in bulk. Their most popular product is their Triple Dandelion tea that combines dandelion, echinacea and rhodiola. They’re also beginning to mill course, medium and fine unroasted root products to meet the demand for dandelion root diet supplement commonly used in smoothies, yogurts and cereals.
Their connection to their customers:
They have found that the interest in dandelions has been growing steadily since they began. While they love to share their knowledge about dandelions and their health benefits, John and Irene believe that, overall, people are becoming more interested in purchasing healthy, local products.
John and Irene thrive on the one-to-one connection they get with their farmers’ market customers. They love hearing feedback from their customers and have learned so much about the benefits of their products from their community.
The future of Dandy Joe:
John and Irene plan to continue growing and processing dandelion root for the foreseeable future. While the manual labour is intense, they are no strangers to hard work and love bringing a product to their customers that can make such a positive impact on their lives.
“It really touches me when customers come back and say our product has really done something for their health. That’s what drives us.” – John Feddema
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