July 14, 2021

Sioux Falls’ first all-organic gardening store is off to a fast start after opening a few months ago. 

Tom Van Kley, who owns Grow Organic along with his wife, Katie, began thinking about Grow Organic as a viable business option when they realized they were spending lots of their own time and money on ensuring they had organic products for their garden.

“When you look around at the availability of quality soils, quality organic inputs and quality fertilizers, there’s just absolutely nothing around. There’s nothing even close in the Sioux Falls area. The nearest place you could find any quality supplies for your garden truly is down in Omaha,” Van Kley said. “So we just wanted a place where you could get everything under one roof.”

Van Kley said the store has seen a lot of traffic since it opened May 15, and they’re hoping to understand more of the community’s needs next gardening season.

“Business has been very good. All the way up through the finalization, the planting season and through this major heat wave that we had, it’s been pretty good,” Van Kley said.

“We’ve learned a lot about things that we’ll have to have and keep around for people, like the farmers markets and the backyard gardeners and the greenhouse gardeners. We’ve had a couple other smaller flower businesses that have come in for different needs. So we’re looking forward to working with them next year at the beginning of the season.”

Looking into the future, Van Kley said he hopes the legalization of medical marijuana in South Dakota and the potential recreational legalization coming later this year will help to expand their client base as well.

“We really want to be a place where you can come to and know that no matter what you need in your garden, you have good, quality organic options in Sioux Falls,” Van Kley said. “We don’t keep it a secret. Medical cannabis is legalized, and we believe recreational cannabis could follow. In that regard, if people don’t want to rely on the dispensaries and the corporations and they would rather grow their own medicine, we’ll be here for those people too.”

Grow Organic is at 3017 E. 10th St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.