STERLING – Flower power is alive and well in Sterling, thanks to the green thumbs of Dixon resident Norm Koster.
Koster, 69, has a 1,200-acre field of sunflowers located on Polo Road, near the Mobil gas station. It is drawing onlookers from near and far, to the point the Sterling Police Department had to post no parking signs in that area, to help ease traffic congestion.
One might think Koster would not want people congregating on his land to view the flowers, but the opposite is true. He has no problem with that, and if they want to pluck a plant or two, that’s fine as well. He visits the area most days, to see what’s going on.
“I went into this knowing there would be some people that couldn’t resist picking them,” Koster said. “I’m out there, and I don’t know how this couple came up, but they said they were from Los Angeles. The lady claimed that she was an actress and he was an engineer. They listened to my story about how these sunflowers came about.”
This isn’t the first time this field has drawn attention. In 2011, he changed it over to an organic field, meaning no chemicals or fertilizers were used in growing that year’s crop of wheat and clover. Hogs then ate the clover, and their manure aided plant growth on the property.
When residents complained about the smell, he successfully argued it was an organic farm and was able to continue his operation.
“My dad, who was living at the time, asked me where I came up with the idea,” Koster said. “I told him as a boy, ‘I think you made me clean too many hog pens.’ This way, we don’t need to shovel the stuff. The hogs are depositing it right on the ground where we want it.”
Since then, Koster has used the land to grow a variety of organic crops, including wheat, alfalfa, corn, soybeans and food-grade yellow peas.
His first crop of 2020 was wheat, then he received a phone call from a man who worked out of Atlanta for Perdue, a chicken processing company. Perdue wanted Koster to produce a crop of organic sunflowers.
“It was said if I could take my wheat off in a timely fashion and have the sunflowers planted by the July 10 that they should make a crop,” Koster said. “I was able to harvest the wheat, and as it worked out, on the 8th and 9th of July, I planted the sunflowers.”
That period of time, however, was an exceptionally dry period in this region, and Koster figured his first-ever venture in growing sunflowers was doomed.
“I had kind of written the crop off because we hadn’t had any rain,” Koster said. “From July 9 until when these sunflowers started flowering, we hadn’t had an inch of rain total.”
Indeed, by about the last weekend of July, the sunflowers had opened up, and people in Sterling – and beyond – have taken notice.
Traffic in the area increased. Koster noted people have been parking in the former Applebee’s parking lot, as well as the movie theater lot that’s been empty since theater closed due to the pandemic. He enjoys visiting with the people who come by.
On Labor Day, some newlyweds got their picture taken in the field. Shortly after that, a student from Augustana College in Rock Island made a special trip to Sterling, in a gown, to get her picture taken.
“It’s nice to be able to see the positive that I didn’t anticipate,” Koster said.
Koster’s deal with Perdue is actually adversely affected by letting people in the field to pluck sunflowers.
“I’m paid by how many pounds I deliver,” Koster said, “so the pounds I don’t deliver is out of my pocket.”
People have suggested Koster make up for those losses in another way, but he wants none of it.
“Five different individuals approached me and said, ‘You know, you ought to charge $5 a head for the right to come in here,’ “ Koster said. “I thought, ‘You know, there comes a time when you draw the line on capitalism, and isn’t it better just to do a good deed without thinking you have to be reimbursed for it?’ “
All of the fuss should be dying down in the near future, as the sunflowers lose their vitality. Come October, they’ll be harvested and shipped off to Perdue.
“Somebody looked it up and they’ll bloom for about 2 to 3 weeks,” Koster said. “If you look at the heads pretty close, once the pollinization is done, the flowers will die. In another week or so, I don’t think you’ll see many of those yellow flowers left. The plant will have fulfilled the pollination.”
September 18, 2020 at 03:00AM
https://www.prairieadvocate.com/2020/09/11/flower-power-sunflowers-draw-crowds-in-sterling/a4yxefn/
Flower Power: Sunflowers draw crowds in Sterling - Prairie Advocate
https://news.google.com/search?q=Flower&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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