ELLSWORTH – In an old field of cut sunflowers, one sunflower randomly grew that stood out back in 2007. The multi-colored, double flowering sunflower had 12 seeds, which Steve Kaufer planted during the next planting season.

These seeds changed Kaufer’s business as he knew it, starting a path to becoming Sunflower Steve Seed Co. and having his flowers known by flower lovers across the country.

The business, located at N3615 County Road C, began when Kaufer started to collect native prairie seeds because of their positive environmental impact they can have when planted.

In 2000, Kaufer was cutting a tree and fell out of it, breaking multiple ribs. He was growing two varieties of flowers at the time that could not cross-pollinate, because they would be considered a hybrid and could not be sold.

Kaufer told his family to cut one of the flowers down, sparking the idea to sell some of the cut flowers ahead of time, as some of the seeds were already being sold to a nearby nursery. Kaufer brought the flowers called blue baptisia to Woodbury to see if the owner would purchase them. The owner loved them, and Kaufer began to bring flowers every week.

The owner requested Kaufer begin to grow zinnias, as they are well liked, but do not travel well.

Kaufer continued to grow little by little until another business asked if Kaufer could grow sunflowers.

Kaufer joked about how the business has grown, with orders he formerly viewed as large for a week now making up less than half of the flowers he sells in a single day.

“Holy cow, 800, I was thinking ‘that’s awesome,’” Kaufer said. “By 2012 we were probably doing 2,000 a day versus 800 in a week.”

Things changed when Kaufer opened a new field to avoid depleting nutrients in a field that was previously growing sunflowers in 2007. Despite not planting in the previous field, about 15 sunflowers rose from the soil.

One of these sunflowers was both gold and maroon, with multiple layers of pedals. Kaufer had never seen anything like it; he was also shocked because the flowers growing in the field were sterile, and were not supposed to create any pollen.

Kaufer was not carrying anything to cut the flower, forgetting about it before returning to see it wilting away about a week later. Kaufer did not want to let the opportunity go to waste, harvesting 12 seeds out of 572 that had a nut inside. After planting seeds from this plant for four years, Kaufer built up a collection of 3,000 good seeds.

“If I have a sunflower no one else has in the Twin Cities market, I’ll dominate,” Kaufer said.

In 2020, Kaufer was discussing a sale of sunflowers when he was told that the shop no longer needed large quantities of sunflowers. This was because of the increase in desire for people to garden on their own, growing seeds themselves.

This was viewed as more of an opportunity than a hindrance for Kaufer, as seeds were always something he was capable of selling.

“That’s my bread and butter,” Kaufer said. “That’s where I make all my money.”

Kaufer continued selling cut flowers, inching closer to the point of being ready to prioritize the seed company part of the business.

Now, Kaufer is firmly in the seed business, growing flowers of many different colors and shapes; nearly all of them came from the one flower that produced 12 unexpected seeds.

“I truly believe the first one was put on me by God,” Kaufer said. “I didn’t have my snippers to cut it down that day. There were 12 viable seeds, there’s 12 disciples.”

Kaufer creates sunflowers of many different colors, continuing to breed to get them closer to the colors and amount of flowering he is looking for.

While this process results in many of the beautiful flowers people see today, Kaufer said the process is not as simple as outsiders can see.

“People say, ‘You must have magic soil,’” Kaufer said. “No, when you plant millions of seeds, you’re going to get a mutation.”

One of Kaufer’s biggest motivators is CrossWoods Adventure camp. The camp, located on 220 acres in the heart of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin, is owned and operated by the Kaufer family, involving both faith and adventures for middle and high schoolers. The camp also has family weekends, bringing in families to stay at the campsite to deepen their faith together.

The Kaufer’s purchased the camp in 2019, and not long after, the pandemic left the camp empty for an entire summer. The seed company has helped the camp stay afloat through the struggles the pandemic brought to many businesses.

An interesting thing that has developed from Kaufer’s sunflower farm are the occasions he gets recognized in public. With over 40,000 Instagram followers, Kaufer said there have been a few instances where people know who he is, and he joked that it often startles him. Kaufer recalled a story of someone looking at him at a flower shop, and when he thought they wanted something off the top shelf, they recognized him.

“I’ve had people ask me before, like little old ladies, ‘Can you get that off the top shelf,” Kaufer said. “Do you need something off the top shelf? ‘Are you Sunflower Steve?’ No way.”

Learn more about the business and camp at sunfowersteveseedco.com