Photo: Marissa Troje at MKT Photography
Sisters Taryn Menne and Renee Neeser have always been best friends. While working corporate jobs, the pair dreamed up a way to spend more time together that involved creativity. In the end, they decided to extend their family legacy. “My grandpa did crop farming, and my grandma always had a large garden, and my dad continued that,” Neeser says. After growing flowers for Menne’s wedding and enjoying the experience, they decided to open a flower farm on their grandparents’ Hugo property in 2020. T and Nae LLC was born.
At the farm, the sisters offer specialty-cut flowers for bouquets, buckets and custom events and host specialty floral events and a weekly farmers market from July through August. Though Menne does outreach and social media and Neeser lives on the farm and oversees day-to-day labor, they each do a bit of everything. “We know each other so well, so when we’re working together, we know how to balance each other and what roles work best for us,” Neeser says.
Renee Neeser and Taryn Menne
The mobile offerings also provide a fun way to share flowers from the farm. The Ninny is a converted horse trailer that acts as a mobile floral bar; the Noddypeak is a smaller cart toting flowers and champagne. “The names both mean ‘the fool,’” Neeser says. “When we started this company at the beginning of the pandemic, our father [initially teased that] we were foolish to try to start a flower farm … but the community came out and supported us so much.” Other offerings include a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), weekly and biweekly bouquets, new florals, and adding a tea garden and a pumpkin patch in the fall.
T and Nae LLC
Facebook: t.and.nae
Instagram: @t.and.nae
