Tumbleweed Lady Has Thriving Business

Tumbleweed Lady Has Thriving Business AG WORLD Ag World 24-5-23 When a tumbleweed rolls across a road in the High Plains states, most people see a weed. But not Linda Katz of Garden City, Kan. When she sees a tumbleweed, she sees money. For the past three years, Katz has run a thriving business selling tumbleweeds that she collects in her area. Her business, Prairie Tumbleweed Farm, sells tumbleweeds to people all over the world. She's been mentioned twice on the Paul Harvey radio show and has also been featured in newspaper and magazine articles. The scratchy, yellow-gray Kansas weeds have been shipped to buyers in England, Singapore, Austria, and Sweden, displayed in Bloomingdale's department store windows, and featured in an episode of the children's TV show "Barney and Friends." "Tumbleweeds make great home decorations all year long and can even be used as Christmas trees," says Katz. "We sell a lot of them to movie production studios and to TV commercial production studios who use them as props. If you see a commercial on television with a tumbleweed in it, it's probably one of ours. "They also make great decorations around the house. You can spray paint them. Gold is a particularly festive color." Her nieces and nephews work with her. "Last year we made about $20,000. That's not much but when you consider that all we're selling is tumbleweeds, it's not bad," says Katz. "We've sold tumbleweeds to people who are getting married and want a country western scene at the wedding. We even sell tumbleweed T-shirts. They're a hot item on many campuses all over the U.S." Katz gets her tumbleweeds from various sources. "I find them along roadsides, and sometimes farmers will call me and ask me to pick them up off their land. Farmers love the idea that I'm able to sell tumblweeds and often ask, æWhy didn't I think of that?' Occasionally an electric utility company will call and ask if we want to harvest the tumbleweeds on their property, because they're not allowed to burn them. I put each tumbleweed inside a cardboard box for shipping. The best time to harvest tumbleweeds is in the fall when the stems start to break off. In the winter they start blowing around in the wind which makes them harder to grab." The tumbleweeds are sold in three sizes. Large tumbleweeds 20-in. dia. and up sell for $33 apiece; medium tumbleweeds 14 to 20 in. in dia. sell for $27; and small tumbleweeds 12 to 14 in. in dia. sell for $22. Prices include shipping and handling. There's a $20 shipping and handling charge per tumbleweed for international deliveries. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Linda Katz, Prairie Tumbleweed Farm, 2915 Kris Place, Garden City, Kan. 67846 (ph 316 275-6913;Website:www.prairietumble weedfarm.com).

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