One, two, three, four, Get my shoes and out the door.

Five, I'm alive.

Six, seven, eight, feeling great.

Nine, gonna shine, life is good, I'm doing fine.

Ten, gonna do it right and do it again.

Ya, I look into the sky with all it's beautiful color.

But there's more than just for me, so gonna share it with another.

I got to show, to give, let it out.

I want.

To sing and shout.

Take a look and see a beautiful morning.

That turns into a beautiful evening.

And together make a beautiful life.

And if you want to see then come along with me.

That's right.

Welcome to Experience Michiana I'm the show's producer, Kelsy Zumbrun.

Thank you so much for joining us for this holiday weekend.

We are happy to celebrate the Fourth of July with you.

So we hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday.

Coming up on the show this week, we're going to look back at a few of our favorite segments.

We are headed to Middlebury for the Mustard Seed Marketplace, which is a really unique shopping experience that gives back with every purchase that you make.

We are also headed to Elkhart for the Vanilla Bean Creamery, a story of a mother and daughter who decided in the middle of winter to start an ice cream shop.

And then also this week, our new segment, Dave, is out strolling through the garden.

And it is the Arts in Bloom Garden Walk, which is happening this coming Wednesday, July 7th.

So why don't we take a stroll with him?

This is the most perfect day to Experience Michiana.

I am here with Suzanne Harris, who's from the South Bend Art League.

Suzanne, we're in absolute paradise right now and we're actually out in somebody's lawn who has a lawn like this?

I mean, this is absolutely amazing.

Tell us a little bit about what's going on this summer.

Who has a yard like this?

Gardeners.

Yeah, we are passionate, but we also like to share our gardens.

And on July 7th, we will have our annual garden walk.

It'll be our thirty first.

And everyone is so excited.

The art league, South Bend Art League, supports the South Bend Art Museum, and this is a fundraiser for them.

And this is the only fund raiser that we have.

The money is used to support the museum's programs for children and we have many of those.

It helps the students South Bend, Mishawaka, Penn Harris Madison, they come and learn things.

We have instructors that teach art and we're just very excited about having this.

We didn't get to do it last year.

Of course.

And this is it's obviously this is one of the gardens.

This is John's garden.

And we're going to talk to him a little bit later on Experience Michiana.

So how does this work for people?

Because I grew up gardening with my mom.

My mom loves gardening.

Her garden is her joy.

And that's her special place to go outside and relax, and that's where she gets her head space.

So I totally get it.

So when I'm somewhere like this, I can see how much passion is being put in and I love it.

It's so tranquil here right now.

Yes, it is.

So for anyone watching Experience Michiana who wants to view gardens like this, how does it work?

OK, we sell tickets online and they are fifteen dollars in advance.

Twenty dollars when they come to the Henry Frank Park to buy a ticket and when they come in to the pavilion there they can get a book if they show their ticket or buy one there.

The book has a map in it that will tell them how to get around to the gardens.

And the art walk is from nine thirty in the morning till seven thirty at night.

So do you have to go in particular order or go to whichever?

Whenever you have time to come?

So if it's like 10:00 a.m. and I just want to rock up and come to John's house and just walk on in and see his garden.

Yeah, I love it.

That's correct.

As long as you have your ticket?

As long as I have my ticket yet.

Will he provide me with coffee?

No, no, no, no, I don't think so.

No, I'll ask him later.

So how many are there?

How many gardens like this one this year?

We have seven.

Sometimes we have as many as ten or eleven.

And I love this because this is just off Day Road right now where we are.

If you drove by, you'd never think that something so beautiful was inside.

And that's what I love as well, is that it's almost discovering hidden gems.

And what I really like about it as well is that it gives you ideas like this behind me, I would have never thought of this.

And now I'm like getting ideas from my home.

So is that something that people do to they get ideas?

Absolutely.

Every garden is unique and it's just amazing that you never see two alike and the people that have gardens like this are artists, too.

You know, there will be artists in the garden painting, so you'll be able to see how it looks from an artist's viewpoint.

Of course, that's a part of it that we haven't touched on yet, is that this is Arts and Bloom.

So as you mentioned, will there be artists in all the gardens at all times?

Yes, there will.

Wow, that's incredible.

So not only do you get to see these beautiful gardens, but you get to see the artists working as well.

I love it.

Suzanne, thank you so much.

I'm excited for this.

I'm going to get my tickets in advance because, you know, I like to save five dollars, but I'm going to go and talk to John right now, who has an awesome Irish last name as well, which I want to talk to him about that and his garden coming up.

I'm here with John Holloran, John, this is yours.

This is amazing.

You ever just walk outside and think, how did I get this garden?

I've been working on it for 20 years now, Dave, and it just happens piece by piece.

But you're right, when you look at the finished product, you go, oh, my goodness, you know.

And do you actually take time to enjoy it?

Because from the second I walked in here, I feel so at peace.

It is so relaxing.

There's something very relaxing about this garden.

And actually just being in the garden itself and working in the garden is a form of relaxation for me.

So every now and then I sit on the bench that we have in the garden to get the view.

But but usually it's just kind of communing with nature whenever I'm working in the garden.

It's a great way.

Look, there's nothing better than getting some soil on your hands and connecting to where we started.

You know, you never know who you're going to meet.

People come through and admire your garden and you might even inspire lots of other people to kind of do something similar.

Tell me about this, because I'm intrigued by this area.

What exactly is this?

Well, this is my attempt at what is normally called a Zen garden.

The Japanese refer to it as a dry sand garden, officially.

And when we moved here 20 years ago in the year 2000, I decided that being on the water like this, that it would be nice to have something that was a Asian inspired garden.

So I studied the Japanese gardens.

And of course, this is normally a big part of a Japanese garden.

Maybe that's why I feel so relaxed, because it's Zen.

Absolutely.

All right.

I want to go over to this bench because I believe the view from over there is absolutely beautiful.

So let's head over there.

All right.

This is the most relaxed I've ever been hosting Experience Michiana.

See if I had this garden now, I would just sit here all day.

This is absolutely beautiful.

And what I love about it is that you can't see any other houses.

All you can see was that done on purpose.

Did you put it here on purpose?

Yes, I wanted a focal point that just emphasized nature.

Yeah.

How much time do you put in per week?

I put in probably about six hours a day.

Oh, wow.

That's about as much as I put into my full time job.

So six hours a day, really.

What would you do during those six hours?

Like, why does it take so long?

Well, even though the plants are all grown and I'm not doing a lot of planting anymore, there's always maintenance.

And for instance, in the springtime, there's just a lot of cleanup to be done.

Yeah.

And you get the spring bulbs, for example, that will flower and they'll look beautiful, but they leave behind all sorts of stems and yellowing leaves.

And you have to you have to get that stuff out of there.

Otherwise, the neighbors will say to me, John, you know, your garden's starting to look shabby.

Starting to let it go.

Like, you know, a big part of this event this summer is the blooms, arts and blooms.

And it's also about the artist as well.

So you've got one of the artists here in your garden right now.

So I want to see how she sees it.

And let's talk to her.

Yes.

Now it's all about arts and it's all about blooms, it's about the gardens and the artists that are going to be in them.

I'm here with Janet.

How are you doing?

I know you love being on TV, right?

It's great.

Yeah, you love it as much as I love being on it.

So I love what you're doing here.

So this is a painting of our actual garden right now.

So is that what all the artists are going to be doing?

Like you're you're going to go to the gardens and then draw what you see?

Pretty much that's what happens.

I've been doing this for about twenty eight years now and some people take and do a huge vista.

Some people do parts of the house.

Some people do small, little, intricate small areas.

So it's just a variety, depending on what catches their eye when they walk into the yard.

As an artist, what do you love to draw?

I usually like to do vistas and I sometimes like to include architecture.

So that's sort of my thing.

How many gardens are you going to be in?

Like, are you going to go around to all of the 30 gardens or I'm assigned to this garden?

There's approximately four artists per garden this year at different times of the day, and we all have assignments.

And so I actually was assigned this garden.

So it's a big part of this art walk is not only getting to see the gardens, but also getting to meet lovely artists like Janet.

As you can see, it is a beautiful day in Middlebury and I am super excited because today I get to shop, but I get to do shopping with a cause.

And I'm so excited to meet up with Lisa.

And Lisa is the founder and the owner of the mustard seed marketplace.

Lisa, I went online, I have to tell you, because, you know, when I shop, I'm very strategic.

Yeah.

So I went online and I started looking at everything.

I just want to let you know I was starting to pick out my items already, but I cannot wait to get inside and see it in person.

Are you ready to take me in there?

So excited to share with you.

So.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, let's go.

Let's go.

The mustard seed marketplace is unlike any other store, I mean, there is such a heart behind this place.

What inspired you to open this up?

Yeah, so I had been working with another organization that was working with artisans around the globe, and I was actually able to travel and visit these artisans in Uganda and Peru and Haiti.

And so I just fell in love with the mission behind fair trade products and products with a purpose.

And so everything in the shop is fair trade, locally made or different get back brands.

And so we work with over 40 groups in 18 countries that make everything.

And so, like I said, everything's got a bigger purpose.

Now, I believe there's a purpose behind the name as well.

The mustard seed.

What's that all about?

That is based off of Matthew 17 20, the scripture that reads about having faith the size of a mustard seed.

And so that's just been a verse that's been very near and dear to my heart.

And so I wanted to include that in my business name.

You definitely have to have a lot of faith here because there's so much behind this.

For instance, here, this is one of the things in your heart is to help women that have been through human trafficking.

Yes.

So this these bracelets here and then some of the rings that we have here are made by women out of sex trafficking in the Nashville, Tennessee area.

And so the concept behind these is that each piece is branded with a number that is a unique number to each to each person and each piece.

And so each survivor that has made a piece will initial it.

So like the ring that I have on says R.O., and then you can go online and read her story and send a message of hope to that woman.

And then we also have the pieces here that are made by women out of sex trafficking in the East Asia area.

And so a lot of the pieces obviously, like I said, just are doing incredible things and then working on the preventative side as well.

So how do you choose?

Because there's so many different issues out there, so many causes.

How do you choose which one you're going to connect with?

Yeah, so this has been something that has just been incredibly near and dear to my heart just since I've been educated about what sex trafficking looks like, what human trafficking looks like.

And, you know, a lot of people are very familiar with sex trafficking, but just the idea that with human trafficking, there is there's just so much as far as child labor, forced labor, slave labor and just unsafe working conditions.

And so to be able to work with artisans around the globe that are being paid a fair wage and a living wage and safe working conditions, and no child labor is really what we're what we're all about.

Now, do you believe this is kind of a move of the future?

I mean, that people are shopping?

You know, I left the shop.

People love to shop and shopping is necessary, but we can do it in a way that we are giving back to people at the same time.

Absolutely.

So, I mean, I have a friend that says fair trade, fair trade items.

That's that's exactly how business should be done.

And so, unfortunately, that's not the that's not the case in all businesses of how people are paid and how they're treated.

But that's what we believe here, is that this is just how business should be done.

They should be paid a living wage, a fair wage.

And, you know, the items are beautiful.

And, yes, they are to be able to create a marketplace here in the US for these artisans around the globe is just really where my heart spend with this.

So so there's so many things that have caught my eye.

This is one of them.

These beaded bracelets are so beautiful.

And they come with one of these charms.

Yes.

So each of these these are made by artisans in Haiti and they are all made out of clay.

And then they are they're rolled and then they're fired.

And then each of the charms, these are all hand stamped.

And so each bracelet is twenty two and then it comes with a charm for free.

So a lot of people like to wear them separately or stack them together.

I love this that.

Absolutely.

So these are by far probably one of our most most popular items.

Our biggest seller is just because it's personalized and you can know it's a great gift.

It's a great item.

Like I said, the stack or we're together.

But and what I love is that it's encouraging to the women, like you said, in Haiti and in other parts of the world.

But what I love about the chances that it's encouraging to the person that you're giving it to you as well.

Absolutely.

People like you said, these make great gifts.

And these are just just incredible pieces to show inspiration and to encourage others.

And that's that's just one of the reasons we love them.

So.

And then there's also lots of beautiful clothing.

And I see the one you're wearing this afternoon.

I have to try it on myself.

So I would say most of the clothing that we carry here in our shop is made by a partnership that we work with in Cambodia.

It's called Buy To Thee and the partnership that we work with.

It's amazing because they are they are working with seamstresses.

It's a group of 20 over 20 seamstresses.

And each seamstress signs their name on the tag so that you can see who made it.

So these are just incredible pieces that, you know, these these seamstresses are able to work in a safe, a safe working environment, paid a living wage and are just able to really thrive.

So did you get to meet some of the women?

I have not been able to to go to Cambodia, but I have been to several other countries and met artisans around the globe.

And like I said.

Uganda and Peru and Haiti, so, yeah, now if you can't make it store, you also sell online.

Yes, we do.

Yeah, you can visit our website at, the mustard seed marketplace dot com.

And then we're also on Facebook and Instagram.

And you can find out all all the good stuff there as well.

Now, what are the hours and days that you're open?

Yeah, so currently we are open Tuesday through Saturday.

We're open Tuesday through Friday, 10 to five, and then Saturdays ten to four.

So that'll change a little bit in the summer with our farmer's market that'll be going on here at the mill.

But that's the hours for that we have currently.

Well, you don't mind if I do a little shopping?

Absolutely.

And what I love about it is I'm shopping ethically.

And so that's wonderful because obviously you're shopping.

But there's also there's hope here.

Absolutely.

And that we want to pass that hope on not just to our community, but what's so cool is that hope is going out around the world.

Absolutely.

All right, Lisa, you have a basket.

Yeah, we'll grab your bag.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

And we're doing that here today at the Vanilla Bean Creamery in Elkhart, Indiana.

And I have with us, of course, our co-host dave.

But also we have with us Clara, who's the co-owner of Vanilla Bean Creamery.

Thanks for having us in this beautiful place today.

Thank you for being here.

Now, what what inspired you to get into the ice cream business?

Well, I was making cakes and I was working too hard.

I was doing a call to order cakes and I summers were so chaotic and busy that I needed something that would be ready at all times because I made all my cakes fresh and I wanted everything fresh.

And this is a little different.

It's in the freezer and you serve it when it's when you're ready to serve it.

Absolutely.

Oh, it sounds delicious.

And there's an amazing story behind this company.

It's actually you and your daughter.

How did you come up with that idea?

Well, we had too much time on the couch in the winter because in the summer and I was busy in the winter.

So we just started talking and I had to run across this video on YouTube that they were making ice cream.

I thought, well, I can do that.

Hey, you can make cakes.

You can make ice cream.

Yes.

So then we started talking.

I thought, well, this is a great idea.

So that's how you do it?

Yes.

We went to Florida for ice cream boot camp and we came back and we told my husband, I said, we want to do this.

He said, you're crazy.

I said, no, we want to do it.

I love it.

Now, I would love even better.

I don't know if there's any of this on the menu, but can you put the cake in the ice cream?

Because that would be.

Well, we have brownies in the ice cream I have bought for me.

I'm still working on the gooey cake.

Oh, that sounds good.

That's on.

Yes.

And you have a lot of flavor options to make them all yourself.

Yes.

We made we came up with most of the recipes and we make everything here.

We make the brownies that go in the ice cream, the lemon curd that goes into the lemon ice cream.

Yeah, well, that sounds really good.

And of course, we're here in Elkhart right now.

But you've expanded.

Yes, we are now in Granger at seven four two four gumWood road.

And we've been there for five weeks.

You're taking over northern Indiana.

So shall we try some?

We should, yeah.

We're just in the beginning stages of taking over.

I say ice cream is always good any time of the year.

But people can also they can come in, grab a pint if they want to take some home for them.

Yes.

For the night or I see mint chocolate chip behind you right now.

I just can't stop looking for you.

I promise.

I'm not looking at you courtney its the mint chip.

I have to ask you, Claire, what's your favorite flavor?

Mint chip, mint and dark chocolate.

OK, the two together, either that or the coffee brownies.

Sometimes it depends.

Mix a marshmallow into it.

And the marshmallows go into the Amish peanut butter.

Oh, You know, although when people walk in, they taste this ice cream.

But the story behind this building as well, like if we can have a look around here, you spend months on scaffolding actually getting this together together.

You spent like ten months is that right?

pretty close to ten months by the time we we bought the building to the time we opened.

Wow.

Because we took we took two by fours off the wall and plaster off the wall, old paint off the ceiling, three layers of flooring off the floor.

Yeah, it is.

What's your vision for the space when people walk through the door?

What kind of Experience do you want them to have?

I want them to have a like an old school feeling like like like a celebrating, you know, ice cream.

You celebrate with ice cream.

Yeah.

And icecream makes people happy, it makes me happy and for like I love to see grandparents, well, I'm a grandparent, so I would love to see grandparents bring their grandchildren in here and just sit down and have a cup of ice cream.

Yeah.

So I say we try that ice cream that yes, we have Strawberry and Butterfinger.

Oh, that sounds delicious.

All right.

Let's give it a try.

So this is the moment it's all come down to no pressure.

I feel oddly weird and awkward that I have to lick this ice cream on TV for this to be a little bit of class.

This is like somebody watching you eating a banana.

It's just never comfortable.

So.

All right, I'm going to try it.

All right.

Here, tell us what kind of ice creams we have here.

You have the strawberry, which is made with we've put a real strawberry in there.

Yeah.

And that delicious butter finger, which is crushed Butterfinger.

And it's a good name that I know it's it's for you.

And I just want to eat all this.

But they keep zooming in on me and it's like I just don't want to do it any more Dp you guys have flavors of the week.

So you get kind of the ones that you have all the time, but you also rotate out different flavors and yes, kind of sampling in new things, trying out new recipes.

Oh yeah.

We try new recipes a lot.

We have twenty five flavors that we usually have and then we have five seasonal flavors.

We have three dairy free flavors.

So we're we, we usually have 30 or more.

And you have a taco Tuesday.

Yes, we have Taco Tuesdays which is a taco like a waffle cone.

But then you can just scoop ice cream with toppings and cool whip on top.

And I just love that you guys make all of this in-house.

Yes.

The waffle cones are made in-house as well.

Everything homemade.

So it's not a mix.

It's beautiful.

Do you want a bite?

Are we there yet?

Will we ever be there?

I feel like it's all over my mouth right now.

I just want this to end.

I know I could be here forever.

Oh, well, thank you so much for showing us around.

And how can people get in touch with you?

How can they find out what the flavor of the week is on your social media?

Yes, on Facebook.

Everything is on Facebook.

Ah, every week Tuesdays is when we post a new flavor, OK?

And pretty soon we're going to be changing to summer hours.

So then we'll have longer hours.

It will be open on Monday evenings as well.

No, just in case.

Is there a different flavor of the week between the Elkhart and the Granger location?

I need to plan my route for the week.

Well, we try to keep everything the same.

We have it in Elkhart.

We have it in Granger.

OK, I like it.

I'm like, the ice cream is amazing.

It truly is.

I'm not just saying that because you're standing here pretty close to me, but really the story of you and your daughter sitting at home together and being like, let's start this empire.

And now you've got two locations.

Like, I think that's amazing and actually truly, really inspiring.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for having us today, Clara.

Yes.

There are so many puzzles here.

One of my favorites, University of Michigan, I'm going to have to get this one, but we're here at Puzzle's Plus in Shipshewana, Indiana.

And this is really a puzzler's paradise.

I am so in heaven here.

I'm looking for a few more puzzles to take home with me today.

So I don't know.

I'm awfully overwhelmed because there's so many here.

There has to be thousands here.

Let's see if we can find the owner, Andrew.

Maybe he can help us around.

OK, I feel like we're getting close to what we're looking for.

You said there's even puzzles for kids.

I'm assuming puzzles is really an all ages thing, correct?

Yeah.

Ravensburger makes a line for ages three through eight specifically so that parents know what kind of puzzles to look for.

OK, do you know what kind of age range you're looking for?

Seven, seven years old is what we're looking for.

We got fives over here and then there is a whole bunch of sixes and sevens along the floor here.

And I love that you have it all arranged.

So if you're coming in, maybe you're buying a gift for a little one.

Yes, you can pick those by my by age.

And it's like you had like three or four year old.

They make ones that are extra large pieces like this is for fourr plus, but so because they're younger, they make the pieces larger.

So it's easier to do and parents can help them out.

Perfect.

Perfect.

And you have puzzles of all different sizes here, correct.

Yeah.

So Ravensburger also carries a lot of our larger puzzles.

Oh yeah.

These are big.

Two thousand, fifteen hundreds.

And then I'm one of the few people in Indiana who carries their eighteen, nine thousand and I even have a forty thousand piece.

A forty thousand piece puzzle.

How long do you think that would take somebody?

I have a lady who actually who requested them that I put them in and she bought the first two and then I reordered them.

She said it took her about three months to complete the forty thousan piece.

Oh My gosh.

OK, I'm not looking for a three month puzzle, but I will say I'm a puzzler.

Sure.

This is just amazing space in here.

I am enjoying this and there are some common lines that people are looking for that might not be in other places.

What are some of those lines that people can find here?

Specifically, One that is, I don't think anywhere else in Indiana is I have an artist from Michigan right here, and he he does photography all through Michigan.

So you'll see, like the Northern Lights, he went up to the Upper Peninsula and got a picture of that.

And see, those are hard.

This is almost all one color.

These are difficult puzzles, right?

Yes.

Yeah.

There there are some easier ones in there.

But any time you have a lot of sky or water going on, you're looking at a very difficult puzzle.

There's someone, like I get a lot of people in here who want something just to pass the time and have fun.

I had them towards Sun's Out, which is American made in Indiana made.

And you'll see when you're walking through here, if you're looking, you'll see there's ones that have Sun's Out on the top here.

These are all ones that have easier images, their country kind of themed.

They kind of fit the area that we're in.

So you guys can really help guide people to puzzling to, while they're here?

Oh, yeah.

We have a lot of sports fans that come through.

I carry some sports merchandise to the other side of the store, but I also have a lot of people who buy puzzles that like sports fans.

And so right here, you're starting all of the major power five conferences and I already grabbed one.

Yeah.

So you grabbed that Michigan one, you got your big ten, you've got your ACC.

You have some sports stuff over here you've got hot sauces too.

This is great for gift giving if you will.

Yes.

Yeah.

Christmas time is a huge time for us for hot sauce as this is like our front display of our hot sauces.

And then normally when it gets towards Christmas, this whole back wall that had Robin's burger on it starting is the hardest.

I carry the three hottest sauces that they make commercially.

You're talking over... We're not trying those today, right?

Well, no, I really like hot stuff.

And I've tried the three hottest ones, and they're not.

You're talking like ten million Scoville units.

Oh, yeah, no thanks.

So we're walking through the Davis Mercantile here in Shipshewana, Indiana, heading from Puzzle's Plus over to truly yours.

And this is also another amazing shop, great for home decor, but also for gift giving, too.

And I'm looking for a rug.

You have a lot of options here.

Yes.

This is we are the largest braided rug carrier in Indiana.

We carry up to eight by ten foot.

As we got into the business, we put in a puzzle or a braided rug rack so people could see all the different sizes that we carry in the large ones.

So you have eight by tens all the way down to coaster sizes down here.

So as far as how people can shop with you guys for both of the stores, how can they shop with you?

They can they can call and make a purchase.

The biggest the biggest one that we've been doing recently is we've we've been doing Facebook and I've been having a lot of people messaged me who don't feel comfortable coming in yet.

So what I do then is and I ask them what product they want, I'll send them pictures and I can ship or drop ship the product straight to them.

And what are the hours here?

Yeah, the hours are ten to five Monday through Saturday.

Perfect.

All right.

Well, I have a lot of shopping to do, you guys.

I saw there's even candles in here.

Yeah, there is a candle hut in the back corner over there.

That's all it is.

And there's a lot of fun socks, too.

You guys have a ton of novelty socks.

We have a novelty sock section that's also over in the front corner.

OK, well, I better get a shopping bag because I might be here a while.

All right.

All right.

Thanks, Andrew.

No poblem.

That's it for this week's show, we're so thankful that you were with us.

Make sure you guys have a wonderful and safe holiday and we can't wait to see you next time here on Experience Michiana.

Take care.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.