Home Care In Cumming, IA

Ahead of its 10th anniversary, Iowa Distilling Co. celebrates with room to grow.

The Cumming, Iowa, spirits manufacturer broke ground this month on a new 6,000-square-foot production facility at 4324 Alice Ave. next to its current home at 4349 Cumming Ave.

“We want to be that draw to Iowa, something (visitors) want to take home and share,” Kyle Doyle, president of Iowa Distilling Co., said.

The distillery currently operates out of a 100-year-old brick building that will remain open as a craft cocktail lounge, tasting room and event space. Des Moines-based construction and design company Shyft Collective heads up the project, estimated to take five to eight months for a 2022 opening.

Started in 2012 by Todd Dunkel, Iowa Distilling Co. produces nine labels ranging from vodka to bourbon to moonshine. Doyle took over the operation five years ago.

Doyle oversees Iowa Distillery Co.’s effort to sell its products in all 99 Iowa counties, and he views the growth of distillery as an investment in the state and the community of Cumming.

“We put ‘Iowa’ in our name because we’re dang proud of it,” Doyle said. “There’s not a lot of communities in the state that can say they impact all 99 counties in Iowa.”

That effort paid off with the distillery earning the title of Warren County Producer/Manufacturer of the Year in 2019 and Cityview’s Best Local Distillery in 2020. The Prairie Fire label took the top spot for whiskey, and Steel Drum Rum won Best Rum.

Consumers can find Iowa Distillery Co. spirits in all 99 counties wherever alcohol is sold and in the craft cocktail lounge in Cumming. Bartenders in the lounge are keen to answer customer questions and offer serving suggestions, Doyle said. The lounge also offers Doyle and his staff an opportunity to connect with the community and bounce ideas off clientele.

“We are working hard to go from Iowa Distilling Co. to Iowa’s distilling company,” Doyle said.

Elle Wignall covers dining for the Register. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ElleWignallDMR.

The agrihood would bring what amounts to a small town to about 400 acres, with an organic vegetable farm, vineyard, orchard and residential gardens anchoring a massive housing and retail development.

CUMMING, Ia. — Steve Bruere asks if he should dress like a farmer or a developer when he meets up with a photographer.

The 38-year-old is joking. He rarely strays far from an unremarkable suit and cowboy boots that take him from farmland auctions to corporate offices.

But the question is appropriate: Bruere and his partners want to build what amounts to a small town on about 400 acres near Cumming, with an organic vegetable farm, vineyard, orchard and residential gardens anchoring the massive home, condo, apartment and retail development.

If the Cumming City Council green-lights the roughly $260 million project next month, the Middlebrook development could be Iowa's first "agrihood," a planned community anchored by a working farm or community gardens.

More than 200 agrihoods have popped up across the country, a trend that appeals to consumers who want a slice of country life — big gardens, nature and outdoor recreation — near urban centers.

"The problem with suburban neighborhoods is that to get to anything other than more houses, you have to drive," said Adam Mekies, associate at Design Workshop in Aspen, Colorado, an architectural firm that's designed several agrihoods.

"Instead of pushing agriculture farther and farther from town, how do you bring it back in?" Mekies said.

Bruere, a partner in Iowa-based Diligent Development, believes Cumming is the perfect place for the concept: The town of 400 already is a destination for thousands of bikers who ride eight miles on the Great Western Trail from Des Moines each year.

With rolling hills, ponds and timber, the 700-home development could take Cumming's population to close to 2,200 within a decade.

It's a shift from centering homes around golf courses, said Bruere, who visited his first agrihood in Virginia and was "blown away."

Families feed chickens and goats and learn to plant and pick vegetables and fruit. They buy produce directly from the local farmer through CSAs or at local stands and markets.

"Getting kids outdoors is an important thing these days — getting them off their devices and their hands in the soil," said Daren "Farmer D" Joffe, a California consultant helping Bruere plan the agrihood.

Iowans need only look to the growing popularity of farmers markets to understand why argrihoods resonate with consumers, said Larry James Jr., a real estate attorney at Faegre Baker Daniels in Des Moines.

"There's a reason tens of thousands of people go to the Downtown Farmers Market each week," said James, the chairman of the Urban Land Institute of Iowa. "It's cool. They want a connection with their farmer."

'Nature in our backyard'

Mayor Tom Becker said residents want to keep Cumming's small-town feel, even with development knocking on the front door.

Microsoft is building its largest U.S. data center nearby, and Veterans Parkway, also called the Southwest Connector, is under construction just north of town.

That will make getting anywhere in the metro area even easier than it is now. Cumming sits close to Interstate Highway 35 and Iowa Highway 5. West Des Moines is 10 minutes away, and downtown Des Moines, 20 minutes.

"We don't want to become a big city," Becker said. "We know that from survey after survey."

So far, Becker said, Diligent Development's plan fits with the city's idea of staying close to Iowa's rural roots. "What we see right now, we like," he said.

Bruere, who also is president of the Peoples Co., a Clive farm management and brokerage firm, said his farm team gets calls every day from families wanting a few acres to build a home on.

"People want to buy 2 acres in the country to have some chickens, a dog and horse, and that's tough to find," he said.

Bruere thinks this project can give families the country feel they want without "chopping up a bunch of farms."

The project calls for a mix of residential options: senior housing, apartments, condos, townhomes, homes for first-time buyers and high-end estates.

Homes in one large neighborhood face gardens in a greenway park that's centered by a "celebration barn" and paths that connect to the 17-mile Great Western Trail.

The homes, designed with front porches and alley-garages, sit on tree-lined sidewalks.

The development's retail-commercial center would butt up to Cumming's downtown.

Now all a farm, Cumming would need to annex the land if the project moves forward.

"We all want that piece of nature in our backyard," Bruere said.

Agrihoods aren't 'an easy thing to do'

While less costly than a golf course, an agrihood can be difficult to pull off, experts say.

In 2014, Hubbell Realty considered building a development around a farm or gardens, but eventually decided against it, saying the financials didn't work at the time.

The company was concerned homeowners would lose interest in maintaining the gardens and they would "become an eyesore for other homeowners."

The company hasn't reconsidered the concept, focusing its efforts in downtown Des Moines, where it has several large projects.

Joffe agreed that agrihoods aren't "an easy thing to do."

"It's not business as usual," he said.

Typically, the developer helps set up the farm, such as providing the land, greenhouses and tractor. Joffe said the farm needs the startup assistance to be self-sustaining, whether as a nonprofit or a private operation.

That investment will make the project "different from the tract community down the road," he said. "It's more of a risk but a higher return because you'll have a really unique project."

Agrihoods have taken off in Georgia, Arizona, Illinois, Washington and Vermont, among other states.

In Iowa, Linn County is backing a $120 million residential project that's centered on conservation and built around a working farm. And Pleasant Hill is contemplating an agrihood project as well. Both are in the planning stages.

It's important, Joffe said, that farming ties the community together, both physically and through programming such as cooking and gardening classes. Many developments offer classes for schools, senior and youth groups and civic organizations.

Joffe believes Bruere, who grew up on a farm and runs an ag business, has the background to make it work.

Bruere has yet to decide how the farm would be structured. But the agrihood's large event venue, orchard and vineyard likely will be privately owned operations.

It can't all be an acre and $400,000 homes

Just north of Middlebrook, Bruere is building a more traditional residential and commercial development called Great Western Crossing, valued around $112 million.

Its 300 homes and townhomes would bring Bruere's total development in Cumming to about 1,000 units if the agrihood project moves forward.

The town's iconic schoolhouse, where former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin attended, is already getting a face-lift, with a new brick facade and windows.

A craft brewer will locate there, although Bruere hasn't named the company yet.

A new building constructed next door will house the brewing equipment and provide bike storage for families who want quick access to the trail, Bruere said. A hops garden is planned out front.

The new brew pub would join the Iowa Distilling Co. and the Cumming Tap, popular destinations for thirsty bike riders.

Full Court Press opened The Chicken restaurant and bar in nearby Orilla last summer.

The development "sounds like it's going to be a small town, with all the modern trappings ... a modern step into rural life," said Jeff Bruning, a partner in Full Court Press, which owns several metro area restaurants and bars.

Bruning is eager to see the development take off. The added traffic will help his business and others.

Bob Moural, the Tap's co-owner, hopes the development brings a mix of ages, housing and businesses. "It can't all be an acre and $400,000 homes," he said.

Moural believes the town's leaders will ensure the community maintains its character with new development. "I know it's eventually going to grow up, and I won’t be the only kid in town."

Paul Rasch pulls a couple of Red Free apples from the trees at Wilson's Orchard & Farm, about 5 miles northeast of Iowa City's downtown.

The warm, sweet apples are among roughly 100 varieties that are the heart of Rasch's growing family business. Moving beyond a traditional "you-pick" apple orchard and pumpkin patch, the family's added strawberries, raspberries and blueberries; zinnias, dahlias and other flowers; weddings, music and other special events; a cider business; livestock operation; and farm-to-table restaurant and barbecue smokehouse.

Now, the nearly four-decades-old Iowa City mainstay is taking root in Cumming, a town of about 500 people just southwest of Des Moines, planting a second orchard and building a restaurant and event center in the state's first agrihood, a 900-acre development called Middlebrook. The $800 million mixed residential, retail and commercial project is centered on farming, with the orchard joining a giant community garden.

Wilson's Des Moines metro orchard will sit on 115 acres, with about 30 of them devoted to pasture for livestock. "The rest will be in fruit trees, berries, pumpkins, flowers, vegetables, but also in prairies and places that are left to express themselves naturally," Rasch said in a video Thursday announcing the project.

The goal is to connect people with food and "the land it came from," he said.

"We've dreamed about expanding to Des Moines for a long time," Rasch told the Des Moines Register, adding that he searched for a year without success for a location close to the capital that had scenic rolling hills, ponds and woods. He mostly found flat cornfields.

"It looked like it wasn't going to happen," he said, until Middlebrook's developer added 160 acres to the project. "And everything fell into place."

The plan for the new orchard grew organically as Katie and Jacob Goering, the children of Rasch and his wife, Sara Goering, joined the business, bringing their own skills and ideas. The family wanted to make the operation more sustainable, both environmentally and financially, said Rasch, who bought the orchard with his wife in 2009.

"We wanted to be more diverse. We wanted to expand how long we were open," said Rasch, who spent the summer planting apple trees, strawberries and raspberries at the orchard site on the west side of Middlebrook. "We used to be open three months of the year. Then it crept out to six months and now it's year-round. And what we do in that year has expanded."

"It's sort of a slippery slope," Rasch said of his family's growing business, which attracted about 265,000 people last year at the Iowa City orchard, market and restaurants. "It's developed its own momentum."

Learning to love the bugs

As Rasch walks through the Iowa City orchard, he talks about some of the additions that have resonated with visitors. A flower garden bursts with colors across a quarter acre with blooms that visitors can cut or buy in the farm market. They also can walk across a bridge and wander through rows of sunflowers they can pick.

"People just love them," Rasch said, adding that the flower gardens also are a popular place for photos.

Bees and other pollinators love the flowers too.

"We've seen a lot of native pollinators come back," said Rasch, who brings in commercial hives each year to pollinate the fruit trees.

Cutting back on summer mowing helps the pollinators as well, Rasch said, walking through grass filled with purple clover.

"We used to do a lot of mowing. But we've come to the conclusion that there are advantages to not being so eager," he said.

The habitat supports insects that help protect his crops.

"Ninety-seven percent of insects are good guys. When I grew up, all insects were bad guys," said Rasch, a fifth-generation farmer raised in Michigan, where his family grows apples, cherries, pears and other fruit. "We nuked them. We lived on sprays.

"But we've learned we don't have to do it that way. If you let the 97% do their work — I won't say we don't do anything — but you don't have to do nearly as much," he said, adding that new technologies have helped the effort.

For example, the farm uses pheromone disruption to prevent damaging codling moths from laying eggs in apples, with the caterpillars later eating their way out. The crew ties pheromone strips in trees, flooding the orchard with scent that makes it difficult for the males to find the females and mate.

"It's more expensive, but there's no pesticides involved," Rasch said.

Regenerative agriculture is more than making "one or two grand measures. It takes a zillion little measures to make this work," he said, like mowing in the fall so that nesting eagles, hawks and other predators can see and help control the bark-eating voles that damage the fruit trees.

Rasch also feeds pomace — the pulp, skins, cores, stems and seeds left over after apples are pressed for cider — to lambs, pigs and cattle that he and other farmers raise. The meat, along with the orchard's crops, is served in the family's Ciderhouse Restaurant and grab-and-go BBQ stand, the Smokehouse.

The family built the restaurants and event space after Katie Goering saw demand from customers, and the family moved a restored barn onto the property to house the new ventures.

"We decided if we were going to have food, we should have really good food," said Rasch, who hired chef Matt Steigerwald, a James Beard award finalist when he ran the Lincoln Cafe in Mount Vernon. He features products from the orchard and regional farms in the restaurants' menus.

A place to hang out every weekend

With development of the orchard in Cumming underway, Katie Goering said the family's next step is to build a 20,000-square-foot farm market and bakery, Cider Bar & Restaurant, as well as a cider cellar and production facility this fall. The business and orchard, with strawberries available first, will open next year. The family plans to build the event space a year later.

Rasch said the Cumming restaurant will feature ciders.

"Most people don't know this, but Iowa used to be one of the largest apple producers in the U.S. And prior to Prohibition, hard cider was the most popular alcohol beverage in the country," he said in the video announcing the project. "One of our goals as a company is to reestablish cider and a cider culture in Iowa."

Steigerwald, the business's culinary coordinator, will lead the Cumming restaurant as well as Iowa City's. In addition, the family owns a 90-acre commercial orchard in Solon between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, where they make the business's cider, sold in the Des Moines metro as well as eastern Iowa.

While the Iowa City restaurant leans toward fine dining, Katie Goering said the Cumming restaurant's farm-to-table food will be more casual, with grab-and-go options available in the market. The new orchard will offer fine-dining experiences through special events like those in Iowa City, which hosts full-moon dinners that offer prix fixe meals paired with ciders, she said.

"The consistent theme across all the food is quality — local ingredients that are sourced carefully," Jacob Goering said.

Rasch said it's important that in both Iowa City and Cumming the orchard is a place that people can enjoy often.

"We don't want this to be a once-a-year destination," he said, adding that's why the orchard features frequent band performances, tractor and hay rides, winter ice skating and other events.

"We have a lot of special events that happen here" in Iowa City "that will also take place in Des Moines," Rasch said.

Steve Bruere, president of Diligent Development, the company developing the Middlebrook agrihood, said he thinks Wilson's Orchard will mesh with the existing community garden, where 400 to 500 people gather weekly for Fridays on the Farm during the summer.

Armed with lawn chairs, families buy garden produce, wine, cocktails and dinner at one of 20 vendors at the site, while enjoying free music. The town already is a favorite with bikers on the Great Western Trail, which runs from Des Moines through Cumming.

The developers are connecting the agrihood to the trail as well as building trails that will run throughout the development, including Wilson's Orchard. The development will eventually have 1,500 homes, to be built over the next decade, and already features Middlebrook Mercantile, an upscale bar and general store.

Bruere said Wilson's Orchard will make Cumming even more of a destination for metro residents.

"Nobody complains about there being too many wineries in California," he said.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8457.