From Chaos to Creation: Mieke Sikking on Motherhood, Farming, Friendship, and Building In Between The Vines

April 06, 2026•11 min read

Some podcast episodes feel polished.

This one feels real.

In this episode of Make It Count, Michelle sits down with one of her favorite people, Mieke Sikking of In Between The Vines—a mom of five, flower stand owner, farm girl, animal wrangler, and the kind of woman who somehow makes chaos look completely normal.

What unfolds is a conversation full of laughter, honesty, resilience, and the kind of perspective that only comes from living a very full life. It is about motherhood, entrepreneurship, adversity, and why some people are simply wired to keep going, no matter what.

And if there is one thing Mieke proves, it is this:

You do not need a perfect life to build something beautiful.

You’ve Been Trying to Get Me in This Chair for a Year

Michelle: “Hi everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Make It Count. Today I am with one of my favorite humans. I have Mieke Sikking from In Between the Vines. She’s a mom, a good friend, a business owner, an animal wrangler, you know, jack of all trades. But I’m going to have a deep conversation about motherhood, business challenges, and our friendship. So, welcome.”

Mieke: “Thank you for having me.”

Right away, the tone is warm and familiar.

This is not a formal interview between strangers. This is a conversation between two women who know each other well, who have done life in parallel, and who clearly admire one another.

Michelle: “How long have I tried to get you in this chair?”

Mieke: “I think since—I think at least a year.”

Why the wait?

Well, when you are raising five children, running a business, managing a farm property, and apparently expanding into beekeeping, scheduling gets complicated.

Five Kids, A Beehive, and a Whole Lot of Chickens

Michelle jokingly describes Mieke as the kind of person who always seems to have “another accessory” with her—except the accessory is usually another child.

Michelle: “If you know Mieke, you know that she’s toting around like another accessory every time. How did that happen? Five.”

Mieke: “I don’t know. They’re all a blessing, so that’s good.”

And then the conversation gets even more Mieke.

Because children are only part of the story.

There are also:

chickens
rabbits
sheep
cats
two dogs
and now… a beehive

Michelle: “Oh my god, this is new for me, too. You—what?”

Mieke: “I bought a beehive and like a whole colony. So, that’s coming this spring.”

This is the thing about Mieke: she says extraordinary things in the most casual tone possible.

A beehive. A peacock phase. Forty or fifty chickens. Sheep coming back in spring. A son insulating the barn for winter livestock.

For Mieke, this is not content. This is just Tuesday.

“That’s My Life”

One of the funniest moments in the episode is Michelle retelling the day Mieke convinced her to help pick up chickens.

Michelle admits she is afraid of birds. Mieke, of course, handles chickens like it is nothing. Add in a torn-up driveway, a lawn mower, a wagon, and a car seat, and the whole thing sounds like a reality show scene.

Michelle: “That day I was like, is this a candid camera situation?”

Mieke: “That’s my life.”

That one sentence captures Mieke so perfectly.

Her life is busy, messy, funny, unpredictable—and somehow still grounded.

The Morning Routine: Controlled Chaos

When Michelle asks what mornings are like in her household, Mieke does not romanticize it.

Mieke: “Chaos. Everyone wants mom. Everyone wants something.”

It is the kind of answer every parent instantly understands.

Uniforms go missing even though the kids wear uniforms. Lunches get remade while she is making them. One child wants cereal, another wants a breakfast sandwich, another wants yogurt. She keeps her coffee close and hopes it stays warm long enough to drink.

And yet, beneath the chaos is a rhythm.

By 8:30, when the bus comes and the house empties out, she gets her ten or fifteen minutes to breathe.

That small pause matters.

And later in the conversation, Mieke shares that she has also started waking up earlier—around 5 a.m.—for a quiet half hour and a little book club with Michelle.

That small pocket of peace, she says, has been a game changer.

Let It Flow

One of the most revealing parts of the episode is when Michelle points out that Mieke has always had a different relationship with control.

Michelle likes facts. Plans. Certainty.

Mieke?

She is the opposite.

Mieke: “I’m a big planner in every aspect of my life, but when it comes to, you know, other stuff, I’m like just let life happen how it happens and we’ll see what we get dealt.”

That mindset shows up everywhere in her life.

In parenting.

In farming.

In business.

In the way she handles curveballs.

She is not careless. She is capable.

She plans enough to create structure, but she leaves room to pivot. And with five kids and a flower business and farm life, that might be the only reason any of it works.

Mieke: “I find I just know how to pivot on the spot.”

That ability to adjust, instead of collapse, becomes one of the defining themes of the conversation.

The Fire That Changed Everything

Then the episode shifts.

The laughter softens.

Michelle asks Mieke about one of the hardest chapters of the last few years: the greenhouse fire.

Mieke explains that in 2019, after expanding their operation and purchasing additional machinery, she and her husband were away visiting family when the calls started coming in.

Their greenhouse was on fire.

By the time they got home, the entire place was engulfed.

It burned for sixty hours.

Mieke: “It was the largest that St. Catharines had seen to that date.”

The devastation was not just physical. It was emotional. Disorienting.

Mieke: “For the first month and a half, I just lived in a nightmare.”

And then, as if that were not enough, the pandemic hit just a few months later.

This is the kind of adversity that breaks people.

But Mieke and her family did what farmers so often do.

They kept going.

The Farming Community Shows Up

Michelle asks how she stayed so positive through all of it.

Mieke’s answer is practical, grounded, and deeply revealing.

They already had some structures in place. A converted barn became office space. Another farm they had purchased gave them extra housing for workers. They used what they had.

And then the community stepped in.

Other businesses provided tools, boxes, pails, and supplies. Another greenhouse opened up space. Someone else had a buncher online. Friends and neighbors rallied.

Mieke: “There is no other community greater than the farming community.”

And she means it.

To Mieke, farming is not a trend or an aesthetic. It is not curated content. It is livelihood. It is daily responsibility. It is feeding animals when it is minus twenty. It is rebuilding after loss. It is continuing because there are flowers in the field and work to be done.

Mieke: “Farming is not a job. It is your livelihood.”

That line says everything.

How In Between The Vines Began

Michelle asks whether growing up on a farm is what led Mieke to start In Between The Vines.

The answer is yes—but not in a straight line.

At the time, Mieke was working as a feed sales rep for Purina. She and her husband were already together, and she felt the need for something more. So she took a floral design course.

Then one day, her husband came home with a cart of potted flowers and basically said: can you put this by the road and sell it?

Mieke tried the traditional way—sitting out there waiting for customers—and hated it.

So she changed the model.

She put up her now-signature black signs with white writing. She created a self-serve honor system. First it was a cart. Then a three-door fridge. Then a proper insulated shed and refrigeration so the stand could operate year-round.

Now, In Between The Vines is open 365 days a year.

And that detail says so much about the business she has built: it is thoughtful, practical, and made for real people.

The husband who forgot a birthday at 6:30 a.m.
The spouse in the doghouse needing flowers after working late.
The customer who needs something beautiful right now.

Raising Kids With Work Ethic and Confidence

One of the most inspiring parts of the conversation is how naturally Mieke’s children are woven into her life and work.

They are not just watching.

They are participating.

They help at the stand. They go to flower markets. They talk to customers. Her son Adrian and his cousins even grew tomatoes and learned how to sell them.

Mieke points out that what they are really learning is bigger than flowers.

They are learning:

public speaking
people skills
confidence
entrepreneurship
initiative

Michelle is especially struck by this, reflecting on how not every child thrives in a classroom, and how these life skills matter just as much as academic ones.

And then there is Adrian—the ten-year-old who Michelle once spotted on a tractor and had to do a double take.

For Mieke, this comes back to boundaries and trust.

She is not a helicopter parent. She gives her kids freedom within healthy limits. They know where the road is. They know the property lines. They know the expectations.

And somehow, in that environment, they rise.

Friendship, Parenting, and Cold Coffee

The episode also makes space for something lighter: friendship.

Michelle and Mieke met years ago at a mom-and-baby class. They clicked fast. Stayed connected. And despite having very different parenting styles, their friendship held.

Michelle calls herself a helicopter mom. Mieke laughs and owns that she is the opposite.

Then comes a game: “You or Pete Parent Juggle.”

Who hides in the bathroom for five minutes of peace? Mieke.
Who forgets school events? Pete.
Who drinks cold coffee all day? Mieke.
Who is the fun parent? Pete.

The answers are funny, but they also paint a real picture of family life. Mieke is the disciplinarian. Pete is the calm one. Together, they make it work.

What She Has Learned About Herself

Toward the end, Michelle asks Mieke what she has learned about herself in the last five years.

It is one of the strongest answers in the episode.

Mieke: “That I can handle a lot, but when push comes to shove, don’t give me too much to do. Give me space and time to get stuff done.”

And then she says something many capable women will understand instantly:

Mieke: “If I ask for help, that means I have already looked at myself 10 times, tried to figure out 10 different ways how to do it myself… and then I just can’t come to a conclusion.”

Asking for help is hard for her.

But she is learning.

And maybe that is what growth looks like when you are used to carrying a lot: not proving you can do everything alone, but knowing when you do not have to.

Final Thoughts

By the end of the conversation, one thing is crystal clear:

Mieke Sikking is not building a polished life. She is building a real one.

A life with children and flowers and community and setbacks and cold coffee and chickens and strength.

She is proof that resilience does not always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like getting up, making lunches, rebuilding after loss, opening the flower stand, and doing it all again the next day.

Michelle says it best when she tells Mieke she is one of the kindest people she knows.

And that kindness is part of what makes this episode so memorable.

Because behind the business, behind the motherhood, behind the farm life, is a woman who keeps showing up—with humor, grit, and grace.

And that, more than anything, is what makes it count.

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