Current Events
2013 Festival of Farms
Saturday, July 13, 2013
CLICK HERE FOR FULL AGENDA AND TO REGISTER
Sustainable Farming Association of Central Minnesota and Farm Market Café are hosting the 4th Annual Festival of Farms on Saturday, July 13 from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. in Onamia.
The Farm Market Café will host breakfast & lunch, local farm vendors, coffee roasting demonstrations, kids’ activities, and a presentation of Farm Market Café Business Plan.
Jo Rapatz of Dutch Fury Farm will lead a tour of her market garden, apple orchard, and open-pollinated cornfield.
Barbara Eller of Eller Family Farm will lead a tour of her rotational beef, pigs, and chickens grazing system in a silvopasture setting.
For more information, please contact Robert Bauer at 218-296-6732 or sfaofcentralminnesota@gmail.com. You can download event posters at the following links:
The Brainerd Dispatch previewed SFA Central Chapter’s Festival of Farms – read the story here.
Other Projects
Orcharding in the North
Orcharding in the North is an important series of workshops providing uniquely current and useful information on growing tree fruits in our coldest northern climate. The series is presented by experienced horticulture scientists yet it will also include field observations from long-established gardeners and growers in northern Minnesota. While the workshops are intended for homesteaders, hobbyists, and small farmers they will be the best current resource for understanding the ups and downs of orcharding in the north.
Image by Nancy Leasman of Leatherwood Vinegary, Long Prairie
For more information, click here to download a brochure on the second event in the series.
The following partners have participated in the development of this program as a benefit to the Minnesota public: The CLC Ag and Energy Center of Staples MN, Green Island Preserve, The University of Minnesota Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Happy Dancing Turtle of Pine River, CLC Specialty Crops Program of Brainerd, University of Minnesota Extension Service of Crookston, The Sustainable Farming Association Central Chapter, Living Legacy Gardens, and Central Lakes College Horticulture and Farm Business Management.
Contact Information
Coordinator:
Robert Bauer
sfaofcentralminnesota@gmail.com
218-296-6732
Central Chapter Board Members
Current Central Chapter Board Members (Left to Right): Sue Wika, Vickie Kettlewell, Kathy Connell, Seth Connell, Susan DeBlieck, Jim Chamberlin, Arlene Jones, and Robert Bauer (Coordinator). Not shown: Sister Ruth Lentner and Bryan Simon.
Board Minutes
Mission of Central Chapter:
The mission of this group is to promote the use of environmentally and economically sound agricultural practices and to ensure a healthy future for family farms and all of the people of central Minnesota.
The Aims and Purposes of this Association are:
- To develop a support system for family farmers in acquiring knowledge and understanding of economical and environmentally sound practices of production farming
- To achieve this through a newsletter with the latest information on sustainable farming practices, as well as providing farm tours, seminars, and supervised test plots
- To develop policies which will influence legislation in areas pertaining to environmental problems, i.e. groundwater contamination
- To support farming methods without endorsing commercial products
- To support and encourage Extension and University research programs that promotes sustainable agriculture
- To promote farming as a positive way of life
