Saturday, July 16, 2011
Festival of Farms™ is an opportunity to learn about sustainable agriculture, network within the community, and have fun at various farms across the state. The Festival is unique to each chapter, but the goal is the same—to build a unified sense of SFA’s presence in communities across Minnesota and tighten connections within the local food community.
Governor Dayton has proclaimed July 16, 2011 as Sustainable Agriculture Day in Minnesota. Click here to read more about it. Click here for a Press Release.
Central Chapter – Staples Area Event Details
On Saturday, July 16, Mel and Lorna Wiens of Staples will be hosting the annual Festival of Farms, a family-friendly event designed to connect community members with area farmers in a celebration of local foods.
The day-long event, held at Wiens’ Acorn Ridge Farm on the North side of Staples, is just one of several “festivals” that will be taking place on July 16 across Minnesota. The Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) of Minnesota is spearheading the events, each of which is being organized by a local chapter of SFA.
The Central Chapter of the SFA is sponsoring the Staples area Festival of Farms, which will feature a delicious, “local foods” lunch catered by chef Derek Olson of the Harvest Thyme Bistro in Wadena. There also will be hay rides, a petting zoo, educational demonstrations, shopping stands, and guided bus tours of three near-by farms.
The Festival runs from 9 am – 5 pm. Parking will be available at the host site (Wiens’ Acorn Ridge Farm), located at 11862 261st Avenue in Staples. Bus tours of neighboring farms will depart at 10 am, 1:30 and 3:30. Lunch will be served at 11:30 am.
Tickets and details are available at here. The price is $10 for adults ($8 for SFA members) and $5 for children ages 5 – 18. A family pass is also available for $25. Children under 5 are free.
Cannon River (Northfield area) Event Details
Three Goodhue County farms are featured this year during SFA’s 2nd Annual Festival of Farms™ on Saturday, July 16. Cannon River SFA is partnering once again with Just Food Co-op of Northfield, who will be providing the bus. Just Food will also provide maps to the three farms for those not able to ride the bus. The three farms are: Sogn Valley CSA and Market Farm, Cannon Falls; L & R Poultry & Produce, Kenyon; and Seven Songs Organic Farm, Kenyon.
Reservations are needed for the bus and can be made by calling Just Food at 507-650-0106. The bus will depart from Just Food’s parking lot at 12:30 p.m., then continuing to Sogn Valley, L & R and Seven Songs; arriving back at Just Food about 5:15 p.m.
Sogn Valley CSA and Market Farm
Tim, Leslie and Isaac Mahle have owned and operated Sogn Valley CSA & Market Farm for 5 years. It is a small, family-owned farm just south of Cannon Falls in the beautiful Sogn Valley. They do a CSA for local pickup and off-site delivery, offering a weekly share, a bi-weekly share and a singles share. They also offer a “salsa share,” a one-time box of tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic & cilantro.
L & R Poultry & Produce
Rae Rusnak and her son Leo have been producing food for the local foodshed for several years. L & R Poultry & Produce is a family owned and operated 72-acre woodland farm, featuring rolling hills, streams, and mixed hardwood trees.
They produce eggs, chickens and turkeys as well as maple syrup and a market garden. Their poultry are free range and their produce is grown without the use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers.
Seven Songs Organic Farm
Melissa Driscoll and husband Jay Hambidge spent 2.5 years searching for their ideal farm before buying one outside of Kenyon in January 2010. They’re transitioning their farm to organic food production, with organic certification scheduled for the fall of 2012. Seven Songs specializes in gourmet garlic, raspberries, humanely-produced eggs, and heirloom vegetables. A hoop house will be built this summer to extend the season for raspberries and cold-hearty greens. They are also building an Eggmobile so they can move their chickens around the farm where they will do the most good for the whole farm. Driscoll and Hambidge sell food to individuals and restaurants and are actively looking for more local customers for the 2012 season.
Crow River Chapter Event Details
FESTIVAL OF FARMS – CROW RIVER AREA TOURS
Near the Northwest Metro
Saturday, July 16
See 2 farms in 1 day!
10:30 a.m. & 1:00 p.m.
your choice which farm at which time!
Suggested Donation $5 per person
Natures Folly Farm
Mike Lilja, Owner/Operator
A small suburban farm using the techniques and philosophy of permaculture to ”grow” beyond organic.
14000 Lawndale Ln. N., Dayton, MN 55327
Phone: 763-712-5506
- AND -
Crandall Garden Farme
Bruce Bacon, Owner/Operator
Certified Organic since 1977, and family farm since 1913, Crandall Garden Farme offers specialty market gardening and custom growing for restaurants and caterers. They sell 5 gal. wildflower bulk honey, and they have a potted tree nursery; 25-acre prairie restoration, and are a permaculture demonstration site. They are a host site for agro-ecology research projects, as well seminars and retreats, private parties, picnics, weddings, and plein air painting.
7363 175 Ave. NW, Ramsey, MN 55303
Phone: 763-753-5099
Lake Superior SFA Event Details
Festival of Farms Public Farm Tour Slated for Saturday, July 16 at Morning View Farm
Lake Superior Sustainable Farming Association (LSSFA) in partnership with Gayle Gonsior and Larry Fickbohn invites the public to Morning View Farm for a tour on Saturday, July 16 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm in Port Wing, WI. The farm tour, “Lives in the Balance” will walk and talk with participants about operations management of a highly diversified family farm, while still having time for personal, family, community and a professional life.
While at Morning View Farm, participants will be exposed to a myriad array of enterprises to include grass-fed, sustainably-grown or raised lamb, pork, beef, eggs, turkeys, and vegetables. In addition, Gayle and Larry utilize high tunnels for production, raise much of their own animal feed and fertilizer, participate in University of WI Extension’s hazelnut production trials with 1500 hazelnut trees planted, and are one of two agricultural areas participating in a biomass tree planting experiment in conjunction with Excel Energy and Bayfield County. They have put 100 acres of woodland into a 50-year conservation protection plan and have the capacity to make their own biodiesel from waste oil for use in their tractors.
Gayle and Larry love living and working off of their land as much as possible, and enjoy all the silent sports available in the Chequamegon Bay area. They live simply and economically, supporting local businesses and arts as a matter of philosophy and quality as much as they possibly can. There is a lot to see at Morning View Farm and a lot to learn from Gayle and Larry. Come join LSSFA for this wonderful farm tour opportunity!
The tour is free and open to the public. Time will be divided into a formal tour and informal questions and answers. Refreshments will be provided. Please wear boots and be prepared to walk in potentially inclement weather (it could be muddy). Morning View Farm’s address is 79730 Evergreen Road, Port Wing WI. The farm is located on the east side of Evergreen Road. People can pull into the driveway and park on the north (left) side. If you choose to park on Evergreen Road, be sure to pull to the side. Please do not rely on MapQuest and similar online maps as they’ve proven inaccurate with directions to Morning View Farm. See directions below.
Directions from the West: Head towards Port Wing by exiting highway 2/53, going east on Highway 13 about 30 miles. You will see a wayside on the left. About 1.5 miles after the wayside is Evergreen Road. Go left for 3 miles to the farm at 79730 Evergreen Road.
Directions from the South: Take Highway 2 to Iron River. Head north on Highway A almost 12 miles. Take a left on Port Wing Line Road (found at the top of the hill). Travel 2 miles to a T-intersection which is Evergreen Road. Take a right for .75 miles to the farm at 79730 Evergreen Road.
Directions from the East: Take highway 13 to Port Wing. Travel 2 miles past Port Wing to Evergreen Road. Take a left and travel 3 miles to the farm at 79730 Evergreen Road.
The farm is on the east side.
The Morning View Farm public tour is a participating farm tour in the Sustainable Farming Association’s Festival of Farms™ event. Festival of Farms is an opportunity to learn about sustainable agriculture, network within the community, and have fun at various farms across the state of MN (and for the Lake Superior Chapter, WI too!). The Festival is unique to each chapter, but the goal is the same – to build a unified sense of SFA’s presence in communities across Minnesota and Wisconsin and tighten connections within the local food community.
As a neat side-note, July 16 is also Lake Superior Days with many activities planned in Port Wing and other nearby WI communities. Come to the area for the day! Visit www.portwingwi.com and click on ‘events’ for more information.
South Central Chapter Event Details
We have three farms in the area of Wells, MN on our tour.
It will start at 10:30AM at the Lutteke family organic dairy farm at 56360 200th St., a few miles from Wells. A noon lunch will be served at the Lutteke farm. We will be asking for donations to pay for the lunch.
After lunch we will visit the nearby farm operated by Gary Yokiel and his mother, Leona Yokiel, at 58653 190th St. This is an organic grain farm with beef cattle. Also there is a a large collection of Minneapolis Moline tractors on this farm which will be on display.
After spending about an hour at the Yokiels we will go South to the farm of Archie and Denise Kluender at 7286 State Highway 22 which is an organic grain farm with a wide variety of crops. The tour will end at about 3:30 after spending an hour touring the Kluender farm.
All three of these farms are well know for their organic farming practices.
Gary’s father, George, was one of the early pioneering organic farmers in this part of the state. Large organic farming field days have been held on the farm of Dennis Lutteke and his family. The Kluender converted to organic farming many years ago following the good examples set by by the Yokiels and Luttekes.