Tag Archives: gardens of eagan

October 24, 2012

Accepted!

By bossy acres

News Release

Contact: Allison Goin

612-558-6183

allison@organicfieldschool.org

Organic Field School

5680 290th Street West

Northfield, MN 55057

http://www.organicfieldschool.org

ORGANIC FIELD SCHOOL ANNOUNCES 2013 INCUBATOR FARMS:
BOSSY ACRES AND HUMBLE PIE

NORTHFIELD, Minn. – October 23, 2012 – As part of the 2013 growing season, Organic Field School (OFS) at Gardens of Eagan will be home to two new incubator farms, Bossy Acres and Humble Pie, both focusing on organic growing practices and community involvement.

The organic farm incubator program was established by OFS in 2008 as a way to bolster the efforts of beginning farmers near the Twin Cities — who often face challenges in securing land for small-scale farming — while providing an educational connection point for the wider farming community and general public about the benefits of sustainable growing practices. OFS is the only farming incubator program in the state to offer up to three acres for new organic farmers to launch their businesses, and one of just a handful of such programs in the country.

Bossy Acres, which had its first growing season as a certified organic farm in 2012, will continue to provide vegetables and herbs for its community supported agriculture (CSA) members and farmers’ market customers, while benefitting from the guidance and resources of OFS.

“We’re very excited to be part of the OFS incubator program,” says Bossy Acres co-founder Karla Pankow. “This is such an amazing opportunity to get a solid foundation for our farm and to work with such a broad range of leaders in sustainable agriculture.”

Humble Pie Farm was started in 2012 by Jennifer Nelson and Mike Leck, both of whom have organic farming experience as employees of Gardens of Eagan. In 2013, they will grow cut flowers and herbs as a specialty add-on to CSA shares of Fazenda Boa Terra.

Both farms will help to advance OFS’ mission of transforming our food and farming systems through education and support, believes Allison Goin, OFS Program Director. “We’re proud to welcome two such distinctive farms into our incubator program,” she says. “As OFS broadens its reach in the community, we know that farms like Bossy Acres and Humble Pie represent the future of our growing, robust organic farming community, and we’re looking forward to fostering these viable, independent farm businesses.”

Incubator farms receive access to land, training, equipment usage, affordable supplies, and expertise through the Organic Field School’s partnership with Gardens of Eagan, an organic vegetable farm operated by the Wedge Community Co-op. The program meets a crucial need in our community for linking dedicated new organic farmers, who have some training and expertise, with access to affordable land and equipment. Past incubators include Loon Organics in Hutchinson and Fazenda Boa Terra in Northfield.

On November 17, OFS will host a fundraiser at Kitchen in the Market to support the expansion of the incubator program this year. For more details and to RSVP, please visit the OFS Facebook page.

For more information about OFS, visit http://www.organicfieldschool.org.

Organic Field School at Gardens of Eagan

A 501(c)(3) project of the Wedge Community Co-op, OFS provides on-farm, organic and ecologically based practical education and research for farmers, educators, policy makers, and the public, articulating the benefits and values of regional, organic farming systems.

Bossy Acres

Started in 2011 by farmers Karla Pankow and Elizabeth Millard, Bossy Acres focuses on sustainable farming practices, strong land stewardship, and community-based programs. With its first full production season in 2012, Bossy Acres employed the community supported agriculture (CSA) model and will be expanding its reach in 2013 through inclusion in the OFS incubator program. More information is available at http://www.bossyacres.com.

Humble Pie Farm

###

1 comment | tags: fazenda boa terra, gardens of eagan, humble pie, kitchen in the market, local food, minnesota, organic farming, organic field school | posted in bossy acres

June 8, 2012

always enough…

By bossy acres

a note to our csa members ….

i’ll never forget that saturday in november — elizabeth and i were sitting in the front row, as we always did, in our farm beginnings class.

a woman, activist, farmer who we both admired….the mother of local organics, atina diffley stood in front of us, taking a moment to guide us through one of our exercises on holistic management goals, needs, and dreams.

i’ll admit ….. we were having a moment of feeling like we’ll never get our hands on a farm and land that we could call our own. many in the class around us had inherited land, had equipment and the infrastructure to really make things happen. we, on the other hand, had a 1.25 acre piece of rented land that had never been tilled, 30 miles outside of the cities. no equipment. no infrastructure. no real farm transportation. all we had was each other, a vw beetle, one hoe, a couple of rakes, and a burning desire to get bossy.

(photo credit: lavender magazine)

so it was in that moment…..of feeling down and a million miles away from our dream, that atina kneeled down in front of us, lowered her voice, and started sharing with us some of her struggles, pains, and heartache of just starting out and feeling like they didn’t have enough. not having everything, be it money, land, all the right equipment…turned out to be a blessing. while others around her were just throwing money and bigger tractors at their problems, she got intimate with the farm, the land, weeds, bugs…..she gained a knowledge and an understanding that the others would never obtain.

i remember listening to her so intently. in many ways, she seemed like a mother, a super-hero, a mentor, and a friend….all in one.

and in a stern, determined voice she told us …..

never let money, land access, lack of equipment, or even bigger farms get in the way of your dream. your passion.

there will always be enough to make it happen.

if you truly want it, then there will always be enough.

—–

i couldn’t help but think of that over and over again this morning as i was out in the fields harvesting for this week’s csa.

we still don’t have that dream farm. no equipment. no infrastructure. it’s just e and i …. with a pair of hands, old crunchy knees, and a passion to make this work.

we can’t give you tomatoes and cucumbers out of season.

we can’t offer you farm fresh eggs or fruits and berries that come from being able to have animals and long-standing perennial trees and plants.

but we can give you an honest day’s work of doing everything we can to grow healthy, chemical-free food for you and your family.

we know that there will be some deliveries where you wonder why there isn’t more.

we also know that there will be days when you think we gave you way too much.

but in the end … and overall ….. we hope that you will enjoy being a part of this adventure with us and that you, too, will have faith that there will always be enough.

1 comment | tags: agriculture, atina diffley, community supported agriculture, csa, farming, gardens of eagan, local food, minnesota, organic, organic farming works | posted in bossy acres, bossy csa

March 7, 2012

farming community …

By bossy acres

nearly every profession has its share of resources for those who are new to the field: mentorships, apprenticeships, networking groups, linkedin referrals, and on and on. both of us have worked in the corporate world, and so have seen this helping-hand strategy many times, with numerous stories of those who were assisted in their careers by others who resided a few rungs up the ladder.

but neither of us have seen any industry or company that’s been as responsive, gracious, and flat-out generous as organic and sustainable farming folks.

that’s not bias, even though we love our farming life. even seen from an objective view, the willingness of farmers to help other farmers is stunning. we’ve talked to people who, in another profession, may have regarded us as direct competitors — we’re reaching out to the same customers, in the same geographic regions, and offering the same product — and would have held their tactics in reserve as a result.

instead, if we need advice, we simply ask and it comes in a deluge, from multiple sources.

here’s just a sampling of all the support systems that give us comfort on a daily basis:

- organizations like the land stewardship project, renewing the countryside, the sustainable farming association, minnesota grown, and the institute for agricultural and trade policy are geared toward creating a free flowing informational river that just seems to keep getting deeper and wider.

- the university of minnesota runs a couple of listservs (sustag and mnurbanfarmers) that connect farmers with each other and with various resources. for example, an urban farmer recently asked about affordable soil testing services on sustag, and about a dozen people responded within 24 hours with phone numbers, email links, personal experiences, price quotes, and other ideas.

- midwest organic and sustainable education service (moses) has set us up with a mentorship with loon organics, a very established csa farm that sells at mill city market and is run by laura frerichs and adam cullip. at the recent moses conference, adam patiently answered the kajillion questions we had about spring planting and gave us a kajillion ideas in return. we’re really thrilled to know that if we see a roadblock looming ahead, a quick note to laura and adam could potentially help us figure out how to swerve around it.

moses organic 2012

- our fellow beginning farmers and established farmers alike. from the super energetic dayna burtness of laughing loon farm to the very knowledgeable atina diffley (co-founder of gardens of eagan), we’ve met such a wealth of helpful, enthusiastic farmers, and we have yet to encounter someone who won’t answer one of our questions with gusto.

farming can sometimes seem so overwhelming, like trying to empty a bathtub with a teaspoon.

we're in this together!

but our local — and, to some degree, national — farming community is like having a few hundred people using their teaspoons at the same moment. and for no reward other than the satisfaction gained from creating a healthy, stronger food system that benefits us all.

Leave a comment | tags: atina diffley, gardens of eagan, iatp, land stewardship project, laughing loon farm, loon organics, minnesota, minnesota grown, moses organic, organic farming, renewing the countryside, sustainable farming association | posted in bossy acres