2024 Farm Tour Participants
URBAN FARMS
Youth Farm is a nonprofit that empowers young people to use food as a catalyst for change, building resiliency in local food systems and within themselves.
The Nellie Stone Johnson (NSJ) School Garden serves as an outdoor classroom where students engage in hands-on educational activities regarding urban agriculture and food production.
Founded in 1969, Urban Roots is a Saint Paul organization whose mission is to cultivate and empower youth through nature, healthy food, and community. Urban Roots provides over 80 youth, ages 14-24, with paid job training internships in the areas of urban agriculture, environmental conservation, and food career pathways.
Rivoli Bluffs Farm & Restoration Site is just one of their five urban farm sites providing access to nature and healthy food for the community on the east side of Saint Paul.It includes a production space, community garden program, hoop house for season extension, bee hives, berry patch, fruit tree orchard, gravel tree bed nursery, and more.
Open Arms is a nonprofit organization that grows, prepares, and delivers medically tailored meals to critically ill Minnesotans. They operate five urban farms growing fresh vegetables for their kitchen and CSA program.
Nestled in the heart of St. Paul, Frogtown Farm stands as a cornerstone of regenerative agriculture, dedicated to nurturing community wellness, ensuring access to nutritious food, and fostering impactful transformation for all residents.
Frogtown Farm is a hub of urban agriculture and community engagement where sustainable farming blends with environmental care, offering a space for learning, innovation, and connection.
EASTERN FARMS
Turnip Rock & Cosmic Wheel Creamery
Turnip Rock Farm & Cosmic Wheel Creamery offers veggies, 100% grass-fed farmstead cheeses, and pastured meats. Everything on the farm has purpose. The farm is viewed as a whole ecosystem with every animal, insect, fungi, bacteria and human linked in a web of interdependence. Nothing goes to waste and they try to make each aspect of their farm compliment and support every other aspect. Eating can be a reminder that we rely on the earth to sustain us. Our food decisions will continue to change our landscape and our communities. With this in mind, they go about farming and invite you to join them during the tour. Turnip Rock Farm & Cosmic Wheel Creamery offers veggies, 100% grass-fed farmstead cheeses, and pastured meat.
White Pine Berry Farm is a Certified Organic U-pick and prepicked strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, and currant farm. The farm also has U-pick sunflowers, zinnias, and pumpkins and is known for their corn mazes, farm animals, and family fun zone. A farm store with jams, fudge, donuts, food, and lots of local goods was built in 2020. A remodeled wooden barn also hosts weddings and events.
Blackbrook Farm is a 140-acre Certified Organic family farm located about 60 miles northeast of the Twin Cities. They grow organic vegetables, graze 100% grass-fed Highland Cattle, and raise pastured heritage bred pigs, chickens, and turkeys. The farmers strive to create a whole farm ecosystem that will improve the soil, land, and water for generations to come.
Big River Farms (The Food Group)
Big River Farms is a 150-acre organic incubator farm in Marine on St. Croix. They help participants learn to cultivate crops for organic production and develop the basics for launching a farming business or community program. The Grower Training Program includes three years of growing farm and business skills. The Incubator Program offers growers an opportunity to access land, resources, and transition their farm business to the next phase. Big River Farms is intentionally designed to support immigrant, limited resource, and historically underserved individuals.
This vegetable CSA farm grows for 250 members plus community partners. They use regenerative soil practices and have farm animals and a kids play area. Jewelltown Roastery will be on hand with their coffee and sweets for the day!
Living The Dream (LTD) is a small farm that grows vegetables and fruits and raises beef and lamb.
Herbal Safari at Bull Brook Keep Farm
Bull Brook Keep is 72 rocky and hilly acres committed to regenerative practices, stewardship, learning, exploration, and conversation. Farmers Dave and Sylvia raise grass-fed, grass-finished cattle. When they first began rotating the cattle from pasture to pasture, they came to appreciate the dozens of herbs growing in the fields, along the shady fence lines, and in the boggy banks of the brook. Several years ago, farmer Sylvia began to investigate and study the helpful herbs, shrubs, and trees thriving on their own across the farm. Today they are adding to this small medicinal forest and the farm is a member of the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary Network. They offer Herbal Safaris (guided herb tours that shift with the seasons) and remedy-making classes. The tours serve to point out the many helpful plants also growing in your own backyard! The classes are hands-on opportunities to work with herbs for your own well-being. They also offer delicious events during the year.
Racing Heart Farm is nestled in the rolling hills of western Wisconsin. Come check out their regenerative vegetable farm, pollinator plantings, innovative gardening techniques, and willow planting!
Northwood Mushrooms grows about six main varieties of mushrooms indoors and outdoors at their 40-acre farm. They have about 6,000 working logs – which is a lot of logs! Some folks may be interested in walking around to see the great-grandfather apple tree out in the woods or the beaver dam on the lake. The farm is also patrolled by two cats: Gus and Spore! In addition to learning all about how mushrooms are grown, you can peruse mushroom products for sale: fresh, dried, powdered, butters and pâtés, and log kits to grow your own.
Foxtail Farm has a focus on climate-first agricultural practices. Building the soil web through no-till practices, caretaking flora and fauna without use of chemical sprays, and working toward a farm that co-exists within the local ecosystem are at the center of work on the farm. Come see what all the fuss is about!
Z-Orchard raises 16 varieties of apples. They make raw cider, which they sell fresh when in season and frozen while supplies last. They have an apiary with 21 bee hives and sell raw and spun honey. Their sugarbush is a great place for an unguided nature hike — and has approximately 1,500 taps from which they make fully cooked maple syrup and maple cream. Fully cooked means they do not use reverse osmosis to shorten the boiling time for the syrup.
Rising Sun Farm and Orchard is a diversified, organic family farm that has been in production since 1974. They grow mixed vegetables, apples, pigs, chickens, and maple syrup using regenerative practices.