Serving up values
Angie Taylor’s garden – a 75x20 plot outside Kari’s Restaurant, 210 Parkway Ave. North, Lanesboro, Minn. – grows quite nicely, thank you, and supplies her and her husband and co-owner, Scott, with plenty of goodies to feed their patrons. Neither of them is contrary, either. Quite the, uh, contrary, actually: The Taylors will happily chat up anyone who asks about the history and philosophy behind their newest venture....More »

'Tis the season for garlic
This is the time of year when Susan Johnson can’t park her car in the garage because the place smells of garlic.
Bunches of garlic harvested in July by Johnson and her husband, Randy McLaughlin, hang in their garage in Red Wing, Minn. and in barns on the two farms where they garden, one in Goodhue County’s Featherstone Township and the other in Hager City, Wis.
It’s a small sacrifice for Johnson, who is among the growers in southeast Minnesota who sell garlic at farmers’ markets and supply it to customers in the region and beyond....More »

The cycle of life
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Extending the season
Hoop houses, movable greenhouses, quick hoops and passive solar greenhouses differ slightly in design but they accomplish the same thing: They extend the growing season.
Each design has been featured at the Southwest Research and Outreach Center in Lamberton, Minn..
While most of the season extension high- and low-tunnels are used for vegetables, studies are under way on ROCs at Morris and Grand Rapids and in on-farm studies to grow raspberries . The research is promising, said West Central ROC scientist Steve Poppe, who leads the study at Morris....More »

Organic community service

If you mention community service hours to most people, picking up garbage and painting picnic tables is what comes to mind.  Breaking away from that tradition, the Dodge, Fillmore and Olmsted (DFO) County Community Corrections has established The Garden Project. Participants plant, weed, harvest, sell and distribute produce from their garden. This program offers a unique opportunity for young offenders to fulfill their community service requirement as set by the judicial system. 
Crystal Steinkamp, Community Work Services Coordinator, deals with offenders under 14 years of age. This presents problems and challenges but also great opportunities. ...More »

Chiropractic First

Many people believe that chiropractors only treat pain, but today’s lifestyle places a tremendous amount of stress on the body, mind and spirit. Dr. Nick Krause of Chiropractic First in Rochester addresses the changing face of his profession. 
Q: Many think Chiropractors only treat neck and back pain, but what else do you help with? 
A: Each of us is born with the ability to heal and recover from illness. Our bruises heal, cuts mend and common colds are overcome. The nervous system regulates this inborn healing ability.  ...More »

Youthful auctioneer

Jordan Hanson, one of 10 FFA members nationwide last year to receive the Agri-Entrepreneurship Award, has used his $1,000 monetary prize to further his education, both in college and as an auctioneer.
Getting started in the auction business is a challenge, he said. You have to build a name for yourself.
“It’s like riding a bike with two flat tires,” said Hanson, 20, of Chatfield, Minn.
People told him they’d give him a job if he went to auctioneers school.
So he did.
He graduated from Continental Auctioneers School in Mankato in July, after completing a five-day program. ...More »

Local Farmers Markets
ALBERT LEA
Albert Lea Farmers’ Market, municipal parking lot at North Broadway Avenue and Fountain Street.

Locally grown or raised (within 35-mile radius) fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, chicken and eggs, plus maple syrup, honey, jams, jellies, baked goods, cut flowers, bedding plants, soy candles, soap, and handmade crafts.

Wednesdays, 4 to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon, May 12 through Oct.

Information: Verlys Huntley, (507) 297-5546.

AUSTIN
Austin Area Farmers’ Market, two locations (see below)....More »