We Grow Food - Youth Farm

August 9, 2016

Harvest Fest sneak peek

Chef Emily stands amid piles of produce and groceries in preparation to cook up the Lyndale Harvest Fest Feast!

The farms are nearly weed free all set for farm tours!

A sneak peek from summer lunch of some of the Youth Farm favorite dishes that our chefs and youth are cooking up: greek salad and hummus on the menu on the West Side

How much food does it take to feed 800 Youth Farmers and community members?

So far 3 carloads and we are only just beginning! Harvest Fest Season is here! The menus are set, the farms are getting their finally weeding, and Lyndale Chef Emily is already cooking with the mountain of produce and food that was delivered to all 4 kitchens this morning. See you there.

Lyndale Harvest Festival – August 10th 5:30-7:30 pm – Zion Lutheran Church – 128 W. 33rd St., Minneapolis 55408

Powderhorn Harvest Festival – August 11th 5:30 – 7:30 pm – Powderhorn Park – 3400 15th Ave. S. Minneapolis 55408

Frogtown Harvest Festival – August 12th 4:00 – 6:30 pm – 739 Lafond Ave. St. Paul 55104

West Side Harvest Festival – August 12th 4:00 – 6:00 pm – La Puerta Abierta – 690 Livingston Ave. S., St. Paul 55107

We hope to see you at these events. Questions about Minneapolis Harvest Festivals, call 612.990.9261 and questions about St. Paul Harvest Festivals, call 651.325.7453

June 27, 2016

HUGE weed pile

Azhab wanted to make sure old Lyndale staffer Shanna saw this!

June 8, 2016

Wrapping up the school year farm season with a Garden Party!

Youth Farm and Nellie Stone Johnson 5th Graders from room 127 wrapped up a great school year garden season Tuesday with a garden party! Throughout the school year 5th graders learned seeding and transplanting skills in order to teach the H-5 through 4th graders these skills. As a school, over 250 students planted 30 greenhouse trays in April and the entire school farm in May. Needless to say, the 5th graders had a lot to celebrate. As part of our garden party, Youth Farm was presented with a Garden Book made by the 5th Graders of room 127 and we snacked on rhubarb jam, salad with greens and radishes, and cheddar chive biscuits all made with produce from the farm.

Thanks Nellie Stone for a great school year farm season. At Youth Farm, we are looking forward to summer school and the fall harvest.

The first harvest at Nellie Stone Johnson Farm just in time for the last day of school.

5th Graders hunt for strawberries during the Garden Party.

Hawthorne Farm Stewards and Nellie Stone Johnson Farm Managers Divine and Sergio are presented with the 5th Grade Garden Book.

April 27, 2016

Youth Farm Spring Life

Here are some fun photos from just one week in spring!

Powderhorn Project LEAD Liv with her best Earth Mother impression as she spread cover crop at the newly plowed Baha'i site — Powderhorn Project LEAD Liv with her best Earth Mother impression as she spread cover crop at the newly plowed Baha’i site

New Farm Steward Demetrius practiced bed prepping, seeding, and trellissing snap peas in Lyndale

Conservation Corps and Green Central families helped us spread out woodchips

Long time Youth Farmer Javed is excited to have a garden just a block from his home

Green Central students dancing bare foot in the hot steaming compost

Beautiful Rosie Bok Choi in the Lyndale School Hoop House. Not pictured: stir-fry with kohlrabi greens, green onions, and green garlic! — Beautiful Rosie Bok Choi in the Lyndale School Hoop House.
Not pictured: stir-fry with bok choi, kohlrabi greens, green onions, and green garlic!

April 14, 2016

Green Central Hoop House is Underway

The long awaited Hoop House at Green Central Elementary and Park is finally underway! We’ve installed our ground stakes and put up the hoops. A group of 5th graders helped out during recess to pound in some stakes, and our staff came together to get those hoops up. Next week we’re excited to host our partners from the Conservation Corps to get more done. Next steps include spreading a layer of cardboard and wood chips, installing baseboards, putting in bottom rails, and getting the ends up.

Anyone is welcome to lend us a hand while we’re out there working. We’ll be on site Thursday April 21st 4-7pm, Thursday May 5th 4-7pm, and Thursday May 19th 5-7pm.

A huge shout out to Hashep Seka for all her work making this project possible. Thank you also to the Minneapolis Parks and Rec Board and to Green Central Elementary for their support.

Check out these pictures of the first days:

Jesus and Zainab celebrate getting all the hoops up and secured!

Green Central students helped put in our first stakes

February 23, 2016

The Seed Order Has Arrived

The 2016 seed order is here! Soon all these little seeds will be popping up in our greenhouse or out in our farms. We ordered over 75 varieties of crops this year ranging from heirloom tomatoes, to popalo, to kohlrabi, to pie pumpkins, and everything else in between. We’ll be growing in 17 sites across St. Paul and Minneapolis this season.

February 17, 2016

Youth Farm is hiring in Hawthorne in North Minneapolis

Passionate about youth development? Have experience community organizing? Know the north side of Minneapolis? Bring those talents and interests together at Youth Farm. Youth Farm is currently hiring a Community Organizer position in North Minneapolis’ Hawthorne neighborhood to engage youth, community partners and families in youth leadership, food access, and community change. Learn more about the position and how to apply HERE

January 11, 2016

Youth Farm is hiring

Passionate about youth development? Come join our team! Hiring now for West Side Program Manager. Job description and application information can be found here.

July 20, 2015

Frogtown + West Side = So Much Fun

Youth Farm has 5 different Neighborhood Programs throughout the Twin Cities. Each summer we like to get together for a day of fun with our counterparts. Last Friday the Frogtown and West Side Programs had a St. Paul Picnic at Cherokee Park. We played and played and played, ate a wonderful summer lunch topped with Youth Farm veggies, and partook in some friendly competition of capture the flag.

Highlights were basketball, lightening, drip-drip-splash, soccer, wiffle-ball, water balloons, chalk art, and the scavenger hunt for Tyler’s Gold – complete with clues and take home golden nuggets.

July 15, 2015

Hawthorne’s Distribution Wednesdays

Wednesdays are a busy day in Hawthorne. We are averaging over 100lbs of produce for just that day of the week! In the afternoons, we split up into 3 cohorts who make breakfast, preserve a little of summer for the winter months and prepare the rest to give away to youth and St.Olaf elders. Today youth made zucchini bread for breakfast next week (5 loaves!!), some rhubarb jam to be squirreled away for later (an icecream topping perhaps??) and packed up over 20 shares to distribute! It’s such a fun day to celebrate our hard work all week.