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The Come & Get It (C&GI) program through Renewing the Countryside (RTC) was back and better than ever in 2025. Seven regional teams put in the work all year to show up for their communities through on-farm food events, and this season was one to remember. Come & Get It builds resilient communities by getting people to the farm, strengthening their local food access, and expanding market opportunities for farmers. These seven teams went above and beyond, showcasing events t

The 2024 growing season marked the second year of the Come & Get It grant program with Renewing the Countryside (RTC). In partnership...

Organized by Tracy Jonkman and Maddy Bartsch, Meet your Makers’ Harvest Celebration Market and Farm Tour (Celebracion de la Cosecha) 2024 was an off the beaten path market featuring not-so-common food and beverage items produced from local farmers in Northfield. This community event was celebrated last Wednesday, providing an opportunity to eat, drink and be merry while celebrating the harvest season with cultural dancers, delicious food, garden tours, conversations with grow

A two-day festival in New London, Harvest Star celebrates local agriculture, the arts and the opening of New London Food Cooperative, a community-run grocery store on Main Street. The festivities kick off Friday night with a performance of TABLE from Sod House Theater at The Land in Spicer, a delightful culinary and theater experience showcasing fine local produce and artistry from Krewe Restaurant's Chef Mateo Mackbee alongside captivating performances by talented actors. Sa

The Deep Roots Festival was held on Saturday, September 14, 2024, and was a local foods celebration for the community. The Deep Roots Festival in Northwest Minnesota was a community celebration focused on deepening the connections people feel to local foods and the farmers and growers responsible for those foods in the Lake Agassiz Region. With four years’ worth of festivals under their belts, Deep Roots has become a much-anticipated on-farm celebration, this event featured f

The Our Local Plate Farm Fest and Market was held on Saturday, September 14, 2024 as a local foods celebration for the whole community. This on-farm event at Doubting Thomas Farms featured a farmers’ market, chef demos and a savory meal from Heart-n-Soul Community Café, all from the local bounty of the season. Chef demos included a foraging workshop from local chef Candace Stock of Bernbaums and chef and author Beth Dooley, who signed copies of her new cookbook. Northwest M

By Claudine Arndt The Butcher’s Dinner and Barn Dance, held on Saturday, September 7, 2024, celebrated local foods for the community and featured a pop-up farmers’ market and regenerative farm tour followed by a farm to table dinner and a traditional barn dance with music from Heartbreak Affair. At Medicine Creek Farm in Finlayson, agritourism - the marriage of agriculture and tourism - is built into the farm’s overall mission. Farmer Hannah Bernhardt raises pastured lamb an

In July of 2020, Kelley Rajala and her partner uprooted from the San Francisco area of California, where they had been living and farming, and moved to Aitkin to take over her grandparents' property and start a new farm business. Kelley says, “Our goal is to create a business here that will keep the farm in the family. We’re also doing this work for climate change reasons and long-term sustainability of the property.” Situated on 146 acres, Clear Lake Gardens produces edible

Story by Claudine Arndt Mary Fischer, co-leader with Brooke Knisley of the on-farm event Sowing Seeds: Celebrating Local Foods and Lost Skills in Madelia, believes agritourism is invaluable for connecting people to agriculture. Simply stated, agritourism is the marriage of tourism and agriculture and involves attracting visitors onto a farm, ranch or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farmer,