Spring has sprung with a glorious burst! I counted 15 plant sales on Saturday, not including the normal greenhouse floral shops and box stores, so obviously people are exciting to get planting. I put in my ‘whole’ garden on Sunday – it’s about 12’ x 12’ – and continue to dig up and convert our front lawn in Stillwater. We had a great Spring Open House and Plant Sale on Saturday. We had well over 100 people visit and sold a large amount of seedlings. Thank you to everyone who came out to visit, tour the farm and buy plants. We still have many, many plants, so if you would like to buy more flowers, herbs or vegetable starts, please give us a call. The many highlights included a wonderful traditional Karen Dong Dance put on by the Karen-American youth from St. Paul. We also enjoyed the visit by many potential new farmers from the Hmong, Bhutanese and Karen communities. I had a lot of fun taking a group on a short farm tour, with me speaking in English, with interpreters translating into Hmong and Bhutanese, and then speaking in Thai for interpretation into Karen. We had five languages going. Reminded me of many of my travels where you may not have a common language, but if you have the will and a smile, communication happens. Thank you to everyone who came out to make it such a wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped at the event - Spencer, Jean Ann, Lynn, Ann, Jada, Marilyn, Joel, Bjorn, Leslie, Emily, Paul … you were all great.

 Glen

 Glen Hill

Executive Director

Minnesota Food Association

Email: glenhill@mnfoodassociation.org

 May 14, 2012