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NORTHFIELD NEWS PORTRAITS
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Budding Farmers educator sows seeds in gardening revolution By KARA HILDRETH
khildreth@northfieldnews.com
F
eeling passionate about organic food and growing fresh produce, Monica Irwin of Northfield has personally begun a Budding Farmers revolution. Irwin, 29, envisioned, researched and wrote Budding Farmers, an educational program with curriculum to teach preschool and elementary youth about vegetables. Budding Farmers, a 10-week program with lessons presented in a fun, interactive way, asks youth to become curious and experiment with food. The program encourages youth to use writing, art and science discovery skills. Irwin wants to spread her love of agriculture to the younger generation. Budding Farmers recently planted roots with six Rice County organizations in Faribault to purchase bulk orders of curriculum kits. The pilot programs were used in a summer school program, a daycare and a few governmental programs. “I am also working with a local teacher I have hired to take all the lessons and pull them into line with school standards,” Irwin said. She hopes many districts from across the state will be interested and see the value in the curriculum. “I am so appreciative of how Rice County has been very supportive of helping me develop the program for a larger audience.” Looking to spread her enthusiasm for eating fresh and hoping to reach school districts and
ABOVE: Gardening educator and organic farming visionary, Monica Irwin soaks up the sun after harvesting rainbow chard and fresh, homegrown broccoli from her Northfield home garden. (Kara Hildreth/ Northfield News) LEFT: Monica Irwin, a Northfield Seeds Farm project manager, spent the day teaching local youth at Kid’s Garden Day in July. (Submitted photo)
community education programs across the state, Irwin wants to teach others about the intrinsic benefits of eating well, growing gardens and learning about good nutrition. She is interested in becoming a guest at garden sites
and area cooking schools across Minnesota. Growing up in Chicago, Irwin looked forward to visiting her aunt and uncle’s hobby farm as a young girl. But it was not until college when she discovered
with cooking and trying out new fruits and vegetables. Touting the intrinsic benefits of healthy eating beyond just becoming fit, Irwin said organic fruits and vegetables allow the body more energy and enable a person to have an overall happier mood and mindset. “Eat well keeps you calm and feeling good,” Irwin said. “I did grow up eating vegetables, but they were not necessarily the freshest vegetables.” Today she grows strawberries, pole beans, kale, peppers, eggplants, summer squash, Bok Choy, spring onions, rainbow Swiss chard with a variety of lush lettuces in her backyard garden. Could this Northfield educator and gardening enthusiast become a revolutionary force? “I definitely think Budding Farmers could be a revolution, and I think there is already rumblings of this interest to eat healthful that may have come from the Michelle Obama initiative,” Irwin said. Soon Irwin and her husband will be busy learning to make fresh, organic baby food when the couple’s soon-to-be born baby girl will make an appearance in early October. In the spring this expectant mother planted giant pumpkin seeds in her home garden bed with hopes of photographing her baby daughter smiling alongside a big, bright orange orb. Surely, her daughter will be Budding Farmer.
ABOUT MONICA IRWIN To obtain information on Budding Farmers, contact Monica Irwin at www. buddingfarmers.com, email buddingfarmers@ gmail.com, or link in at www.facebook.com/ BuddingFarmers. Budding Farmers program is an interactive way to educate youth on seasonal food so they learn how to cook, grow, learn, taste, smell, feel and get creative with food. The goal is to develop an appreciation and understanding of agriculture and healthy food that will last a lifetime. Monica Irwin is a member of Healthy Eating Minnesota Network where people can post photos, videos, events and partake in discussion about healthy eating. Check out Budding Farmers Buzz blog at www.buddingfarmers. com Budding Farmers plans a field day at Bossy Acres in Northfield from 11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. Aug. 24, at the farm, 5680 290th St. W., Northfield.
the world of cooking with fresh vegetables and organic gardening. “I discovered the farmers market and I loved the whole ambiance of the place,” Irwin said. That was when she became adventureKara Hildreth can be reached some and began experimenting at (507) 645-1113.
Rogers: Carleton VP, Northfield business leader recognized nationally From Page 5B and currently serves as the chair of the NACUBO Sustainability Advisory Committee. In the 32 years since he was first appointed CFO, Rogers has served on numerous NACUBO and EACUBO committees and groups, and has taught extensively in their professional development programs. He was very involved in the rewriting of OMB Circular A-21 language for research administraSteve Vosejpka has a passion for geneology and loves to jump into the city of Lonsdale’s past. (Kaitlyn Walsh/Northfield News)
Lonsdale’s historian the youngest member of historical society By KAITLYN WALSH
kwalsh@northfieldnews.com
A
t 59, Steve Vosejpka is the youngest member of Lonsdale’s historical society. The group, 3-R Landmark School, is named for the building constructed in 1908 that now houses old photos and records of Lonsdale’s past. When people ask for them, Vosejpka leads tours of the old schoolhouse. With his passion for genealogy and affinity for delving into the city’s background, Vosejpka may be Lonsdale’s most active amateur historian. “I’ve been interested in history for probably 40 years,” he said. “You find one thing and it sparks your curiosity on something else.” It started at his grandfather’s funeral. A 16-year-old Vosejpka stood by his great uncle, who explained who was whom. Vosejpka went home and started writing down what he learned. “It’s like a big spider web,” he said. He often examines 100-yearold photos for clues to find out who and what is pictured and when it was taken. If he thinks he has identified someone in a faded image, he’ll find their great-greatgrandchild—or another living relative— to try to confirm it. “I write down everything I come across. I write down current things, too,” he said. “If I come across somebody, I try to trace their family forward.”
ABOUT STEVE VOSEJPKA Grew up south of Lonsdale on a dairy farm with four brothers An amateur historian and the youngest member of the city’s historical society, 3-R Landmark School The longtime owner of the Lonsdale Feed Mill, which has buildings more than 100 years old
his wife, Tami, had his first child, James, and his daughters, JoAnn and Sarah, in the next few years. He now has six grandchildren. He eventually returned to his roots: agriculture. He earned an agronomy degree at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 1981. “The biggest reason was that I didn’t want to work inside,” Vosejpka said. For nearly 32 years, he has run one of the fixtures of the community: the Lonsdale Feed Mill. Its buildings date back to 1902, making them historical artifacts as much as they are part of his business, which he bought from a family member around 1981. Vosejpka, once a member of the Lonsdale Jaycees, joined 3-R Landmark School in the mid1990s. With most members at 90 or older, the non-profit suffers from an aging membership and a lack of newcomers, according to Jean Palma, 80, the treasurer who has been a part of the group since it started in the mid-1970s. “Steve’s definitely our youngest member and we’re very happy to have someone in his age group,” Palma said. “We really count on Steve. It’s wonderful to have somebody who is of local heritage to do [the tours].”
A story he was eager to tell involved some of his own distant relatives. His great grandpa’s brothers – John, Frank and Jim – were builders. In the early 1900s, they snagged the contract to erect the Immaculate Conception Church. About 40 years later, John’s two sons, Ben and Emil, were the ones to demolish it. The sons used materials from the church to build a house at 210 Ash St. in Lonsdale for their mother, according to Vosejpka. “That’s pretty neat,” he said. Vosejpka was born in Northfield on Dec. 28, 1954. He grew up on a dairy farm on Garfield Avenue south of Lonsdale with four brothers. He attended the University Reach reporter Kaitlyn Walsh of Wisconsin River Falls, where he earned degrees in biology and at 645-1117, and follow her on chemistry, followed by a job in Twitter.com @NFNKaitlyn. chemical research in Minneapolis in 1979. That same year, he and
tion in his years on the Council of Governmental Relations (COGR) board where he served as chair of the Costing Policies Committee and then chair of the board. Rogers has had a lifelong commitment to professional development, speaking extensively at several organizations and helping to found and direct the EACUBO Administrative Management Institute, which operates at Cornell each summer.
The National Association of College and University Business Officers is a membership organization representing more than 2,500 colleges, universities, and higher education service providers across the country and around the world. Reach reporter Kaitlyn Walsh at 645-1117, and follow her on Twitter.com @NFNKaitlyn.
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