The administrator for the Wolf Ridge Farm, David Abazs, displays a blood beet to the Grand Marais Garden Club members who toured the facility recently. The garden club also toured Finland’s Organic Consumers Association farm as part of their trip.
The Grand Marais Garden Club traveled to Finland, Minn. recently to tour the Wolf Ridge Farm, now about four years old. We were met by David Abazs, who administers the farm along with his assistant, Nathan Cross.
David has spent considerable time analyzing optimal soil composition on his own organic Round River Farm, and his work continues on the Wolf Ridge farm. There are presently three large greenhouses named Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
Each greenhouse contains vegetables utilizing and enhancing particular aspects aimed at improving the soil; the next year there will be a rotation. We were invited to make our own pizza in the timber framed open building, built by North House, and baked in their outside oven. The pizza, cooked some 90 seconds, was wonderful. We were to have Rose’s apple/peach crisp when we moved on to the next farm!
The purpose of the farm is both to educate and to provide, eventually, all vegetables needed for the 13,000 students (140,000 meals) who experience Wolf Ridge annually. In addition, hopefully, it will provide food for the schools in Silver Bay.
We then traveled four miles to Finland’s Organic Consumers Association farm. Stefan Meyer has been involved for about a year, rebuilding the barn, controlling runoff, and building raised beds now covered by a “cover crop.” They will be ready for planting next year. Like Wolf Ridge’s farm, they invite visitors.
It is here that the “Deep Winter Greenhouse” prototype has been built – the first of five for Minnesota. The winter crops that will grow will be smaller greens such as lettuce and Asian vegetables.
The entire greenhouse space will be used with plants in raised beds and in overhead hanging “gutters.”
It was an amazing tour; we went away with a far greater appreciation of organic farming and understanding of soil. There is much that we can implement in our garden spaces.
As a note: a name we kept hearing both at Finland and earlier when we toured the Grand Portage Community orchard and gardens, one who has great knowledge and a willingness to share that knowledge was that of our own Diane Booth.
The Grand Marais Garden Club meets the second Monday of each month April through December at 10 a.m. at the Senior Center in Grand Marais.
We very much welcome visitors and new members.
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