Our annual Know Our Grower series continues as our growing season thrives. Know Our Grower is an opportunity to connect shoppers with the talented group of local farmers producing our food and sample recipes that allow their flavors to shine. Come chat and sample with Featherstone Farm this December! They will be in the Franklin store on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and the Friendship store on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Featherstone Farm started in 1995 as Jack Hedin and Jenni McHugh’s five-acre garden at the Zephyr Valley Land Co-op near Winona, Minn. Since then, the farm has relocated to land near the town of Rushford, Minn., and now employs nearly 50 people working on over 250 acres of optimal vegetable-growing ground. Beginning in late May with leaf lettuce through a summer’s harvest of zucchini and cherry tomatoes into winter squash and carrots in the winter, there’s hardly a month that Featherstone isn’t represented in the co-op’s Produce department. The farm is certified organic and is dedicated to creating a truly sustainable agriculture system. That includes geothermal heating and cooling for the packing shed, as well as a solar array that generates about 60 percent of the farm’s energy.

Featherstone Needs Community Support to Save Their Farm

The 2016 season has proven to be the worst in Featherstone Farms’s 20 years in business. The fourth wettest year in Minnesota history has produced crop losses far in excess of anything they’ve ever experienced. Featherstone has lost 20% of their crop income and is facing a $350,000 loss. They are hoping to raise $150,000 by Thanksgiving. Folks can help by going to our website at featherstonefarm.com.