Meet Your Finnriver Blueberry Farmers!
by Jeff and Janet, Finnriver Farms
Jeff and I met working at the Seward Food Co-op in Minneapolis. Jeff had returned to the cities to finish college after dropping out to pursue organic farming and was working in the produce department. I was studying biology and clerking to pay rent and get the staff discount on quality food. Despite the vibrancy of the local food community in the upper midwest, I was drawn back to the peninsula where I was born and raised.
We met the Kislers in 2008 through mutual friends and signed on for a 10-month gig at Finnriver. Twelve years later we are still here! When the Kislers and Eric Jorgensen launched the Cidery in 2010 we started leasing the original Finnriver Farm land and running it as our own business—Finnriver Farms. Finnriver Farms is best known for amazing blueberries. We also grow a wide array of mixed vegetables, operate a CSA and vend at the three Jefferson County Farmers Markets.
We farm with a mantra that working hard and having fun are not mutually exclusive and have been lucky to cultivate a crew over the years that embrace that notion as well. We are motivated by the desire to provide nutritious food for our community while conserving the ecological integrity of the land. Farming never ceases to provide challenges and opportunities to improve our ecological and economical sustainability practices.
This year we are particularly excited about growing our CSA membership, increasing the nutrient density of our crops through soil mineral management, reducing tillage with a new bed prep implement, adding a flock of Runner ducks for pest control in the perennials, planting 1500 new blueberry plants and working with a fabulous crew to make it all possible! We are also grateful for your support. Thank you for choosing to consume real food.
