TC Growers Urban Roots Farm Tour & Soil Discussion

The Twin Cities Metro Growers Network and U. of Minnesota Extension are hosting a farm tour event from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Mon., Sept. 11, at Urban Roots’ Rivoli Bluffs Farm site, 749 Arkwright St, St Paul. 

Join us for an educational tour of Urban Roots’ Rivoli Bluffs Farm and Restoration Site and reunite with the Twin Cities Metro Growers Network for our last event of 2023. We will go on a guided walking tour and learn from Market Garden Farm Manager Skyler Hawkins and youth farm staff about the many on-site projects they have going on including ecological restoration work, orchard, hoop house, staircase, medicine garden, nature path, community garden, and a community space. The farm has been trialing cover crops and new ways of managing the soil’s nutrients, which will be a special focus of this tour. U. of M. Extension Educator Natalie Hoidal will also share soil management practices and soil compaction research that has been conducted at the farm.

Urban Roots is a youth development and employment organization that builds economic and educational opportunities for under-resourced BIPOC youth. The work at the Rivoli Bluffs site is part of the organization’s Market Garden programs, which help prepare youth staff for academic and professional success while addressing immediate community needs around fresh food access, the environment, and well-being.

Attendees should be prepared for walking. Limited seating is available so bring a folding chair if preferred. Bring a water bottle since no potable water is available on site.

Hosts and educators

• Skyler Hawkins – Market Garden Farm Manager, Urban Roots;
• Natalie Hoidal – Extension Educator, Local Foods and Vegetable Crops;
• Lia Spaniolo, Hennepin County Extension Educator, Urban Ag and Small Farms

Agenda

• 

  Lia Spaniolo

  3:30 p.m. – Meet & greet with Lia Spaniolo, new Hennepin County Extension Educator for Urban Ag and Small Farms and talk with others within the Twin Cities Metro Growers Network

• 4 p.m. – Guided tour of Rivoli Bluffs site.

• ~4:30/4:45 p.m.-6 p.m. – Skyler Hawkins and Natalie Hoidal talk more in-depth about soil management practices at the farm. Topics will include cover cropping, nutrient management, soil compaction research and any other relevant research/data collection. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions.

Please note that this event is not at the main Urban Roots location on Payne Avenue.

The Twin Cities Metro Growers Network is a collaboration between SFA and the University of Minnesota Extension. For more information, email spaniolo@umn.edu.