community engagement

Ear to the Ground 408: Civic Spark

When a federal immigration crackdown came to rural Minnesota, farmer Bridget Lux knew she had to do something. When she walked into a community meeting, she realized she wasn’t the only one looking to take action. More Information • Contact Information for LSP Organizer Nick Olson • Immigrant Defense Network • LSP Blog: Equipping Communities…  Read More →

The Belly of Belief

Riverbed Lamb’s Renewed Relationship With the Land & Community

It was the winter of 2024-2025, and Frances Kelliher wasn’t exactly in the mood to sit in a room with a lot of idealistic agrarians. She was participating in her first few sessions of the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course, hearing about all the great plans her classmates had for building their own farming…  Read More →

The Throughline

Crowded Table’s Commitment to Community

2026-2027 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2026-2027 Farm Beginnings class session. The application deadline is Sept. 1. For details, click here. ♦ ♦ ♦ Sometimes a shot of reality can inject a sense of urgency into an educational experience. Roughly half-way through their participation in the 2024-2025 winter session of…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 403: Values on the Table

Emily and Ryan Kjesbo-Johnson vowed their lifelong commitment to community would not stop when they moved out of their urban neighborhood and onto a farm. Farm Beginnings is helping them keep that promise. More Information • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course (2026-2027 Early Bird Discount Deadline Aug. 1, 2026; Final Deadline Sept. 1, 2026) • Crowded Table…  Read More →

Wading into Hostile Waters

This Week's MPCA Meeting on Riverview Highlights the Importance of Being Allowed to Ask Authentic Questions

When debating a controversial topic in public, a well-proven trick is to never ask a question you don’t already have the answer to. That technique was on full display Tuesday evening in a packed-to-the-gills meeting held at Old No. 1 Bar & Grill in Morris, Minn. The topic at hand was a proposal by Riverview…  Read More →

Vision Quest

An LSP Soil Health Hub Gathering Illustrates the Power of Dreams Anchored in Reality

On a recent morning in late February, a couple dozen farmers stood in front of a wall of words and pictures, imagining what the future might look like. Just a few minutes before, the farmers had sat at tables in a sunny room of the Chatfield Center for the Arts in southeastern Minnesota, using felt-tipped…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 393: Risk Reducers

Alan Jostock uses the kind of diversity that builds soil health as a kind of insurance policy for his farm. That means meshing his crop and livestock enterprises in a way that they prop each other up through thick and thin.  More Information • Jan. 27, 2026, LSP Workshop — “Beyond Exports: Rebuilding Local Markets”…  Read More →