The Free Press, Mankato, MN - Sisters grow organic at Earthrise Farm

Wed, Nov 25 2009

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Kay Fernholz (left) and sister Annette Fernholz are the founders of Earthrise Farm, which uses organic farming as a tool to foster community relationships and an appreciation for the earth.
Submitted photo / The Free Press

Earthrise Farms is an all-organic farm that produces enough food to supply 40 to 50 southwest Minnesota families with weekly produce packages.
Submitte photo / The Free Press

Submitted photo / The Free Press

Sisters grow organic at Earthrise Farm

Nuns foster community, appreciation for the land

Tanner Kent
The Free Press

Earthrise is also something of a spiritual oasis, a place where stewardship and community grow right alongside squash, peppers, onions and tomatoes.

Kay and Annette adhere to a philosophy that views the earth as a living thing, as a conduit through which all beings are connected. The sisters try to instill that appreciation for the natural world into the vegetables they grow and the community relationships they foster.

“We wanted to establish our own space,” Annette Fernholz said, “a place to surround ourselves with the idea of the earth not as a collection of objects, but as a communion of subjects.”

The Fernholz sisters are using part of their 11-acre plot to restore a turn-of-the-century schoolhouse. People who visit the farm — Earthrise also sells produce on a walk-in basis — already have offered to help paint and furnish. The sisters want to use the building as an environmental learning center where community members can come to learn about floral arrangements or how to make homemade soups and students can come and enjoy the outdoors.

“With the School Sisters of Notre Dame, there was a real concern for the environment and creation,” Kay Fernholz said. “This farm is an opportunity to do something hands-on.”

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