Imagine serving lush local tomatoes at your next Thanksgiving dinner. How about locally grown strawberries on Memorial Day? Sow the Seeds wants to make these dreams a reality by helping area farmers develop a longer growing season, and, in the process, create a more vibrant and diverse local food system.

Sow the Seeds is helping make the local produce season longer for farmers and for shoppers who love local food. By enabling farmers to plant earlier in the Spring and harvest later in the Fall, season extension can help farm businesses grow and the supply of locally grown fruits and vegetables expand.

Sow the Seeds announces Season Extension Grants

Sow the Seeds, a project of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in partnership with the Wedge, has announced a series of small grants. The grants will support farmer education and outreach on season extension for fruit and vegetable production in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Generous support from individuals, natural food grocery retailers, the Minnesota State Department of Agriculture, and other organizations helped make these awards possible. "The organizations receiving support from Sow the Seeds are some of the region's leaders in helping build our local food system and strengthen our local farm community. Our thanks to all of the individuals and organizations who have supported this work", says JoAnne Berkenkamp, director of the Local Foods program at IATP. Learn more about the farmer education activities being funded by Sow the Seeds.

The History of Sow the Seeds

Begun in 2006, the Sow the Seeds initiative fosters sustainable food systems in the Upper Midwest. Sow the Seeds was initiated by The Wedge Community Co-op and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy to educate and engage members of the public while supporting local, sustainable food production.

In August 2007, Southeast Minnesota, Southwest Wisconsin and Northeast Iowa were hit by "once in 500 year" floods (View our video). A special Sow the Seeds Flood Relief project was launched to help farmers affected by this natural disaster. Over $390,000 was raised and distributed to more than 30 farms that applied to the Flood Relief fund. Thanks to all of you who contributed so generously to that effort.