First Fridays at B: May Announcements

In celebration of spring and the upcoming growing season, our May edition of First Fridays focused on gardening!

We welcome Jeff Miller (Cass County Soil Conservation District), Don Kinzler (InForum, NDSU Extension - Cass County) and Nola J Storm (Growing Together ~ A Community Garden Ministry) to the stage to share tips and tricks on gardening in the Red River Valley.

[Missed the event? Watch video on Facebook or YouTube]

We had lots of great announcements about upcoming community events and opportunities. Check out the list: 

Leola Daul - Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe
Heart-n-Soul Community Cafe is a pop-up community cafe with pay what you can afford pricing. Upcoming events are June 12 and July 10.
Learn more and RSVP via Facebook

Jen Walla - Prairie Roots Community Fund
Prairie Roots Food Co-op has Double SNAP, with $10 weekly matching vouchers for fresh/frozen/canned fruits & veggies. The Prairie Roots Community Fund has a community garden location next to Madison Elementary School, and work will begin in May on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.
Stay updated on future events via Facebook

Noelle Harden, University of Minnesota Extension
Have you ever thought about raising your own chickens but aren’t sure where to start? Do you have questions about the existing rules and regulations related to raising chickens? Are you curious what it might be like if your friends and neighbors started raising chickens? Join the University of Minnesota Extension on Saturday, May 11 for a workshop to learn more and get your chicken questions answered!
Learn more about the workshop here
Can’t make the event? Contact Noelle for more information about how to get involved

Mara Solberg, Solberg Farms
Solberg Farms is a family farm south of Fargo where Mara and son Bjorn raise pastured sheep, ducks, and chickens for farm fresh eggs and meat. Upcoming events include yoga on the farm, followed by cheese & wine tasting
Follow them on Facebook for updates

Heather Nesemeier - Nature Play Day 2019
Nature Play Day is a fun, free, community event on Saturday, May 11 from 2-4 p.m. Event is open to all ages and filled with family-friendly activities including planting the community gardens at the Ellen Hopkins Elementary Nature Play Park, making bird feeders and pollinator seed starters, enjoying a tactile station with organic seeds, participating in art and bubbles, engaging in some science experiments and nature play, and more! These events are driven by a desire to pull the community together in a free and open space, enjoy nature and the outdoors, participate in some educational elements about pollinators, animals, science, etc., get a little dirty planting the community gardens, taking away items that each individual can interact with in their home (e.g. ideas, seeds, bird feeder, etc.) and, most importantly, being encouraged to come back outside, event to to the space (EHES Nature Play Park) at any time and enjoy the gardens and fruit orchard.
Learn more via Facebook

Dexter Dutton, Thunder Coffee
Thunder Coffee is partnering with Nichole’s Fine Pastry to host the “Finger Things Club” on Wednesday, May 22 at Drekker Brewing (Brewhalla).
Learn more and get tickets via Facebook

Carrie Wintersteen, Theatre B
Cry It Out runs through May 18! Cry It Out takes an honest look at the absurdities of navigating women’s choices, family life, and job security in modern day America.
Learn more and get tickets here

Speaker Resources
Our speakers highlighted some great gardening resources in the F-M area, including:
- Cass County Soil Conservation District - A variety of programs, resources and cost-sharing opportunities to support conservation efforts in Cass County. Learn more via their website.
- Growing Together - A Community Garden Ministry - May 21 & 23, purchase tomato plants to support Growing Together. 1-7 p.m. at Catalyst Garden. Learn more via Facebook.
- NDSU Extension - Cass County Horticulture - Don Kinzler is available to answer home gardening/lawn questions. Call 701-241-5707.
- Fargo Forum - Don Kinzler writes a weekly gardening column for the Fargo Forum called “Growing Together,” as well as a Q&A column. Visit the Fargo Forum website and search “Growing Together” to learn more.

Mark your calendar for Friday, June 7 and our final event of the season! Follow Food of the North on Facebook  for more details and join the conversation on social media using #FridayBFood and #FoodoftheNorth.