Take a drive through the farmlands of Fillmore or Houston counties, and you'll see the same few crops: corn, soybeans, maybe some hay. Head west out of Rushford on Highway 30, and just past the cement plant you'll see something totally different: acre after acre of cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, melons, carrots, cucumbers, kale, broccoli, beets, onions, squash – pretty much anything you could find in the grocery store. Foods we all eat, but which are almost never grown at scale here in southeast Minnesota.
This is Featherstone Farm. Featherstone was founded by Jack Hedin and his wife Jenni McHugh, who began growing organic vegetables at the Zephyer Valley Land Co-op south of Winona in 1994. In those days, organic foods were virtually unknown. Jack and Jenny started small and built up a loyal following, benefiting from being in the "right place at the right time. When interest in local, organic food began to take off in the 2000s, Featherstone was ready to meet the steadily growing demand.
In 2007 tragedy struck. The historic floods of that year, in which 23 inches of rain fell over 36 hours, literally washed the farm away. Rather than give up, Featherstone chose to do the exact opposite – rebuild, and at much larger scale. The farm moved to is current home west of Rushford the following season. They added even more acreage in 2010, bring the total size of the farm to 225 acres.
Read more at Fillmore County Journal
