Event Information

What: There is an abundance of sustainable agriculture in the immediate Northfield area. We aim to get students, local businesses, community members, and college alumni connected with healthy lifestyles and local farms. This bike tour will help raise awareness of the local food scene and build bridges between different areas of the Northfield community.

No bike?  No worries!  We’ll have a bunch you can borrow on a first come, first serve basis, but borrow from a friend if you can. They will be available at the registration locations.

If participants are only able to attend the festival and/or are not able to bike, there will be a shuttle to transport participants between the parking lots at colleges and SEEDS farm between 4 and 7 p.m.

When:

Saturday, September 28th, 2013

12:00pm: Registration Opens at Carleton College and St. Olaf College.

1:00pm: Official Tour Starts (There will be groups leaving from the Colleges)

1:00pm – 4:00pm: Farm Bike Tour

4:00pm – 7:00pm: Harvest Festival at SEEDS Farm

5:00pm: Food is served at the Harvest Festival

We’ll pedal off starting at 1pm and visit St. Olaf’s STOGROW student farm, the Carleton Student Farm, Little Hill Berry Farm, Spring Wind Farm, Open Hands Farm, SEEDS Farm, Laughing Loon Farm, and Main Street Project’s Agripreneur Training Farm for brief tours and discussions, along with demonstrations on beekeeping and raising chickens, children’s art activities, tree planting, and lots more cool stuff . We’ll end the day with the Just Food Co-Op Harvest Festival at SEEDS Farm just south of Northfield, complete with a delicious dinner made from local, seasonal ingredients, live music, and information and activities from our community sponsors.

Where: The basic route is 18-20 miles round-trip, but participants can choose to go to as many or as few farms as they wish. There will be three meeting points from which to begin the tour:

1. Buntrock Commons Parking Lot at St. Olaf College. 1500 St. Olaf Avenue, Northfield, MN

2. The Bald Spot field at Carleton College. 1 North College Street, Northfield, MN

3. Just Food Co-Op at 516 Water St S,  Northfield, MN.

Bike maps are provided under Bike Tour Maps on our website, farmbiketour.wordpress.com.

Maps of various routes (recreational biker, road warrior, family-friendly) and a schedule of farm events will be distributed — along with the all-important liability waiver forms! — at the two meeting points. The farms cannot accommodate cars, so please park at (or cycle to) one of the colleges. You can park in any lot at either college.

Cost: FREE, but donations gratefully accepted in order to provide this free event to the community. Any proceeds that do not go to the event will go towards the Sustainable Farmers Association, which can help local farmers during this particularly rough season.

Sponsors: Bon Appétit Management Company at St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges,, Main Street Project (Rural Enterprise Center), SEEDS Farm, Cannon Falls Canoe and Bike Rental, Peace Coffee, Just Food Co-op, and more to come.

More Coming!