SSND Sisters named "Farm Family of the Year"

Madison, MN - The University of Minnesota has honored Sisters Kay and Annette Fernholz as the "2006 Farm Family of the Year" for Lac Qui Parle County - an honor they share with 59 other Farm Families of the Year from participating Minnesota counties.

The Fernholzes may not be the typical farm family at first glance, "family" is the best word to describe the scene and the sentiment at the Earthrise Farm. Annette and Kay are biological sisters as well as members of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

The farm families were chosen based on their contributions to the agricultural industry, their communities, and the state. Families receiving honors have demonstrated a commitment to enhancing and supporting agriculture and agriculture production.

Annette and Kay’s parents originally moved to this farm in 1944. Kay joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) in 1956 and Annette the following year, and both were classroom teachers for many years.

Eleven years ago they moved back to the farm. Its primary feature is a garden dedicated to community-supported agriculture (CSA). Shareholders from the area (and as far away as the Twin Cities) financially support the production of garden vegetables on the farm, and in turn receive a box of food each week for a 22-week season--enough to feed four people.

Annette and Kay helped organize a weekly farmers market in Madison, and now produce food for a new farmers market in nearby Montevideo on Thursday evenings. The farm also belongs to a small poultry co-op, and has about 50 free-range, actively laying bovan hens. The chickens are on a flax-enhanced diet and produce "designer eggs," as Annette calls them, that are rich in healthy omega-3 acids.

True to the SSND mission of education, Earthrise also conducts programming for local schools including a curriculum focused on sustainability. There are also classes at the farm on canning, bread-baking, pottery, and "Earth literacy." And Earthrise is a place where juveniles who are "sentenced to serve" by the county court system can come to do community service.

Both Annette and Kay mention a natural calling to come back to their family farm. "The restoration of the environment is the hallmark of the next millennium," says Annette. "Maybe we got 'caught' in that thinking process." As for being a Farm Family of the Year, the Fernholzes consider the School Sisters of Notre Dame as the family.

*excerpts used with permission from http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/A_growing_ministry.html by Rick Moore.