Rick Abrahamson

Rick Abrahamson is currently the farm project coordinator at the Farm at St. Francis and owner of Homegrown Gardens in Fergus Falls. Formerly he was a lecturer at the University of Minnesota specializing in production horticulture. Rick’s educational background includes a B.S. in horticulture and an M.S. in soil science both from North Dakota State University. He was responsible for teaching several horticultural courses at UMC including; floriculture, introduction to horticulture, plant propagation, herbaceous perennials, and interior plants.

Prior to coming to Crookston he taught horticulture courses at Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, SD. He has also served as an extension educator, Pennington County for South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension; director of education at Lauritzen Gardens, a 100 acre botanical garden in Omaha, NE; extension educator, Clay County for the University of Minnesota Extension; and Grounds Manager at NDSU in Fargo, ND.

Ngozi Akubuike

Ngozi Akubuike of VIVANDU Farms and HAVEN, Int'l, comes from a lineage of farmers. Her paternal grandfather, Azuwuinye Domike, was renowned for growing yams through which he acquired his wealth. Her father, Jude Azu-Domike, though a civil servant, continued in the tradition of farming and raising livestock. Ngozi, like most African immigrants, grew up having a productive relationship with the land. On immigration to the United States, Ngozi faced obstacles to growing culturally specific food due to lack of access to land and Minnesota’s climate, which is not favorable to the crops Africans eat.

In her advocacy to create a space for African farmers to grow culturally specific food, the MDA Emerging Farmers Office connected her to Moses Momanyi of Kilimo. She worked with the University of Minnesota to develop ways to grow culturally specific food for Africans. This has led to the University growing some of the cultural vegetables and inviting the community to harvest. She leads the West African farmers, and engages the young and elderly in farm work so the young can develop interest in farming to build continuity while the elderly will transfer their knowledge of traditional growing skills and expertise to the young as well as learns ways to improve. Ngozi farms in Mora, Minnesota and Osceola, Wisconsin. Additionally, Ngozi is trained attorney, facilitator, trainer, and counsellor. 

Ini

Augustine

Katie

Bonow

Katie Bonow is the goat midwife, milker, cheesemaker, and sales manager of Capra Nera Creamery near Lewiston, MN. After growing up on a small dairy farm in the beautiful Driftless Region in SE Minnesota, she ventured out into the world, attending college at the U of M, Twin Cities. An 8 month study abroad trip to Italy inspired her to come back home to Minnesota and get to work on making a living through goat farming and cheesemaking. The Creamery produces aged, raw goat milk cheeses which are primarily sold locally at select retail locations, seasonally at the Rochester Farmers Market, and shipped direct to consumers.

Running a farm business is seldom a smooth journey. But it's always interesting! Through 10 years of learning how to manage a farm and business (through a global pandemic no less), Katie has also grown 2 farm kids, raises a couple dozen chickens, and usually manages to beat back the weeds long enough to pick fresh tomatoes from the garden.

Jayna

Larrea

Summers on her grandparents' and aunt and uncle's farms instilled in Jayna a deep love for the land. Even while living and working in Minneapolis, she regularly sought solace in gardening and farm visits. The 2020 lockdown, however, spurred a dramatic change. Leaving behind a 40-year career in professional event planning, she embraced full-time produce farming. Despite warnings of its challenges, Jayna chose the emotional fulfillment of cultivating the land over financial security.

With her aunt and uncle's guidance, Jayna farms 5 acres in Litchfield, MN.

Sarah

Masikini

Kamillah

Mayfield

Xor McCray

Robert

McCray

Scott

Merth

Scott Merth is an emerging market gardener interested in growing food, creating beautiful gardens, and building a stronger community. After practicing structural engineering for 12 years, he decided to delve deeper into his hobby of home gardening and in 2020 became a Master Gardener for Hennepin County. Now, he has fully shifted his career over to the growing sector after one full season as a landscape gardener, and two full growing seasons studying sustainable agriculture at the UMN Landscape Arboretum.

He established Kaleidoscope Market Garden—an organic, no-till, urban farm based in NE Minneapolis—in 2024 and sells produce weekly at the Audubon Farmers' Market, to the Four Sisters Urban Growers Collective, as well as a mix of local restaurants.

Moses

Momanyi

Xe Susane

Moua

Onesmus

Mutio

Onesmus Mutio is a first-generation Minnesotan originally from Kenya. He is a graduate of Killimo MN, an incubator farm dedicated to equipping emerging farmers with the skills needed to succeed in Minnesota's agricultural landscape. After leasing a quarter-acre lot for a year, Onesmus founded Smarterlife Organic Farms and purchased a 3-acre farm in Bradford Township in Isanti County, where he, together with his young family, continues to advance his deeply rooted passion in farming.  At Smarterlife Organic Farms, Onesmus organically grows and sells a diverse range of nutritious vegetables to The Good Acre and various wholesale accounts. Looking ahead, he plans to expand his market offerings by including Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and participating in local Farmers' Markets starting 2025.

In addition to his farming work, Onesmus is a founding board member of the African Growers and

Producers Alliance (AGAPA), an organization in Minnesota that unites emerging farmers of African

descent to enhance their collective impact and voice in the agricultural industry.

Onesmus holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Kenyatta University and an MBA from DeVry University. He currently works as a Senior Project Lead for Supply Chain Resilience at Abbott Laboratories. However, he plans to transition to full-time specialty crop farming in the near future, making it his primary focus and long-term career path. 

Caliton

Ntahompagze

Esther

Ondieki

Jina

Rahimi

Nancy

Vue Tran

Friendly

Vang-Johnson

Jane

Windsperger

Youa

Yang

Last year, Youa left corporate life and began her life on her new farm. She lives on 35 acres in Isanti with her husband Paul and their four kids ages 7, 5, 2, and 1. They own Roots and Heritage Farm where they will be growing cut flowers and vegetables and offering fresh eggs.