Bring your lawn chair and meet Wisconsin’s inspiring community of women farmers championing local food and family farms and celebrate the kick-off to summer at Soil Sisters Taste of Place, a new free community event on Saturday, June 3, 2023 from 4 pm to 8 pm on the Monroe Arts Center front lawn. A market with various Green County area produced products and educational booths along with music by Strings to Roam will highlight this free event.
“The Soil Sisters Taste of Place on June 3 showcases local family farms with a spotlight on the inspiring diversity of women leading these businesses,” explains Danielle Matson of Hidden Garden Bakery in Monroe and co-chair of the event. “Soil Sisters is thrilled to be hosting this family-friendly, community celebration to connect you with this community of women committed to sustainability and organic agriculture and champion the inspiring array of locally-produced products in our region.”
Soil Sisters, a project of the non-profit Renewing the Countryside, started in Green County over fifteen years ago to bring together rural women to share knowledge, resources and expertise to collaboratively advocate for conservation, sustainability, local food and networking. Featured on Around the Farm Table along with Midwest Living, Modern Farmer and a Top Rural Development Initiative Award winner, Soil Sisters brings the spotlight to the inspiring stories of Green County area women-owned family farms that produce food and fiber while stewarding the landscape. According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, Women represent approximately 35 percent of farmers in Wisconsin, a 16 percent increase since 2012. Wisconsin has 1,455 organic farms, second in the country only to California.
“Come meet your farmers and learn about local, seasonal food and how we can all transform what’s on our plate,” explains Alicia Gasaway of Gasaway Gardens in Monticello and co-chair of Soil Sisters Taste of Place with Matson. “When my family moved to our land in Green County from the Twin Cities, I found the Soil Sisters community very welcoming and has been such a great resource for me of local knowledge as I develop my homestead. If you’re interested in anything from gardening year-round to powering up with renewable energy, there will be Soil Sisters at Taste of Place to also support you on your journey.”
Come hungry as there will be food available for purchase including the popular Soil Sisters bake sale featuring a diversity of homemade cookies including gluten-free as well as cider from Brix Cider, a Mount Horeb cidery co-owned by Soil Sister, Marie Raboin.
Music by Strings to Roam, led by Soil Sister Colleen Robinson, will be entertaining with bluegrass tunes.
A variety of market booths will have Soil Sisters providing knowledge as well as having various local products for sale as well as educational booths providing resources and answering your gardening, homesteading and local food questions:
Green Haven Gardens, Heather Lynch Start Your Home Bakery: Cottage Food Educational Booth, Dela Ends & Lisa Kivirist The Old Smith Place, Betty Anderson Barham Gardens, Roberta Barham Inn Serendipity Farm, Lisa Kivirist Wisconsin Farmers Union South Central Chapter Riemer Family Farm, Jen Riemer & Ana Wampfler Broken Tree Woodworks, Sandy Syring Little Valley Farm, Theresa Thorp The Willow Farm, Nicole Anderson Anna's Gluten Free Bakery, Cassie Johnson Soil Sisters T-shirts and swag sale, Ashley Wegmueller
“Soil Sisters showcases the increasing role women farmers play in our rural areas, representing one of the fastest growing groups of new growers prioritizing small-scale, diversified, community-focused agriculture,” explains Heather Lynch of Green Haven Gardens and Master Gardener in Brooklyn, will be available to answer gardening questions and have some of her homegrown plants for sale at her booth at Taste of Place. “I have received so much advice and support from my women farmer community, I look forward to chatting with folks and sharing my experiences at the June 3 Taste of Place.”
“Soil Sisters celebrates women farmers pioneering new approaches to family farm businesses while honoring Wisconsin’s agricultural roots and encouraging new farms to launch,” says Jan Joannides, Executive Director of Renewing the Countryside. “Events like Taste of Place provide a unique opportunity to directly connect with women stewarding our land and revitalizing our rural economy.”