Blueberry farm harvests tasty fruit, lessons for agritourism
Debbie Yennie purchased First Fruit Blueberry Farm near Menahga in 2011 after it had been dormant for more than a decade. But there’s a reason that Menahga means “blueberries” in the Ojibwe language: It’s a reliable site for the fruit! Yennie was able to revive the blueberry fields and began offering “pick your own” and pre-picked berries. Yennie had help from Central Lakes College and is currently aided by Extension’s fruit-growing educational program and supported by local educator Tarah Young.
Extension’s Tourism Center, which works statewide to support agritourism, featured First Fruit Blueberry Farm in a series of profiles highlighting Minnesota farms that host on-site experiences.
Passionate about education and community outreach, Yennie hopes her story will inspire future generations to engage in community gardening and farm-to-table efforts, seeing agritourism as a valuable tool for learning and connection.
Highlights
- RSDP impact: Honeydew Farm is one of the five newest farmer partners throughout Greater Minnesota to build and test prototype farm-scale deep winter greenhouses.
- Extension educators will deliver a Flock foundations and coop conversations course in Park Rapids in 2026 to cover essentials of raising a healthy, productive small flock and debunk common care myths. Participants will explore mobile poultry housing and heritage breed research, and learn practical ways to keep flocks disease-free.
- Makenzie M., a Hubbard County 4-H’er, is a Minnesota 4-H State Ambassador. She likes working with sheep, lamb lead and photography projects.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Kowalke family
- Aquatic Invasive Species Detector volunteers spot-checked two lakes during Starry Trek events in the past couple of years, identifying starry stonewort in Garfield Lake. Spiny water flea detection kits are available for public checkout from the Extension office.
- The Climate Adaptation Partnership is making available new resources on future groundwater and soil moisture conditions for Hubbard County, allowing communities to address issues like irrigation needs and drinking water availability based on long-term precipitation changes.
Hubbard County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Hubbard County partners with Extension to deliver practical education and research you can use at home, at work and in your community. More about Extension in our county.
About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.