Growing produce and young minds through Children’s Garden in Residence
For six years, Extension Master Gardeners, SNAP-Ed health and wellness coordinators, and 4-H coordinators have been trained in the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum’s Children’s Garden in Residence curriculum. They have reached more than 600 children with science-based, hands-on discovery of gardening, science and nutrition.
Youth harvest produce to take home and use some of the foods for the recipes prepared during the nutrition lesson. Students keep journals that track the height of their plants, and reflect on what they learn each week.
One community partner in Children’s Garden in Residence is Javier Garcia, who hosted youth ages 6 to 16 at Cooperativa Agua Gorda. Garcia, member and owner, manages the certified organic farm in Long Prairie. Garcia has also been involved in Extension education, sharing his decades of calf care and dairy management experience alongside Extension faculty and educators. He’s also collaborated with Extension Regional Sustainable Partnerships, conducting research on fruit and vegetable market opportunities and barriers.
Highlights
- Extension’s equine team delivered education on mud management, emerging diseases and horse property risk assessment in Long Prairie.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Rinde family (2026)
- Empowering Small Minnesota Communities brings together Extension RSDP, the Center for Transportation Studies, Minnesota Design Center, the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs. Working with the Region 5 Development Commission, a short-term project worked to identify the definitions of “rural” used by federal and state agencies and create a grants and data library of state and federal funding opportunities.
- 4-H Educator Heidi Igo engages youth outside of traditional 4-H club experiences through a community garden at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle schools, made possible by a 21st Century Grant.
- The Climate Adaptation Partnership is making available new resources on future groundwater and soil moisture conditions for Todd County, allowing communities to address issues such as irrigation needs and drinking water availability based on long-term precipitation changes.
- In the annual Breakfast on the Farm event, a farm opens its doors to the general public to experience a day on the farm and learn about agriculture from farmers and Extension educators.
Todd County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Todd 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.