CULTURE CLUB

Camphill Village Minnesota includes people from many different cultures all over the world. Learning about the histories and customs of our friends and family is an integral element of our community. Learning about local and international culture helps open our minds and enrich our lives, allowing us to discover our global family.  This is the aim of the Culture and Movement Group. We come together to share and discover the special nature of people and places all over the world through crafts, food, stories, theater, music and dance.

GARDEN

Camphill Village Minnesota is a year-round, residential intentional community located in central Minnesota near the Sauk River.  Our biodynamic garden is two acres with roughly half in cover crop rotation at a time.  The other acres are intensively cultivated with companion and successive plantings allowing us to have fresh greens from April through November. 

Through the winter we rely on the food processed in the harvest kitchen during the summer and the bounty stored in the root cellar. We take great pride that everyone in our community helps make our food possible.  From those planting and picking to processing and preparing, our meals are a community endeavor that contributes to the rhythm of life here.  Come grow with us!

HARVEST KITCHEN

The Harvest Kitchen is where we spend many hot summer days putting up food to sustain us through the cold winter months.  We process many varieties of vegetables and fruits from our bountiful gardens, with the goal being to have enough to get the whole community through the year until the next growing season can begin.  We mostly utilize freezing, canning, and fermentation methods of preservation, and also do some drying of herbs and homemade spreads, such as pesto. 

During the busiest, most abundant time of the year, the Harvest Kitchen needs many hands to help!  Everyone can find a meaningful task here, from washing, chopping, snapping, stripping, peeling, mashing or pureeing vegetables, to blanching, vacuum sealing, canning, and helping with clean-up!  We spend long days and nights keeping up with the harvest and making sure we will always have the healthiest food available from our own soil, even in the dark winter.  We spend the earlier part of the summer months preparing our certified kitchen for use and keeping up with the cleanliness standards needed for inspections.  We also use the slower times of the year to process the honey from our beehives, which can be a long, but delicious, process!

 In the winter months, the Harvest Kitchen makes Sauerkraut, from our own cabbages, onions, garlic, carrots, turnips, and radishes.  We lacto-ferment our kraut, adding only salt and mashing the veggies to release their own juices.  The sauerkraut ferments in air-locked containers for at least 3 weeks or longer, to ensure that the most beneficial bacteria are allowed to grow and the perfect flavor is achieved.  We like to experiment with different spice profiles and flavor additions, and in this way we all enjoy this healthy and delicious product all winter long.

ESTATE

With 8 houses and a whole lot of land, our Estate crew members are the ones making sure the whole operation runs smoothly. In the fall, expect to see the crew out raking leaves and splitting wood. In the winter, they help keep our roads and walkways clear of snow and well sanded. They also bring wood to houses that need it to stay warm! In the spring and summer, they are the ones keeping our lawns looking neat and gardens looking weed-free.

Most importantly, the Estate crew manages the garbage and recycling collection all year round. 

HERB GARDEN

During summer months our resident herbalist grows carefully selected herbs and flowers.  She then harvests them to be dried or cured and in the winter months crews sort and jar the herbs and flowers.

ORCHARD

We care for more than a dozen apple trees and a handful of plum trees.

In return, they give us an abundance of fruit that we eat all year round. The harvest kitchen makes apple sauce, apple butter, jams and we also press apple cider! 

We grow all of our trees organically!

WEAVERY

Some of the most beautiful items created in the Village come from the Weavery. The most popular pieces are the rainbow rugs and chenille scarves. The skilled Weavers craft all winter creating these items to sell at the fall festival and other craft fairs. We weave quite a variety of rugs, placemats and scarves on eight different looms. The rags for our rugs must be cut, sewn together on our Singer sewing machines and finally woven with love and care. This gives therapeutic and meaningful activities for many people. 

Come see us. We love to show you what we are doing!