Jubilee Market & Peacemeals, USDA program both win with grant funding for renewable, efficient energy systems, improvements
It was an evening of celebration, “REAP”ing what they have sown.
Jubilee Markets & Peacemeals, part of Jubilee Fruits & Vegetables of Mountain Lake and REAP (Renewable Energy for America Program) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) both came out winners following USDA grant funding of Jubilee’s renewable energy system installation and energy efficiency improvements.
On hand to recognize the success in working together were Jubilee owners Steve and Judy Harder; Colleen Landkamer, USDA State Director for Rural Development; Joel Haskard, University of Minnesota Extension Clean Energy Resource Teams Co-Director; Greg Schweser, University of Minnesota Extension Associate Director of Sustainable Local Foods, Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships; Doug and Lin Hilgendorf of Whole Grain Milling of Welcome and Bob and Lynette Ewert of Bingham Lake.
Both the Harders and Hilgendorfs were honored with plaques by Director Landkamer for their partnership with USDA Rural Development through REAP, in support of renewable energy, energy efficiency and environmental impact leadership. In presenting the awards, Landkamer shared, “I travel all over the state, and it is exciting see people – like the Harders and Hilgendorfs – who are making a real difference.”
USDA’s REAP provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase or install renewable energy systems or make energy efficiency improvements. This program helps increase American energy independence by increasing the private sector supply of renewable energy and decreasing the demand for energy through energy efficiency improvements. Over time, these investments can also help lower the cost of energy costs for small businesses and agricultural producers.
Jubilee Market & Peacemeals, which opened in spring 2015, is an addition to the Harders’ original Jubilee Fruits & Vegetables. Jubilee Fruits & Vegetables LLC began five years ago as a small CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) farm. Jubilee Market & Peacemeals is located in a separate building completed in 2015. The market area of the building is the place to purchase eggs, locally-grown fruits and vegetables, organic milk, homemade whole grain breads, tortilla chips and flour, homemade pickles and jams and other organic and sustainable agriculture products. Peacemeals is a commercial kitchen that is a gathering place for noon meals (soup, sandwich and salad) and monthly farm dinners that are ticket events. In addition, cooking classes help all learn how to prepare seasonally-based recipes with laughter and good eats. They can be found online at: http://jubilee.mtlake.org/.
The $23,000 USDA REAP grant for Jubilee Market & Peacemeals was composed of four components –
+ A climate battery in the building’s greenhouse to keep the air cooled in the summer or warmed in the winter from the normal heat of the soil. The Harders worked with Michael Thompson, director of Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Basalt, Colorado, as architect. Wadsworth Control Systems of Arvada, Colorado, designed and manufactured the greenhouse climate control system.
+ A 10 KW solar array on the the greenhouse roof to provide energy, obtained from Green Energy Products LLC of Springfield.
+ Retractable energy shade curtains for the greenhouse that reflects sun back out on hot days or keeps in warmth during the winter. Wadsworth Control Systems of Arvada also provided the energy curtains.
+ A wood-burning central boiler used to heat water for the market, kitchen and wash area from B & K Sales (Burton and Karin Stoesz) of Mountain Lake, as well as a back-up heater for the greenhouse.
The Hilgendorfs of Whole Grain Milling received a $5,000 USDA REAP grant. At Whole Grain Milling, they grow and process certified organic grains and provide fresh, quality whole-grain products. They have just opened a tortilla chip production factory in Trimont.
Steve Harder provided the guests with a tour of the new facility, as well as of Jubilee Fruits & Vegetables, including the high tunnel housing the growing tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers and the Harders’ line-up of solar panels used to harness electricity from the sun. The Harder’s son, Nathan Harder, and his wife, Loida Garcia Quiroga, are the farmers in the family, doing the majority of the planting and plant care – as well as assisting at Peacemeals.
Then it was time for all to sit down to a meal prepared by Steve and Judy Harder.
The four-course menu opened with:
+ Pumpkin/chive punch.
Followed by:
+ A greens mix and fresh vegetable salad.
+ A soup hailing from a Ukrainian background – sour-leaf (or curly-leaf dock) soup.
+ Rye bread (with flour from Whole Grain Milling), topped with plum jam (from Jubilee Fruits & Vegetables).
+ Two flavors of Ferndale turkey sausage – spinach/feta and roasted bell pepper/garlic (from Ferndale Market of Cannon Falls that features home-grown, free-range-raised turkeys processed naturally without additives).
+ Balsamic potatoes.
+ Carrot/fennel vegetables.
+ Saksatoon berries (specifically Juneberries and serviceberries) and rhubarb mooss.
+ Whole-wheat chocolate cookies.
Haskard, of the U of M Extension Clean Energy Resource Teams, had nothing but accolades for the Harders and the hard work they put into Jubilee Market & Peacemeals. “We (University of Minnesota Extension Clean Energy Resource Team) connected Jubilee with resources about USDA’s REAP and other renewable energy and energy efficiency systems. They then took that information and ran with it. Nathan (Harder) took a U of M clean energy greenhouse tour several years ago, and was inspired. The building they now have is a testament to their tenacity, ingenuity and elbow grease from years of work towards their goal.”
