Heather calls it “our little slice of paradise,” but I ask if this small hobby farm has a real name. “Mahoney Homestead” will do she says. After touring the 40 acres I would add “and wildlife refuge”! Their trail camera on the northeast corner regularly shows the moose, deer, coyotes, bears, bobcats, wolves, and pine martens who roam this land. And up closer to the house the owls come into view as well as many warblers and other interesting birds. Heather is a birder and delights in sharing what she sees with others in the area. She’s an avid photographer too. I know Heather Mahoney because I volunteer with the Rutabaga Project at AEOA which she manages. But I hadn’t seen her home near Embarrass until today. “Paradise” and “Embarrass, Minnesota” aren’t often used in the same sentence. But the more sweet farms I write about from this fair town, the more I think it fits.
This land was mostly pasture when they bought it seven years ago, aside from the house, pole barn and garage. It is surrounded by hunting land, state land, and vacant land so there are woods as far as the eye can see. When she and her husband Rory moved in, there were huge heaps of hundreds of old tires, broken appliances, and the non-burnable remains of old burn piles. They’ve done an amazing job of cleaning up and cutting trails through the woods. Rory has two deer stands in the remote areas. There are wide areas of alder brush, fields of wildflowers, and plenty of birch, Norway, White Pine, and spruce. Heather said she always wanted to live where the trees made noise when the wind blew. This is the place.
There were two very large, fenced gardens here when they moved in and they’ve re-built the fencing to protect precious crops of beets, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, kohlrabi, pole beans, wax beans, cucumbers, peas, lettuce, and chard as well as Juneberries and honeyberries. Outside the gardens are wild chokecherries and raspberries. And in raised beds in the woods they raise onions, garlic, and potatoes. A hoop house nearby houses several varieties of peppers and basil….and whatever else needs a little protection. Heather sells produce to the Mesabi East Farm to School program and at the Mesabi East Environmental Education Center’s farmers market.
She has offered “Heather’s Home Goods” for sale under a Minnesota Department of Agriculture Cottage Food exemption for the last two years. She sells salsa, pickles, pickled beets, apple butter and a variety of jams. This year hasn’t been good for apples or fruit for jams. Like most area growers, Heather lost blossoms to frost and even more to extreme heat, wind, and drought. The enormous rain barrels on the garage only fill to capacity when there’s enough rain, and that didn’t happen this year. She drives containers of water out to the remote raised beds as well as to the grape arbor in a clearing in the woods and the pumpkin patch in another clearing.
Having been a former pasture, the soil out in the distant areas is pretty good. For the closer-in fenced gardens, Rory tills in their compost and they buy black dirt mixed with composted horse manure from a neighbor. Last year they added biochar and ash as well. They heat with the abundant wood culled from the property, so there’s no shortage of ash. Propane supplements the wood heat. And a shiny green John Deere tractor supplements the human labor.
This year’s major undertaking was a deluxe chicken coop and run. Expertly constructed and heavily insulated, the coop will provide a warm shelter in the cold Embarrass winter. The well-reinforced large outdoor run protects the ten hens and two roosters from predators. The chickens arrived earlier this summer and the hens aren’t laying yet, but soon! Heather has been feeding them organic chick feed and is looking to transition to a more standard non-GMO feed soon. And she’s hoping to sell eggs along with her cottage foods. Heather also sews small items like potato bags, microwave bowl cozies rice packs and canning mats. You can find her at https://www.facebook.com/heathershomegoodsembarrassmn
As we drive the 4-wheeler along the trails Rory has cut through the wilderness, Heather shows me where they’ve laid down habitat for the many snowshoe hare that live here. The grouse are plentiful too. They don’t feed the animals, but there is a salt lick for the moose. Last year they had twin moose, now a year old and healthy. This year they had twin fawns. Must be a good habitat for the wildlife. Up closer to the house, the birdfeeders have attracted bears, so there are far fewer now. Still, Heather sees Great Horned owls, Merlins, Sharp Skinned Hawks, Northern Flickers, Golden Crowned Kinglets, lots of warblers and a rare Lazuli Bunting!!
When Heather isn’t gardening, canning, sewing, or caring for her chickens, she’s managing the Rutabaga Project for Access to Healthy Local Food, a food advocacy program housed at the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency’s Virginia office. Her work is funded by a USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program grant and involves recruiting new farmers to sell at area farmers markets, promoting the Arrowhead Grown eat local campaign, helping area grocery stores and restaurants buy directly from farmers, expanding farm-to-school programming, and helping to coordinate the Northland Food Network. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/therutabagaproject
