This summer Growing North Minneapolis has a team of six interns who have come together with a variety of backgrounds to serve the youth of North Minneapolis. We want to take this moment to introduce ourselves since you will be seeing a lot of us on the blog and social media.
Stephanie is originally from Los Angeles, California. Her experience includes farming last summer at Wozupi Tribal Gardens near Prior Lake and community gardening in East Harlem and the South Bronx for 4 years. When she isn’t working Stephanie loves to learn her mom’s West African recipes and learning about native plants. Our team loves vegetables, so we wanted to share our favorite ways to eat them. Stephanie loves okra, sautéed with onion, tomato, fish, and shrimp.
Noah hails from Niskayuna, New York. He has been working with farmers markets since he was 14, and has experience working on a Farm in Amsterdam, NY. He’s going to be working on the farmer’s market team this, so make sure to say hi if you see him there! You can ask him to play you a tune because he knows how to play four instruments. He can play the euphonium, valve trombone, guitar, and bass. Noah’s favorite vegetable is cabbage, but he loves all the brassicas. He likes coleslaw or smothered cabbage soup, but his favorite is pickled cabbage on top of shawarma.
One of three Wisconsinites on the team, Suzanna is from Plover, Wisconsin. She grew up gardening, and has experience working in both a garden center and on a University research farm. She is so excited for another summer working outside! Suzanna can speak French, so strike up a conversation to keep her from getting rusty over the summer. Her favorite vegetable is green beans fried and with an egg scrambled in. The key is plenty of salt.
Sam is another Wisconsinite from Milwaukee. He is currently studying environmental science and policy. Sam can make, in his words, a mean quesadilla. The right amount of butter and medium-low heat create some cheesy goodness. Hit him up for one if you get that chance. Going along with that, his favorite vegetable is cilantro, and he likes to put it on just about anything!
Last, but not least is Marisa! She is from Madison, WI. Her background includes helping run a gardening program for 4-11 year olds at a summer camp called Camp Shalom, she loves to cook, and garden at home with her dad. Marisa speaks Spanish, and she has broken all of her toes. She loves all greens including collards, kale, mustered greens, chard, and more. She sautés them in olive oil with garlic, salt, and lemon.
