Slowing the Flow at Bluff Valley Farm 

Drive down a gravel road entrance and turn the corner into Catherine and David Schmidt’s Bluff Valley Farm, and you’ll see several buildings nestled among acres of apple and hazelnut trees, surrounded as if in a bowl by a tree-filled ridge on three sides. “We don’t come from a farming background,” says Catherine, explaining that she and David bought Bluff Valley when they retired after years of saving up. They came in with three goals: build community, increase carbon in the soil, and decrease carbon in the atmosphere. Looking at water quality has been a big part their progress. “I see water as part of the whole climate protection piece,” says Catherine. “And it’s been fun to figure out how to improve things.” After experiencing a series of intense rain events, David and Catherine put in swales to help hold water on the land. In addition to focusing on perennial crops that don’t require tilling, they have also implemented a permaculture-inspired “keyline” design on their land, which creates pathways for water to move across their steep slopes rather than directly downhill. Techniques like these have helped David and Catherine become certified in the MN Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program. Over the years, David and Catherine have witnessed a growth of both community and ecological richness at the farm. Friends gather for snowshoeing in the winter and come to help with bigger projects, like asparagus planting. The farm has become a waystation for wildlife—monarchs and lightning bugs, frogs and toads, and birds like purple martins and indigo buntings are visitors that David and Catherine don’t always see elsewhere. “We want to leave the land better than we’ve found it,” David always says. Bluff Valley Farm is certainly on its way.