Progress report for FNC25-1464
Project Information
Jason and Lynn Kotrba are the founders of Harvest Hope Farm, a 501c3 non-profit located on their homestead. The Kotrba's have lived on this 12 acre homestead since June 2015. Looking for a way to give back to the community, teach life skills to youth and create a sustainable small farm, the Kotrba's founded Harvest Hope Farm in November 2017. Primarily focused on youth education, the Kotrba's have a long and strong background of working with youth and developing/maintaining strong community relationships that enrich the community, grow healthy youth, and enhance sustainable agriculture while also teaching about environmental stewardship.
The Kotrba homestead is just under 13 acres. This includes a home, shop, barn, garden shed and a 26-foot growing dome. Additionally, there are 40 raised 4x6 and 4x8 garden beds and a 50x20ft in ground garden. These gardens are used for Farm Camp programming with youth each summer. The farm is home to sheep, chickens, goats, pigs, a donkey, llamas and a small horse that are used for teaching and therapeutic purposes with youth and adults. Nine acres are forest with trails, a pond, and learning spaces. The Kotrba's do not farm commercially. Their farm is an educational farm.
Jason Kotrba worked as an educator and school administrator for 24 years until May 2024. Currently, he works in higher education. Jason grew up in a farm family, helping his dad on their crop farm for nearly 20 years prior to moving away from the farm in northern MN. Lynn Kotrba worked as a foster care licensor and behavioral specialist with high-risk youth for 25 years prior to leaving her profession in 2021 to run the farm and it's programs full-time. Jason and Lynn have 8 children who have been rooted in the outdoors since their first child was born in 2004. The Kotrba family works together to care for the gardens and animals at their farm and to use their farm to make an impact in their community.
Since its inception in 2018, the Kotrba's have worked with 1000's of youth and 100's of local businesses to impact the community, youth and families. They are currently working within the school system to teach agriculture education, working with preschools to develop waste free kitchens and growing the traditional on-site programs at the farm. They are breaking down transportation and financial barriers for families wherever possible by bringing programming to the youth.
Demonstration and Education:
Through the use of the Growing Dome, we will demonstrate our ability to grow produce year around in a controlled environment. We will partner with Peace Academy, providing produce to their food program, allowing us to invest in the future of our communities, supporting their strong food program goals and partnering with staff to educate the youth and their families about positive food relationships while developing interest in agriculture in an urban setting. Through this project we will provide nutrient rich produce to support brain health and overall nutrition, making it accessible to all families using the preschool program regardless of income.
Jason and Lynn Kotrba, as well as their eight children, will use the Growing Dome at the Kotrba farm to demonstrate our ability to grow produce year around in an environment that uses sustainable energy and allows for various types of produce to be grown at different times of the year. We will use social media and videography to document the project from initial planting throughout the harvest periods and this will be shared with others who are interested in learning more about how Growing Domes can be used in NW Minnesota. To educate youth and families at Peace Academy, we will partner with Peace Academy staff to provide learning lessons for 3-5 year olds that involve exploration and taste testing of various items grown in the growing dome in order to meet the goal of connecting youth with food in positive ways. We will also develop a hands-on workshop for parents of preschool students that will expose them to the benefits of digging in the dirt, growing their own produce and diets rich in nutritional value. We will use hydroponic gardens within the classroom to further connect youth with their food and demonstrate a method of growing when it is not possible to grow outside. The Growing Dome will be used to demonstrate to groups that visit the farm, our ability to grow year around as well as the impact that a green environment can have on mood throughout the year. Families and staff of Peace Academy will be encouraged to visit the farm to experience the Growing Dome at various times during the year and "see" where their food is coming from.
Objectives:
- Nutrition Benefits: a) We will provide a fresh produce supply to Peace Academy May 2025-December 2026. Providing fresh, locally-grown vegetables and fruits for preschool snacks and meals, enhancing nutrition and supporting healthy eating habits. b) Will will work with Peace Academy staff to teach children the importance of fresh produce in a balanced diet.
- Community Engagement: a) We will encourage families to participate in hands-on learning events at the farm, building a stronger preschool community.
- Cost Savings: We will lower costs of produce for Peace Academy, allowing them to purchase additional protein for meals.
Update: Since May 2025 Harvest Hope Farm has provided over 700 pounds of produce to Peace Academy PreSchool. This produce has been used to enhance the lunch program as well as snacks at the preschool. Dietary staff have used tomatoes, peppers and herbs to make fresh salsa and spaghetti sauce. They have also used squash to make baby food at a second program site that provides childcare. At snack time that allow the kids to explore the produce and "connect" with it by identifying if it "crunchy", "spicy", "soft" etc.
Harvest Hope Farm is working with Peace Academy to provide a family day on the farm in spring 2026. Because there is not bussing or transportation for the school we cannot provide a field trip so we are inviting families to a "Peace Academy Day at Harvest Hope Farm". More to come on this.
Research
Progress Update: We are using a 26 foot Growing Dome, with solar power only, to demonstrate our ability to grow year around and provide produce for a local PreSchool in order to expose youth to greens and produce at a young age and increase fiber in their diets by enhancing the school food program with fresh produce. For summer planting we were able to plant tomatoes, carrots, lettuce and other greens, peppers, spinach, peas, beans and various herbs within the Growing Dome. This planting was done in May 2025 and was complete in early November 2025. During this time we provided the preschool with just over 700 pounds of produce that they were able to use in their food program as well make salsa and spaghetti sauce with. On November 6th we cleaned out the remaining plants from summer (leaving the herbs and some spinach that is still growing, and are currently preparing for our winter planting. New seeds/seedlings will go in within the next week and will be in ground produce as well as kale.
The Growing Dome is heated by solar power only. We recently purchased an additional panel that is 4x6 feet and will be placed outside the Growing Dome to bring additional power into the dome that we will be able to save in a solar battery bank to connect to a space heater for the coldest weeks of the year in January/February. We are hopeful that this will help to keep the temps in the Growing Dome above freezing.
We have also purchased a hydroponic garden for Peace Academy that is currently in a classroom and being used for demonstrations when we provide educational lessons. This has proven to be a fun feature for the 4 and 5 year olds who enjoy eating off the hydroponic garden.
More to come in spring/summer 2026.
At this point we have been successful in growing produce in the Growing Dome and providing the preschool with 700+ pounds of produce. In the past they were not receiving fresh produce on a regular basis and therefore they are excited to be doing so in order to reduce their cost as well as expose the children to nutrition produce straight from a farm.
More to come in spring/summer 2026.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Harvest Hope Farm has hosted 12 field trips for schools in which we have shared the Growing Dome space, using it for education for these classes as well as sharing about this project.
We have hosted 2 people who are interested in a possible Growing Dome of there own, who have visited to explore and learn more about how this structure can work in our climate in NW Minnesota.
A field day was held in August 2025, with over 100 youth and adults attending. During this field day there were three on-farm demonstrations and presentation areas that included the Growing Dome, hogs, and pollinators. Another field day will be held in spring/summer 2026 with additional on-farm demonstrations.
We are in the process of producing our fall 2025 newsletter (Print and virtual) this will be published near the end of November and will have a feature regarding this project. We have also provided social media photos and videos as well as a youtube video in August 2025 regarding the summer progress of the Growing Dome. We are currently working on a second youtube video as we transition from summer planting to winter planting in the Growing Dome.
Additionally, AgWeek News came out the week of November 3rd to do a news story regarding our partnership with Peace Academy. This news story will be aired the week of Thanksgiving in our local area.