Changes on Good Counsel Hill are bringing us an opportunity to dream bigger. The new Pohl Road campus will bring together community gardens, greenhouses, a food forest, walking trails, a cottage kitchen, a children's garden, and a restored historic barn, while giving our Emerging Growers Program the room it needs to expand. This is our chance to build something worthy of the future.
Our Story: Rooted in Legacy, Growing Toward the Future
For decades, the Living Earth Center has grown from a seed planted by the School Sisters of Notre Dame — a vision of community, stewardship, and deep care for the Earth. When SSND asked us to become an independent nonprofit, they trusted us to carry their legacy forward. That trust has never felt more alive than it does today, as we prepare to take the boldest step in our history.
A New Home, A Bigger Dream
Changes on Good Counsel Hill have opened a door we never expected. When the Wortels approached us about the Pohl Road property, it felt like more than coincidence — it felt like the path our co-founder Sr. Mary Tacheny promised would emerge. SSND has given both their blessing and financial backing for this move, understanding that to truly honor their legacy, we must grow beyond the Hill and into the heart of the community.
Growing Food, Cultivating Community
Food insecurity is rising across Minnesota — nearly 9 million food shelf visits were recorded in 2024 alone, a 150% increase over pre-pandemic levels. At LEC, we believe the answer isn’t just more food — it’s more connection. Our community garden has always welcomed everyone regardless of ability to pay, and Pohl Road will let us do far more: expanded growing plots, increased food donations to partners like ECHO and South Central MN Food Recovery, and a free food forest accessible to the nearby low-income and student communities who need it most.
Learning from the Land
Pohl Road offers something rare — the convergence of woodland, prairie, wetlands, and agriculture all in one place. This is a living classroom. We envision walking trails, a children’s nature playground, greenhouses, workshops, and regenerative growing spaces that show what it looks like when humans and nature thrive together. These aren’t just programs. They are experiences that change people.
A Place Where Everyone Belongs
What drives everything we do is simpler than any program or initiative: we want people to feel at home. Our garden has been called a “mini United Nations” — ten languages spoken, neighbors becoming friends over shared plots and borrowed zucchini. A Vietnam veteran and a Hmong refugee, side by side, growing more than vegetables. A new immigrant telling us our garden is the only place in Mankato where his family feels truly safe and welcome.
That feeling — of being grounded, connected, and home — is what we felt the moment we first set foot on the Pohl Road property. It is exactly what we are going to build there, for everyone, for generations to come.
