Bon Voyage to Ken Yliniemi

Ken has been a member of LBO since 2003, when he joined our first garden downtown. Later that year, LBO acquired a lease on the green belt for the larger Wild Oats garden. Ken was there from the beginning, spreading mulch and marking off beds. He served on the Steering Committee, helped organize work parties and participated as a tour guide at garden fundraisers. He has always been enthusiastic to share his vast knowledge with others. He wrote a quarterly gardening column in our newsletter for several years.

When the Wild Oats Garden was closed for a storm drain project, then reopened as the Zaferia Junction Garden, Ken was again first in line to help with the building. He has taught all of us about cover cropping and the intricacies of growing the best sweet corn. 

He is an accomplished cook, and his homemade homegrown pickles are legendary. He was in charge of a charity bed for many years, where he organized growing produce for homeless shelters and food banks. He seems to always be in a positive mood, and his many years in the gardens have been drama free.

Ken is of Finnish descent and grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture, a Master's of Agriculture in Plant Biology, and a Master Gardener Certification.

After graduation he spent a year interning in Finland, growing cut flowers in the Gripans Greenhouse, outside of Helsinki.

Ken says that what makes a job worth doing or an activity worth pursuing are the people involved, and with Long Beach Organic, he believes he has enjoyed the best of both worlds: gardening year round and meeting great people. The feeling is mutual.

Ken will be moving to Menahga, Minnesota, a town of 500, which he describes as the place all Finnish farmers go to retire, to be near family. He will be arriving at the height of the spring planting season. We wish him well.

- Joe Corso