Around Town

June 26, 2018

It’s Farmer’s Market Season

Nothing says summer is here like the first day of the Farmer’s Market. Seeing all of the fresh-grown produce, sampling the locally grown honey, and taste-testing the initial batch of homemade strawberry jam makes us wish we could experience summer’s farmers markets all year long.

Lakeville is fortunate enough to have two opportunities each week to experience all the wonders the St. Paul Farmer’s Market holds in store. On Wednesdays from 12pm-5pm, vendors set up in the parking lot between Ace Hardware and Main Street. Then on Saturdays from 9am-1pm they move across the street to the parking lot at the Lakeville Arts Center. And when we say “farmer’s market” we’re not just talking about fruits and vegetables. Even at the local Lakeville markets you can find vendors with fresh-cut flowers, locally made jellies and jams, organic meats, just-baked bread, herbs, and more. If you visit their website you can find the schedule for other local farmer’s markets as well as this handy graphic showing peak season for many of the items you’ll find at the market.

Of course, the local farmers market isn’t the only place you can buy locally grown produce, but we love it because it comes right to us in downtown Lakeville! The St. Paul Farmers Market has other locations throughout the metro, including their flagship set up in downtown St. Paul.

Flower Market

If you’re up for driving around the cities, you’ll find a wide variety of other markets, including the big one in downtown Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Farmers Market has been at its current location of Lyndale and Glenwood Avenue North since 1937 but its roots go all the way back to 1876. The Lyndale location is open year-round: daily during the summer and on Saturdays through the rest of the year.

 

Living in Minnesota, we also have access to an amazing free resource at Minnesota Grown. If you visit their website you can search their online directory of farmer’s markets, pick-your-own farms, and other local producers. They have an event calendar, resources on how to prepare your farm-fresh finds, and more!

Farmers Market

Tell us, what’s your favorite local farmers market? And what’s your favorite thing to buy? Do you go for the flowers? The fresh baked goods? The sun-ripened produce? If you haven’t been to a farmers market yet this year, we strongly suggest you take the time… it’s worth it!

By The Property Geeks
May 29, 2018

Downtown Lakeville Is Celebrating BLOCK BASH!

The Property Geeks are proud to be involved with the 6th Annual Block Bash Festival in downtown Lakeville this Saturday night, June 2nd.

We’ve joined together with Schmitty & Sons/Gray Line Minnesota to provide safe rides home on one of their awesome trolleys! Stay tuned to our Facebook page for a finalized route so you can plan ahead!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn’t be more excited about participating in Block Bash! The planning committee has been working for months on the event that will take over Market Plaza (the area between Ace Hardware and Main Street Coffee in downtown Lakeville.)

Northfield solo act Dave Hudson and Minneapolis band Soul Tree will provide the entertainment for the 21+ event. Tickets are $10 and include a free beer from either Lakeville Brewing Company or Angry Inch Brewing. Other downtown businesses Alibi Drinkery, Toppers Pizza and Main Street Wine Bar will have food and beverages available as well.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Lakeville Public Safety Foundation. LPSF provides funding and equipment to local fire and police departments. For more information about the non-profit group, click here.

Tickets are available to purchase ahead of time through Angry Inch Brewing, Lakeville Brewing Company, Hypointe Childcare and Lakeville Fire Stations. A limited number of T-shirts are also for sale and can be purchased at Lakeville Brewing Company and Angry Inch Brewing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make sure you stop by our table for some fun and games, popcorn, and information on free rides home! We hope to see you there.

By The Property Geeks
February 13, 2018

Big News of the week… Grand Opening!

Property Geeks Invitation

Two more days until our official ribbon cutting and grand opening. We’re working on the last minute details and putting the finishing touches on everything. We hope you can make it – Thursday, February 15th from 4pm to 7pm. If not, be sure to check out Thursday’s episode of #GrillTheGeeks on our Facebook page where we’ll do a little tour of the space for those of you who can’t attend.

We’re looking forward to seeing you!

By The Property Geeks
Divided by football
September 19, 2017

An Office Divided… by Football

Typically, The Property Geeks get along. But we’ve found that there’s one thing that divides us, even more than the Diet Pepsi versus Diet Coke debate.

Football.

And the rivalry is coming to a head this Friday at the annual Lakeville North versus Lakeville South football game.

There’s no doubt The Property Geeks love Lakeville.

 

But when it comes to which local high school football team to support, we’re split right down the middle. Half of us live within the boundaries for Lakeville North, and half of us are closer to Lakeville South. The rivalry is real, but friendly, pitting cheers of “North or None” against “South For Life” within the office on a weekly basis.

Lakeville Football

It wasn’t always that way. Up until 2005, fans of Lakeville football didn’t have to pick sides. But then Lakeville South High School opened, pitting the new Cougars against their established hometown rivals, the Lakeville North Panthers. Recently, we had a chance to talk to both Brian Vossen, head coach of Lakeville North, and Tyler Krebs, the new head coach of Lakeville South.

Both coaches attended Lakeville North back when it was just known as Lakeville High School, although they were a few years apart. Both played under coach Larry Thompson who will be honored at this year’s game. Both love living in Lakeville. But one thing that sets them apart is that Coach Vossen has always been at North, while Coach Krebs spent time playing as a Panther, but now sports the Cougar logo.

When asked about how he feels about Lakeville football, Coach Vossen says “It’s hard because I’ve never been a Cougar.”

Even his mentor, Coach Thompson, has spent time at both schools, first as a Panther at Lakeville High and then moving to Lakeville South to start that program when the new school opened.

Some things have stayed the same between the schools. Local parents can attest to the fact the sparkly Homecoming pants are still a big tradition. When South opened, they installed a spirit rock, similar to the one that has sat outside north for years.

But the schools also have some traditions that set them apart. North adopted the slogan “North or None” which actually originated from an email address of one of Vossen’s players, a sophomore linebacker. Coach Vossen says sometimes the tag line is misunderstood. It’s not about how great North is. It means “doing everything you can to improve your program — don’t let anything distract you.” South’s slogan “South for Life” supports a similar message. According to Coach Krebs, “Once you’re a South student athlete, you always will be.”

No matter where your loyalties lie, there’s no doubt it will be a big game for both schools.

 

“As exciting as it is for the community, for the kids we try to keep it about the game,” Coach Vossen says. “We’re not doing anything different for this game than we would for any other. The kids are super lucky to get to play in front of a community that’s so supportive.”

So who will come out ahead? North or South?

“I’m sure over the course of a hundred years it’ll be even,” says Coach Vossen. Coach Krebs agrees. “When the schools split, South won a lot. Now North is on a roll. We’ve got some work to do.”

In addition to the game, it will be an important night for Lakeville football. Coach Krebs says he’s excited that they’ll have a chance to honor Coach Thompson this Friday. “His legacy is still going on in both of our schools.”

It’s also Tackle Cancer Night for Lakeville North. They’ll be raising money for the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Memorial Fund. Minnesota high schools have been participating in the program by collecting donations at a home game during the season. Lakeville South participated last week in their home win against Burnsville. Last year the program raised over $281,000 for cancer research right here in Minnesota.

Who will you be cheering for this Friday? Coach Vossen is standing behind his Lakeville North Panthers and Coach Krebs is pushing for his Lakeville South Cougars. The Property Geeks will likely still be divided. But one thing’s for sure, we’re all united when it comes to our love of the Lakeville community.

By The Property Geeks
Mini Apple Pies
September 14, 2017

Autumn & Afton’s Mini Apple Pies

School has started and around here that means two things… football season is upon us and it’s time to head to the apple orchards. Luckily, we’re surrounded by fantastic options for both. Lakeville is home to two stellar high school football programs – the Lakeville North Panthers and the Lakeville South Cougars. We’ll talk about the rivalry between them next week.

We’ve also got more than our fair share of apple orchards in the area. A couple of our favorites are right down the road…

Applewood Orchards has pick-your-own apples, raspberries and pumpkins and even hayrides on the weekends. According to their website they’re already well into the 2017 harvest and ready for visitors to the apple orchard and corn maze.

Thompson’s Hillcrest Orchard is just south of Lakeville in Elko, Minnesota. They’ve began planting in 1996 and now grow 10 varieties of apples on more than 1100 trees. They sell pumpkins, gourds, pies, jams, and pre-picked apples in addition to offering pick-your-own.

Nelson’s Apple Farm in Webster offers over twenty-five varieties of apples, either pre-picked or pick-your-own. Their gift shop offers unique specialty food items including the famous Apple Dandies served piping hot. On weekends they have hayrides and their resident goats are always up for visitors and a photo opp or two.

For more local orchards, check out Local Harvest.

Once you’ve got your apples, you need to know what to do with them! One of the girls’ favorite recipes is homemade Mini Apple Pies. Autumn and Afton did a great job demonstrating and the full recipe is printed below:

 

Autumn & Afton’s Mini Apple Pies

Ingredients:

  • 1 pkg Ready Made Refrigerated Pie Crust
  • 2 Large or 3 Medium Apples
  • 1 Stick of Butter (plus extra for greasing pan)
  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Nutmeg

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a standard cookie sheet and set aside.
  2. Unroll pie crust onto a clean surface then slice in half so you have two half-circle pieces from each crust. Let it come to room temperature.
  3. Peel, core and slice the apples. (The thinner the slices, the better.)
  4. Cut sticks of butter into thin slices.
  5. Move a half-circle of dough onto the cookie sheet.
  6. Assemble pie by layering apples, a few pats of butter, a generous (about 1 TBSP) spoonful of sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
  7. Fold dough over the top of the apple stack, enclosing the filling.
  8. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the top.
  9. Bake at 450 degrees for 5-10 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes.
  10. Enjoy!!!

We hope you enjoy the pies. For an extra special treat, try them with vanilla ice cream on the side! What are your favorite apple recipes? Please share with us in the comments!

By The Property Geeks
Downtown Lakeville
September 8, 2017

A New Look for Downtown Lakeville

Downtown Lakeville is getting a face lift!

Construction has been in full swing for the past several weeks. Yes, we’ve had to navigate metal barricades and dodge a construction vehicle or two, but the end result is going to be absolutely worth it. The city has a whole webpage dedicated to the project where you can see the concept drawings and keep up to date on the progress. Click here for access.

Our new office space on Holyoke Avenue provides a great vantage point to watch all of the changes taking place. We’ve been privy to some of the construction updates and wanted to pass along the news.

West Side of Holyoke

The work on the west side of the street is almost complete. Crews will be wrapping up projects throughout the next week. Soon we’ll be able to park on the west side of the street again! The orange fencing will remain for a little longer until the gorgeous new planters are installed in late October or early November.

East Side of Holyoke

As for the east side where our office is located, they’ve started ripping up the sidewalk and removing the light posts. That work should be done next week. Then they’ll begin repairing the storm sewers, installing fresh soil and tree grates for new trees, and eventually pouring the sidewalks.

We hope you get a chance to head downtown and check the progress for yourself. Businesses are still open while the work continues. Please consider making the trek and supporting our local friends and neighbors. We’re excited for the changes to be complete and are looking forward to being a part of this next era in downtown Lakeville!

 

By The Property Geeks
August 8, 2017

The Dog Days of Summer

How did it get to be August already? With June and July in the rearview mirror, we’re coasting toward Labor Day, most of the fun and excitement of summer break well behind us. School supplies stock the shelves (if they’re not sold out already!) The kids are bored and can’t find anything to do. The temperature soars and we’re trying to squeeze that last bit of fun into the few remaining weeks. These truly are the dog days of summer.

In an effort to crank up the fun meter on the little bit of time we have left, The Property Geeks are celebrating the dog days by featuring our furry friends. We’ve got a whole month of festivities planned. We’ll have contests, collect donations for canines in need and talk about some of the awesome things you can do around the Twin Cities with man’s or woman’s best friend.

Stay tuned and keep your eye on our Facebook page throughout the month of August. We’re going to have a woof-woof good time!

By The Property Geeks