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the Crosby Mint Farm Video
The Crosby Mint Farm is in foreclosure and needs to raise funds.
Help the Crosby family by purchasing a dram of all natural peppermint
or spearmint oil. Visit the Crosby
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Mint
farmer joins moratorium struggle
At the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop
Foreclosures and Evictions meeting held on July 26 in Detroit, Linette
Crosby, owner of an historic mint farm in St. Johns, Mich., came to
tell her story and get involved in the struggle. St. Johns, known as
“Mint City USA,” is a rural farming community 20 miles north of
Lansing, the state capital.
Crosby and her brothers own a spearmint and
peppermint farm that was started by their great-grandfather 95 years
ago. Now the farm and their family home are in foreclosure. Their
lender is Greenstone Farm Credit.
Ironically, the Crosby farm donates free mint
compost that is used on the grounds of the state capitol building.
Crosby said she has the support of the community
and plans to do outreach at the 20th Annual St. Johns Mint Festival on
Aug. 8-10 to garner support for her family’s struggle against
foreclosure and to popularize the growing movement in Michigan for a
moratorium to stop all foreclosures and evictions. Mark Crosby,
Linnette's brother is the Grand Marshall of this year’s festival.
Coalition activists will join her in St. Johns for these efforts during
the Mint Festival, which usually draws about 60,000 people.
—Kris Hamel, Moratorium NOW! Coalition
activist
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Siblings hope mint oil sales will refresh
future
of farm
255,280 drams must
be sold to erase debt at St.
Johns operation
Vincent Bond • vbond1@lsj.com • August 23, 2008 • From Lansing
State Journal
Linette Crosby, co-owner of the Crosby Mint
Farm
in St. Johns, said
she hopes an upswing in sales over the next year can erase the debt
that left the farm she and her brother own in the hands of an
agricultural lending agency after a foreclosure auction Aug. 14.
"We
have enough inventory (to sell and pay off our debt)," said Crosby, 50,
who co-owns the farm with her brother, "Peppermint" Jim.
"We're not asking for handouts. We want to
sell
our products."
East
Lansing-based Greenstone Farm Credit Services, the only bidder,
purchased the 140-acre farm for $300,000 during the auction at the
Clinton County Courthouse.
Now, Linette Crosby and Jim Crosby have 12
months
to eliminate their $635,000 debt.
Linette Crosby said the time will be used
to
revamp the farm and its identity.
The
Crosbys are looking into ways to develop wetlands and add switch grass,
a source of biofuel, with the aid of Craig Limpach, a biologist and
landscape architect for Genius Loci Inc., an Elyria, Ohio-based land
restoration company.
Limpach already has drafted blueprints for
the
possible alterations, Linette Crosby said.
The history of the farm has deep local
roots.
In
1912, J.E. Crosby Sr. founded the farm on 2 acres, and it has become
one of the oldest continuously operating mint farms in the country.
By
selling an array of goods besides peppermint and spearmint oil, the
owners said they are widening their consumer base and diversifying.
Jim Crosby said one of his main goals is to
sell
products that showcase mint's various medical and therapeutic
properties.
"I've been trying to help people be more
sustainable through using our product," he said.
With nearly 100 years of family history
surrounding the farm, Crosby said a piece of him is sold with each
bottle.
"Every
bottle we ship out has my hopes, dreams and prayers," he said. "This is
not just a farm; this place has the ability to heal hearts and minds."
Scott Curtis, 55, of St. Johns, works at
the farm.
"I was aware of the farm and its economic
difficulties. My intention is to help out and lend support," Curtis
said.
Curtis said the farm's rich tradition alone
makes
it indispensable to the community.
With
thousands of Michigan residents falling victim to foreclosure each
year, Linette Crosby said she believes the farm can serve as the poster
child that boosts awareness of the devastating crisis.
"We're looking to put a light on the
foreclosure
issue," she said.
"This is going to be our opportunity and
not
theirs."
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