We are surrounded by corn, bean and sugar beet fields, so we know the rhythm of the corn & beans crop rotation in the mid-west. On our strawberry farm, we also rotate crops, but it looks nothing like our neighbors’! We plant baby strawberry plants every spring. It takes about an hour to do 1000 … Read more
Spring on the farm means new life! Back in March, we welcomed a baby Hereford. He’s a strong young calf. Since the pastures weren’t green yet, we kept him in the barn with his momma for a few weeks, gaining strength and size that will help keep him from being a target for coyotes once … Read more
This is not a post about our strawberry farm. This is a tribute to God for his care in December of 2015 when we ended up at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis for 3 weeks with our 4 year old son. There are many ways this tribute could be written. It could be to our family … Read more
Staring out at newly harvested corn fields, my daughter commented on all the dried up dirt. “It needs a cover crop,” she declared. “I think oats, or maybe winter wheat.” She’s her dad’s shadow, working beside him at every opportunity as he planted a succession of cover crops on fallow soil. Each type of crop … Read more
The minute we shut down the 2015 strawberry harvest, the tractor roared to life, and we all raced to the fields to prep for the 2016 harvest. Coated with sweat and dust, Dan worked until after dark every night to renovate the plants. First, he used the lawn mower attachment to mow off the tops … Read more
What a week it was in the strawberry patch! We have seen the most wonderful people of the area coming to our farm over the past few days, all of them excited about a functioning family farm. Dennis Benson of Willmar took photos. Bill De an, host of the Morning Brew on KWLM, checked out … Read more
Good evening! The strawberry colors are dancing and swirling out in the field, glinting in the sunlight, dappled in the shade. The queen berries and the king berries are heavily swaying, while their court clusters around them in their season’s finest. It is the largest ballroom dance we have ever hosted, and it is about to … Read more
“See this berry?” I ask a group of eager young children crouched down on clean straw, in the middle of rows of strawberry plants laden with red fruit. “The strawberry is like a bottle of pop; all the sweetness is locked up inside. Pick it gently, and keep the green lid on top, or the fizz will start bubbling out, just like a pop bottle. When you are ready to taste it, twist off the green top, and pop it into your mouth – a juicy, sweet strawberry!”
Cereal Rye cover crop ready for cattle and crop rotation! Excitement is running high in my husband and one of my daughters. They are all set to welcome a pregnant Hereford cow and her yearling. You would hardly be able to fathom the amount of preparation that has been made for these critters. I’m not … Read more