farming Archives | Minnesota Farm Living

Market Gardener: A Family History, A.W. Schott

January 13, 2015 by Wanda Patsche 5 Comments

One of my hobbies is genealogy. And how I love family history! As a farmer/blogger, I often ponder who my ancestors are? What was their life like? Why did they move to the Fairmont area? Why did they make the decisions they made? For me, it’s interesting that both sides of my family (my parents) have family that started farming in the area. And having most of them farm 70-90 years ago was not unusual. In fact, almost all families farmed because they needed to provide food for their families. Today, many of us take for granted the availability of food. Face it. We can just go to a local grocery and have an abundance food available for us to purchase. It’s not a life or death issue of growing food for our families any more. And my grandfather, A.W. Schott, was a Market Gardener who’s gardening tradition carried on to his family.

I did not know most of my grandparents. Three out of my four grandparents had passed away before I was born. And because I did not know them probably contributed to why I am curious and want to learn more about them. This past weekend I had time to think about my father’s side of the family. My father was one of 14 siblings and on Saturday, our family laid to rest one of his sisters. And three weeks prior to that, another sister had passed away. I couldn’t help but think and try to put the whole family into perspective. One thing that is particularly disturbing is that we are losing our oral history. We do have some stories, but as always with family history, more questions arise with each piece of family history uncovered. It is our family history that explains who we are today.

My grandfather’s family, Anthony Schott (pronounced Scott), immigrated from Denmark and settled in the Dwight, Illinois area. As a young man, he moved to the Fairmont, MN area and me this future wife, Sarah Luckow. My grandfather was a Market Gardener. In 1923, he purchased land on the north end of Fairmont. The original family home is located on the corner of Margaret and Ida (it is still there) and the land he used to grow produce extended from that house to the south towards the banks of George Lake. Next to the house, where the garage is now, was a greenhouse. My grandpa, Anthony Schott, also sold greenhouse produce plants in addition to the grown produce. I try to envision in my head what it must have looked like in the early 1920s and 1930s. Prior to truck farming, my grandfather worked in masonry. Our family has been told he help build the building on the corner of North North Ave. and 9th Street – the building that was used as a wholesale warehouse.

But his calling was gardening. Fortunately, my mother had a copy of his price list of the plants he sold.

Family History — Anthony Schott Price List

Schott Anthony price sheet4 — Anthony Schott Price List

As I look through my current family, it is amazing how many family members have followed in the gardening/farming family footsteps. Many of my aunts/uncles/cousins love(d) gardening (even have some master gardeners!) including my dad who gardened most of his life. Only when gardening was just too hard on him, did he quit. And to this day, I have a garden. And at times I feel inadequate and humbled because of my family history. But I will continue my family’s tradition to garden and farm with my family as we continue to grow food for our family, as well as other families. And I will reflect and remember my ancestors and their life and my imagined life for them. I will not romanticize it. It was a hard life.

I know that.

A very hard life. And I will not forget. . .

Does your family have any special traditions?

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Top 10 Minnesota Farm Living Ag Blogs for 2014

December 27, 2014 by Wanda Patsche Leave a Comment

2014 has been an amazing year for my Minnesota Farm Living blog! I am so appreciative for all that have read my blog. As a farmer, I know we need to make connections with consumers. We need to engage and this is just one way I do that. The top 10 list is a mixed bag of blogs–including a couple light-hearted blogs, blogs that address some of pop culture’s agricultural misinformation and blogs that talk about the raw realities of farming. So with that, enjoy my Top 10 Minnesota Farm Living Ag blogs for 2014!

10. What I Wish People Knew About Pig Farming – Just a few things many people don’t know about pig farming that are important. Why do consumers need to know these pig farming facts? So they can understand why we make the decisions we do.

9. How To Critically Think GMOs Without A Science Background – Science is hard. Here are some tips on how to wade through the GMO information to guide you through what information is correct and what information to trust.

8. Animal Cruelty is NOT the Price we Pay for Cheap Meat – A blog held over from 2013 that continues to do well. A rebuttal from a Rolling Stone article that was very critical of livestock agriculture. Unfortunately, a lot of what was said was untrue.

7. Let’s Take The “Factory” Out Of Factory Farms – This blog was also printed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The term “factory farm” drives me insane. The fact is, the vast majority of our farms are family farms, not factory farms.

6. A Mom’s Journey From “Food Babe” To Overcoming Her “Food Fears” – My most recent blog was written by a guest blogger. She did a great job explaining her journey in trying to feed her family safe and healthy food.

5. Devastating Consequences From A Sow Farm Fire – A local pig farm burned this past fall. A tragedy. A blog about some thoughts I had concerning the fire.

4. 10 Things I Wish The Food Babe Knew – The Food Babe continues to make some very interesting claims about food. She has a large following and uses her clout to make changes to the food industry. Unfortunately, her food view is skewed. Read what I wish she knew.

3. Top 10 Reasons Why Farmers Are A Little Odd – A fun little post about some “odd” things farmers do.

2. 10 Truthful Things About Harvest Most Non-Ag People Don’t Know – Again, an honest blog about harvest that many people don’t know about.

1. This is Why it is Okay to Feed Your Family GMO’s – By far my most popular blog, It outpaces number 2 by over four times. Again, it’s about mom’s trying to feed their family safe and healthy food and not being succumbed to food fear.

I also wrote a couple blogs for AgStar’s “Women in Ag” Bloggers series. One blog did particularly well and was picked up by Pink Tractor. With the recent low commodity prices, many young farmers have not been through times like this. I wrote a letter to those young farmers.

A Letter to Every Farmer Under the Age of 35

Here are my top 5 blogs from my November blogging challenge, “All Things Minnesota Agriculture.”

5. MN Agriculture – The Klinghagens, A Story of Beginning Farmers

4. MN Agriculture: The Meyers, A Family Farm In The Truest Sense

3. MN Agriculture – Makayla Nepp And Her Love For Farming and Pigs

2. MN Agriculture: Betsy Jensen Growing Barley, Sugar Beets, Navy Beans, Wheat

1. MN Agriculture: South 89 Seeds and Svc, Where Grass Seed is Grown

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MN Agriculture – Sara and Mark Hewitt and Farming, Drainage Tile and Bees

November 4, 2014 by Wanda Patsche 3 Comments

Day 4 of 30 Days “All Things Minnesota Agriculture” is Sara and Mark Hewitt from Le Sueur County, Minnesota. I met Sara when she was interning with Minnesota Farm Bureau and she visited my farm. Just as a FYI, I will be featuring a number of young farmers from Minnesota and Sara and Mark are my first. It truly warms my heart to see our younger generation carrying on the family farm. And I especially love when they have the courage and fortitude to start a new bee farming enterprise such as their new Sweet Cheeks Honey.

Mark is an employee of Hewitt Drainage Equipment, a family owned business. They sell Gold Digger tile plows, stringer trailers, and the Maverick Tile Finder to farmers in the Midwest. A tile plow allows farmers to tile for themselves based upon GPS coordinates they map. Tile allows our soil to act like a sponge, holding more water during times of flooding to reduce water run-off and soil erosion. It also creates a deeper root depth for crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans.And their newest adventure is Sweet Cheeks Honey!

Both Sara and Mark have been farming their whole lives as both grew up on farming operations. Sara is a 6^th generation farmer. Mark is a 3^rd generation farmer. Hewitt Drainage has been in operation since 2001, and Sweet Cheeks Honey has been in operation since 2014.

Sara and Mark Hewitt — Sweet Cheeks Honey Bees

Their newest adventure is all about bee hives. Sweet Cheeks Honey is all about selling and producing local honey. They operate with two hives, so around 20,000 bees give or take currently. They are hoping to expand to 12 hives in 2015.

Social media sites to checkout:

Blog for Hewitt Farms: hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com

Website for Sweet Cheeks Honey: sweetcheekshoney.com

Twitter at @swchhoney and @hewittfarms

Facebook: www.facebook.com/hewittfarms

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetcheekshoneymn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HewittDrainageEquipment

Where do you sell or provide services to? Who is your end consumer?

“For the drainage business, we sell directly to other farmers, and provide services to other farmers. For our cash crops, we usually sell our corn to a local ethanol plant, so at the end of the day, our consumers are those who use ethanol to fuel their vehicles. We will sell our soybeans to a local elevator such as CHS. Our hay ground goes to horse owners. Our honey is directly marketed to consumers.”

What makes your farm/business unique or special? What are you proud of?

“I think part of what makes us unique is we are a big farm family that is making multiple ideas and diversifications work. Mark’s dad diversified the crop operation with the drainage business. Mark and I are working to diversify with our honeybees and hay. Mark’s brother farms crops and works for the drainage business too. We want farming to continue down to our next generation, so diversification is going to be important moving forward. In order to stay successful, farms have to change and be open to new ideas. I hope that is something our farm always continues to do as we work to keep it going.”

If there is one thing you could change about your farm it is ______________.

“I would add livestock to diversify our farm even further. Agricultural really is cyclical in nature, so having diversification helps protect your farming operation. I grew up with hogs, sheep or cattle at any point in time, and I definitely miss having livestock around the farm. I also miss having the meat in my freezer that our livestock provided for our family too.”

What is one interesting fact about your farm/crops/livestock/your business you would like to share.

“We farm land that has been in my family for over 100 years now. The farm I grew up on is a Century Farm and is still being operated by myself and husband with crops. I think some of the history there is just fantastic. My grandpa and great-grandpa were blacksmiths, and they built coffins besides. It actually started as a potato farm surprisingly enough! The cornerstone from our barn that was taken down in a straight-line wind is now part of the stone hearth of the fireplace at my mom’s. We have a lot of rich history there.”

What do you love most about farming/business?

I love being part of something so much bigger than myself. There is nothing better than working in the fresh air, working outside, being your own boss, working with nature and caring for and nurturing the gifts God bestowed to us. I love working with my husband, knowing that our goals for our farm, mean more than just what we think. It means that our economy continues to thrive, jobs get created and that hopefully we’ve created something the next generation will want to continue.

What is one interesting thing no one probably knows about your farm/business/product that you would like to share?

“Bees are a lot of work! Everyone thinks it is set them and forget them. We’ve had so many people tell us they want to start bees because they think they are easy or that they are inexpensive, which they are not. Bees require a lot of care, especially when you are first establishing colonies. There is always a chance you lose a colony, especially when winterizing them. You have to medicate bees for mites, and there are other predators like certain bugs or even bears and raccoons. You have to feed your bees, and give them pollen patties in the early spring before pollen has come out. If your bees are not near a water source, you have to even water them too. Then comes harvesting the honey, which is a whole other task in itself depending if you are going to have comb honey or extract the honey. They are more intensive than most people think!”

What makes Minnesota the place to farm/grow/raise/produce/provide a service?

“I think Minnesota is a gem because it has amazing and abundant resources, and I’m not just referring to our natural resources. We have great health care options, a tremendous infrastructure involving rail, ship, air and bridges, many large agricultural companies, some of the best private and public colleges and some of the best recreation. It truly is a wonderful place to raise a family, live and farm.”

What is your favorite Minnesota location or a fun thing to do in Minnesota?

“We love camping, and go as many times as we can in the summer. Minnesota is home to so many great state parks. Mark and I are members of the MN State Park’s Club, where you get badges for every certain number of state parks you visit as you try to visit them all. We are one away from our first badge. My favorite state park is probably Gooseberry Falls.”

What is one ag related place in Minnesota that others need to know about. What is one non-ag related place in Minnesota that others need to know about and why?

“The Intivity Center at AGCO down in Jackson. It really is a neat place to visit, but you have to schedule a tour through them. The changing history in equipment and technology is fascinating!”

A couple more pictures from Sara and Mark Hewitt:

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Flat Aggie Visits Southern Minnesota

February 14, 2014 by Wanda Patsche 2 Comments

You may be wondering who is Flat Aggie. If you are familiar with the concept of Flat Stanley, a cultural project that many school children participate in, Flat Aggie is the “farming” version of Flat Stanley. Our Flat Aggie is from a northern California school, Walden RiverHawks. And this is a “letter” to the school children from Walden”

Flat Aggie arrived a few weeks ago to a very cold and snowy southern Minnesota town of Welcome (yes, that is a real name for a town!). He told me he was quite surprised by the weather because California isn’t as cold or snowy. Southern Minnesota is a rural area known for growing corn and soybeans and raising pigs. We happen to be the largest pig county in the state of Minnesota and we are #9 in the whole U.S. Flat told me he was very excited to learn about farming and pigs, so we got him started early!

After moving into our spare bedroom, Mr. Aggie was ready to help. We were in the midst of putting corn in our truck and driving the corn to an ethanol plant, which is located about 6 miles from our home. Ethanol is put into gas and used as a renewable source of fuel. He loved riding in the truck! And he even got to play in the corn! The only problem we had was it was very cold, about zero degrees, and windy. But we still had to get the work done.

Another day, I needed to do some work in my office. Mr. Aggie told me he was really good at math, which is important when doing bookwork. And boy did he have great math skills! Your school must be a really great school! I was also surprised that he already knew how to use the computer. I was so grateful he could help me.

Then it was time to go into the hog barns. Our hogs live in barns because it is much too cold to live outdoors in Minnesota. Look at this video to see what a blizzard looks like on our farm. All the barns have heaters to keep the pigs warm. Our baby pigs arrived on our farm in the middle of January at the age 3 weeks. Look at this video to see how pigs are moved into the barns. We use rattle paddles, which just make noise. The noise keeps the pigs moving. We are very careful with our baby pigs. Unfortunately, Flat Aggie was not hear when we moved in the baby pigs.

Some of them were put into nurseries where the temperature is warmer. Little pigs love to be warm! The pigs in our nurseries will move to bigger areas once they are older. All the pigs will stay in our barns until June and then we will sell them to a meat packer called Hormel. In June, they will weigh about 270-280 pounds. When they came to our farm in January, they weighed about 10-12 pounds. They grow really fast! The pigs will be made into sausage, pepperoni, pork roasts, ham, pork chops and bacon (my favorite!). What is your favorite kind of pork?

We also have to clean our barns when the pigs leave. Again, Flat was not here when we cleaned our barns but you can see what that looks like by viewing this video.

Another advantage of having our pigs in barns is they don’t get sunburned in the summer and we can keep them cool by spraying a water mist on them during hot days. Did you know that pigs don’t sweat? Sweating is what allows our bodies to cool naturally so farmers help pigs stay cool in the summer by spraying water on them. Barns also allow pigs to have clean water, clean air, and clean food.

Now you may be wondering about what pigs eat. We actually make their food for them right on our farm. We take the corn we grow in our fields and mix it with other nutrients to make feed. We use a “grinder-mixer” to mix the feed together. Think of a mixer and bowl you use in your kitchen, but ours on the farm is MUCH bigger. We have experts who tell us what kind of nutrients we should add to the corn for their food.

Unfortunately, pigs do get sick sometimes and we do need to give them medicine. They also are vaccinated to help keep them healthy. We work closely with veterinarians, or animal doctors, and try to do what we can to keep them healthy.

We love raising pigs. We have been doing this for over 35 years. And we care very much for our pigs. We take care of them everyday, even when we are sick, when it’s cold, or when it is a holiday. Yes, we had to take care of them on Christmas and Christmas Eve. But we are okay with that because it is our job to take good care of them.

I am so glad Flat Aggie could join us on our farm. I hope you enjoy the pictures – he really liked his picture taken! And if you have any more questions for me, please be sure to ask. I would love to answer them! Oh, and by the way, Mr. Aggie was very kind and polite. He must have learned that from you and your school!

Here are some more pictures: