Our family group on Mother’s Day.

For three years now, our family has met at Byrn’s Greenhouse in Zim, about an hour south of us. This includes my oldest son, Bill, and his family along with whoever else can come. We buy flowers at good prices, visit and laugh. Then we go to Cotton, which is another dozen miles east, for lunch at Wilbert’s Cafe, an old family-run cafe. This year, my sister, Sue, from Hermantown (near Duluth) also joined us.

Will takes it easy while he admires his new hanging basket of petunias.

We picked out too many flowers (probably), ate great food, then went home. After getting home, Will loaded up our Ford tractor and tiller and we went to our new friends’ home to till up a spot for their first homestead garden. It’s tough, being new to a run-down old place, and growing a garden in soil which has never been tilled is near impossible by hand when there is a mat of generations of dead grass on top of foot-deep sod. Now Kate and T.J. have loose black dirt with which to work. Yep, they have their work cut out as those grass roots will try to sprout. But with heavy mulch, hopefully they can get a start this year, knowing each year it will improve.

We know how hard it can be as our first year’s garden here was carved out of logged over woods by hand, then later with equipment. (If you’d like to read the whole story, check out my book, Starting Over.)

It’s getting warmer and we’re anxiously trying to get our gardens ready to plant, especially the new “sand” garden. But it’s heavily populated by big rocks on the north end. Slowly, slowly, we’ll get it done. Just like Kate and T.J.’s garden, it’ll take a few years to get good. — Jackie

9 COMMENTS

  1. Love Wilbert’s cafe! Part of the Black Friday tradition with my mom to stop there going from Virginia to Duluth. I will have to check out the Zim greenhouse. Cherry Greenhouse gas a nice selection also. Fun to watch all the action that is happening at your homestead. Looking forward to the Orr Expo again!

    • Yes, we love Byrns Greenhouse and also the Cherry Greenhouse. I have to be careful not to spend TOO much. Lol! See you at the Orr Expo if not before!

  2. Finally got warm enough then its rain, rain and more rain. Going to say to heck with it and mud a few things in today !

    • Yuck. Last year we had rain all spring and summer. What a mess that was. We’re hoping for a bit drier this year.

  3. What a great pic of the family, and just love that smile on Will’s face! Glad that you had a great day. So lovely of you two to help out the fledgling gardeners. I’ll bet that they’re thrilled to have such an expert in their corner!

    • Just about every new homesteader feels kind of lost and overwhelmed on new land. Anything we “old timers” can do to ease that helps not only them but us as well.

  4. What a great Moms Day! Been following you a lot of yeas,Jackie, have all your books, so enjoyable and sooooo knowledgeable you are!

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