Diversity a fi t for Schmidts

PHOTOS BY JULIA MULLENBACH Paul and Karen Schmidt run a diverse vegetable enterprise in Preston. Behind them is their garlic fi eld that has 14 diff erent varieties.

Couple off er unique country experience

BY SARAH COLBURN | STAFF WRITER

PRESTON – The Schmidt Farm offers everything from garlic, asparagus and shiitake mushrooms to fi ber arts crafted from the wool of llamas, sheep and alpaca. “Whatever we do on our farm, we do it because we feel it’s the right thing to do,” said Karen Schmidt. For the Schmidts, that means certifying the farm as organic and actively welcoming people to the farm to learn. Some come in an offi cial capacity to learn the behind the scenes on how to grow organic foods while other people, with an interest simply in learning more about farm life, rent the restored farm house on the property as a vacation experience for a few days. Karen and her husband, Paul, own Schmidt Farm near Preston. “It’s based in our mission of the farm, teaching other people what we do and how we do it and an appreciation for how food is produced and animals are raised,” Karen said. The Schmidts have a little bit of everything. In addition to the production farming they do on site, they also have horses, donkeys, goats, rabbits and chickens on the farm. Paul grew up on the land, it’s been in his family for 120 years. His father milked cows at the farm, had laying hens and hogs. Paul and Karen themselves ran 850 acres and a 6,000head custom-fi nishing hog operation on the property from 1997 until 2021. In 1999, the couple began transitioning the land to organic and became certifi ed with their fi rst 250 acres in 2001. Then, 15 years ago, Paul started dabbling in garlic. It began as a hobby when he planted 350 bulbs. All 350 bulbs grew and he harvested the crop in full. “As a farmer that is a statistical anomaly, a statistical improbability,” he said. The success he had achieved with the garlic prompted him to learn about the varieties. He now offers 14 different varieties and plants 30,000 bulbs on 1 acre. They have Inchelium Red, Chet’s Italian Red, Krasnodar White, Music, Armenian, Georgian Crystal, Georgian Fire, German Extra Hardy, Zemo, Estonian Red, Siberian, Belarus, Russian Giant and Krasnodar Red.

FARM ESTATE AUCTION

SELLERS: John & Jodi Attig 4870 Wheelerwood Rd., Northwood IA 50459 Saturday, July 30th at 10:00 am L I V E & O N L I N E

For Further info, Call Kris Rugland 641-390-0220

*Iowa Sales Tax on Applicable Items*

TRACTORS: 2006 John Deere 9620 Tractor, 3160 hours, 4 hyds., 800/70R38 Tires & Duals, Greenstar Ready, Autotrac Ready, Leather Active Seat, HID Lighting, Buddy Seat, HD Grudgeon, 2010 John Deere 9630T, 36” Tracks, 2632 hours, 4 hyds, HID Lights, Buddy Seat, 2010 John Deere 6100 D MFD, Power Reverser & Quad Range, 3 hyds, PTO, 9067 hours, 2010 John Deere 8530 MFD, MFD, 5 hyds, IVT Trans, ILS Front End, Front and Rear Duals, 5800 hrs COMBINE & HEADS: 2011 John Deere 1770 CCS 24/30’’ Planter, Row Cleaners, Chemical Bander, Insecticide Injection, Liquid Fertilizer, Hyd. Drive, Air Down Pressure, Corn and Soybean Units, 2013 John Deere S680 Combine, 4x4 Rear Axle, 650x38 Tires & duals, 2085 eng, 1474 sep hrs., Power Folding Hopper, 2014 640 FD Draper Head, 2014 John Deere 612C, Chopping, 12 Row w/Stompers, Gear Box Disconnects, Hyd. Deck Plates, Contour Master & Row Sense, Stud King 41ft Stomper Stud Head Cart, Mauer 38ft Head Cart, Tandem Axle FARM EQUIPMENT: 2004 Brent 976 Grain Cart, Scale, Roll Tarp, 2013 Krause Dominator 4850 Ripper, 11 Shank with Rear Leveler, John Deere 2700 Ripper, 7 Shank, John Deere 2210 Field Cultivator 65ft, 4 Bar Harrow, Single Point Depth Control, 2010 John Deere 3710 Plow, Colters w/ Buster Bar, 10 Bottom (Like New), Cat 18-yard Scraper, Pull Type, Dakon 250 bu Wagon, Demco 1200 Side Quest Tank, 600-gal, piece MTS for JD 8000 IVT Trans, Long Plow Disc 8ft, John Deere 2600 Monitor, Auto Trac, John Deere 2630 Monitor, Swath, Row Sense, John Deere 3000 & 6000 Globes, Bush Hog Disc 20ft Disc, Super B SM 750C Grain Dryer, Quantum Controls, 2870 hours, Single Phase, (3) B&B Nurse Trailers with Twin 1450gal Anhydrous Nurse Tanks, Walking Tandem & 5th Wheel, Brakes SEMIS/TRAILERS: (2) 2003 Freightliner Century, Day Cab, Cat C-12 Auto Trans, 1999 Freightliner FLD 120 Day Cab, ISM 330 hp Cummins, 9 Speed Trans, 2017 Wilson Pacesetter 41ft, Ag Hoppers, Roll Tarp, Air Ride, 2013 Wilson Commander 41ft, Roll Tarp, Ag Hopper, 1982 Wilson Grain Hopper Trailer 40ft, Roll Tarp, Spring Ride, Fruehauf Tender Trailer, with 3200-gal Water Tank, 1600gal Water Tank, 2’’ Pump and Hose, Inductor AUGERS: (2) West eld 13’X71” Auger w/Swing Hopper, West eld 10’x31ft Auger FARM MISC: 2004 JCB 8040 10,000# Mini Excavator - 2000hrs, new tracks, (3) 1600-gal Poly Tanks, 2200-gal Poly Tank, 3000-gal Poly Tank, (2) 2000-gal Fuel Barrels w/Pumps CONSIGNED FROM LOCAL RETIRING FARMERS: 2010 John Deere 1990 Air Drill CCS, 30ft, 15” Spacings, 350 JD Monitor, One Owner, 3600 Acres, Ground Drive, Extended Wear Boots, John Deere 1518 Batwing Mower, 15ft, 8 Wheels, Small 1000 PTO, John Deere 856 Row Crop Cultivator, 16 Row, 30”, C Shank, Rolling Shields, John Deere 825, 8 Row, 30”, C Shank, 2002 Hagie 2100 Sprayer, 2088 Hours, 60ft/80ft Booms, 15” Spacings, 320/85/ R34 Tires, 1975 Chevy C-65 Dump Truck, Single Axle, w/Contractor Box, 366 Gas, 5+2 Trans, 2000-gal Pol tank w/2” Pump & Inductor, 3pt Forklift, John Deere Flail Chopper, 3pt. 2 Wheel Windrow Invertor, 1982 John Deere 7720 Combine, Chopper & Spreader, 30.5-32 Tires, Heavy Duty Rear Axle, Case IH 1300 3pt Sickle Mower, 9ft, (2) Tiking 125cc Four Wheelers, Four Stroke, Riteway 900 Rock Picker, 2018 John Deere 6105D MFWD, ROPS, JD 540 Loader, 265.7 hours, 2 SCV Outlets, Manual Trans w/Shuttle Shift, Firestone Rubber, John Deere 235 Disc, Tandem Wheels, 22’ 9”, 1956 Allis Chalmer WD45, 1993 Ford LTA9000 Semi, 855 Cummins Motor, 9sp Trans, Feterl 10”x66ft Auger, PTO, Feterl 10”x31ft Auger, 10sp Single Phase Motor

Randy Haakenson

326 Parkside Dr. SE, Preston, MN 55965 Home: 507-765-2297 | Cell: 507-251-5535

Commercial Residential Agricultural

CZJuly16-1B-JM Icelandic sheep are the breed the Schmidts chose to fi t their operation. Karen shears the sheep twice each year and spins their wool into yarn, which she uses for needle art.

“We decided a vegetable enterprise would replace some off-farm income,” Paul said. Today, the Schmidts sell the garlic through retail and wholesale methods. Their asparagus is available by retail and direct sales to about six restaurants. “We looked into asparagus for its resiliency,” Paul said. “It can freeze off and come back, get hailed on and come back. It’s a high-value crop.” The couple has about 10,000 asparagus plants on an acre of land. For years, their son, Vaughan, was in charge of the asparagus operation, saving the money he earned to pay his way through college. Their son, Devan, was also very active on the farm growing up helping with a variety of chores, until moving to Iowa. The asparagus and garlic, hedge against each other fi nancially, Paul said. “On a larger scale these things can provide a decent living instead of just being part of a vegetable garden in the summer,” he said. “The fact that we can grow the best garlic in the world here in Minnesota is a little-known fact. There’s hardly any commercially-grown asparagus here in Minnesota; we don’t want people to forget that.” Growing local and providing local is important to the Schmidts. They are one of the 15 largest garlic growers in the state featured at the annual Minnesota Garlic Festival in Hutchinson. “It’s an event of similarly-minded people who understand the necessity and the value of growing product and growing quality produce,” he said. “Product we don’t need to put food miles under, we don’t need to ship it in from China or South America.” The Schmidts try to explain their focus on organics when they get the opportunity. They have found demand for their product is greater in metropolitan areas as opposed to rural communities. “To lessen our footprint on the earth chemically (is important),” Paul said. Near the Schmidt’s house, deep in the mature windbreak of hardwood trees is a shaded area. The cooler spot has been perfect for growing shiitake mushrooms on logs. It is a practice they learned about at an organic farming conference in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. “We have the right wood, the right shade we needed and we have a water source, it seemed like a no-brainer,” Karen said. They buy bags of sawdust inoculated with mushroom spawn/ spores. Mushrooms are a perennial crop and they grow until the log is used up. They drill holes in the log and place plugs of sawdust inside, Paul said. The mushroom roots grow through the log and digest the carbohydrates out of the log, and once they have enough sugar, the mushrooms fruit. Karen said keeping a moisture balance is important. The couple gets a crop of mushrooms each spring after the snow melts and then again in August. In August, they soak the logs in cattle tanks for 24 hours. This shocks the logs and forces the plant to send out more mushrooms as a way of reproducing. The logs fruit three days later. Karen heads up the fi ber arts division of the farm. Through the years the couple has repurposed all the buildings on the farm and now one, that used to serve as a home to the family’s laying hens upstairs and hogs downstairs, is now Karen’s Woolery. Karen cleaned out all the pens and if she has a sheep lambing, there is a special area just for them. She also has rabbits and freerange laying hens. They studied what would be best for the land and decided on sheep. They researched breeds and Karen fell in love with Icelandic sheep. She has 28 and shears them herself, twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. The sheep rotationally graze with no permanent fencing; she moves the electric fence once a week to give them fresh grazing grounds. “I love the breed, I love telling people about them,” she said. “They’re very unique and they have natural characteristics bred out of most Americanized sheep.” Each has their own personality and their own name, such as Rockstar, Ingmar and Penny.

Schmidts page 6

PHOTOS SUBMITTED The farmhouse on the Schmidt Farm is available for vacation rentals and to give guests a real on-farm experience.

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The guardians of the sheep are the llamas – they are naturally K-9-aggressive and protect the fl ock from coyotes, naturally herding them into the barn when they sense a predator. “It’s all natural,” Karen said. “It’s nothing I’ve trained them to do.” The couple took in four alpacas last winter as a rescue situation and Karen has added them to her fi ber fl ock. She spins the fi ber in the winter and participates in the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour and also sells her needle felting at the local farmer’s markets in Rochester and at the Lanesboro Art Gallery. In August, the couple hosts a Music on the Porch event where Paul plays guitar and they open the farm for an open house and perusing of the arts. Opening the farm to the public is part of the Schmidts’ mission. Even when they worked with hogs they opened the farm so people could see the ins and outs of the operation, Paul said. Paul has worked with the University of Minnesota Extension and Sustainable Farming Association and teaches people how to do largescale production on their own farms. They also participate in the Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, USA organization, welcoming people who want to learn about organic farming; often times it is a cultural exchange program where the Schmidts are a host family. In 2017, the couple bought an additional 60 acres of land that is mostly wooded with prairie grassland and a house built in the 1890s. The house was turned into a vacation rental. They use it as an opportunity to welcome people to the farm for a hands-on experience. While most of the people who rent the original farmhouse are coming for a vacation experience, rather than an intensive educational opportunity, they learn a lot about what it means to be a rural farm family. They can participate in activities and get hands-on experience with the animals. They offer guided tours but nothing is staged, they go about their normal workday and guests can experience the farm naturally. “Some are intera list when they arrive, they’re going on different tours of the area, tube the river, bike and three-quarters of the time they never leave the farm,” she said. Something about the Schmidt’s way of life continues to interest farm visitors. Each connection the couple makes with new-comers is reassurance that they are doing good.

PHOTOS SUBMITTED Paul and Karen Schmidt grow 14 diff erent varieties of garlic on their farm near Preston. They also grow asparagus, mushrooms and raise icelandic sheep.

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ested in the forest and woods management, some are interested in the harvesting of the forest, some in the vegetables and some in the wool,” Karen said. The couple had no idea how busy the vacation home would be. They were booked from May through October in 2019 and 2020. They had not blocked off any time not to have guests and the calendar fi lled completely and unexpectedly. Now, they block off some days for themselves and said this year they do still have a few openings. “People often have

Karen Schmidt creates fi ber arts out of the fi ber she spins on her farm. The fi ber comes from Icelandic sheep, alpacas and llamas.

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