Country Acres South - August 5, 2023

Bringing hope

RideAbility helps individuals with disabilities through horseback riding

BY AMY KYLLO | STAFF WRITER

PINE ISLAND – What started as a few families’ 4-H project over 25 years ago has turned into a non-profit organization that helps at least 100 children and adults with disabilities every year.

RideAbility, which provides horse riding therapy, is managed by executive director Jeanie Michelizzi and is housed on the farm she operates with her husband Jim near Pine Island.

The Michelizzis have a heart to help the guests and families who come to RideAbility find increased happiness and hope.

“The reason we’re doing this is so that the children that we sit on the horse will have healing in their lives and their family,” Jeanie Michelizzi said.

RideAbility was founded in 1997 by two mothers, Ellen Newman and Mary Lubahn, as a 4-H project after Lubahn found out her baby Kathryn had spina bifida. They started in Newman’s yard and then moved to the Island Riders Saddle Club. In the summer of 1998, Michelizzi was approached to house RideAbility on her farm, which became its home after the 1998 season.

Michelizzi loves to see parents and caretakers leave RideAbility with hope that their child can do more than they expected and that the experience will give them opportunities to do more things together.

“Hope, joy, love, growth, life,” she said. “That we can give to the parents often.”

The benefit of horse therapy lies in the patterns of movement experienced while riding a horse which is similar to the input received by healthy walking. This movement provides stimulation to strengthen the trunk and spine and benefits those who use a wheel chair, a cane or have a limp.

“The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a human,” Michelizzi said.

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Those with autism benefit as well, she said.

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“You’ll see a tight walking, or a sporadic movement, or anxiety, attitude,” she said. “Even people who have emotional disabilities are not walking the way that they would if they were more healed.”

Horseback riding can provide relaxation for individuals with autism. Michelizzi said she has seen many people, who were at first struggling and showing unregulated behaviors, relax and quiet within one lap around the arena after their caregiver placed them on a horse.

“That movement is giving them a relaxation that they can’t get anywhere else,” she said.

RideAbility page 2

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Billy Van Epps holds his trophy high at the arena at RideAbility near Pine Island. RideAbility has four, five-week sessions per year.

PHOTO BY AMY KYLLO

(Left) Horses run through the pasture July 3 at RideAbility near Pine Island. Horses are evaluated for suitability for therapy horseback riding before they are accepted by RideAbility.

PHOTO SUBMITTED Cole Yust, riding Sonny, rings the bells while Jim Michelizzi stands beside him on the sensory trail at RideAbility near Pine Island. Horseback riding provides movement which is similar to the stimulation received from healthy walking.

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RideAbility from front

The curriculum was mostly written by Newman, who studied equine management. And, for the first 18 years, the RideAbility programs were overseen by a physical therapist. Additionally, for 10 years, physical therapy students studying at Mayo Clinic did a summer project for them. The pre-ride stretching

routine developed for RideAbility by these students continues to be used today.

RideAbility touts three instructors who hold certifications through the Professional

Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International and, they have two more instructors in training.

RideAbility opens for four, five-week sessions per year, one in the spring, two in the summer and one in the fall. Two groups are offered each session. Guests attend

a one-hour class once a week, 30 to 50 minutes of which is spent riding the horses. The first week is focused on goal setting, the second on safety, the third week is communication, the fourth week is balance and the final week is games.

RideAbility page 3

PHOTOS BY AMY KYLLO

Jeanie Michelizzi feeds a snack to Sweet Lady July 3 in a pasture at RideAbility near Pine Island. Michelizzi is the executive director of RideAbility and manages all the volunteers.

Jeanie (left) and Jim Michelizzi stand with therapy horse, Hannah July 3 in the doorway of the arena at RideAbility near Pine Island. RideAbility moved to the Michelizzis’ farm in the late 1990s.

A sign hangs above the arena on July 3 at RideAbility near Pine Island. RideAbility began as a 4-H project after one of the founders found out her baby had spina bifida.

RideAbility from page 2

“Our goal is to see some benefit,” Michelizzi said. “It could be physical, emotional. Really, what I’m believing is that something in their life is going to improve to the point ... that their caretaker knows that their life is now better than it was before they were riding a horse.”

RideAbility is also open for special events throughout the year including visits for groups, a barn dance fundraiser in June and a picnic in July.

The horses at RideAbility come into the program in three ways. The first is via donation. Michelizzi said the challenge with this is the cost of maintenance. A horse costs a minimum of $1,000 per year to maintain

and can cost as much as $5,000 to $6,000. Horses are also sometimes volunteered, especially when RideAbility originally began.

RideAbility’s preferred method is partial donations. These horses spend the RideAbility season at the Michelizzi farm but return to their owners during the offseason, alleviating the cost of overwintering.

Horses go through evaluation before they become therapy horses both at their home and at RideAbility. Some tests include putting a raincoat on them or doing double riding.

“It’s a lot about spookiness,” Michelizzi said. “If they’re just extremely quiet and gentle about all of that when they’ve been taken away from their home

PREPAY SEASON IS COMING!

Make

and they’re here, (it) is a really good sign that they’re just open to people working with them.”

Michelizzi said lead mares can be good therapy horses. A good lead mare makes sure all the horses in the herd get a chance to eat, starting with the weakest and smallest.

“There is something about a lead mare that makes them instinctively aware of vulnerability,” she said.

Currently, RideAbility has about 50 volunteers. Michelizzi is in charge of doing the extensive volunteer coordination and management in addition to all of the program and onfarm tasks she and her husband do. With the workload, she is looking for a volunteer coordinator for the program.

“We don’t have a program without great volunteers,” Michelizzi said.

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MACHINERY: Oliver Superior Grain Drill on Steel, Double Disc

Openers, Grass Seed, Manual; Oliver 2 Bottom Pull-Type Plow; Oliver #3 Corn Picker, 2 Row Wide Head; Oliver 3 Bottom Plow, Pull-Type; Oliver 566 Semi Mounted Plow, 5 Bottom; Several Oliver Parts; Weights; Pulleys; Hoods; Panels; Steel Wheels & More

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PHOTOS BY AMY KYLLO

Tires hang July 3 on the sensory trail at RideAbility near Pine Island. RideAbility has three PATH International certified instructors for their program and two instructors working toward certification.

Road tripping

On a Friday afternoon not so long ago, I loaded up my sister’s Volkswagen Jetta hatchback to the brim and voyaged off on a 1,400-mile round trip adventure with two of my sisters and my 18-month-old nephew. We travelled to Kentucky where my oldest sister and her family live.

Once loaded, I drove from Rochester all the way into Indiana on the power of adrenaline. Getting into the left lane and flying was my internal motto as I drove fast enough to make the GPS tick time off our estimated arrival but not so fast that I was guaranteed to get a ticket or crash the vehicle. I mentally justified to myself that deep down everyone in the car appreciates someone sacrificing their moral integrity to drive faster than they ought so we could all get where we were going.

& Flowers by Amy Kyllo

As is often on road trips, our vehicle was packed to the brim. I’ve visited Kentucky before for a similar amount of time and flown with literally just a personal item, but since we were driving, I decided to break out the kitchen sink because I could. I was even able to bring a partially eaten stale box of Kwik Trip Blueberry Dunkers and throw them away uneaten in Kentucky instead of Minnesota.

My sister decided to stock us up on endless road trip snacks before the trip so we traveled in salty, high calorie style. My personal favorites were the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos which were spicy enough for my mild tongue to require me to eat them slowly yet oddly delicious and adventurous enough to make me feel as cool as my older sisters who like hot food.

In the back seat rode the true boss of the trip, my sister’s 18-month-old. Road tripping with a toddler under the age of 2 has its advantages and disadvantages. There is always the secret dread of a possibly impending, extended high-decibel meltdown, which luckily for us, didn’t happen. He did, however, play with a little vehicle equipped with a convincingly realistic sound of a car honking that regularly psyched me out that some invisible car I hadn’t noticed had road rage at me.

On the advantage side of bringing a toddler, we could always blame extra breaks to stretch our legs on the 18-month-old, and people in rest stops smile far more when you have a cute baby than when you do not.

Vacation itself was very low key – another distinct advantage of going with toddlers on vacation is that everyone has excuses to take afternoon naps. For all of us, it was good to just spend some time together. Between taking naps, making nummy food and then eating it, we stayed a vacation version of busy.

Every night we watched one movie or TV show with the nieces and nephew. Though “The Last Unicorn” and Disney’s “DuckTales” would not generally be titles on top of my watch list, sitting on the couch with a couple well-loved little munchkins around me, watching their show with them, made for some sweet moments.

The littles bring a lot of laughs. Whether it is the horror of a 2-year-old at the idea of having to share their toys or my niece loudly whispering to her mom something random with the instruction at the end to “Tell ‘The Aunts,’” – one or more of whom were generally within earshot – made me smile.

We started the trip home with a really magical audio book rendition of C.S. Lewis’ “Prince Caspian” and except for stop and go traffic in Chicago, and a quick accidental tour straight through Gary, Indiana – whose problems are much more than little boys spending time in pool halls like “The Music Man” suggests – the trip home was uneventful.

I can’t say long road trips aren’t without fault. The mood swings from elated for vacation, to bored we are aren’t there yet, to chilling and enjoying the ride to shifting into grumpiness in direct proportion to the stress level of the traffic we were riding through, are very real. However, I love my family and salty snacks, so if you twist my arm with a little time off work and some of my favorite people, I just might bite again.

Daylilies:

BY

HENRYTOWN – Although daylilies require three to five years and consistent care to grow from seed to bright flowers that last merely one day, Jessi Jablonski and the Big Woods Daylily Farm team think the effort is worth the stunning result.

The 10-acre farm near Henrytown houses thousands of daylily plants, contributing to blooming periods with row after row of gorgeous flowers of varying colors and sizes. While this year marks only their second summer welcoming visitors onto the property to purchase the unique perennials, the rural nursery has already cemented itself as a destination for gardening enthusiasts and deer looking to take the flowers with them.

Jablonski, appropriately known as “The Plant Lady” in Fillmore County, started growing about 150 varieties of perennial flowers and crops with her husband, Joe, on the farmland near their home in 2017 for her landscaping business. Two years into the endeavor, Bob Coyle approached the couple with a proposal of making daylilies the staple of their farm.

“I talked to Jessi, and they were looking for something to plant on their farm so the farm could make an income,” Coyle said. “For me, it was just a bonus because I like breeding (daylilies), and I end up with all the seeds. There are 10 acres, and Jessi said, ‘Just treat the farm as your own, Bob.’”

Jablonski said she quickly bonded with Coyle “over a nerdy obses-

Worth the wait

Big Woods Daylily Farm brings color to southern Minnesota

sion with plants” and did not need long to think before partnering with the experienced daylily breeder as her mentor in hybridizing the flower. Jablonski said Coyle’s passion for daylilies rubbed off on her quickly.

“Just the thought of being able to look out my kitchen sink window as I’m doing dishes and see the blooming daylily fields right in my very own backyard was very exciting,” Jablonski said.

HANS LAMMEMAN STAFF WRITER

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Bob Coyle stands among blooming daylilies at the Big Woods Daylily Farm near Henrytown. He has grown daylilies since 2008.

(Below) A tri-colored daylily blooms July 2022. Daylilies with ruffled edges are desired for the eye-catching trait.

Bright yellow daylilies bloom at the Big Woods Daylily Farm near Henrytown. About 5,000 daylily plants bloomed at the farm during summer 2022.

Bi h ll d lili bl h Bi

Houston County Fair

August 16-20th20th, 2023 August 16-20th, 2023 Schedule

Wednesday, August 16th | Food Shelf Day 9 am 4-H Booth, Banner, and Community Pride Judging , 4-H Building

am 4-H Poultry Show followed by Open Class, Poultry Building

pm 4-H Rabbit Show followed by Open Class, Krech Arena

pm Open Class Beef show and North Star Points Series , Krech Arena

pm 4-H Dairy and Market Goat Show followed by Open Class, Pavillion

pm Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

6 pm 4-H Club Barrels (In place by 5 pm), Grounds

6:30 pm Talent Contest, Entertainment Shelter Queen Coronation at intermission

Thursday, August 17th | Senior Citizen’s Day

8 am 4-H Swine Show, Pavillion

10 am 4-H Horse Show Pleasure- Halter- Trail, Horse Arena Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

11 am Sr. Citizens’ Day Program, Entertainment Shelter-Joe Cody Noon Award Ceremonies: Friend of the Fair, Century Farm, Farm Family of the Year

Noon All Livestock in place | Bingo tent opens

1 pm Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

2 pm Senior Citizen’s Euchre Party

ADA Dairy Bake Off - Kids (Adults at 3 pm) Udder Place (Decorated cut out cookies with a dairy theme)

4-H Beef Show, Krech Arena

3 pm Master Gardeners: Interactive Flower Arranging, office building

5 pm Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

6 pm Best Coleslaw Contest, office building

6:30 pm Super Farmer Ag Olympics, Grandstand

Friday, August 18th | Kid’s Day

8:45 am 4-H Dairy Show, Krech Arena

10 am Just 4 Laffs by arts tent

10 am-2 pm Kids’ Day Program, Entertainment Shelter

4-H / ECFE/ Game Stations

Master Gardener: Seed Buddies, Entertainment Shelter

11:30 am Ag Olympics, Pavillion

RJ Kerns- Historical Photography Demo, arts tent

Noon Bingo tent opens

12:30 pm Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

1 pm Diaper Derby, office building

1:45 pm Kids Day Grand Prize Drawing, Entertainment Shelter

2 pm 4-H Sheep Show & Lamb Lead followed by Open Class, Krech Arena

RJ Kerns-National Geographics Photographer, arts tent

3 pm Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

3:30 pm Ho Co Public Health “Child Passenger Safety Education,” office Building

4:30 pm RJ Kerns- On being a Commemorative Artist ,arts tent

5 pm 4-H Pre-Horse show, Horse Arena

5:30 pm Just 4 Laffs, by arts tent

5:30 pm Lemon Bar Contest, office building

6 pm 4-H Horse Show- Games Classes, Horse Arena

7 pm Rodeo, Grandstand

8 pm Teen Dance- DJ, arts tent

9 pm Blue Collar 40, Entertainment Shelter

Saturday, August 19th | Family Day

9 am Market Livestock Auction Show, Pavillion Open Class Dairy Show, Krech Arena

9:30 am Just 4 Laffs by the arts tent

10 am Open Class Horse Show, Horse Arena

11 am RJ Kerns- History of Agriculture, arts tent

11:30 am Lego Contest- Kid’s entertainment tent Noon Bingo tent opens

1 pm Just 4 Laffs by arts tent

1 pm Robotics Demonstration, entertainment tent

1 pm Master Gardeners: Tomato Tasting, office building

2:30 pm RJ Kerns- Iphonegraphy, arts tent

3 pm MN Meats: Houston County 4-H Grill Out, across from Krech Arena

3:30 pm Lasagna Contest, office building

3:30 pm Just 4 Laffs by arts tent

5 pm Supreme Showman, Krech Arena RJ Kerns- Historical Photography Demo, arts tent

5:30 pm Just 4 Laffs by arts tent

6 pm Demo Derby, Grandstand

8 pm Teen Dance- DJ, arts tent

9 pm Glass Stiletto, Entertainment Shelter

Sunday, August 20th | Ability Day

9 am 4-H State Fair Meeting Show, Pavillion

10 am Kiddie Pedal Pull, by Historical Building

10:30 am RJ Kerns- Unchosen Ones, arts tent

11 am Just 4 Laffs

Finding a way to farm

Gochnauers create diverse income streams

BY AMY KYLLO | STAFF WRITER

WEST CONCORD –

Capping the end of Main Street in West Concord stands a barn. The building is not a relic of past industry but is the hub of a very active dairy farm – all within city limits.

Megan Gochnauer and her husband, Jacob, own Gochnauer Farms where they focus on dairy farming but also have feeder cattle, feeder pigs, sheep, meat goats, chickens, ducks, pea fowl, rabbits, a potbellied pig, dogs, horses, cats and a chinchilla.

In addition, they have an on-farm store, a cattle trucking business, a moveable, rentable

petting zoo and, soon, a rentable event space. The Gochnauers began selling meat in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Six months pregnant, in March 2020, Gochnauer lost her job at the Central Livestock Association where she was managing the restaurant. By the time lockdowns had lifted enough for Gochnauer to return to work, she had a 3-month-old baby and decided that it did not make sense to return.

Realizing the unemployment money was not feasible to live on, the Gochnauers began the process of getting licensed

to sell their beef.

“Everything has come along out of necessity,” Gochnauer said. “It always hits a point like, ‘OK, well, do we figure something out, or do we get out?’ And it’s always been a figure it out so far.”

The Gochnauers sell their meat through the farm store, and they make deliveries as well. Gochnauer plans deliveries along her and Jacob’s cattle trucking routes, and her mother, who lives in Shoreview, does deliveries in the metro area.

Gochnauers page 10

Eggs and meat sticks rest June 27 in a fridge at the Gochnauer Farms farm store in West Concord. The Gochnauers sell meat at the store in addition to other products from local farms as well as crafts, jewelry and accessories.

Megan Gochnauer smiles behind the counter June 27 at the Gochnauer Farms farm store in West Concord. The farm store opened April 15.

PHOTOS BY AMY KYLLO

Megan and Jacob Gochnauer’s herd of cows stand June 27 on Gochnauer Farms in West Concord. The Gochnauers milk 25 cows.

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The self-serve farm store is the Gochnauers’ most recent business. The

store, which is on the end of their barn opening toward Main Street, has two stand up freezers and a fridge freezer combo holding their beef, pork and lamb. They also sell items under their cottage food license such as pretzels, dried soup mixes and frozen broth.

They collaborate with friends and community members to sell other items in the store such as duck eggs, honey, embroidered towels and freeze-dried candy. The jewelry and accessories they have available for purchase come from a wholesaler.

Gochnauer said the community has been supportive of their family. The person who sells duck eggs at their store refuses payment from her and instead asks her to put the money into her children’s savings accounts.

The Gochnauers milk about 25 cows. In

2018, they began renting their current farm, and in 2019, they brought the cows to the farm.

The Gochnauers have always done long-term cow boarding on their farm in addition to caring for the other animals they own.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2021, the Gochnauers came to a breaking point

while in the barn. “We were both bawling through chores that night,” Gochnauer said. “We have this many cows, we have this hard of chores, we are losing thousands of dollars on the farm every month because we aren’t shipping the milk.”

Minnesota Farmers have reported savings on the cost of chemicals by using treated water in their sprayers.

PHOTOS BY AMY KYLLO

Seasoned pretzels sit June 27 in the Gochnauer Farms farm store in West Concord. The pretzels are one of the items the Gochnauers sell under their cottage food license.

(Right) A farm store sign hangs June 27 in the Gochnauer Farms farm store in West Concord. Jacob and Megan Gochnauer started farming on the current property in 2018.

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Gochnauers from page 9 Gochnauers page

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• HARVESTEC 4212C 12 ROW CORN HEAD

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STEER, APPROXIMATELY 2350 HOURS

• ALLIS CHALMERS AC 7060, 7018 HOURS, 10.8-38 REAR DUALS, 2 HYDRAULICS, 3 PT, 1000 PTO, RUNS

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vegetables, kids

Schwab starts community-supported agriculture garden

BY AMY KYLLO STAFF WRITER

KENYON – Dumpster diving is just one of the many things that Sarah Schwab did last year to start her vegetable growing business.

Schwab owns and operates Desired Haven Farm near Kenyon with her husband

Andrew and 10 of their 12 children. They have three-fourths of an acre of vegetables planted which they sell through community-supported agriculture.

The Schwabs’ vegetable farm grew out of a desire to raise their family well. The Schwabs’ oldest daughter, Olivia, has special needs that

prevent her from joining the workforce and the vegetable farm was planned, in part, to fill that void.

“Part of our goal, too, was how do we give her something that she can be productive at and feel successful at but still be safe,” Schwab said.

Schwab page 14

A plant stands in soil June 8 at Desired Haven Farm near Kenyon. Sarah Schwab gardened for 18 years before starting the vegetable CSA.

Schwab

from page 13

Their farming venture fit their family and also the culture of food source awareness.

“It just seems natural to build a garden that we could provide ourselves and others with good fresh vegetables,” Schwab said. “I know there’s so many people who are trying to ... be more proactive about knowing where their food comes from.”

The gardening method the Schwabs employ covers the ground in biodegradable woodbased products to help prevent weeds. The beds are covered in newspaper with compost on top and surrounded by trails covered in cardboard with wood mulch on top.

With three-fourths of an acre to cover in a combination of newspaper and cardboard, dumpster diving in Kenyon became part of their journey to start their commercial gardening venture.

Luckily, the Schwabs found another source besides dumpsters. A friend who worked in a factory got them pallets of cardboard that was going to go to waste, and another friend who works for a grocery store got them boxes of leftover sales flyers.

Truckloads of mulch came from another friend’s business.

Steph Helkenn, a friend of the family, moved in with them and helped with many hours of getting the gardens started. Today, she continues to help and expand her areas of expertise.

Before starting their 70-bed garden, Schwab gardened for 18 years. Even as a child, she remembers gardening with her grandpa in Germany.

Every morning, Schwab and the kids spend two to three hours working in the garden. For the smaller children, she sets a timer for a shorter amount of time. The older children spend several hours with her in the garden and are vital to the operation.

Schwab is familiar with spending lots of time with her children. The mother of 12 homeschools her kids and blogs about her life experiences.

“Farm life inspires all sorts of ... life lessons and lots of growth,” she said.

Her blogging is not focused on garnering followers.

“I often write it just to process it myself,” she said. “If it blesses somebody else, then that’s awesome.”

This year, they will add 10 gardening beds, bringing their total to 80, though they are not focused on expansion.

“We want to stay on a really small scale,” she said. “We don’t want to expand too big and to go too far from home.”

The Schwab family moved to their farm in 2015 from a house in Northfield. From the beginning, Schwab said they have felt at home on the property. The name of their farm alludes to the fulfillment of their yearning for a place of peace where they could be at home. Yet, more than a beautiful place of soft breezes and country rest, the family wants the farm to impact others.

“If nothing else, we just want

this place to be a blessing to people,” Schwab said.

This past year, the vegetable offering for their CSA included: tomato, squash, green bean, flowers, broccoli, zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, summer squash, cabbage, snap pea, kohlrabi, kale, pepper, radish, herbs and carrot.

“We tried to stick with vegetables people have heard of and know what to do with,” Schwab said. “We had a share in a CSA when we lived in town, and so frequently I would ask, ... ‘What do I do with this?’”

Schwab page 15

PHOTOS BY AMY KYLLO

Sarah Schwab holds plants out to her goats to eat July 8 at Desired Haven Farm near Kenyon. The name of their farm “Desired Haven” alludes to the fulfillment of their yearning for a place of peace they could call home.

Chickens stand in their pen July 8 at Desired Haven Farm near Kenyon. The Schwabs also have turkeys and goats on their farm.

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After years of searching for the perfect home that fits their needs or would be excited to renovate, John and Nancy decided to build! Around that same time, they attended the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center’s presentation about the Passive House movement – an exceptionally rigorous building standard that results in a home which, using the latest technologies, has the smallest carbon footprint currently possible.

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