Country Acres - March 18, 2023

Sharing their love of sheep

Oelke family shows Suffolk breed for three generations

BY JAN LEFEBVRE | STAFF WRITER

BARRETT – When Bret Oelke was 4 years old, his parents gave him and his sister each

a Suffolk lamb to raise and show. Today, Bret is still raising Suffolk sheep and has been working

with them for over 60 years. His wife, Lorie Oelke, has been doing the same for over 50 years, since she was 10 years old.

In fact, the couple came to know each other through showing sheep in their youth and fell in love over their mutual interest.

Today, on their farm near

Barrett, they share that interest with their 16 grandchildren. The oldest, Jacob, has aged out of youth showing. Three grandchildren are yet too young but are already starting to learn. They can begin showing when they are 3 years old. The other 12 grandchildren travel with their grandparents to show sheep, and the show schedule is long and expansive.

They start the show season in June at the Midwest Junior Suffolk Show in Sedalia, Missouri. Then, they travel to the All-American Junior Sheep Show in Madison, Wisconsin, and compete at the State Suffolk Show at the Rice County Fair in Faribault. Several more shows follow, and the season ends with the North American International Livestock Expo in November in Louisville, Kentucky.

Bret and Lorie Oelke gather with three of their 16 grandchildren – Maverick Hawthorne, Scarlet Bergstrom-McKee (center) and Daphne BergstromOelke – March 8 at their sheep farm near Barrett. All of the Oelkes’ grandchildren who are old enough show sheep in competitions.

ing in Massachusetts.

“I could have charged people to look at our sheep at Niagara Falls,” Bret said. “We pulled in there with a trailer full of sheep and two cars full of kids. People were crawling all over each other, looking at our sheep.”

Showing gives Bret and Lorie stretches of time with their grandchildren.

“It’s quality time,” Lorie said. “We often get to spend several days with them.”

Bret and Lorie’s five children showed sheep as well. They now have their own families and live as far away as Rochester, Minnesota, but they make sure their kids are able to take part in the family hobby. Two of Bret and Lorie’s daughters have flocks of their own.

While on the road with their grandchildren, Bret and Lorie make sure to take them to vacation sites.

“The grandkids have traveled lots of places with us – Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts,” Lorie said.

They stopped at Yellowstone National Park when showing in Idaho and Niagara Falls when show-

While the Oelke’s are dedicated to their flock and showing, they have careers off the farm. Lorie works as a registered nurse. Bret has a consulting business as a farm management coach, is a professional speaker and manages the largest purebred sheep sale in North America – the Midwest Stud Ram Sale in Sedalia, Missouri. Needless to say, they are plenty busy.

PHOTOS BY JAN LEFEBVRE

A ewe shows her curiosity at the fence of her pen March 8 at the Oelkes’ sheep farm near Barrett. Bret and Lorie Oelke currently have a flock of about 130 Suffolk sheep.

Oelke page 2

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Oelke from front

“We don’t have snowmobiles; we don’t have boats,” Lorie said. “This is our hobby. We don’t go to the bar. We go to the barn.”

Their barn is one they built when they bought their property in 1994. The 9.5-acre site only had an old school house on it, which they remodeled into a home.

Today, their herd includes about 130 Suffolk sheep, mostly ewes.

Suffolks have white bodies and black faces. They are also larger in scale than most sheep, and the Oelkes work hard at breeding and raising some of the biggest.

“Our sheep are in the top 5%-10% in scale nationally,” Bret said.

For showing, the bodies of Suffolk sheep are expected to be pristine in cleanliness.

“When we show them, they are supposed to be snow white,” Lorie said. “We actually use clear Dawn soap and clear Tide. For the first washing of the year, we spend a lot of time on it. After that, they just get a little dusty and dirty because we keep the pens really clean. Then, washing doesn’t take as long.”

To prepare the wool coats for showing, before they wash the sheep, the Oelkes and their grandkids cut it to give it the right shape. After washing, they go over the coat at least twice again with electric clippers and finally with hand clippers for last adjustments.

Pre-show preparation requires work.

The Oelkes’ granddaughter, Scarlet Bergstrom-McKee, now 14, has been doing that work since she was 3 years old.

“Being in the ring, actually showing them, is my favorite part,” Scarlet said. “I don’t particularly like washing them.”

Scarlet said she used to get nervous before entering the show ring but does not anymore. She also said she usually knows how the judges most likely have ranked her before the results are announced.

“Most of the time (my grandparents) tell me what they think is going to happen, and it usually ends up being right,” she said. “So, (the results are) not surprising most of the time.”

Scarlet’s sister, Daphne Bergstrom-Oelke, said she sees herself as competitive.

“I like winning,” she said. “I like being in the arena.”

Five-year-old Maverick Hawthorne, the girls’ cousin, is more into the technicalities of showing.

“I like showing the legs and holding the head by myself,” he said.

Once during a show when Maverick was 3 years old, he was holding his sheep’s head steady when he noticed one of his sheep’s legs was not in the right position, but Maverick was too small to reach.

“He told the judge, ‘Hey, go fix that back leg,’” Bret said. “The judge was caught off guard and did it. That’s a story that judge is going to be telling for a long time.”

In showmanship, the person showing is not supposed to tell the judge what to do, but little Maverick had displayed one of the other traits that showing and raising sheep develops.

“It’s leadership,” Bret said.

Oelke page 3

PHOTOS BY JAN LEFEBVRE

Rams show no shyness March 8 at the sheep farm owned by Bret and Lorie Oelke near Barrett. All three rams were born to champion ewes and will help continue high-quality genetics in the Oelkes’ flock of Suffolk sheep.

Maverick Hawthorne holds a lamb March 8 at his grandparents’ sheep farm near Barrett. Maverick helps his grandparents, Bret and Lorie Oelke, with chores, including shearing and giving shots.

Maverick also has an affinity for naming sheep that go on to do great things. Two of the names he has come up with are Cow and Rapunzel. Cow went on as a yearling to be named national champion ram in 2021. Rapunzel, a preemie born at 6 pounds, went on to have a 22-pound ram lamb this fall.

The Oelkes’ grandkids help with sheep chores during the summer, and those living on the farm or nearby help throughout the school year as well. Scarlet even took full reins for a few days during one lambing season when her grandparents needed to be away for almost a week. That involved feeding the herd, cleaning barns and helping ewes deliver lambs if they were having trouble. Daphne, Maverick and the other grandkids even help with giving shots and shearing.

The Oelkes usually have two lambing seasons. The first is in fall; the second runs from January to spring, spreading lambing out a bit. However, this year was different. Usually releasing rams with the ewes brings a little more than half to lambing in fall. The ones not with lamb are rebred later and lamb during the second run. However, 30 ewes lambed in the fall this year, so the Oelkes had over 50 lambs. Only eight lambs were born so far in 2023. This is not good for the show season.

“We are not having the spring lamb crop that I would like to have,” Lorie said. “We didn’t get any January lambs, so that’s a whole class we can’t show in. For showing spring lambs, there’s a January, February and March class, but for fall lambs, there is only the fall class. Right

now, I’m short lambs.”

However, Bret said he prefers fall lambing.

“It’s way easier because it’s not 25 below zero,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about the cold or snow.”

Lorie agreed that the

Oelke page 4

weather matters.

PHOTO BY JAN LEFEBVRE Ewes get fresh air outside the sheep barn March 8 at the Oelkes’ farm near Barrett. The farm has been home to generations of Suffolk sheep, many winning first place in shows at the county, state and national levels.

PHOTO S UBMITTED

Bret and Lorie Oelke stand with most of their 16 grandchildren – Rosie (front, from left), Ann and Aria Oelke, Drake Nohner; Quinton and Phoebe Oekle, Maverick and Walker Hawthorne. (Back, from left) Scarlet Bergstrom-McKee Retta Hawthorne; and Daphne Bergstrom Oelke (not pictured are Jacob and Laura Shae and Kash Brinkman) – Aug. 2022 at their sheep farm near Barrett. Raising and showing Suffolk sheep has been a hobby in the family for three generations.

“There’s less chance of pneumonia in fall because the lambs aren’t cooped up in the barn where air quality can be not as good,” she said.

Whenever their lambs are born, the Oelkes apply careful care to raise the biggest, healthiest sheep they can – not only for show but also for sale.

“Our market is selling rams to people who raise other purebred sheep and also raise range rams and commercial rams, so we need to be a little bit bigger than what they’re making so that they can have big lambs,” Bret said. “Most people take 5-6 months to get to a 120-pound market weight, sometimes longer than that. These lambs average

140 pounds right now, and they’re between 4 and 5.5 months of age. They’re doing pretty close to a pound-a-day gain now that it’s not so darn cold.”

Lambs that do not make the grade are sold for meat.

The Oelkes use a custom mix for feeding with two base rations.

Ewe lambs get a ration of steam-flaked corn, whole oats, a balancer pellet, a little fat to cut the dust and liquid molasses, which is a 16%-17% crude protein and not high in carbohydrates.

“We want to raise these ewes like dairy heifers to grow frame without a lot of internal fat,” Bret said.

Bret said body type helps with udder health

and milking performance when they lamb. The ram lambs eat it as well.

The other ration for most of the other sheep is a base feed of 60% oats plus corn and a balancer pellet with a little bit of fat to cut the dust. Ewes who lambed last fall are on a maintenance diet of hay.

The Oelkes shear their sheep once a year.

“We shear before they lamb because, if they have long wool, the lamb has a harder time finding the udder, and the ewes have more of a chance of lying on their lamb because they can’t feel it,” Lorie said.

“Plus, it keeps our barn dryer because wool holds moisture, so our barn stays warmer and dryer for our lambs because they give off more body heat.”

Efforts by the Oel-

kes have resulted in quality sheep. Year after year their sheep win big at shows. They have won senior champion, junior champion and reserve champion status at too many county, state and national levels to count, sometimes taking several championship levels at once in the same show.

However, the experiences mean most.

“I think it’s a great way to raise a family,” Bret said. “Even if they don’t keep showing, the experiences they have had they will remember and hopefully look back on fondly.”

beginnig

Lorie agreed.

“I’m proud of what our kids have accomplished and the people they have met,” she said.

The Oekles have a motto for their farm, which Lorie said sums up their goal in raising sheep.

“It’s breeding and

showing big, bold and beautiful Suffolk sheep our way, teaching our next generations hard work and responsibility and integrity,” Lorie said.

PHOTO SU B MITTED Bret Oelke, Daphne Bergstrom-Oelke, Walker Hawthorne, Jackie Oelke, Retta Hawthorne, Jerrod Nohner, Jodee Nohner, Lorie Oelke, Scarlet BergstromMcKee, Maverick Hawthorne and Drake Nohner show some of the hardware they won while showing sheep in July 2022 at the Minnesota State Suffolk Show at the Rice County Fair in Faribault, Minnesota. Bret was the

of family’s hobby over 60 years.

Lot 1 – The Northeast Quarter (NE¼) (LESS TWO ACRES) Section Nineteen (19), T-120-N, R-40-W, Swift County, Minnesota. This parcel consists of 158.99 Deeded Acres with 151.78 Tillable.

Lot 2 – The Southwest Quarter (SW¼) of Section Twenty-two (22), T-120-N, R-40-W, Swift County, Minnesota. This parcel consists of 161.53 Deeded Acres with 143.97 Tillable.

Timed online auction with bidding open 10 a.m. March 27 and closing 1 p.m. March 31, 2023.

From settlers to sesquicentennial

Kleins have owned North Prairie farmstead for over 150 years

BY NATASHA BARBER | STAFF WRITER

TWO RIVERS – Minnesota had yet to become a state when Mathias Klein laid claim to an 80-acre property in what is today Two Rivers Township, Morrison County. The Prussian-born blacksmith built his life with wife Eva on a ridge that intercepted the Red River Trails system.

“He was a blacksmith in the Army, and they needed a blacksmith out here, so that’s why he ended up at the property,” Joe Klein said. “This is the first settlement of the Kleins.”

Joe, or Joseph by birth, is the great-grandson of Mathias and Eva Klein. He is the fourth generation to occupy the property that was officially homesteaded in September 1869. Joe estimates the property just

outside of North Prairie has been in his family for 170 years.

“Covered wagons actually went through this yard,” he said. “This was a place to be fixed.”

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Klein page 8

PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER Joseph “Joe” Klein looks over historical information in his kitchen on the Klein Family Farm Feb. 27 in Two Rivers Township, Morrison County. As the fourth generation to live on the farm, Klein estimates the first family settled on the land 170 years ago.

Joe said his great-grandparents, who had four children which included his grandfather Joseph, occupied the land peacefully with indigenous people. While Mathias tended to stagecoaches and covered wagons, Eva prepared meals and cared for travelers. The family and others in the area shared what the land provided.

“They didn’t fight the (American) Indians,” Joe said. “The Indians had deer and buffalo and stuff like that. That helped feed the people who were on the stagecoaches.”

The Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation documents and recognizes Century Farms and Sesquicentennial Farms each year. The Klein farm received the sesquicentennial designation in 2008, the first year of the MFBF program.

Joe’s farm remains the only farm in Morrison County to receive the designation.

The first, second and third homes were built on the property as well as

Joe K lein

a barn and chicken coop prior to Joseph and Anna Klein – the second generation – taking over the farm. In addition to corn and grain production, the family had 12-15 dairy cows and youngstock. They also grew potatoes and cabbage.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Mathias Klein is named property owner of 80 acres. Under the Homestead Act of 1862, settlers could claim land for free as long as they lived on the land for five years, made improvements such as building a house and filed an application for deed.

PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER

A stone foundation building sits Feb. 27 on the Klein family farm in Two Rivers Township. The building was the first home built on the property.

Klein page 9

Klein

from page 18

“The other big thing they had here were chickens to sell eggs,” Joe said.

Arnold, Joe’s dad, was one of seven children. The third generation on the farm, he began helping his mother after his father died in 1919. He was 15. The original barn burned that same year, Joe said.

Though tragedy struck, so did opportunity. Under Anna’s leadership, the Kleins purchased an additional 40 acres of land in Stearns County.

Arnold married Helen Thomalla Oct. 8, 1946, and the two expanded their family with the addition of their sons, Joe and James.

“Mom died in 1961; Jimmy was 8, I was 10,” said Joe, who added that although his grandmother Anna lived on the farm she, too, was ill. “My dad had to do all the work because we were small. … That’s the way things went here. My job then was to peel potatoes,

and I started cooking with bologna, wieners, polish sausage and stuff like that, and then we learned how to fry chicken.”

In addition to taking care of the family meals, Joe and his brother had other important roles on the farmstead. They brought in side income by digging worms and catching frogs for fishermen as well as baling and stacking hay when they grew older. The boys dug four sacks of red potatoes three days a week which were then hauled and sold to Erdrich’s Meat Market in Little Falls, which also bought eggs and cabbage from the family. In the summer months, the family grew and picked cucumbers to sell to the Gedney Pickle Factory in nearby Bowlus.

“When it got light in the morning, we were up at 5:30 picking pickles and it took us until 10:3011 o’clock to get them all picked,” Joe said. “We used to haul in six or eight 100-pound sacks of pickles to Bowlus every third day. That was our income. … We were one of the small-

er farmers, but we had our other jobs like I said.”

With an interest in flying, Joe learned how to operate aircraft prior to entering U.S. military service in 1969. He spent nearly three years as a pilot and mechanic in the Army before returning to the farm and taking over duties of corn and grain production with his father by his side.

“That’s when we bought our own machinery,” said Joe, who also worked part time off farm as an adult.

Joe also purchased another 20 acres in Stearns County and constructed a host of other buildings on the farm, including an airplane hangar, while maintaining others over his 52 years as property owner.

His father died in 1996.

Today, the land that supported four generations of Kleins is split between acres of farmstead, meadow hay and those enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program. Joe, who has shared his life with Rosie Brix since 1991, no longer tills the fields; however, he continues helping with agricultural production on a neighbor’s property one parcel over.

With no livestock to be cared for and a heavy snowpack waiting on a spring thaw, the Klein farm is rather quiet. Still, the buildings whisper a story of what came before.

“This place has so much meaning,” Joe said. “I don’t know how to explain it. There’s feelings here from the people of the past, and I don’t think they’d want me to sell it.”

Joe plans to leave the family legacy to his nieces, Jacquelyn and Amanda.

PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER

Joe Klein holds a Sesquicentennial Farm plaque Feb. 27 while inside his home on his property outside of North Prairie. The Klein family farm received the designation in 2008 when the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation began recognizing farms that have been family-owned for over 150 years.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

An aerial view of the Klein family farm shows multiple outbuildings on the 80 acres property. The original barn burned in 1919.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

Arnold and Helen (Thomalla) Klein are married Oct. 8, 1946. The Kleins were the third generation to own the property on which their son, Joe Klein, lives today.

Salutes... ADELINE LUNDIN Twigger tales

Editor’s Note: Twiggers are small woodland creatures composed of twigs and other natural materials.

Paynesville

320-243-3938

www.feedcomn.com

School: Litchfield High School

Grade: 11

Parents: Erin & Daryl Lundin

FFA Chapter: Litchfield (Region V)

Tell us about some of the things you’ve done in FFA. Currently, I am serving as our chapter president for the 2022-2023 season. FFA was something I started as a freshman and I’ve grown to love it because of the people and the fun things we can participate in.

Name one current issue you believe will impact agriculture in the future. One of the biggest challenges I’ve noticed just in the last few years has been climate change. The climate could potentially affect the crop yield more than it already has and cause more challenges for farmers.

How would you encourage an inactive FFA member to become more involved? There are many different CDEs and LDEs kids are able to participate in. I know for our chapter, if we think someone has good potential for anything involved in FFA, we ask them to try it out.

What is the greatest benefit you have received from being involved in FFA? The greatest benefit for me has been the community outreach and involvement. Although I’m a part of some pretty great things in our school, I still believe the most amount of community communication has been through FFA.

What do you enjoy most about FFA? Why? I like the leadership opportunities along with meeting new people. I think it’s really interesting meeting people from different chapters, and even different regions. I know my first region banquet I attended was sophomore year, and I met so many new people. The same thing goes for the state convention. You get to learn about some of the things other chapters do which could be something you incorporate into your chapters, schedule.

What does leadership mean to you? Leadership isn’t being the person who does everything by themselves; they’re the person who communicates with others, and sets good examples that others want to follow or be a part of.

What other hobbies and interests do you have outside of FFA? I am involved in marching band, choir, student council, swimming, basketball, and I enjoy golfing with friends in my free time.

When you spend a lot of time outdoors and in the woods, you begin to notice things you would have otherwise missed: the different sounds of birds, wind through the trees, sometimes sounds that you can’t quite identify. You notice the colors, textures, designs and patterns. You see how things fit together. Concepts materialize. One could say that things come to you.

Working out –outdoors, that is by

Nancy Packard Leasman

Such is the case with the Twiggers.

Having regularly spent time in the woods over the last two years, I have proved myself to be harmless to these little creatures that inhabit the woods. In fact, I’ve been quite constructive.

Skater was one of the first Twiggers to introduce himself.

Skater loves the ice and lives for cold winter days. It doesn’t take very much ice to make a rink for Skater. He’s never played hockey. He’s more of a speed skater.

Skater begged to meet the water wizard, or ice maiden, who has been so instrumental in getting an outdoor ice rink in town. He heard her name was Lu and was so excited to meet her in her office. He thought she must be a really brave woman to deal with that much ice. Twiggers are naturally fearful of ice. Skater is an exception, though, and now that he’s met Lu, maybe she’ll show him what sticks and pucks have to do with ice.

Diedre is a dog walker. Yes, there are tiny dogs in the Twigger world. Diedre would like to have her own dog but for now is content to walk her friend’s dogs, Sybil and Evie. She is firm with the dogs and keeps them on leashes. She always has treats for them.

On one of their walks, they decided to visit Sybil and Evie in the human world. It was terribly frightening because the human-world Sybil and Evie are so large. Bravery is a combination of terror and desire, and the little duo was very brave, as was Diedre, who led the foray through the floor level to get to the high place where it was safe.

The human-world Sybil and Evie were gracious to their visitors and really didn’t act any way other than friendly. But, still, they were very large.

Unfortunately, there was a catastrophe. While the dogs gave little notice to their Twiggers visitors, one of the resident cats (there are two) climbed,

stretched and batted until Diedre and the small dogs fell within reach. The trio was terrified! All three suffered greatly under the attack.

A decision needed to be made. Should there be a Twigger funeral, or should an attempt at restoration be made?

All three underwent surgical procedures to reattach limbs, heads and smaller details. They survived and, in the manner of “getting back on the horse,” have fearlessly (but not without trepidation) gone back to the site of their attack.

They are more watchful, now, and live on a safer plane (we hope).

Aggie had a much less adventurous visit. He loves agates, which, to him, are very large rocks. He wears chaps to protect his tender shins from getting banged up by the rocks. He has some favorite fields to hunt for agates but is fearful of the huge machinery that sometimes moves through them. He knows the best time to look for the striped treasures is after a rain. He waits until the sun shines because that’s when the rocks really glisten.

Aggie was the first of the Twiggers to venture out into the greater world. He’d heard about a family with a huge agate collection and yearned to see it for himself. They were thrilled with his visit and the fact that he shares their passion for striped rocks.

Rhea, Fern, Amy, Rocky, Lily, Mapeline, Rubi, Acer, Carrie, Callie, Vita, Angie, Burly Man, Flip, Amora and Peep are also brave Twiggers who have left the woods to explore the human world. Rhea lives in a library, Amy a post office, Flip a hair salon, Amora a pharmacy. Angie and Burly Man will go to Wisconsin to live with mushroom hunters. Callie lives with new friends in a bird cage in Minneapolis.

Collin carries a shamrock staff and a bucket of golden beads. Of course, Collin isn’t Irish. He’s a Twigger from central Minnesota. However, he fancies the stories of leprechauns, loves to dress in kilts and honors the folklore of Ireland.

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face And the leprechauns bring only treasure.

GOATSbearing gi s

Harden creates skincare products

BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE | STAFF WRITER

GREY EAGLE –

Lateshia Harden scoured the internet in search of something, anything that could get her infant daughter’s eczema under control. Her research led her to purchase her first goat, hoping to use its milk to create a gentle soap. Today, Harden is the maker of a whole line of goat milk skin care products.

Harden’s product line, called Twisted Oak, includes eight different soaps and six different lotions, all made from the milk of the goats at her rural Grey Eagle farm.

“We literally went

into the farming with no experience whatsoever,” Harden said.

After buying the first goat in 2014, Harden immediately started experimenting with soap recipes using goat milk.

“I learned how to milk a goat,” Harden said. “Then my one goat turned into 35 goats.”

The original goat, Tina, is an Alpine goat, but the majority of Harden’s goats are Nigerian Dwarfs. She chose the Nigerian Dwarfs because they have a higher fat content than full-sized goats.

“They don’t produce as much as some others,”

Harden said. “But, I think their quality of milk is much better.”

Harden does not push her 35 goats for production –she only has five out of the herd milking at any given time. She milks each goat by hand, taking her on average 30 to 40 minutes a day, which gives her about two quarts of milk a day. All of the milk is used towards her products. In the summer, all her goats are on pasture, rotationally grazing her 40 acres. Besides the grass, the goats are fed a regime of sun-

The

A display of Twisted Oak products includes lips balms, lotions and soaps. Twisted Oak products are all homemade with goat milk and other natural products.

flower seeds, lactation pellets and a mineral supplement.

eld a supt.

The goats, Harden said, also provide fun and learning opportunities for her children.

“I love (the goats’) personalities,” Harden said. “Everyone is totally different. Kidding time is a household favorite time of the year. Everybody gets involved.”

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Hardens – Kyja (front) Anthony (back, from left) holding Kaiden, Lateshia holding Kiara – stand among their goats in rural Grey Eagle. The Hardens started making goat milk soaps and lotions after their daughter had eczema as a baby.

Kaiden Harden holds a goat at his family’s farm near Grey Eagle. The Hardens raise 35 goats, nine yaks and a flock of chickens at their farm.

Harden page 12

Harden’s husband, Anthony, and their three kids; Kyja, 8, Kaiden, 6, Kiara, 4, all help with daily chores.

“We try to engage our kids in all of the life cycle,” Harden said. “We see the good

and the bad. We see the babies being born, and sometimes they get sick and don’t make it. It’s such a life-learning experience.”

The kids help Harden fulfill orders of her growing business by helping to fill lotion bottles. Harden does online wholesale, which includes a website and a Facebook page for cus-

tomers to find her products. But, her favorite clientele are members of the local community.

“It’s so heart-warming to hear of people who heard about me from their friends,” Harden said. “That means more to me than anything else.”

Because of the overwhelming positive demand for her products,

Harden is looking to expand her business into a new facility.

“I went from making everything in a 4-cup measuring cup, to mixing bowls, to now in 5-gallon stainless steel pots,” Harden said.

When Harden first started out on her adventure in her kitchen, she was a stay-at-home mom and thought it would be a great source of income. She then had to expand into the lower level of her house and now has grown out of that space as well.

Harden researched online how to make soaps and lotion, which led her to formulate her own recipes. Harden’s main recipe uses a gallon of milk at a time, which makes about 75 bars of soap.

“It was so exciting to be able to know I can do this and make something from something else,” Harden said.

In creating her line of soaps and lotions,

Harden uses essential oils and other naturally and locally-sourced

elements. She works with a local beekeeper to get honey, which is used in several of Twisted Oak’s soaps, including her top-selling oatmeal milk and honey, a staple among her customers.

“It’s soft enough to nourish your skin but not going to melt away,” Harden said. “Also, my products are lightly scented, so they aren’t overbearing.”

Of her six varieties of lotion, Harden said her Lilac is a summertime favorite, and a unique one called Sweater Weather is a fall favorite.

Harden page 13

A baby yak stands in the pasture at the Harden family farm near Grey Eagle. The Hardens have nine yaks and process them for their meat and fiber.

An adult yak stands proud at the Harden family farm near Grey Eagle. The Hardens first started raising yaks in 2018

from page 12

“It took two years to perfect my soap recipe to get it the right consistency,” Harden said. “I didn’t want to use any preservatives, and it needed to be paraben free. That took a really long time and a lot of research.”

A percentage of every order from Twisted Oak is donated toward purchasing Christmas gifts for kids in the community.

The distinct logo on all of Twisted Oak’s products is of an actual tree in the pasture of Harden’s farm, which also inspired the brand name and is what the Hardens now call their farm. It started out as one tree at the base, then split and twisted together as it grew. Harden found the tree so beautiful that she had her sister take a picture of it, which was then used as the logo for her growing business.

When Harden was in elementary school, she toured a yak farm and decided she wanted to have yaks of her own one day. Her childhood dream became reality in 2018 when the family bought four yaks.

The group of yaks has

since grown to be a herd of nine yaks now. The Hardens use the yaks for their meat and also harvest their fur for its fiber.

Twisted Oak farm is also home to a flock of chickens.

As this growing farm and family thrives, so does its business.

“It was never about having this thriving business,”

thrivss,”

d e

Harden said.

“I just wanted to help people. If you show love, you will receive love.”

This unscented bar of soap is one of eight varieties of soap Twisted Oak produces. A gallon of milk is used to make each batch of 75 bars of soap.

making soaps and lotions with the milk ever since.

This unscented bottle of lotion is one of six varieties of lotion Twisted Oak produces. Each of Twisted Oak’s products are lightly scented and use essential oils and other naturally sourced elements for scent.

Lateshia Harden and a goat pose for the camera at their farm near Grey Eagle. Harden bought her first goat in 2013 and has been

of their material traits they are a lot calmer than most of the other beef cattle breeds. Having docile cattle is important to the Klaphakes for several reasons. They said it makes is so much easier when working and moving cattle around and it’s imperative to safety on the farm as Austin and his fiancé, Leczi have three young kids that enjoy being outside around the animals.

“We don’t chase our cattle, we call our cattle and they always come,” Austin said. “We want to be able to take anyone out to the pasture.”

Russ said the Klaphake’s traveled to other ranches across Minnesota, North Da-

HUGE SAVINGS!

kota, South Dakota and Nebraska to visit other farms and learn about genetics.

“It is really fun and

enjoyable going to other ranches and seeing how other guys do it,” Russ said.

Russ and his wife,

Best time to buy

Paula live in the area and come out to the farm daily to check on the animals. Paula, who has retired from her full-time job, is now considered the main overseer of the animal well-being on the farm.

“With the embryo transfer we see more consistency,” Russ said. “To see the genetics and to meet the people behind other herds is the fun part.”

Austin looks for cattle with good feet and legs and a good udder. The ideal weaning weight is between 650 and 750 pounds.

“Weighing them is

also a good way to see if they are performing well,” Russ said. “Our goal is to make better cattle.”

The bulls that get sold at the sale have good birth weight, weaning weight and good yearling weight.

The heifers that go towards the sale are the ones who calve too late in the season, therefore not fitting in with the rest of the herd.

Each year the Klaphakes get 55 to 60 new calves and in order to maintain the herd and

overall herd heath, they sell off some of the extra animals. Typically calving season for the Klaphake’s is from the first week in Feb. to midApril.

Detailed records are kept on all of the animals.

Once a cow is about two weeks from calving, she is brought inside to the calving barn. After she has her calf, they are both monitored closely for 24 hours. At that time, if mom and baby seem to be happy and healthy, they are moved to another shed, where mom and baby will have time to bond and a little more room to move before heading back out to pasture.

In the summer, once things green up, the cattle will be moved out to pasture and enjoy the plethora of luscious green grass. They stay there until late September or early October.

The pasture has plenty of room for the cattle to keep clean, making sure they have plenty of space is important for the Klaphake’s to maintain cow calf health all year round.

Klaphake page 19

PHOTO S BY TIFFANY KLAPHAKE

Emalea Klaphake reaches out to pet one of the Red Angus animals with Russ Klaphake watching on March 3 at their farm A & R Red Angus near Holdingford. The Klaphakes chose to raise Red Angus cattle because of their natural docile demeanor. (Right) Izaac Klaphake uses his toy to push up feed Mar. 3 at his family’s farm near Holdingford.

Austin Klaphake moves cattle around at A & R Red Angus. Austin is a first generation farmer, starting A & R Red Angus in 2011.

Frank Roering joins

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RECIPES FROM THE LUEDTKE FAMILY OF LUCKYLAND ELK | Bowlus, Morrison County

Crockpot Elk Chili Barbecue Elk Meatballs

• 1lb elk burger

• 1/2 cup chopped onions

• 1 cup chopped peppers

• Large can of crushed tomatoes

Luckyland Elk Stew

• 1 can beer

• 1 can chili beans of choice

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp chili powder, additional to taste

Brown burger with onions and peppers. Add all ingredients to crockpot and cook on low for 4-8 hours. Add additional chili powder to taste.

Elk Hashbrown Casserole

• 1lb elk burger

• 1 medium onion

finely chopped

• 2 tsp. beef flavored better than bouillon or 2 cubes beef

bouillon crushed

• 1 bag hashbrowns

• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 can cream of celery soup

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• French’s Onions

Brown burger with the chopped onion. Combine cream of celery soup, milk, salt, pepper, and cheese in a large bowl. Add hashbrowns and browned burger and mix until the hashbrowns are evenly coated. Empty mixture into a 2 quart baking dish, or a pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Cover and put in 375 oven for about an hour, or until it is cooked all the way through. Pull out and top with French’s onions and put back in oven uncovered until onions are crispy, then serve.

Elk and Potato

Casserole

• 1lb elk burger

• 1 small onion finely chopped

• 4 cups potatoes thinly sliced

• 2 TBSP melted butter

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 can cream of celery soup

• 1/3 cup milk

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• A bag of frozen corn or vegetable of your choice

Mix potatoes with butter and salt. Line potato mixture in bottom of a greased 13x9 baking dish. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes, until potatoes are almost tender. While that is baking, brown the elk burger with the chopped onion. Once it is brown, mix with the vegetables of your choice and layer on top of partially cooked potatoes. Combine cream of celery soup, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 1/2 cup cheese, and pour over meat and vegetable mixture. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Pull out and sprinkle with remaining cheese and put back in oven for a couple of minutes to melt.

• 1lb elk burger

• 1/4 cup onion finely chopped

• 1 clove minced garlic

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• Barbecue sauce

Sauté onions in butter until soft. Add garlic and sauté for an additional 2 minutes. In bowl combine all ingredients. Form into small balls. Place on foil-lined baking sheet and cook at 375 for 30 to 40 minutes. Toss with your favorite barbecue sauce, our personal favorite is Baron’s Barbeque Sauce!

Cheeseburger Soup

• 1lb elk burger

• 1/2 cup chopped onion

• 2 cups chopped carrots

• 2 tbsp butter

• 2 tsp parsley

• 9 cups chicken broth

• 7 cups potatoes

• 1/2 cup flour

• 3/4 cup water

• 16 oz American cheese

• Salt, pepper, sour cream to taste

Brown elk with onions. Sauté carrots and parsley in butter for 10 mins. Add broth, potatoes, and elk and simmer until tender. In container with lid add flour and water and shake until smooth. Slowly add to soup and simmer until desired thickness. Add cheese and stir until completely mixed. Add salt, pepper, and sour cream to taste.

Elk Burger Stroganoff

• 1lb elk burger

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup

• 1 medium onion finely chopped

• 2 tsp. beef flavored better than bouillon or 2 cubes beef

bouillon crushed

• 1/2 cup milk

• Canned mushrooms (optional)

• 1 cup sour cream

• Bag of Egg Noodles

• Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown burger with onions until cooked through. Add cream of mushroom soup, bouillon, and milk and simmer until all bouillon is dissolved and everything is heated through. Add sour cream and mushrooms (if desired) and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cooked egg noodles. Very easy and kids love it!.

• Approx. 2 lbs. elk cubed

• 3 Tbsp. Bacon fat

• 5 cups hot water

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 clove of garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 Tbsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• Dash of allspice

• 6 carrots sliced

• 1 large onion

• 4 cups potatoes diced

• 2 TBSP beef better than bouillon or beef

bouillon powder or cubes

• Thickening (flour and water)

Cut the elk in cubes and chop the onion to desired size. Brown both of those in the bacon fat in a pan. While that browns, put the water, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic bay leave, salt, pepper, paprika and allspice in a crock pot. When the meat is brown on the outside put meat onions, and any juice left in the pan into the crockpot. Simmer for 2 hours. Add the carrots and onions and cook until the vegetables are done. Pour the liquid out of the crock pot into a pan. Add 2 tbsp. beef better than bouillon into the sauce. Bring to a simmer and add thickening to make a gravy. The way I make thickening is to put flour and milk into a jar or something with a lid and shake it to make a very thick liquid. Pour the gravy back into the crockpot and serve.

***You can adjust the amount of potatoes and carrots to your liking, and add celery if you like

“The seed business isn’t the same as it was when I started. Different crops are grown in the area, and the numbers of farmers has shrunk. I need to be willing to adjust as the industry evolves.”

The farm has shipped seed and grain overseas, as well as to several states, including Hawaii, and has sent wheat to a vodka distillery to broaden their portfolio.

The number of farmers in the area has decreased since Lee took over in 1989, but the number of acres managed by each farm family has increased, Lee said. To accommodate the larger size of farm operations, the majority of the seed is cleaned into hopper bins and goes out to customers as true bulk. Scott said he also does paper bags of wheat and oats and tote bags that weigh between 2,000-2,400 pounds. He can accommodate a variety of operation sizes or seed tenders.

With the seed cleaning side of the business, they do cleaning for several area farms as well as for other seed growers. They’ve cleaned everything from peanuts and almonds to grass seed.

Agronomy has been part of Lee’s life from day No. 1, and he hopes it continues for a very long time. Lee said maybe someday his children will step in and partake

fully in a family legacy.

“One of my favorite things about the farm is stepping out of a machine, watching the sun on the horizon while my boys are in the field harvesting,” Lee said. “That is one of the best things about this job – watching the whole thing happen right in front of our eyes and being able to appreciate the beauty of it.”

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

A semi and hopper trailer are loaded with wheat before heading to the farm for cleaning. Lee’s Seed Farm has sent seed overseas and to various states including Hawaii.

Scott Lee uses a variety of precision technology to plant and harvest his crops near Benson. Lee uses GPS and yield mapping to ensure the accuracy of his operation.

Cutline needed

(Right) A bottle of vodka made from wheat that came from Lee’s Seed Farm sits in a tote of wheat. Lee’s Seed Farm sent wheat to the distillery to broaden the farm’s horizons.

Brad Herickhoff, Owner 320-351-4872

Buying or Selling Rural Property?

In the past 2 years, Weiss Realty closed just over 500 transactions and over $200,000,000 in sales volume and over 35,000 acres sold! No other brokers in the Bluff Country can match our results! Propertes sold included farms, hobby farms, rural homes with acreage, cabins, country estates, tillable ground, campsites and hunting land.

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