1900s Farming in Washington County Minnesota

Reader Contribution by The Mother Earth News Editors
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This story is from Ruth Zwald, written by her father, Robert Zwald, and submitted as part of our Wisdom From Our Elders collection of self-sufficient tales from yesteryear. She compiled her father’s stories in his own words, and they are posted in eight parts. Read the other parts:Growing Up on a Farm; Catching Frogs for Money; One Room School House; Borrowing Against Life InsuranceChanges in Agriculture; Courtship and Marriage and The Wisconsin Farm.  

Prologue
It is Christmas Day 2004. We had a big Christmas dinner and gift giving party here last night. Everyone was here except Ruth and her two kids. We even had Irma’s brother, wife and two kids from San Salvador. It was a great party, thanks to Grandma; with too many presents and too much to eat. I have enough nuts to last me through the winter.

As I write this, I’m closer to 88 years old than I want to be. As I looked the gang over last night, I wondered what they all would be doing before they get to my age . . . how many kids – where they would live – if they would ever be this close to each other again down the years. Every one of the kids and grandkids used the same highchair that I used as a baby.

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