The Petersons
It was 27 years ago in 1980 that my husband Craig was able to fulfill his dream of owning and living on his grandfather's farm here in Harmony Township of Vernon County. My name is Myrna Peterson and my husband Craig and I have been married for 22 years, sharing all of them on this farm; in 1985 we even spent our honeymoon here. What makes this place even more meaningful is we both were raised on dairy farms in the township; Craig grew up just a mile down the road from where we now live, and I in Newton Valley.
We have kept the old farmhouse as true to the original as possible and refinished all the woodwork, including the maple flooring. As our family grew, we built a big addition by working alongside the carpenter and finishing most of the inside ourselves. The local Amish made our cupboards, trim, doors, and wood flooring. We painstakingly stained and finished the new wood to match the refinished old woodwork and maple flooring in the old house. A lot of time and love went into this house, our home.
Craig has been an elementary teacher in the De Soto Area School District for 30 years and I'm a stay at home mom. Starting since we were married, we also do relief milking for local farmers. Both of our kids were introduced to the barn from their strollers and now do some of the milking when we chore.
Thirteen years so far have been dedicated to home schooling our son and daughter, Lee and Bethany. Bethany, now a Sophomore, is active in 4-H with sewing, crocheting, and showing animals. Lee, a Senior, has started a meat goat operation of 50+ goats that he wants to expand when he graduates this spring. We were in the process of building an addition on the shed to house his growing goat herd and help him get started with his dream but now wonder if that will ever happen here on our farm.
Our 68 acre farm not only pastures the goats, but is also used as heifer pasture and cropland by two of our neighboring organic farmers. We make full use of our land by raising and selling organic raspberries, growing our own apples, pears and grapes, and raising a big garden. Most of the vegetables that we consume for the year we raise and put away ourselves. We also raise and butcher our own free range chickens and turkeys.
This truly is a long-standing family farm. It has been lovingly tended. With its steep slopes, the cropland has been carefully managed over the years with current conservation practices to preserve the quality of the land for future generations. Our dream of another having a fourth generation to nurture this land and being able to pass it on to future generations may never happen. Our earnest hope and prayer is that someone will wake up before it’s too late and realize that destroying this quality farm land and way of life benefits no one.