Essays

A well-loved 1985 Ford F250 diesel truck waiting for its next task. (Photo by Greg Schieber)

Essay | Setbacks Are the Norm on My Small Farm

<span style="font-size: 14px; color: #6c6b6b; ">Each spring Maynard Underbakke, at right, would welcome students to tour his tree farm nursery. Each student was given a spruce seedling to plant at their home. (Photo submitted by Bonita Underbakke)</span>

Essay | Father Was Born Capable

<span style="font-size: 14px; color: #6c6b6b; ">Several harvested varieties of heirloom tomatoes await processing. Wild tomatoes originated in the mountains of South America, but were believed to be domesticated in Mexico. Cortés took them from the new world back to Spain. (Photo by John Torgrimson)</span>

Essay | Garden Harvest

RRC Root River Diary Goat in Pickup by Adrienne Sweeney (1)

Root River Diary | Four Dogs and a Surprise

<span style="font-size: 14px; color: #6c6b6b; ">Founding teacher and abbot Rev. Shoken Winecoff explains the significance of the bell at Ryumonji, a Soto Zen Buddhist temple located in the rolling hills just across the Minnesota-Iowa border southeast of Spring Grove (Houston County). (Photo courtesy of the Ryumonji Center)</span>

Essay | A Story of Balance: A Zen Buddhist Retreat in the Heart of the Midwest

PHOTO 1 Mailbox by Bonnie Gibson

Root River Diary | Good Neighbors

<span style="font-size: 14px; color: #6c6b6b; ">Freshly cut hay on a perfect summer day. (Photo by Greg Schieber)</span>

Essay | Making Hay…as Well as Memories

Connection with a neighbor and quick action by a local ambulance crew brought aid to Don Bell.

Root River Diary | Counting on Your Neighbors

Reclaiming the garden was one of the first projects after moving to the Big Woods. (Photo by Greg Schieber)

Essay | Time is Illusive on Our Farm in the Big Woods

Each spring, the Mississippi River’s backwater streams gradually return to life across the Reno Bottoms south of Brownsville. (Photo by Ken Lubinski)

Essay | Spring Rising

The Wolf Moon is also called the Moon on the Frost of Tipis by the Dakota people. (Photo by Sharen Storhoff)

Essay | Winter Silence

The author, Don Bell, is pictured by Amish Experience in Lanesboro—his grandfather’s leather shop was located on the ground floor in the 1950s. The building at one time housed the Odd Fellows Lodge.

Essay | I’m Changing My Ways with Water

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