Good Morning everyone from California. Our John tells me that all is well back on the farmy. Not long now and we can see for ourselves. But I am loving the Un-Bloggers series. (We must do this again.) Today our Un-Blogger Post comes from the flat, flat tundra. Thank you Mere for taking over for me today and Mere is our second to last guest blogger.. Enjoy! .. celi
Greetings from North Dakota!
We live in the coldest part of the country on the Northern Great Plains, in the gracious and proud State of North Dakota! This is me skiing home.
The winds are always blowing and our temps are extreme…from the high 90s+ in the summer to 30-40 below zero durning the winter months. Everyday seems to be a bad hair day! You look great in front of the mirror, but as soon as you step outside? Well…it’s not good! I have a kazillion hats!
Our farm is on the shores of the ancient Lake Agassiz in what is called the Red River Valley. Beautiful country.
My husband and I grow hard red spring wheat and soybeans. I am a gardener, canner, wine and jelly maker!
Hubby is a hobby beer brewer! I grow heirlooms and collect seeds. All my 7 kitties are neutered and up to date on vaccines. Excellent mousers! Even though 5 of them are toothless!
Some of my other hobbies include working on a gluten free cookbook, restoration, baking, cooking, and gardening!
I love creating or reinventing some dish and refurbishing some lovely find! Always thinking and doing something!
My sweetheart and I work together everyday and because of all the time we spend together we are very close in love and friendship! He is my best friend in the whole world! I feel lucky!
Good news! We are pregnant and our new golden puppy will be ready to come home the first week of January. I will always miss my Maisy.
She was such a bright light everyday in our lives. She was our girl. We miss her very much and probably always will. We feel that we are ready to provide a home for a new baby…one to bring happiness back into our lives! It will be nice to feel the joy of a pup once again.
I hope you enjoy my photos of home! I wish I could post more!
Sincerely, Mere Frost
The Kitchen's Garden 
70 responses to “Mere’s Guest Post from the Tundra”
Greetings from SW Oklahoma! I’m a relocated Nebraska farm girl… I can only think North and South Dakota could be colder and more blustery than where I grew up! I love the big barns, machine sheds and smaller buildings situated on farmsteads up north. It’s different here in the south, but equally interesting as far as agriculture goes… cotton and peanuts were crops I had to get to know! They also raise corn, wheat and soybeans here too. It was great to see your photos and learn a little about your way of life! Nice post!! ~ Lori
Hey Okie! My son is selling his home in NC and looking to buy land in OK! Scares the life out of me! We have seen devastation here in ND from tornadoes…but he is determined! Ahhhh I feel the gray hairs sprouting! LOL Mmmmm….peanuts! Lucky! NE is a beautiful state too! Thank you! 😀
Hi Mere,
My Dad was born in South Dakota and I was always thankful his family did not stay there. Illinois winters are bad enough! 🙂 Great look at your farm..and your pantry..wow! That is a lot of food. Wish I had it.
Hi Connie!
Winter is not the best time anywhere I am thinking! Unless it is in the Carribean! 😉 Thank you!
What I am enjoying very much about the guest bloggers is that you all have hard-working healthy kind of lives you all have. Your heat and cold are extreme, and must take great flexibility of wardrobe! My admiration is profound.
When we moved last August we moved three huge cartons of jams, jellies and chutneys, which should about see us out: just as well, as we only have a tiny garden now, mostly in pots, and I don’t have the strength to stand at the stove for more than a few minutes.
Most impressive to me is how neat and tidy your pantry –in fact your whole farm–is. all those jars of what look to me like spaghetti sauce but think they are tomatoes! I love the first shot, just spectacular and have to ask is that one elegant machine a thresher? Ignorant city gal here.
The happiest days of my life were the days we adopted a dog or cat so I know how excited you must be to actually know in advance you are adopting. All of my experiences were happening upon a stray and making a quick but life-long decision, scooping ’em up and tottling home.
I’m looking forward to seeing your soon-to-be blog.
Hi Equus! We are very neat and tidy! Makes less work! Thank you for noticing! It is a grand compliment! Some are tomato sauce, some tomato soup, and some are whole tomatoes! 🙂 That is an old hay rake that Kevin’s grandfather used back in the day. It is like a hand rake only much larger! It was pulled by horses and it rakes up the hay, then dumps in piles. Later he would pick it up with a big wide fork attached to an old time tractor. Then it was transported to the farm to feed the livestock. Cool eh? 😀
I too carried many a stray home to my mother’s dismay! LOL Still do! To Kevin’s dismay now! 😀
Change is nice! Season to season…different work, clothes, foods, and always fresh air and peace and quiet! I love it! Pot gardens are lovely too! Mmmmm….I have to have all my jellies etc….LOL Take care vivinfrance! (((hugs)))
p.s. Isn’t that old hay rake cool! I pulled it out of the trees and put on the front lawn! I thought it was so interesting!
Hi Mere, What a beautiful farm you have. I have been reading your comments for a long time and now I get to see you and where you live. Living off the land and the fruits of your labors is such a wonderful feeling. Wish we could grow so many veggies and put them up, but our growing season is only 60 days with below 45 degree nights in summer. I remember singing Red River Valley, too. Never really gave it a thought as to where it was, though. Our animal babies are really part of our hearts, aren’t they? Sorry for your loss, but having a new pup to help with the grief is a wonderful thing. We still miss our Maya. It is hard to lose them. Thank you for talking to us
Hi Emily! Thank you! I am sorry for your loss as well. Maya is a beautiful name! They will never be forgotten. So many happy memories to think about. This is where I go now.
That is a very short growing season! I wouldn’t mind those 45 degree nights in the summer! LOL It is a catchy tune isn’t it! 😉
Yep, we use down comforters all year long!
Really hard to coax a ripe tomato even in the greenhouse.
Mere,
Just loved your beautiful picture with the Dakota sky and tree! Frame it!
Even better – sharing your harvest picture ~ the fruit room ~ made me think of Mother’s fruit room ~ brought tears to my eyes – I wish I would’ve taken a picture of Mother’s fruit room. Her fruit room was in the basement, so it was about a 10′ by 11′ concrete block room and 3 rows of 2 ft wide shelves on 3 walls! Filled with Mother’s harvest for her family of us 6 kids: almost 200 qts of applesauce, 180 qts of peaches, probably 100 qts of apricots, about the same of bartlett pears (and every pear perfectly placed in the wide-mouth mason jars; qts and qts of tomato juice, tomato chunks and tomato soup, many many qts of bread & butter pickles, dill pickles, the little tiny sweet pickles, sauerkraut, many many little pint jars of jellies: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, peach & apricot, and much more! buckets of potatoes, a few of carrots. Hundreds of bags of green beans, sweet corn, lima beans, peas were in the freezer along with all the beef, pork and chicken that had been butchered! We had 4 big freezers! and 2 and 3 refrigerators! We had acres of garden ~ I think of all the hours of hard work Mother did in that garden ~ from sunrise to sundown and after dark I helped with the freezing and canning many times long after midnite. Being the oldest I learned alot from Mother. Mother passed away almost 3 yrs ago ~ almost 90 ~ and we miss her beyond words. Up until the last year she was always working in her garden, made tomato juice and soups, jellies, pickles and more for us kids’ birthday and Christmas presents! Precious memories! No pictures – but just memories in my mind.
So sorry about Maisy ~ they are dear to our hearts ~ it’s like loosing a child or spouse. I’ve been thru both and the tears are many and you never really get over it. Just precious memories.
Thanks for sharing the farm with us! Great being raised and living on a farm!!
Carol ZT ~ not far from Ms Celi
Dearest Carol,
Your mother was amazing! I know how hard she worked…long hours outdoors and in the kitchen as well. I am sorry for your loss. 90 is a good lifetime! She was blessed! Memories are what make us smile from all those precious moments! We are so lucky to have them! 🙂 You are most welcome! Thank you for sharing with me as well!
Such bounty your mom provided for her family! I wish I had known her!!!!
(((hugs)))
Hi from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. I am super impressed with your store room. I have three freezers, so All my produce gets frozen for winter (and we have a reliable power supply). However we can still grow a few things in winter. Thankyou for allowing me to see your part of your life. I am really enjoying glimpses into other places. Good luck with me your pup.
Oops “good luck with your pup” 🙂
Hi Gabrille! New Zealand is so beautiful! Best fishing in the world I have heard! 😀
Thank you! I freeze some too. All my canning jars are now taken! 😉
In the winter here…this will make you laugh…I use my garage as an extra freezer! LOL
Can’t wait for my new little girl. Just a bit longer!
Was so pleased you were a guest blogger as I love reading your comments! What a busy and happy life you have and soon you will have a new member of the family – hope we get an update when that happens 🙂
Hi Chica!
Love your blog! All that glorious food! Holey buckets! Mmmmm…..I steal your recipes! LOL
Now that it is winter and I have more time…I really have to see about starting one too! 😀
I will have great photos of my new little one! I am one of those crazy camera carrying mommas!
Greetings Mere from Washington-state!
Wow, like Celi you are one busy farm lady living a healthy, happy sustainable lifestyle from your land! I admire your positive, upbeat attitude in the face of such an extreme climate!
Thanks for the enjoyable guest post and stay warm!
Chris!
Ah…the Evergreen State! Gorgeous coastline! Your state is beautiful…lush with greenery! Draws the hard core skiers in the winter! ! And you have sweet cherries! Have friends in Seattle! Got the flannels and fleece out! Warm as toast! LOL
G’Day from Down Under!
You have some huge buildings on your place, and I love the photos which gives us a glimpse of where you live. I don’t know much about your part of the world and would love to know more. I never knew it got so cold there! You must have lots of stories to tell about your place and especially about your animals, so I hope you do start your own blog.
Nice to meet you Mere!
Nice to meet you too barb! Oh the stories! LOL I could really make you laugh and scare the life out of you too! 😉 I am glad I wasn’t one of the early settlers! I would have perished for sure! Survival of the fittest back in the day! I can see I will have to get one going too! 😀 Oh and Huge bldgs. for huge machinery! 🙂
Yes, Mere!!! You need to start your own blog and then let each one of us know so we can visit with you. (I cook gluten free also!)
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Hi Linda! 😀 Yeppers! I think you’re right! I am fascinated by all of you! We can share gf recipes and info! That would be great! 😀
How lovely to put a home and a life to a gravatar/symbol ! Your life sounds so full and satisfying and so busy, busy , busy, Like Celi you must get all your energy from being so close to the land and the creatures and the skies!
After seventeen beloved doggy friends, three at a time, and mostly rescued, I can tell you that you never stop loving them, and neither do you have a shortage of love when the next darling comes into your life!
This is the life for me! 😀 I enjoy the city too, but when it is time to come home? I can’t get here fast enough! Peace and quiet! I have always had a lot of energy. I love the physical outdoor work! Makes me feel alive!!!! And I love working side by side with my hubby!
Many of my friends are involved with rescue. I gravitate towards this kind of caring individual. God Bless you for your loving generous heart Valerie! Yes, my heart is ready for my next little one! 🙂