Walnut Grove

After a dark and stormy night of classic untamed prairie wind and lightning, we traveled to the quaint town of Walnut Grove, MN. We spent the day touring the town and checking out all the historic landmarks scattered throughout the streets, which included the site where Pa's church bell first rang, Laura and Mary's first school site and many others. The local eateries were fabulous with incredible hospitality and excellent food. The walking tour of the actual sodhouse site was not only fascinating, but also badge worthy, as we were able to identify several native wildflowers of Minnesota along the way.

The next morning we were interviewed by a Marshall Independent journalist, then we started painting the cute mini version of a schoolhouse red. By the end of the day all of us were covered in schoolhouse red. The museum was a delightful walking history lesson of the pioneer times. To our amazement, they also had a section dedicated to the television series, which included paraphenalia from our childhood. All in all, this was a wonderful step into Laura's World in Walnut Grove.

Part of the group went swimming in Lake Laura for the rest of the evening and then retired on the Banks of Plum Creek, also known as Plum Creek Campground. The campground was nothing short of spectacular in every way. We all highly recommend this site.

The other half of the group spent an incredible time with two local Organic farmers.
First up we met Sunny Ruthchild, of Merryweather Gardens who has free-range chickens and turkeys, organic fruit orchard and legendary organic garlic. She was a most gracious host offering not only a detailed tour of her farm, but also a refreshing glass of iced tea and fresh strawberries on her classic country porch. She was the epitome of Farmgirl.

Bruce Johnson, of Evergreen Angus, is a breeder grass-fed organic beef. He specializes in using old world Angus semen originating from the British Isles from the 50's and 60's. His goal is to have a more thriving grass-fed industry.

They both will participate in the Festival of Farms, which takes place the weekend of July 10, 2010 with Organic farmers from their region.

It was another great day on the Banks of Plum Creek.