In 2009, we purchased 40 acres south of Wrenshall, MN. We purchased the land from Kathy Ziells, who generously allowed us to start work on the farm long before we officially owned the land. The cleared land had been depleted through use as a hayfield for many years, but it had a lot of potential. The loamy soil at Stone’s Throw is classified as prime farmland and was the same type of soil our neighbors have found well-suited to growing vegetables.
Catherine’s dad’s career was in the purebred livestock business, and he was very excited about Catherine becoming a farmer. While we hunted for suitable land in Minnesota, Craig pulled together a pretty impressive collection of farm machinery for Catherine in Iowa, including a “spare” tractor and a plow, disk harrow, drag harrow, cultivator, rotary hoe, bush hog, dump wagon, and manure spreader. He sent all this equipment up to Duluth on a tractor-trailer in August 2009.
We broke ground as soon as the farm machinery (and Catherine’s parents) arrived. We plowed a couple plots in the hayfield, fertilized with aged manure and planted a cover crop of rye. In November 2009, we put up a hoop house that we’ll use for starting plants in the spring and growing tomatoes.
At Stone’s Throw, we’re committed to sustainable growing methods. We use manure for fertilizer, floating row cover to protect our crops from pests, and good old elbow grease to remove weeds. And, Stone’s Throw Farm became Certified Organic in 2019.
Many Thanks
We are forever indebted to: Craig and Jean Conover; John, Jane & Janaki Fisher-Merritt; Dave Hanlon; Don Zasada and Bridget Spann; Kathy and Gerry Ziells; and other farmers, friends, and family members who generously shared their knowledge, enthusiasm, encouragement, and resources with us to help make Stone’s Throw Farm a reality.
Farm History & Ziebarth Family Legacy
Merle, Kathy, and Wilma in 1978
We purchased the land that is now Stone’s Throw Farm from Katherine Wilma Ziebarth Ziells in December 2009. Kathy inherited the land from her mother, Wilma Ziebarth, who passed away at age 95 on July 24, 2008. (Kathy’s father, Merle, passed away November 22, 1986.)
Kathy and her husband Gerald raised beef cattle on their farm just around the corner, and harvested hay off the land that is now Stone’s Throw Farm for many years. Kathy’s father, Merle Ziebarth, obtained ownership of the land when the former owner, Paul Pinard, passed away in 1961. Pinard was a hired hand for the Ziebarth’s, and Kathy remembers him babysitting her when she was little.
Wilma Katherine Habhegger Ziebarth
Kathy’s parents grew vegetables on their farm when she was a kid. “I remember acres of cabbage,” Kathy told me. Merle and Wilma also had milking cows for a while, but they sold the milk cows in 1965 and went into beef cattle. In addition, the family operated Ziebarth Produce, a produce trucking business, for many years.
Kathy described her father as “a jack of all trades” who enjoyed farming, trapping, hunting, and fishing — Merle and Wilma took an annual trout fishing trip to Montana. Like Merle, Wilma “loved life and everything about it,” according to her obituary. Kathy said her mother graduated from Carlton High School with honors and loved poetry and music. She was a flower and vegetable gardener and enjoyed her pets. “There wasn’t a thing that she couldn’t do if she put her mind and heart to it,” her obituary reads.
Kathy and Wilma
Kathy said she believes her parents would be proud of her for selling the land to a farmer, and that they would approve of the land being used to grow vegetables.
We’re honored to carry on the farming tradition.
