Publisher's Synopsis
Under Minnesota Skies is a lively telling of stories from several generations and a memoir of three daughters growing up on a farm near Owatonna, Minnesota in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Inspired by their father's love for the 394-acre farm that has been in the family for more than a century, the authors search for their immigrant ancestors to gain greater understanding of their own family traditions, foods and work ethic. Are they Czech or German? Who influenced the family to change from dairy to beef cattle? Does their father really need boys to help run the farm? Answers emerge as the family goes from farming with horses to using tractor power and new laborsaving machinery. The determined daughters tackle jobs mostly reserved for boys: loading hay and straw bales, feeding cattle and pigs and side-raking hay. As they build fences, pull weeds, paste Green Stamps and take Sunday drives, the daughters reveal the dust and sweat endured along with the lessons learned and deep bonds achieved in a close-knit family working together to make a living from the land. Even if you don't have farm roots, this book's easy-to-read and thoughtful approach could be the spark that motivates you to write your own family stories.
