An overview of our property with exterior views.

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Welcome to downtown Hartshorn – just up Hwy KK. That’s Sam Drucker Frankie’s General Store in the center. and the Post Office to the right. The sign has “Hartshorn” on both sides of the sign to give you an idea of how big the town is. As you can imagine, everyone is genuinely warm, helpful and down to earth. I’ll take this over city life any day!
Just a 1/2 mile to the south of “town”, this aerial shot is the original 80 acre property that has been subdivided over the decades. We are the 20 acres on the top/left. Below that (bottom/left) is our neighbors 20 acres. In back is a 40 acre property now owned by another Amish neighbor. When our farm was first listed, it included those “back 40” but the Amish couldn’t afford the whole parcel so they trimmed it off and sold it separately. That back 40 sure looks like a potential golf course to me. The original 80 acre farm dates back more than a century and the home, where our house now stands, was rebuilt (in stone) in the 1930s and rebuilt again (as it exists today) in 1989.
This is our 20 acres with about 8-9 acres of pasture in front and 6 acres of woods behind. The farmstead (buildings) comprise about 3-4 acres and is what I keep mowed. Ignore that horizontal “Hwy K” over our driveway entrance. That is Google Maps confusion.

The pasture is tended (cut and baled) by a farmer friend up the road. His “fee” is half the bales and we get other half that we sell to Sherry’s goat farmer friend.

Interestingly, the former owner (Harvey) disclosed that there were remnants of a pioneer home and well somewhere along that strip of woods on our southern edge. However, we’ve been unable to locate it so far as those patches are very thick and difficult to walk through.
A drone (ad) overview of the entire property from above the highway in front. That solitary oak tree in the middle towards the bottom is where the Pet Cemetery is located. Feral mama is already planted there now.
A nice tight drone shot of the 4 buildings and farm yard. I’ll use this to identify the 4 buildings. Closest is the garage and then (clockwise) the house, barn and shop with the garden clearly visible in the middle.
Another shot from the ad. Looking north.

Since all of the drone shots are from the original real estate listing, I plan to get my drone up soon for some updates showing our upgrades so stay tuned.

And now some other outdoor features and completed projects.

This old storm shelter sits unused now due to the basement available in the house.
Remy and Ceechin checking out the storm shelter.

I’ve been trying to think of another use for the shelter and decided this is where the generator will be housed (behind locked door yet to be built). It is vented so the motor should be able to breathe and the stone/concrete walls will deaden the sound. It’s about a 40′ run up to the house, where it will be wired into our grid via a plug in box mounted on the basement exterior stairs. I just wouldn’t want to be IN there while it is running without an oxygen supply.

Fencing w/2 gates added in front from the garage to the northern property edge. Also keeps the dogs away from the driveway “traffic” and contained to the farm yard.
More fencing w/gate added between the garage and the garden. These were all added to keep the dogs in the farm yard and away from the highway. It also adds another layer of protection for the chickens. Predators may breach this fence but would then have to deal with our dogs while trying to get at the chickens secured in their pen.
Additional fencing added in back from the barn to the northern edge of the property. We added that gate to get our camper parked under the barn lean to, where this pic was taken from.
New fencing to expand the barnyard in back. Previously, this fence went directly from the barn straight across to the shop along those embedded railroad ties, but we bumped it out another 30 feet. The railroad ties will become bases for a jungle gym structure for our (future) goats.
I found an old iron water pipe behind the barn and repurposed it for a flagpole. It has a slight bend in it that I’ll straighten next time I service it but flies proudly 24/7 w/solar illumination after dark.
Here are 2 more creations. The fire pit and the 1st Purple Martin house above the garden. Plans are to add at least one more.
What to do with the slab from the old well head? How about an outdoor shower made with old deck gazebo panels. These started at Patty’s townhouse, spent a summer on our deck in Lakeville. Then Joe and Emily had them for a few years. We took them back and used them to terrace our container garden in Lakeville for a few years and now here they are again.
Our 3 simple but effective compost bins behind the garage. This is Lola’s favorite lounging area on sunny days.

A huge and unexpected bonus for us was the abundance of mature fruit and nut trees around the farmstead. We didn’t even know about them until the walk-thru on the evening before we closed on the property. I believe there are 3 apple trees out front, a pear tree behind the garage, 3 huge pecan trees just outside the house, 3 or 4 black walnut trees in back by the barn and 2 hickory nut trees. We’ve only mastered harvesting the walnuts so far but the critters (squirrels) love what we leave behind for them, which entertains the dogs so all is well. The only negative is the BANG when the walnuts fall onto the metal barn roof.

Drying pecans.
Hickory nuts. In their outer shell on the left and with that removed on the right.
Black Walnuts. Last years crop was just dumped in the pasture. This year, we learned about a weekly collection (actually in Hartshorn) so made about $50 total plus a big sack of shelled nuts to take home.
A quick Cat House on the front porch that I slapped together when it started getting colder overnight. There’s another doorway inside and is fully insulated so L&L cozy up together and are quite comfortable. Come springtime, we’ll finish up the roof and paint it all.

I made a similar enclosure for the dogs on the porch. Although they sleep inside (often in OUR bed), we like them to be outside guarding during the day when the chickens are out and it gives them a place to warm up while they are out.
Finally, this golf cart was originally purchased by Luke and Julie for their getaway property in Cloquet. I was the designated hauler and mechanic so when we moved, we brought it along (with their blessing, which has been our blessing). It quickly proved its worth so I bought it from them and immediately converted it into a handy utility cart that works hard every day.
With the lift of a handle, the little workhorse converts to a people hauler that we use for touring the property. And yes, I have finished the paint job.
A great wood hauler. Those exterior basement stairs make loading wood much easier. Sherry “chucks ” the wood down to me piece by piece where I stack it near the stove.