My Grandparents' Legacy

Remembering My Grandparents’ Legacy of Hard Work and Homegrown Living

My mom’s parents, Adam and Carol, have always been a steady presence in my life and so has their farm in rural north-central South Dakota. About a half hour from the Missouri River, their place has always felt like the middle of nowhere in the best possible way. They both worked outside the farm over the years, but still managed to keep a beautifully maintained home, farmed, raised sheep, and grew an impressive garden year after year. Despite the dry, windy climate of their area, their gardens always seemed to thrive; something I didn’t fully appreciate until I started gardening myself.

It’s not an exaggeration to say they canned hundreds of jars every year. Pickles, tomatoes, meats, fruits; you name it, they preserved it. They grew watermelon, sweet corn, beets, and especially potatoes that were always plentiful and always delicious. Their cellar shelves were a reflection of the work they put in and their mindset: nothing goes to waste, and if you can do it yourself, you do.

They were just true to their generation in every way. They butchered their own hogs, made sausage and jerky, and knew their way around fermenting cabbage to make sauerkraut. Their roots run even deeper than the South Dakota soil. Their grandparents were Germans from Russia; descendants of settlers who had originally moved to Russia for the promise of religious freedom and farming opportunity. But after the Crimean War, Russia’s modernization efforts began to strip away the special privileges those German communities once had. Many chose to emigrate to North America beginning in the 1870s, and eventually found their way to places like the Dakotas.

That history lives on in small ways — in the recipes, the work ethic, the way my grandparents cared for what they had. My grandpa passed away in February of 2024 at the age of 82. He was farm-tough right up until the end. And my grandma, now in her mid-80s, still lives at the farm. Still insisting she wants to plant a garden. That says everything you need to know about her.

The older I get, the more I understand just how much they taught us; not by giving speeches about greatness, but by living well, working hard, and staying grounded. And they’ve left behind a legacy I’ll always carry with me.