FRIENDS OF PRAIRIE CREEK

During most of the twentieth century, the Engeseth-Rinde farm was owned by Engeseths.   Andrew and Helena Engeseth managed the farm with help from their two eldest sons, Ingebret and Russell.  They eventually took over the farm.  

 

Don and his sister Joanne were the children of Helena's sister.  They grew up in Minneapolis but used to visit the farm on Sundays, gathering around the big kitchen table for Sunday dinner and conversation.  They remember the farm of their childhood, when the Engeseths kept dairy cows, chickens, and horses.  

 

But eventually Ingebret and Andrew, growing older, found the livestock too much to take care of.  The brothers died in the early 1980s, and none of the other children of Andrew and Helena wanted the farm.  Like many other farms in these hard times, it went up for auction. Don Nelson felt a strong connection to the land, so he and his brother bought the land at the auction.  

 

For the past several decades, they rented out the land to neighboring farmers.  Don had an interest in silviculture, so he devoted some of the land to an oak and walnut plantation.  

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