Just Another Photograph of That Same Santiago Tree

A close up of the trunk for more perspective on the idea of BIG!

This Is One Big Tree

A few weeks ago I was reading in the Pioneer Press about the program to determine the biggest trees in Minnesota.  The article featured a burr oak in Newport.  That inspired some conversation and we have tried to determine the largest trees in Sherburne County.  We found this one in Santiago that comes close to being big.  I thought I would throw this out to anyone that is reading:  Do you know of any big trees in Sherburne County?  Keep in mind that big, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.  So let me know, where are the big trees around the county?  How do they compare to this one.

As a frame of reference for size, the fence in the background is about six feet tall.  The building with the peaked roof is about nine feet, and the wire spool next to the tree is about three feet high.  So this is a tall tree.

What do you think?

Sherburne County Can Grow Anything!

In the past I have commented on the multitude of crops that have been grown in Sherburne County.  Farmers of the county have raised strawberries, corn, potatoes, and soybeans.  Even tobacco and ginseng have been raised in the county.

But, I think I have finally found the truly unusual, maybe unique, plant.  The Sherburne County Star News on June 17, 1897 reported that Mrs. Chester Nickerson had been tenderly cultivating an orange tree in her home.  “The tree is about three feet high” and was brought indoors during cold weather.  “We have never been accustomed to brag about Minnesota,” the newspaper said.  “There are half a dozen oranges,” on the tree!

The crops, plants and produce to come out of the county never cease to amaze me.  The cultivating skills of the people of Sherburne County are uniquely noteworthy.

National Pollinator Week Is Coming Up

With National Pollinator Week coming up in the last week of June, and the scheduled program at the Sherburne History Center on 25 June, I thought this would be a good time to add a few photographs of the prairie flowers in bloom at the history center.