Tracy Garden and Quilt Tour

(lively music) - Growing up sometimes I would come home from school and the kitchen table would be covered with squares of material.

My mom would cut up, used, torn, or outdated clothes and make quilt squares.

These went on to become beautiful works of art for all of us family members, and then the next generation of grandchildren after that.

I'm Mary Holm, host of Prairie Yard and Garden.

And if you are wondering what does quilting have to do with gardening, come along with me and find out.

- [Speaker] Funding for Prairie Yard and Garden is provided by Heartland Motor Company, providing service to Minnesota and the Dakotas for over 30 years in the heart of Truck country.

Heartland Motor Company, we have your best interest at heart.

Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company and Federated Telephone Cooperative proud to be powering a Sierra Pioneers in bringing state-of-the-art technology to our rural communities.

Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a nonprofit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom, Minnesota.

The Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by Friends of Prairie Yard and Garden, a community of supporters like you who engage in the long-term growth of the series.

To become a friend of Prairie Yard and Garden, visit pioneer.org/pyg.

(lively music) - [Mary] Several years ago, a friend named Ginny told me about a quilt in garden tour being held near Tracy Minnesota.

Well, I couldn't go that year, but you can bet that it was on my bucket list to check out for this summer.

I don't know what could be better than seeing beautiful gardens and beautiful quilts all in the same day.

I called Jolynn Johns, who said, sure, come on down and don't forget about pie and ice cream too.

Thanks Jolynn for letting me come and being our special tour guide.

- Oh, well we're so happy to have you.

We're just so excited to share our work with you and to display the beautiful gardens and the quilts.

We're just so honored to have you with us today.

- Tell me, how did the Tracy Area Quilt and Garden tour get started?

- Well, it was about seven years ago.

They approached me because I have nice gardens at my home, and they said, why don't you put them on a tour?

We'd love to share it with other people.

And then another group asked me also, and so I thought, well, let me think on this.

And we got to thinking and I thought, why not do a garden tour and add quilts because I'm a quilter too.

So, and then we said, well, we have pie and ice cream at our church, so let's serve pie and ice cream.

So in one night we had it decided gardens quilts, and pie and ice cream.

- [Mary] Do you do the same gardens each year?

- [Jolynn] Oh, no, no.

We try not to duplicate them.

We try different areas.

Like one year we had North of Tracy area, another time we had lake Shakta area.

One time we had the Town of Garvin in that area, and now this is Milroy area.

So we do different areas, you know, we very seldom repeat unless if a garden has been, you know, has changed a lot.

- Well then do you use the same quilt from year to year, the same quilts?

- Oh no, we try to have all new quilts and we try to have special quilters as our honored quilters.

We ask people, we know they come and go and we go to different quilt shows and stuff and quilt classes and so we get to know people who do a lot of quilting.

So we just ask them and all of a sudden they come out of the walls and we have lots of quilts.

- Is there an age limit as to be able to enter a quilt or to have one?

- Oh, no, no.

We take any and everyone, and this year we're featuring a 16 year old gal, which is my granddaughter.

So she started at the age of eight quilting, and I taught her.

And we also have a lady, Elvera Benson who's 86.

And she is still actively quilting and has done fabulous work.

So it ranges from any age, we're not particular and they all are excited to share with us.

- [Mary] Do the quilts have to be a certain size?

- [Jolynn] Oh, no, no.

They can be any size, any color and it all works out.

And we find a special place in the gardens that match the color of the flowers, and we kind of practice that before the actual day, so we know right where we're gonna put them.

So there is a rhyme or reason to what we do.

- [Mary] Well, that's what I was gonna ask.

How do you choose these beautiful quilts to go into which garden?

- [Jolynn] It just happens, I guess.

We don't, it takes too much to, you know, we have over a 100 quilts, so it just kind of works out and we look around and say, oh yeah, that one will work there or that one will work there.

So it just, it really just works out in the end.

And we don't worry too much about it.

The heavier quilts are draped over, you know, a banister or something, or placed in a rocking chair or over a bench.

And then other ones are hung.

And we use cow magnets on steel buildings.

So that's the secret cow magnets.

- [Mary] I was gonna ask what those little things were.

- [Jolynn] Yes, and they have strength and they can hold up heavy quilts and we don't have to pierce the quilts, so we're not hurting the quilts.

So that was a great idea we came up with.

- Jolynn, when do you hang these quilts?

- Well, this is a one day event.

So we start hanging in the morning, we check the weather schedule and we allow ourselves a couple hours to hang these quilts.

So we want them all hung by one o'clock and the event starts at two.

So this one day event, a lots of things happen in this one day.

And from 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM there's a lot of action.

You know, looking at the gardens, going to the six sites that we have offered and viewing over a hundred quilts and then coming and sharing the pie and ice cream so we all get it in one beautiful day and the weather is great.

And that gives us the go ahead, go do it.

- How many people do you usually get to come on the tour?

- Well, we started out at about 150 the first year, and it has grown to close to 300 people, and we pull them from different states.

So it really has spread out.

And we are so happy that we're able to share everybody's talent.

You know, the gardeners, the quilters, so it's part of sharing and the love of mother nature and people's talents and it all goes together and then good pie and ice cream so there you go.

- [Mary] Do you charge for people to be able to come on the tour?

- [Jolynn] Yes, the price is $15 and that includes to go to all the sites and the pie and ice cream.

- [Mary] So it's a fundraiser too?

- [Jolynn] Yes, it's a fundraiser for St. Mary's CCW church.

And we use our pie money or this money to help redo our kitchen in our church.

And so we've accomplished that.

And with our pies we've made over this year we did 1,119.

- [Mary] Oh my word.

- [Jolynn] So that's a lot of pies.

And so that's in one year and it's made from our Rhubarb, you know, that's been established and they've been doing it for over 20 years so.

- Well, Jolynn would it be possible to go and see some of the gardens and the locations and quilts?

- Absolutely, I'd love to share them with you.

(instrumental music) - [Mary] Christmas time brings families together like no other season in Minnesota.

Every December we gather around the dinner table, the fireplace, and most importantly, the Christmas tree.

While many of us buy our Christmas trees from different sources, it can be a special occasion to cut your own and bring it home with your family to decorate and make new memories.

Today we are at Wayne and Jeans evergreens near Morris, Minnesota, where they grow thousands of beautiful connifer trees that you can buy or come and cut down your own.

It's a family operation here.

And Wayne and Lloyd Lesmeister join me to talk more about Christmas tree shopping and why it's important to buy from a local tree grower.

- I think it's good to buy from a local tree farm because you can ensure the freshness of the product and tree and wreath, whatever it might be.

And then you're also helping out local economy and stimulating growth in your own backyard.

- [Mary] It's more than the fresh pine scent and looks of a fresh locally grown tree.

Locally grown trees also present environmental benefits too.

- Having oxygen production, absorbing carbon dioxide, just growing trees to add to the beauty of your farm or your place, there's benefits of, you know, reclaiming that tree and turning it into mulch, adding it back into your soil.

- [Mary] In the end, it's all about visiting and selecting the perfect tree that's right for you.

- Features are to ones on, everyone has a different view of Christmas trees.

I look for color, the height, shape, that kind of thing.

So it's all in the eye of the beholder.

- [Mary] To learn more about locally grown Christmas trees or where to find a cut your own tree farm in your area, go to minnesotagrown.com for more information.

- [Jolynn] Mary, we are here at one of our sites on the garden tour, and this is the Wild Acres Park, and it was created by the George and Mary Lanoue family, and it's a place where they could no longer farm because it was only about five and a half acres.

So they created this beautiful setting to come and have family reunions, picnics, and camp for the weekend.

And they have turned this place into a marvelous place with all their flowers and setting and the quilts.

They have over a 50 quilts here that we can enjoy, and they've created different settings, an old-fashioned laundry basket area with quilt quilts there.

And you have a little fishing area over there.

And one of the quilts that's very unique is made from their grandmother's hankeys.

And it's just a wonderful testimony of their family love.

And with the 12 siblings all working here together, one mose, some quilt, one flower gardens.

I mean, it is a family full of love and commitment and they cherish their time here.

- [Mary] Well, their quilts that are hanging here are just beautiful.

Did the family hang all of these?

- [Jolynn] Oh yeah, so they had a crew here this morning.

They hung them all and what's neat is they made them all.

So I mean, they're quilters and they're gardeners and it's just a lot of love being shared here.

And I'm so happy that they're sharing this site with us today.

Look at Mary this beautiful lavender purple quilt here, and look at how it brings out the colors of the petunias.

And they also made a nice planter box that matched the quilt.

This is just one of the many quilts displayed here.

Let's go look at some more.

Look at this beautiful quilt, Mary, how it's displayed the beautiful colors and how it ties in with the old fashioned ironing board.

The irons, the old sprinkler cap.

I mean, this is just a fun display of antique sewing items that they used and the fancy cross stitch done here on this apron and this tablecloth.

I mean, this is just a wonderful display.

- [Mary] You're so right and it's so beautiful, such a beautiful quilt.

When we came in, I saw another one that was front and back.

Could we go see that?

- Let's go check it out.

Okay, Mary, I would like to introduce you to Elise Lenu.

She's one of our committee members that works real hard for this tour.

This is Angie's first quilt she's made and her sister made the exact same one, but using different colors.

So it's interesting how they can look similar but yet different.

- [Mary] Well, I think the quilts are all a work of art.

- [Jolynn] They certainly are.

And it's just so eye popping in this setting.

So we're just so happy that these gals and husbands pulled this together and let us enjoy this beautiful park and their quilts.

Mary, look at this wonderful quilt.

It's called a labyrinth quilt pattern, and it just creates a beautiful optical illusion with the greys and the whites and then the coroners are cut at an angle.

- [Mary] I was wondering why that was.

- [Jolynn] I think it just helps create the illusion and see you have the lines here, so it just kind of all adds to the pattern of the quilt.

- [Mary] Well, it's beautiful just like every other one out here.

Oh, they're just gorgeous.

- [Jolynn] It is.

It's just wonderful to look at.

- Jolynn, every quilt here is absolutely fabulous.

And I think I could spend the whole tour just walking around and looking at these, but I think we gotta keep going.

- We do, there's lots more to see.

Well, Mary, here we are at the Carol Snyder home south of Milroy, and she has many beautiful flower gardens to see.

She has a little cute red shed over there that she bought from a family sale, and then she created flowers around it.

She has lots of perennials here to look at and lots of beautiful bushes like the semi ash bush and the quickfire hydrangea.

The quilter here is Patty Christians and she made all the quilts.

And she's a good friend of Carol's.

- [Mary] Well, she has a shade garden too, doesn't she?

- [Jolynn] Yes, out back, she has a beautiful shade garden with lots of pastas and we have quilts in there to just add a little perk to, and it's just a nice peaceful hobby that she does in the evening and she really enjoys gardening.

- [Mary] I saw when we came in that she's got a beautiful sun area too.

- [Jolynn] Yes, and if you notice, I thought, what is that tall thing blooming over there?

Well, here it's a Yucca plant and you don't see them blossoming very often.

At least I don't.

So that was kind of a, something to really look at and enjoy.

We put a lot of thought and planning into where we place our quilts because we want them to look nice with the plants that are right below it so that the colors coordinate together.

So we really put a lot of thought into it.

- [Mary] Well, do you practice that ahead of time?

- [Jolynn] Oh yes, we practice and take notes, so that really helps us.

So the day of the tour, we can just go put them there and we're satisfied with where they're at.

And sometimes we change it depending upon.

- [Mary] Well before we leave.

Can you tell me a little bit about this quilt right here?

What is that pattern?

- [Jolynn] It's called the garden path.

You can see the different blocks and the sizes and the shapes and how the colors the black kind of pops out and the gold.

So it's all, you know, there's a little blue in here, so it just all kind of comes together and then the nice border brings your eyes all back into the center.

- [Mary] Well, let's go take a look at another one or two.

- [Jolynn] All right.

Mary, look at this beautiful quilt.

It's called My Bright.

It's one that she used with many different bright colors.

She actually took this as a class out at Hill City, South Dakota by Elaine Nyquist, who is a Tracy resident and big quilter too.

So this is just a beautiful quilt.

The yellows, the purples, and the greens just make it pop.

And it's just exciting for your eye just to see that.

And then the floral just kind of brings it all back together again.

So she picked her colors from using her border print.

So you can see the greens, the purples.

So they're all incorporated in her quilt.

- When these are quilted, is the stitching done by hand or by a machine or sometimes both?

- Sometimes both.

It depends upon what the quilter wants or the person who made the quilt.

Most of these are machine quilted, so it's done on a long arm.

So it's done with a computerized system.

But there are some that are made just with hand stitching, you know, and that takes a lot of time.

And that was done in the older, you know, with the older generation way back when they didn't have machine quilting.

- [Mary] I've heard of tide quilts too.

What does that mean?

- [Jolynn] That means when you lay your two fabrics together with interfacing or a fabric that goes in between there and they stitch and go through one side and then they come out the other with yarn and then they tie it and that holds it together.

The machine quilting is more intricate and more decorative, but they both do the same thing.

They hold the three layers of fabric together.

- [Mary] Okay, well this is absolutely beautiful here.

Hung in the shade garden.

And I love all of the shade plants that they have incorporated here too.

It is just lovely.

And even things are just blooming now and it just color and the textures of the hostas add a lot of color even though they're not blooming.

- [Jolynn] Yes, and when we display quilts, we just like to just add a little more to it with the pop of color.

So, but everything is looking good this year, so with the rain and the weather is great today, so it's just been an enjoyable day.

- [Mary] Well, I think that I heard you say something about pie and ice cream too, right?

- Oh yes, the famous St. Mary's pie and ice cream.

Let's go check it out at the Eber Sparker site.

- [Mary] Let's go.

- [Jolynn] All right.

(playful music) - I have a question.

Are there hardy croissant mums that are reliable for Minnesota?

- Well, the University of Minnesota has been breeding hardy mums for a hundred years, since the 1920s and in 2002, they introduced a variety that I really recommend for gardeners across Minnesota.

It's called the Mammoth Series, and they're called the Mammoth moms because a second year plant will be three to four feet across, and of course they have full heardiness and that, especially if you don't cut them back until spring, that's always a tip.

They come in a wide range of colors, everything from yellow, one called yellow quill to a beautiful orange called dark bronze.

There's lavender and red.

It's a great time to plant them in the spring.

And again, make sure you see that University of Minnesota introduction on the variety, cause we know that those are gonna be hardy and they're bread also to be more compact so you don't have to pinch them back and again, blooming earlier than a lot of varieties because we don't want them damaged by an early frost in the fall but yes planting mid spring really gives them that good season of growth so that you'll have a spectacular plant by fall.

And of course, they also come in a really wide range of flower types.

There's little buttoned ones, kind of cactus flowered ones, double ones, and then that mamma series, which are really kind of daisy type ones.

And the one called yellow quill actually has the quill style of petals.

So, you know, do think about growing the single varieties at least mixed in there because those are also great for pollinators.

They attract a lot of beneficial insects in the fall when they're in bloom.

Of course, late summer in fall is when they bloom.

- [Speaker] Ask the arboretum experts has been brought to you by the Minnesota landscape Arboretum in Chaska dedicated to welcoming, informing and inspiring all through outstanding displays, protected natural areas, horticultural research and education.

- Jolynn this quilt behind me kind of reminds me more of the ones that my mom would make.

What is that pattern?

- [Jolynn] That pattern is called turning twenties.

And you take 20 fat quarters and you lay them together or you know so many at a time and you cut them the same way.

But then when you lay out the pattern, you can turn and twist them anyway to make an interesting pattern.

So it's a very popular first time quilter pattern to you is, it's very simple and very easy.

- Well, kind of what is the history of quilting all about?

- Well, it started, they even say 34 BC that far ago, a long ago.

But then there is, they're talking about the 1300s where Noblety had them where they were made of silks and and felt and they were very ornate and only the rich had quilts.

And then, you know, as things evolved in the Dutch and English settlers came over to America, you know, they brought their material along and they used scrap material from dresses and feed sacks and whatever else they could do.

And they kind of made like lots of crazy quilts.

In other words, they cut them in any direction and sewed them hand, sewed them together.

And we still have crazy quilts popular today.

So back in the 1800s when slavery was going on in the country, a woman who was born into slavery, Harriet Tubman was a quilter.

And so she shared her experience and her patterns.

She actually made up codes, secret codes within quilts, and then the slaves memorize those codes so that they could find their way through the underground railroad.

So it's very interesting the way they memorized them because they were never able to learn to read and write.

So they memorized those codes with the patterns that she used on quilts, like turkey tracks, bear paw, maple leaf, and then they used those to escape and she helped 300 slaves escape to the North.

- [Mary] Well there are so many patterns and I cannot tell you which one I have enjoyed the most today.

They have been fabulous.

But now I gotta ask about the pies.

Tell me about the pies that you guys make.

- Well, about 21 years ago, St. Mary's ladies were approached, hey, let's have a fundraiser and let's make pies and sell them Cause we heard it from a neighboring church that did it.

And so a group of ladies started making pies.

We now make nine different varieties.

We sell them year round.

Last year we made 1019 pies to sell.

So they're used at birthday parties, anniversaries, at Thanksgiving, we bake them for them and they come and just pick them up and it's a big hit in the Tracy area.

- [Mary] But you actually serve pies here too at the tour?

- [Jolynn] Yes, as part of our ticket you can get your pie and ice cream and lemonade and water.

So it's quite a treat.

It's all kind of evolved around the church.

So Rhubarb Custer is our favorite.

And they're strawberry rhubarb, apple, caramel apple, peach, blueberry, cherry and pecan during the wintertime.

There's about 25 ladies that get together.

Sometimes there's only 15 or 20 that work together, but they will do like 60 to 75, 80 pies at one time.

They all have their special jobs.

Some do floating, some roll out the crust and it's just an assembly line and they get a lot done.

And we use a lot of our own things.

We grow like rhubarb, we use a lot of rhubarb and we freeze it.

I have plants that they come and get from and they're well over 50, 60 years old.

I have a lot of plants that go about probably 50 feet and they get tubs of rhubarb stalks from there and then they take it and we process it and we also pick our own apples and use our own apple.

So we try to be as frugal as we can.

- Well, do you make the pie crusts or do you buy all those crusts?

- Oh no homemade with rendered lard.

That's the secret to good taste in pie crust.

- [Mary] When are all these pies made?

- [Jolynn] During the year and today we're serving, I think we made up 47 today for today's event.

When they're made they're frozen and then they're kept until we wanna take them out and have them.

- [Mary] So, and how many pieces do you get out of each pie?

- [Jolynn] We use seven.

We have a little platelet that does seven, so we get the exact same size all the time.

- [Mary] Jolynn, how many people does it take to put on a fabulous tour like this?

- [Jolynn] Well, we have a committee of five members, and when we actually put the event on, it takes about 40 to 45 people because we need hosts at different sites, we need people to direct traffic, people to take tickets, sell tickets.

So about 40 to 50 people.

- [Mary] How far in advance do you get started in planning?

- [Jolynn] Actually, after today we will have a wrap up meeting and we'll, you know, discuss what went right, what do we need to improve on, and we kind of have a wrap up session and then we start talking about other possible sites.

And then in about January, February, we really have to start deciding who would like to be on the tour and what is our area that we're gonna work on.

- [Mary] So you do rotate it around?

- [Jolynn] We try to, it just all depends upon where the calling is and who is wanting to, because it is a big commitment for these people to put their gardens and homes on display.

So it's a lot of work and we really appreciate what they do.

- [Mary] I would like you to please thank all of the people that it took to make this day so enjoyable for us and for letting us come out and see it.

- [Jolynn] Well, we're so happy that you came so you can share it with other people.

We're just tickled pink and we're just so glad that mother nature helped us out with a beautiful day.

- [Mary] Thanks again.

- [Jolynn] You're welcome, anytime.

- [Speaker] Funding for Prairie Yard and Garden is provided by Heartland Motor Company, providing service to Minnesota and the Dakotas for over 30 years in the heart of Truck country.

Heartland Motor Company, we have your best interest at heart.

Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company and Federated Telephone Cooperative proud to be powering a Sierra Pioneers in bringing state-of-the-art technology to our rural communities.

Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a nonprofit rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom, Minnesota.

The Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008.

And by Friends of Prairie Yard and Garden, a community of supporters like you who engage in the long-term growth of the series.

To become a friend of Prairie Yard and Garden, visit pioneer.org/pyg.

(cheerful music)