Valhalla, according to Merriam-Webster, is a place of honor, glory, or happiness. And that’s just what this land seemed to be when Kate Smith and her husband, TJ, found it online an hour after a real estate purchase near McGregor fell through. It was 2017 and they needed a place, so they drove up to see it. There was electricity, but no water, a very old house in not very good condition, quite a few outbuildings, and a camper. It used to be a farm with a milking cow, pigs and sheep, and a potato farm years before that. But it had grown over for sixty-five years, so their tour of the land took them through significant brush. Their young son, Sam, wasn’t even tall enough to see over the vegetation.
But they fell in love with this place and saw it transformed in their minds into Valhalla Ridge Farm. That’s what it is today. One hundred acres of happiness and a ridge that’s part of Wolf Ridge. The day I visited, Kate was getting ready for the Festival of Skalds, a unique Norse festival held in Angora. It’s very reminiscent of the Renaissance Festival farther south in Minnesota. Kate makes tinctures, teas, potions, herbal remedies…an entire apothecary in her kitchen. She just published the farm’s website where she sells these preparations, and she was getting ready to offer them at the Festival of Skalds.
The website has now been up for a couple of weeks. Check out https://www.valhallaridgefarm.com/ for details. The description on the website reads “Valhalla Ridge Farm is a small business dedicated to providing natural and holistic health solutions for the whole family. We specialize in apothecary medicine and herbal remedies and believe in the power of nature to heal and strengthen the body.” And that’s apparent all over the farm. There are fields of herbs and wildflowers to forage for remedies and acres of woods with wild mushrooms and medicinal plants all around. They’ve also planted huge gardens with vegetables and fruits of every kind and special herbs for maintaining health.
Out near the log garage TJ restores old bicycles—it looks like there are at least 50 here--and provides them free or at cost to those who want a bicycle but can’t afford one. Nearby is the old house, with beautiful Finnish log construction visible where the siding is gone. The house is leaning badly and is on the list of buildings to be restored. But it’s also been a treasure chest of original furnishings and memorabilia that Kate and TJ have returned to the owners. Someday it will stand tall again and house this family of three.
Finnish log construction on the old house.
The kitchen where Kate makes her remedies is one end of a tiny house that she ordered online from Amish builders. It’s very small, of course, but for now it houses this family and their five dogs! The first year they lived here, they stayed in the old trailer on site—and winter, as usual, was brutal especially on the electric bill for heating. Now they heat with wood from their “hundred-acre woods.” Not too far from the house they’ve cleared a horse enclosure for their miniature pony, Tina, and her companion Charlie. Babe, their 1,000-pound pig, died two years ago, but used to get out of this enclosure and come to the front step for treats. Now that enclosure is on the list for expansion.
Doing laundry outside!
But everything takes time, and money. TJ has an off-farm job as most Iron Range farmers do. And they grow most of their own food. But restoring an old place is an expensive and long-term project. The well they put in had to be drilled through 325 feet of bedrock! There’s an outhouse and a shower house, but laundry is done outdoors in an old wringer washer. The beautiful 1898 tamarack barn will need some work, too, but Kate hopes that it can be a meeting place, maybe for classes or events. There’s also an old icehouse, and Kate and TJ’s favorite feature, a beautiful old root cellar built into a hill along the entrance. Kate wants a “summer kitchen”, too, where cooking and remedy-making can happen in a large, airy preparation area. All part of the dream.
The beautiful tamarack barn.
The old root cellar, still standing and sturdy.
Kate’s daughter came back awhile and cleared an area for camping—Valhalla Ridge Farm will eventually join HipCamp. Check it out at www.hipcamp.com. According to the website, “Hipcamp is the most comprehensive resource for unique outdoor stays. Discover and book tent camping, RV parks, cabins, treehouses, and glamping.” And it’s all on private lands, many of them farms just like this. There are so many places to explore here in the deep woods of these hundred acres. Bunny Hollow, as their son has named it, is a magical fairy-garden-type place just off the driveway. And there’s the ridge to hike and explore.
Greenhouse. built from salvaged materials.
The final structure I visit on my day at the farm is the greenhouse, built entirely out of recycled windows, wood and doors. It’s the newest addition to the homestead. In the center is an old tree, about ten feet tall, that came from their original home and has the initials of Kate’s children carved into it. Plants flourish in here, and you can see the extensive outside gardens through the glass. Inside there are herbs drying and craft projects begun in this sunny space. You can learn more about all that’s happening at Valhalla Ridge Farm at the Facebook Group “Valhalla Ridge Farm, learning and sharing homesteading skills,” where Kate posts regularly.
A small segment of the outside gardens at Valhalla Ridge Farm.