Welcome to the Coteau Valley Farm virtual site. We hope you find something entertaining on the site and also ask you to share it with your family and friends. We here at the farm are growing and learning how to run an estate of this size. We have learned many things about living in rural South Dakota. I am sure we are yet to learn many more lessons about living on a farm. We invite you to check the website often as more additions will be made to the site in the near and far future. 

Coteau Valley Farm sits just west of Sisseton, South Dakota off State Highway Ten. Seated about two-thirds of the way up the Coteau plateau. The farm lends sweeping easterly views of the Coteau Valley, views reaching upwards of ten to twenty miles. Large deciduous trees to the West of the property boast views of the higher elevation of the Coteau des Prairies. North of the farm are fields of agriculture that blend well into slopes and ravines. South of the property are agricultural fields and deciduous clumps of trees, ravines and sloping uplands, and lowlands.

The seasons of the Coteau are amazing, to say the least, the Fall colors of the trees that grace the prairie, gloriously paint the land with unmatched variety. Spring is cooler and rainy but a joyful time when everything is waking up from its cold slumber. The buds are on the plants and large puddles and streams prove the snow will disappear soon. The migratory birds come and fill the sky with sights and sounds. Geese calling and tight formations of birds flow across the skies. Summers are hot and windy and the prairie boasts a large amount of wildlife including, deer, badger, coyote, raccoons, and especially you can see runs of turkeys, and many more animals. An owl lives outside our door on the farm and we can hear the "who, who, whoo-ing" call during the night. It is a relaxing and calming sound and makes the farm feel really cozy and warm. The skies are usually teeming with birds at all times of the year, whether it is the large migrations of geese and black trumpet swans or the game birds such as pheasant and grouse, red-tailed hawks, and eagles to name a few that are native to the area which live all year round in the area. If you like fishing there is a large amount of fish in the numerous lakes such as walleye, catfish, perch, bluegill, and crappie to name a few fill the numerous lakes surrounding the area. There are numerous insects like bees, grasshoppers, and butterflies, if you can name it the prairie has them. Swarms of dragonflies pass through and the farm is a migratory stopping area for a massive colony of ladybugs. Every year they come and cling to the house and fly all over. It is hard not to become covered in ladybugs as you walk close to any building in October. There is also a time of the year, early July when hundreds of toads pass by the farm. I do not where they come from or where they are going but they are so adorable and if you leave them alone, very harmless. They are essential to our ecosystem so it is nice to see them and we are happy they continue to come here even after we have made it our home too. 

A large number of mosquitoes pass through but they do not last as they are followed by millions of dragonflies that make sport of eating them as they gorge themselves until the air is clean of anything they like to devour. The farm also has a lot of ticks at certain times of the year in the tall grass, they have no value and are a disgusting parasite. I do not think ticks deserve any attention but they are a resident of South Dakota, so they must be addressed. 

The farmland has rich, black soil that was produced by a large glacial shift years earlier in the South Dakota regions producing the highlands where Coteau Valley Farm sits today. 

Weather on the Coteau is fierce at times, especially in the winter. The area receives about forty-four inches of snow yearly coupled with twenty-four inches of rain in the warmer seasons. Wind can produce blizzard-like conditions in minutes on the Coteau and whiteouts are not an unusual event. Large thunderstorms roll evenly across the prairie all spring and summer and sometimes into the fall. This creates nice rains and exciting sounds of thunder and lightning on the prairie.

The people of the Sisseton area are in the agricultural business growing corn, soybeans, and the like. They make their living off the rich soil that flows into the Red River valley north of the area. Sisseton is also the home of the Sisseton Whapeton Oyate. Originally hunting the great buffalo herds in the area, as well as fishing and farming, they offer a rich and diverse cultural heritage. Their culture is truly inspiring to me as they love the land and know so much about living and surviving here. Tourism has a small place in the area, areas like Sica Hollow State Park, and Fort Sisseton to the west. There is not a lot of population in Roberts County South Dakota. I believe it is a mere ten thousand that live in the entire county. However, they do have some other interesting sites like the Nicollet Tower, a tower built to honor a French explorer, geographer, astronomer, and mathematician who explored the area in the eighteen thirties and mapped the entire region. The tower is north of the farm and is a fun place to visit if you like heights and breathtaking views. The tower is eighty feet high and shows amazing views of the Coteau Valley below. There are mostly hunters and fishers and people who like quiet, far away from cities. The closest and largest city is Fargo, North Dakota to the north, about an hour and thirty minute drive. There is a plethora of activities and things to do and see in the great city of Fargo, North Dakota. If you are really feeling energetic the twin cities are four and a half hours to the east of  Sisseton, South Dakota. The land here is mostly untamed and beautiful and it is the perfect place for privacy and thought. It's a good place to write or draw or find time to meditate on God. It lends a certain slowness and gives you quality time to spend alone or with family and friends. We believe there is not a finer place to live in the world. Coteau Valley Farm is a quiet, pleasant retreat with majestic beauty and peacefulness that is unparalleled. Its natural beauty grabs you when you first enter the farm and you are compelled to step back and try and take it all in even before you get to the end of the driveway. 

In the not so far future we plan to add a small barn and fenced pastures for livestock. We plan to have a few heads of horses and possibly goats or sheep if not both to add to the fun. Chickens will soon live on the farm and we will add eggs to our line of services. We also have looked into producing an organic compost pile and hope to fill it with the huge nightcrawlers that are extremely thick and deep within the dirt of the farm. These are a few exciting animals we hope to bring in time to the farm. They will add life and variety to the farm and something for future friends to enjoy and visit with. 

Coteau Valley Farm is growing and producing vegetables, plants, and also some trees. Many new and exciting ideas will be implemented and we plan to grow and produce quality farm products that are organic in the coming years. Already the farm is growing Russian Red garlic and hopes to keep expanding garlic growing and harvesting our own home-grown seed to sell and eat and plant more in the future months and years. We plan to grow rhubarb, strawberries, and raspberries too.

In the Spring of 2024 we will be planting a small vineyard of five hundred grapes. We have not decided where the grapes will be planted but the grape trellising will begin in February or March 2024 timeframe. We do not plan on using treated wood and the grapes will be placed five feet apart in rows of five feet in depth. It is going to be a big job and we are excited for it to begin and be completed. The following year in 2025 will will add another five hundred grapes. Perhaps a line of red wine will be flowing from Coteau Valley Farm in three to five years! 

Look for grapes in 2029 at Coteau Valley Farm Vineyard. 

Thank you for visiting this virtual site we know the internet is full of many places to delve into and spend time reading or learning about so we appreciate your time looking at our website. We here at Coteau Valley Farm hope we can offer you something now and in the future, food for the table or written thought in our highly-read blog and poetry site. In the coming months continue to watch for weekly blog posts and the poetry site will grow in leaps and bounds as the entire family loves to produce works of poetry to share. Currently, the blogs and poetry have one author but look for visiting authors or Coteau Valley Farm family to add to the works. Thank you for visiting and reading the blog and continue to check back as the farm grows, and with it our vision for the future of the farm. We love to hear comments and suggestions and please rate our blog. Let us know what you want to learn or hear about on the farm and share your knowledge with us too. We are always open to new ideas and good advice. 

In April of 2024 Coteau Valley Farm broke ground planting an apple orchard on the west end of the property. Just below and east of four, thirty foot pine trees. The orchard lies in a flat area of the property. With much investigation we found that the ph. of the soil was perfect for apples. After much consideration we chose six varieties of apples. The first three varieties to go in the ground were of no more importance to us than the last three that will be planted. These apples just arrived first, in the delivery truck. We hope to have over twenty-five apple trees planted by fall of 2024. It is optimistic as we also have the grape vineyard in the books. The ground is rich and easy to dig into with no rocks to find. This makes planting go so much quicker than if the ground was stubborn and rock filled. Currently growing in the ground are Connell Red apples, and Honeycrisp. There are more varieties of apples on the way and we are very excited to continue the plan of a large orchard. Everything takes time, and yet time flies. It is amazing how much has been achieved on the farm since we came to Coteau Valley Farm. We have more fruit trees to plant other than apple trees. Also, the first planting of grapes will begin this spring as grapes are ordered and on the way. Trellis systems will be in the ground before the end of June. So much happening at Coteau Valley Farm from orchards to vineyards. We are expanding and love every minute of it. The prairie is so gorgeous and it changes at every turn with new scenery in place of the old. Tall grasses are changing from the yellow of winter to their lovely greens and reds and flowers are popping up in tune. What a lovely place to live. We could not appreciate it more. Coteau Valley Farm in Sisseton, South Dakota is up and growing. The apple orchard and the grape vineyard are such a wonderful edition to the farm.