We moved to the farm 14 years ago from North Minneapolis

We moved to the farm 17 years ago from North Minneapolis. We had that feeling or need to "go back-to-the-land". Loretta primarily wanted to live in a country setting where she could have some fiber animals to help support her spinning habit. Jerry yearned for dark skies to use his telescopes - as things turned out - wrenching on John Deere tractors and cutting hay became more important than building that dream observatory. Both of us are now submersed in the fiber arts and enjoy raising our fiber animals, teaching what we have learned and selling the fruit of our labor - extremely nice fleeces, yarns and finished products. We are extremely fortunate to have blackberries growing all over our 140 acres - thus "Blackberry Hills".

How can I pay for Blackberry Hills products?
How do you work off the farm and get all those farm chores done? - Most often asked question.
How do I get to Blackberry Hills?
What animals might I see if we visit Blackberry Hills?
When is an appropriate time to visit Blackberry Hills?

How can I pay for Blackberry Hills products?

Certainly we take checks. We can also take online payments at PayPal.

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How do you work off the farm and get all those farm chores done? - Most often asked question.

Ya . . . sure, we have a work ethic - - and we like our lifestyle!


Loretta at llama show	Loretta at work on the Megado	Jerry weaving at the AVL and Jerry being chastised by Jason

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How do I get to Blackberry Hills?

We are located about 65 miles Northeast of Minneapolis/St. Paul - right across the St. Croix River in St. Croix Falls. From Highway 8 - go north on Highway 87 (main drag of St. Croix Falls). At about 8 miles you will pass through Eureka Center at 210th Avenue (one corner town). Continue north on 87 one half mile to 215th Avenue and take a right turn (east) at the corner with the pine trees (across the street to the west is Nature Beef Farm). Go east on 215th Avenue two miles (one mile tar and one mile dirt) - the road will take a left turn to the North, but instead take a right turn into our uphill driveway through the yellow gate.

Do not search internet maps for our address - none of them are accurate and most put you about 9 miles away from our house! The only one that is close is this link - Yahoo! Maps - 2150 220th St, St Croix Falls, WI 54024-7602 This appears to be the most accurate virtual address finder for our farm - however, we are actually south of the marker star - right on the 90 degree corner - through the yellow gate!

This is an artistic map - not to scale, but the intersections are accurate.

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What animals might I see if I visit Blackberry Hills?

Basically, we are a fiber-farm. At Blackberry Hills we have 50-60 lamas - both llamas and alpacas. Recently we culled our sheep flock to around 55-60 - mostly Navaho-Churro. Mohair is shorn off our 15 angora goats twice each year. We also milk 5-8 American/French Alpine goats which supply us with plenty of lamb/kid/cria milk when needed - and of course (we're in Wisconsin) we make cheese! Chickens, cats and dogs round out our country livestock.