Remembering Oscar and Ann’s Garden

Oscar and Anna (Boerner) Aderman made their home “behind the mill” in the home Anna grew up in with her father, Martin Boerner, Sr. In the early 1960s, the paper mill needed to expand so bought the homes from the residents and helped them relocate in another part of the small mill town. Oscar and Ann were among those who moved into a new home with five acres of land very near the Menominee River. They sold their old home for $13,000 and bought the new one (shown below) for $15,000. In addition, the mill told the residents they were could take whatever they wanted of the old houses because they were going to just get rid of them. Grandpa took them seriously and took all that he could–right down to the electrical wiring in the walls.

Oscar and Anna Aderman’s new home.

One of the highlights for them in this new home was having plenty of land for Oscar to have a machine shop and a large garden. They started early in the spring getting the soil ready for seeds, tried to outsmart the deer and rabbits all season long, enjoyed eating the fresh vegetables and sharing them with many people, and freezing and canning them at their peak.

Oscar plowing up the garden in the spring.

Anna worked hard to get the sauerkraut made from their cabbage, the brussel sprouts frozen, and the green beans canned. Oscar built a root cellar under the garage to store the canned goods and some of the fresh potatoes, carrots, and squash in an enclosure filled with dirt. He watered the garden with rain water that he collected in 50-gallon barrels from the downspouts on the house. It was always a huge undertaking and always a successful garden.