Jill Hanson speaks fondly of her Hoosier Homestead farm that
sits near the Putnam and Hendricks county line.
She says her “mind is filled with a lot of good memories from growing up
near the family farm.” Jill’s great-great-grandfather
originally bought the farm in 1856. Her
mother, Wynona Strietelmeier, passed away nearly 20 years ago, but received the
centennial award for the farm before her passing. “I think it is such a neat award. I remember my mother getting the 100-year
homestead award and when I heard that there was a 150- and 200-year award, I
knew that I wanted to apply for the 150-year award. I’m 67, so hopefully my daughter will get the
200-year award.”
According to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture,
the Hoosier Homestead program began in 1976 to recognize the contributions
these family farms have made to the economic, cultural, and social advancements
of the state. In the past 30 years, more
than 5,000 farms have been recognized for operating under long-time continuous
ownership by the same family.
The homestead used to be the setting of a house and barn, as
well as a 20-acre wood and farm ground. While
the house and barn are now gone, the others remain. “The ground is farmed out. My mother rented it out to a friend that she
grew up with and now his son farms it.
We enjoy mushroom hunting in the woods.”
Jill has two brothers, Jim and Dean Strietelmeier, who did
the majority of the planting on the farm growing up. “I remember hay rides on the farm, feeding
the goats and the hogs, fishing in the creek and river, and playing in the
woods. My brother Jim was swinging
across the river on a grapevine one time and the vine broke and he fell and broke
his arm. We would also drive the
tractors, or just steered the tractor if we weren’t old enough to drive. Back then, we did so much together. We used to go to the farm every day, and it
was such a good time. We went to the
farm to work, but we also had fun.”
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