Growing seed has been a family tradition for the Coombs family of Latimer for five generations, spanning 65 years.  Clara Coombs, along with her son Ralph, began raising seed oats for Willard Latham in 1947.  A few years later, Ralph’s son, Harold, began working with him.  And walking in their shadows, from the time he was old enough to toddle, was Harold’s son John.  Today the legacy lives on as John’s son, Andy, joins the operation.

“My grandfather traded work with Willard,” said John Coombs, who’s been farming since 1973.  “They both had a nose for business:  Willard liked wholesale/retail end of the business.  My grandfather liked the details of production and getting a premium for his crop, so the partnership between the two really worked well.  I have lots of good memories.”

John remembers how the two gentlemen’s relationship ran so deep that Willard even borrowed Ralph’s new 1949 Chevy pickup to Des Moines to pick up seed treatment.  That pickup could pull a wagon holding 100 bushels of oats, which is quite a contrast to the 950 bushels of soybeans they can haul today with their semi.

“We still enjoy driving Grandpa’s Chevy and enter it in a couple of local parades each summer,” says John.  “While we’ve had lots of fun over the years, I appreciate how new technology helps us do our jobs better.  Soybean yields have doubled since I started raising seed.  And new harvesting equipment makes it much easier to combine whole beans in the fall.  Whole beans are key for quality seed; we pay particular attention to avoid splits.”

“We’re fussy in what we do,” adds John.  “We like to get clearance before we go to the field in the spring.  We try to groom the crop through the summer and keep the weeds out.  We realize when we contract with Latham that “quality” is stamped on the bag, so we want to do all that we can to raise the highest quality beans.”

As spring planting gets underway, John and Andy are looking forward to working together.  Andy graduated in 2007 from Iowa State University, where he majored in Ag Studies.  Upon graduation, he went on the wheat harvest with a crew of four ISU students.  They started in Frederick, Okla., on the Texas border, and combined their way through Kansas and Nebraska before heading to North Dakota.  In North Dakota, they would cut wheat by day and canola by night.  Andy says that he got more experience fixing equipment over the course of a few months than he ever would’ve imagined!

Andy, the middle of the Coombs children, is engaged to be married on July 28 to Emily Carr.  John and his wife, Beverly, are also the proud parents of four daughters:

1. Jennifer, their firstborn, works in human resources at Principle in Des Moines.  Her husband, Brian, is an architect and they have a daughter, Annabelle.
2. Jill serves as activities director for Walnut Ridge Senior Living community in Des Moines, and her husband, Derek, works for Wells Fargo mortgage. They have a son, Elias.
3. Amy lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.  She is Program Coordinator with the Internal Medicine Residency Program at the University of Utah.  Amy’s husband, Kyle, is attending the University of Utah where he is studying in computer science.
4. Youngest daughter, Laura, is enrolled in the master’s program in higher education / student services at University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She is engaged to Nick, a business student at Iowa State University.

With so many children to feed, John jokes that Beverly has had much practice honing her cooking skills.  The family’s favorite is home-grown sweet corn.  Another favorite is Almond Bars, so today Beverly is sharing her recipe with us.

Easter has always been a special holiday for me.  From the time I was a small child, I’ve enjoyed attending Sunrise Service and then feasting on a big breakfast or brunch.  The Easter Bunny visited our house while we were at church, and I couldn’t wait to get home and see what he had left in my basket.  I also looked forward to late afternoon when my five cousins and I (plus our parents, too) would gather at my grandparents’ farm for our annual egg hunt.  In addition to searching for candy-filled eggs, there was a bag of candy with each of our names on it.

It’s been nearly 50 years since the first Bruns family egg hunt was held, and our tradition is still growing strong!  Literally.  Now there are four generations – and 36 people – searching for plastic eggs in a two-acre yard.  It’s not usual for cousins to play tricks on one another, finding and then re-hiding someone’s bag of candy in a tree, a flower box or even an old John Deere planter box.  We’ve searched for eggs in all sorts of weather from wet and soggy conditions to snow banks.  It looks like this year we could be in for a real treat with warm, dry spring weather.

Throughout the years, my crafty mom has done many things to make the season extra special for us.  Nearly every year we blew out and colored eggs for our egg tree.  (I finally did this last year with my kids.  Then I saved it in the basement, so we could use it again this year.  Somehow I feel guilty about this.)  We also colored hard-boiled eggs that were then turned into my mom’s infamous potato salad.  (Since I can’t make potato salad like Mom, I don’t see any need to boil the eggs!)  Another year Mom made Easter baskets, in the shape of a rabbit, for each grandkid. (I had fun doing this last year with my Girl Scout troop, too.)  I also remember, as a small child standing on a kitchen hair, helping her mix up a cake that we then decorated as a bunny.

Perhaps this will be the year that my kids and I bake a Peter Rabbit Cake.  It definitely fits my main criteria for a recipe: quick, easy and delicious!  These criteria are also why I plan to try my hand at making Mosaic Jell-O for our family potluck this Sunday.  Chances are, I’ll put my “Jell-O Salad” in a bowl instead of making bars.  (I honestly can’t bear thinking of Jell-O as a bar.  Bars, in my humble opinion, should be thick, rich and chocolaty!)

In case you’re interested in a new recipe for your own Easter brunch, I’m including recipes for some of my favorite breakfast casseroles below.  I’m also including some cute ideas for Easter crafts to keep little hands and minds occupied.

Easter brunch ideas:

• Blueberry French Toast
• Baked Apple French Toast
• Egg & Hash Brown Casserole

Easter basket ideas:

• Thirty-One Woman
• Family Fun
• Making Learning Fun

With a love for the land and of the great outdoors, John Fedeler feels fortunate that his father provided him with an opportunity to start farming 32 years ago when he was a senior in high school.  In 1984, he moved to the farm where he and his wife of 22 years are raising their family.

“Jackie is a great partner,” says John.  “She worked the first 10 years of our marriage at Rockwell Collins, and her off-farm job really helped us with the family living expenses.”

As their family grew, however, Jackie was needed more at home.  Since 2001, she has worked different part-time jobs but farming and family definitely takes priority.  The family raises corn and soybeans.  They also sell small, square bales of high-quality hay.  In addition, they calve between 60 and 80 cows that they then finish to market weight.

“Farming is a way of life for us,” says Jackie.  “By helping with chores, our kids have learned to be responsible.  They’ve learned to work hard.  They even ask their friends to pitch in and help.  When the work is done, we feed them well and John usually makes a batch of malts.”  The promise of pizza or grilled burgers plus John’s malts are key to rounding up a group of willing workers.  (NOTE TO SELF:  Remember to stop by the Fedeler farm place when black raspberries are in season.  Even if you have to help unload hay, it will be worth it for a taste of John’s homemade black raspberry or chocolate malts!)

John and Jackie are the proud parents of six, active children:  Jacob, 20, is  a freshman at Kirkwood Community College, majoring in Ag Business.  Daughter Kristine is a high school senior, and this fall she will attend the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) for nursing.  Danielle, 15, is a freshman, who loves sports, music and drawing.  Noah, 13, loves all sports, music and video games.  Ten-year-old Alex loves farming, and as a first-year 4-H member, he’s looking forward to showing two steers at the county fair.  Youngest daughter, Jerilyn, is eight.  She’s a little socialite, who likes just about anything.

It goes without saying that family gatherings are big for the Fedelers.  Jackie comes from a family of eight children and John from a family of nine.  John’s parents have 32 grandchildren, yet everyone makes it a priority to come home for the holidays.  John and Jackie hosted Christmas 2011 in their home for both sides of their family.  They said it’s not unusual to feed 45 or more, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.

In addition to spending time with family, John is also a volunteer fireman and EMT.  He plays on a men’s softball league and really enjoys riding his Harley.  He enjoyed Latham’s Freedom of Independence Ride around eastern Iowa and western Wisconsin last year and is looking forward to the company’s annual ride in 2012.

Jackie has joined a women’s golf league and is looking forward to the start of the new season.  She and the children are very involved with church activities, plus she enjoys spending time in the kitchen.  Jackie is such a good baker that she’s been winning contests since high school.

“During my senior year, I needed a project for my Home Ec class,” says  Jackie with a smile.   “I saw this recipe for Candy Cane Coffee Cake in an old Betty Crocker cookbook, and it was voted Best of Class.  Since it was such a good recipe, a few years later, I entered a holiday baking contest sponsored by the newspaper.  I won that contest, too!  This recipe has become a family tradition ever since.  My  mom, some of my kids and I enjoy making these coffee cakes and sharing them with neighbors and others in the community during the holidays.”