Wendelin Grimm (October 18, 1818 – December 8, 1890) was an American farmer. Grimm is best known for his innovative,

seed saving A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

techniques that resulted in North America's first winter-hardy

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

Biography

Personal life

Grimm was born in Külsheim, Germany as one of seven children to Valentine and Mary Grimm. His childhood was spent in a part of Germany known for its rich agricultural heritage. His formal education was limited to the perfunctory training that would have been given to youth training for a career in farming. At the age of 27, he married Julianna Segner (June 15, 1821 – October 28, 1897) of Steinback, Baden, Germany. They farmed in Germany until 1857 when, with Julianna and their children, Grimm relocated to

Carver County, Minnesota Carver County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is mostly farmland and wilderness with many unincorporated townships. As of the 2020 census, the population was 106,922. Its county seat is Chaska. Carver County is named for ...

by way of New York. Wendelin and Julianna had a total of ten children, seven born in Germany and three born in the United States, only four of them reaching adulthood: *Frank Grimm (10/18/1846-9/25/1925) *Joseph Grimm (4/18/1848-1/29/1929) *Ottilia (Grimm) Kelzer (11/23/1856-2/25/1925) *Caroline (Grimm) Glatzel (2/4/1859-12/29/1905) The Grimms homesteaded property near modern-day

Victoria, Minnesota Victoria is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 7,345 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , ...

. During their time at this location, they transformed the property from a crude log-cabin homestead to a fully functional farmstead. What remains of that

farmstead A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station. In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a settle ...

is now part of the Carver Park Reserve and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. In 1872, Grimm passed the original farmstead onto his son Frank. He then moved to modern-day Chaska and continued to farm. His second farmstead is still occupied and farmed by Grimm's descendants. Wendelin Grimm died on December 8, 1890.

Farming innovations

When Grimm arrived in Minnesota in the fall of 1857, he brought with him more than just his family. Grimm also carried with him a small bag of "ewiger klee" or "everlasting clover" seeds. These seeds were the best producers from his farmstead in Germany. The following spring, Grimm planted his alfalfa seeds on his newly purchased land. The winters in Minnesota were harsher than in Germany. Much of his crop winterkilled. Each year, he would save the seeds from the plants that survived and replant them the following spring. After many years of this practice, he no longer experienced winterkill on his crop. Many of Grimm's neighbors noticed the superiority of his crops and the health of his cattle. One of them, Arthur B. Lyman, worked to bring Grimm's alfalfa to the attention of Professor Willet Hays at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Hays brought Grimm's alfalfa to the masses. A deficiency in Grimm's alfalfa was its inability to resist bacterial wilt. In the 1940s, more resistant strains were developed, and Grimm's alfalfa was no longer widely used. However, Roger Stein of the Carver Park Reserve discusses the importance of the alfalfa grown by Grimm in stating, "You could say that all North American alfalfa comes from parents that originated on this site." It is estimated that Grimm's alfalfa is the basis for the United States' third largest crop (hay) accounting for and a value of $3.4 billion annually.

Honors

* A bronze monument in Wendelin Grimm's honor was erected at the original homestead property on June 10, 1924. Over 400 people attended to commemorate Grimm's contributions to agriculture. * Renovation on the original farmstead was completed in 2001 and celebrated with an open house. Events included era-appropriate activities like wool spinning and a speech by a Grimm descendant, great grandson Clarence Kelzer. * In an homage to the significance of Grimm's alfalfa to Carver County, many of the housing developments in the area once occupied by farmland are now named in its honor. Neighborhoods and school names include: Clover Ridge, Clover Fields and Clover Preserve. * The

State of Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to i ...

celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary in 2008. To celebrate, the state requested citizens to nominate the most significant events and/or people in Minnesota's History. Wendelin Grimm and his alfalfa made the final list of 150.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimm, Wendelin 1818 births 1890 deaths People from Carver County, Minnesota Farmers from Minnesota German emigrants to the United States