Magazine declares Clear Lake farmstead is one of prettiest in Iowa

A five-page full-color layout in “Our Iowa” magazine declares Carroll and El Etchen’s farm south of Clear Lake among the “Prettiest Farms in Iowa”. 

The magazine scours Iowa to showcase an outstanding farm in every issue, noting that “nothing symbolizes our state like proudly primped and painted farmsteads.” 

“A lot of hard work goes into maintaining these well-kept farms, and we want to recognize the farmers behind that effort for contributing to the beauty of Iowa,” says Larry Wiebel, managing editor for Our Iowa.

  There’s a whole lot of color poppin’ on the Etchen’s Crestview Farm—drive up the long, neatly blacktopped lane and your eyes are in for a treat. Carroll has 23 beautifully restored old tractors sitting on the yard, a display that brings back memories of a time when farming in Iowa was much simpler.

Red Farmalls and classic McCormick-Deerings sit alongside bright green Poppin’ Johnnies—older John Deere tractors known for the distinctive “pop, pop, pop” coming from their two-cylinder engines.

“All the tractors have some connection to our farm or family,” Carroll explains. “The first tractor I owned—a 1950 John Deere A—is out there, along with the 1936 John Deere A that El first learned to drive on the baler on her father’s farm.”

All the tractors have been restored by Carroll, along with various pieces of antique farm machinery that sit in a nearby grove of trees.

The vintage tractors aren’t the only pretty sight on the Etchen farm, however. Several - Read More Via e-Edition