ABOVE: Lenny Tvedten stands next to some agriculture artifacts inside the Pioneer Museum in Fairmont. Tvedten is about to start a new book on the history of farming in Martin County.

FAIRMONT– Lenny Tvedten is about to embark on his fourth book which will be all about farms in Martin County. The Martin County Historical Society director hopes the book will serve as another way to document this important history about the county.

Tvedten’s first book, “Tales of Martin County,” came out in 2018. The second one had a focus on veterans from Martin County and came out at the end of 2021. His third book, “Martin County Merchants and Innovators, Creators and Risk Takers,” was all about past and present businesses around the county and came out in 2023.

Speaking to how he landed on the idea for his fourth book, Tvedten said, “Agriculture is a significant part of Martin County and I thought it would be an interesting and fun way to document farms in the county.”

Tvedten is willing to help tell the history of all farms, whether they’re from current or former farm families or even renters.

“Everyone has a story. To me, that would be the interesting part,” he said.

Those interested in being featured will need to share their name, the township, the type of farm operation (grain, dairy, hog) and length of ownership/rental.

Aside from the more basic details, he also wants people to include some interesting pieces of information.

“Include some stories related to the faming operations. It can be about individuals, machinery, weather events. So many things happen over the course of the years,” Tvedten said.

Of course he’s also hoping for people to share any photos they have of their farm.

“Pictures are important. I’d like to have several pictures per story,” he said.

Tvedten is taking submissions now and has a soft deadline of June 30.

“They will submit their story. They can either write it or put down information in bullet points and we’ll write it,” he said. “The key thing is, we will give the final copy back to them for approval before we include it in the book.”

Tvedten and the historical society’s other staff, James Marushin and Donna Paris, will help compile the information into stories for the book.

For this book he is hoping for at least 50 submissions.

“Farms have gotten larger. There aren’t as many individual farms anymore as there were 50 years ago, but any are important to document. This is a way to document farming in Martin County,” Tvedten said.

His books on veterans and businesses, which were done in a similar format, each had about 70 submissions.

“It’s also contingent on funding. We’re going to look for some grants or sponsors,” Tvedten said.

There is no cost to be featured in the book and Tvedten is hoping for a late 2025 or early 2026 publication date.

Anyone who wishes to submit their information can find a form on the home page of the Martin County Historical Society’s website at mchsmn.org. They can also email Tvedten at editormchs@gmail.com or call the museum at 507-235-5178.