13. Life in the Mennonite Villages

Although the first years were difficult it wasn't long before the Friesen family had growing boys to help them in their farming endeavors.  They had been accustomed to the fertile delta in Prussia and had to learn to farm by trial and error in the dry climate of their new land.  The lower lands with their fields and orchards suffered from floods at the beginning.  Some of the land was salty but the land on the elevations was fertile.
The colonists formed villages of fifteen to thirty families, each with 175 acres of free land.  Initially the settlers raised cattle, sheep and general crops to provide for their household.  They grew mulberry bushes for the silk industry, produced honey, flax, tobacco, fruits and vegetables for nearby city markets. The climate was continental, with very warm summers so that watermelons thrived, and cold and snowy in winters.