The small family farm is a dying breed, even in Minnesota. But it remains important in our consciousness as a haven from the ills of society and a refuge to raise strong, wonderful children. In a way, there's some truth in that ... at least for author Kent Meyers.

In his memoir "The Witness of Combines," Meyers reflects on a childhood punctuated by work and family...complete with chickens to be fed and butchered, hundreds of quarts of vegetables to be canned, and crops to be planted and harvested. But the book is also about community, and takes its title from a pivotal moment when neighbors came together in a procession of combines to help harvest the Meyers' crop following the sudden death of Kent's father.