PLAN IT NOW PLANT IN IT NEXT SPRING During World War Two, 20 million Americans planted victory gardens to free up produce and the means to transport it for the war effort. In their own back yards, they produced up to 40 percent of the vegetables America ate. We can […]
We raced to finish our greenhouse project before the ground froze and the snow fell. By last week the ground was frozen, and Wednesday the snow not only fell, it dumped. Wednesday the city of Madison was stopped in it’s tracks. With about 17 inches of snow and gusting wind, […]
Introducing a new feature on this site: Conversations with my architect on the design of the house we will build in 2012. Our architect Della Hansmann of Whole Tree Architecture (see York Times article here) is also our daughter. This is a rare opportunity to mull over how to make […]
For better or worse, the race to get projects done before the ground freezes is over, and I think we won. The temperatures around here have dropped. At the moment, it’s 17 degrees F outside, and a big snow dump is predicted today – the first serious snow of the […]
18 years ago I drove my shovel into the ground of my new yard in Libertyville IL and broke the blade off in that rock-hard clay. I replaced the shovel, and while I was at it I bought a big, black, plastic compost bin so I could compost urbanely. By […]
We reach Thanksgiving from a winding road through autumn and exit into winter. The time available to work outside on our land is truncated more with each passing day. Sunset comes earlier. Night lasts longer. And longer. That’s why of all the Christmas/Solstice traditions, I love trees the best. Our […]
As the vegetarian mom in a vegetarian family, thanksgiving is not associated with roasted turkey around here. We all look forward to our traditional feast, which features a big, round, crispy-crusted, golden-brown dome of polenta marbled with savory beans and tangy cheeses. And we ladle rich, flavorful vegetarian gravy over […]
SHOULD I SERVE MY THANKSGIVING GUESTS FOOD MADE WITH RAW MILK? My daughter is the new and proud owner of a cow share. Last month she came home from LaCrosse with a glass jar of milk from her friendly, neighborhood family farm. It was filled with the familiar white liquid, […]
In the background of this photo of our just finished hay stack, (see my post Stacking Hay) you can see our barn and the attached greenhouse. Having a greenhouse has been a dream all my life, and when we designed our barn, the attached greenhouse was on the drawing board […]
This week UW-Madison ethnobotanist Eve Emshwiller taught me to care deeply about oca, a funky little tuber that I will probably never see. Botany seems like a conflicted field to me. Some researchers are working to develop “perfect” varieties of plants that can be grown in vast monocultures, while other […]
Digging in the Driftless 