By now, five years into the relationship, I no longer feel it necessary to call my land Ms. Forty-four Acres. Sometimes I feel it’s perfectly appropriate to call her Forty-four, or even Dear old Double F – but that doesn’t mean I actually know her really well yet. Whenever I […]
People say sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees. It’s even more true that you can’t see the prairie for the grasses. But we really should see those grasses. Ornamental grasses are gaining respect in landscaping, and truly, what is more beautiful than a sea of grass flowing […]
When we first walked our land, it was a week before Labor Day 2003. I’m sure there were wild flowers everywhere, but I can’t remember them. I was trying to feel the whole 44 acres at once. What is too big? Was it too little? Was it too flat? Was […]
I vividly remember the fireworks of flavor that erupted with my first taste of pizza. I was about 10, and our family was dining with friends. The pre-Martha Stewart mothers in our crowd competed to feed 10 to 20 people at a time with something tasty that didn’t break the […]
I totally believe that we are what we eat and that food is profoundly political. Likewise, I believe we are what we read. Those two concepts will be blending together this fall as my alma mater, University of Wisconsin-Madison, (Go Badgers!) launches its first common reading program that will reach […]
Today my post is a link to an article in On Wisconsin that I wrote this spring about Anne Topham, the godmother of goat cheese. Anne milks her goats and makes her cheeses on Fantôme Farm in The Driftless Area just a few miles from my own 44 acres. Wisconsin […]
When I say we have a pond on our land, you need to realize it is a tiny, little jewel box of a pond. The former owner, making use of Department of Natural Resources grants available at the time, dammed a little ravine and created a modest water catchment basin. […]
Last Sunday, the sun was shining. The birds were singing. Doug and I were dipping buckets of water from our tiny pond and hauling them in our Powerwagon (learn about the tool that has turned us into superman and wonderwoman here) to all the places we started new plants this […]
I’ve read that pioneers called their wagons prairie schooners. If they crossed my acre and a half of restored remnant prairie today, they would be sailing over a sea of flowers. I can totally relate to the bees. I am drawn to this blooming bounty and am fueled by it. […]
I’m hosting far-flung family from Seattle, Houston and Albany this week, so I’m going to post a link today to an article I wrote for the July/August issue of The Organic Broadcaster It begins: We’ve all read the headlines trumpeting the destructive potential of global warming, filled with phrases like […]
Digging in the Driftless 