I was caught short my first winter as a serious locavore. I did not know what any kid 4H would have known in 1950. I decided in the fall to depend on what area farmers could offer when it was too late to put any local fruits and veggies in […]
If you love to cook, you will love Richard Wrangham’s cooking hypothesis. This British primatologist proposes that we humans stepped away from the other apes (who still spend most of their time grinding bitter berries and fibrous roots between their massive molars) when we tossed those tubers into a fire […]
When you decide to be a farmer, you have to start somewhere. How about a row of raspberries? Last April I drove an hour and a half to East Troy WI for the “Berrylicious Workshop” at the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute , which promised and provided hands-on training in pruning, […]
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 […]
Mom was right. We should eat our vegetables. Now even some insurance companies want you to supersize your salad (read about this below). But more than that, if we choose vegetables that are produced locally as much as we can, we will improve not only our own health but the […]
Though I’ve already applied some of it, I’m still digesting the feast of info from 20th Energy Fair of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) June 19-21 near Custer, Wisconsin. It’s a great gathering of people who are learning how to live more lightly, and it just feels good to […]
Every time I sprinkle baker’s yeast into warm water and honey, then see it bloom and rise to the surface like foam on a rich beer, I feel like I am witnessing life begin in a primordial sea. I am a farmer watching my microcosmic crop ripen in the space […]
Digging in the Driftless 