GROWING OUR FIRST GARLIC
Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated crops. Potent, esteemed, and finally coming into the cross-hairs of science, where pieces of its DNA sequence may help us better understand human history.
10X LENS: TICKET TO A NEW WORLD
A 10X magnifying lens is giving me a glimpse into a world of exquisite detail at the boundary between the plant and animal kingdoms where drama plays out among flowers and insects.
HAND RAKING OUR FIELD FOR FUN AND PROFIT
We are really feeling like farmers now that we have started to convert an acre and a half that was full of brome grass and wild parsnip, sumac and prickly […]
UNDERHILL HOUSE BECOMES A CLASSROOM
We hosted Highland Middle School’s 60 students for a tour of Underhill House last Friday. Highland is a nearby village with 842 residents, and its school system is pushing the […]
A GREENHOUSE WITHIN THE GREENHOUSE
In mid-February, we planted the greens that we expected to transfer to our greenhouse in a few weeks when the cold temperatures subsided, and the weather became a little […]
THE VANISHING FLOWERS OF WINTER
Thanks to the polar vortex, this winter has had some real teeth here in the Midwest. I have listened to many complaints about below zero temperatures and our thick blanket of snow. I’m looking on this winter the way I might have gazed at the buffalo if I could travel […]
FOILING DEER BROWSE
Deer are the largest and most dramatic wildlife most of us see on a regular basis. This summer we enjoyed watching a mother and her two fawns regularly explore their botanical buffet within feet of our bedroom window. They were incredibly endearing at such close range, but a cloud hung […]
SLIPPING IN A PRAIRIE BURN BEFORE THE RAIN
Last Sunday we woke to a clearing sky. We drank our morning tea in the sunshine while rechecking the weather report. We had expected Sunday to be the first of a string of rainy days, but the rain was postponed. This was a chance we had not expected to get. […]
WADING IN THE WATER CYCLE
The past few weeks, Doug and I have been working on clearing a lane from our barn to the south-facing slope where we plan to establish a vineyard for seedless grapes. The lane travels from the relatively high ground around the barn and house to the bottom of a small […]
SHOVELING OUT AT UNDERHILL HOUSE
Three days ago, Doug and I were coming home from errands in Madison in near white-out conditions. The flakes were tiny, but so thick they filled the air, and they were being driven almost horizontally through the headlight beams obliterating any sight of the stripes on the road. The same […]
Digging in the Driftless 