GUEST POST BY DELLA HANSMANN Whole Trees Architecture and Construction Before you even start thinking about the specific design of your building, you can have a huge impact on its comfort and cost by choosing the site wisely. Issues of solar gain, prevailing winds, and drainage are key, as well […]
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 […]
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 […]
Because I don’t live on my land yet, I have to drive there, and I am painfully aware of the gas I’m burning up. It’s one of those shades-of-green things. I feel the work I’m doing on my 44 acres is good for the planet, but that good is sooted […]
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 […]
I first walked my land on Labor Day Weekend 2004. I was responding with a pounding heart to the topographical nuance of a protected hollow where a ravine and another, wider valley meet under a big bowl of sky. I was already bonding to the rows of toddler pine, spruce […]
With gas prices creeping back up, wouldn’t you love to have a more fuel efficient car? Did you know you have one in your driveway? I thought I was a pretty green driver, but I learned we can all squeeze a little more gas out of each tank and cut […]
Digging in the Driftless 