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, […]
When we lived in the Netherlands, we often watched village-dwelling farmers wearing wooden shoes bike out to their well-tended fields carrying some long-handled tool over their shoulder (yes, really). The Netherlands is a food exporting country, demonstrating that monster-sized agribusiness is not the only productive game in town. Those […]
Michael Pollan’s breakout book (and PBS special) Botany of Desire starts with the saga of the apple. He calls the apple as important as the axe and the plow to the pioneers. They were not valued as a sweet, crunchy snack but as liquid refreshment. Apples were the easiest source […]
The Dutch word for potato is aardapel, which means earth apple. Apples and potatoes have long been a staple because both can be stored long after harvesting in root cellars and apple barrels. But they are also alike in that, though they remain quite edible, they are beyond delicious when […]
Our prairie remnant on a sunny, south-facing slope just off the top of a ridge had been farmed for years and then planted by the owner before us in rows of pine and spruce. Some of the trees were 5 years old. Some were nearer 15. The older trees were […]
I proudly add a new link to my Blogroll. My younger daughter, a senior at UW-Madison double majoring in journalism and biological aspects of conservation, just started blogging – Cooking between Classes aimed at empowering her fellow college students to take charge of what they eat. For fun, I interviewed […]
Digging in the Driftless 