Author Archives: Sylvia Burgos Toftness

About Sylvia Burgos Toftness

A Latina baby boomer from the tenements of the South Bronx, I now raise 100% grass-fed beef in west-central Wisconsin with my husband Dave. We believe more people will choose to farm and eat healthful foods if they know the connections between what we eat and how it's grown. That's why we invite you to walk the fields with us; hear from experts on my Saturday morning show, Deep Roots Radio; share our adventures on my blog, From the Bronx to the Barn; and buy our sustainably-grown beef. We farm with a tiny carbon hoofprint (R) so that you can enjoy great-tasting grass-fed beef that's high in nutrition while helping to restore our environment.

Meet Siggy – our newest farm baby

Siggy, our Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy

Siggy, our Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy

With spring comes new life on any farm. For Bull Brook Keep, it means the birth of new BueLingo calves, and a call from the local post office announcing the arrival of our chicks.

This April brought yet another baby to our farm – Siggy, our Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy. Hardly bigger than a fat gray rabbit, Siggy is a little dog that thinks he’s as big as a lab. To be sure, I’ve high hopes that Siggy will grow to be an important member of our working farm.

I invite you to follow Siggy’s adventures. I’ll be sharing them every week or so in the form of a children’s story. Let me know what you think. Here’s the link to our first installment.

Saturday, March 28, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM Central – what does an farmer look like? How many acres add up to a real farm?

Tune in!
What: According to USDA stats: Who is farming, and how many acres equals a farm. Deep Roots Radio takes a look. Taking a look at the 2012 USDA’s Agricultural Census
When: Saturday, March 28, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM Central
Where: WPCA Radio, 93.1FM and stream live at www.wpcaradio.org

Deep Roots Radio, 91.3FM and www.wpcaradio.org

Deep Roots Radio, 91.3FM and www.wpcaradio.org

Multi-species grazing

Multi-species grazing

A dusting of snow

Like so many in Wisconsin and Minnesota, I woke to snow this morning and quickly bundled up for morning chores. I pulled up thermals and pulled on my purple balaclava, and braced myself for the cold. What a wonderful surprise it was to open the door to a gentle daybreak. It was calm and felt absolutely balmy.
There was barely a quarter inch of snow on the ground as I headed up the short hill to the tractor. The snow was already dripping down the windshield facing into the sun, and the diesel started right up. The dogs played tug-of-war with a stick as I speared bales and slowly moved them to a distant pasture, and i could hear the rooster crowing from within the coop. I’ve already fed and watered them, but I’ll wait until a few hens have laid eggs in the nest boxes before letting the small flock range the farm for the day.
Now to bake bread.

Morning break after a three-dog night

It hit -28 last night at Bull Brook Keep, and that’s without taking windchill into account.
After pulling on my flap-earred hat, long-johns and heavy jacket, I fed and watered the chickens and fully expected to find frozen eggs in the nest boxes. Today’s harvest was small and cold, but not frozen. I’ll check the coop several times this morning to gather up any new contributions before they freeze and crack.

Hot and spicy break after a three-dog night

Hot and spicy break after a three-dog night


Chilly morning chores prompt substantial morning breaks. Today’s includes toasted French sourdough fortified with pastured butter and homemade jalapeño jelly, extra sharp Cheddar, a fresh pear and piping hot organic Welsh Morning tea with plenty of organic half-and-half and vanilla-spiked organic sugar. Thank you God.

Feb. 21, 9-9:30AM Central -live with The Nourished Kitchen’s Jennifer McGruther. Getting to traditional cooking

I get it: you want to eat healthy foods. You want to cook delicious meals. You want to get back to what’s real, and you want to do it yourself! But you’re apprehensive about where to start. And you wonder if you’ll spend the rest of your life in the kitchen!
Worry no more. Jennifer McGruther recently published an absolutely beautiful cookbook that goes by the same name as her wildly popular website – The Nourished Kitchen. Tune in today as we chat about the cookbook and the thinking behind it. She makes fermentation, slow cooking and the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation “do-able”.

What: Deep Roots Radio interview with Jennifer McGruther, author/blogger of The Nourished Kitchen
When: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM Central Time
Where: Broadcast and streamed live on WPCA Radio 93.1FM and www.wpcaradio.org

See you on the radio!
Sylvia

Feb. 14, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM CT – live – the movement to take back our lives

Why all these DIY classes in “how to build this,” “how to get better gas mileage,” “how to be energy independent,” how to can and how to freeze, how to cook and how to grow your own food? Is it only about unleashing our inner creative selves or is there more?
Are we, as a society striving to relearn how to regain command of our own lives?
Yup, we’re into reflection and practical how-to’s this morning on Deep Roots Radio.
Tune in.

What: Deep Roots Radio on “taking back our lives”
When: Today, Feb. 14, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM Central
Where: Broadcast and streamed live at WPCA Radio 93.1FM, www.wpcaradio.org

Hope you’ll tune in.
Sylvia

The timekeeper – a noisy video

Our free-range chickens are built to forage for themselves

Our free-range chickens are built to forage for themselves

I’m typing away at my desk and then it comes, the crowing that says, “Hey, it’s 11 AM. There are things to do.”
My free range chickens seem to be thriving in the cold and snow. They peck at any patch of dirt or brittle grass blade they find, which is why they love to hang out under my office window. In addition to being out of the wind and facing into the sun, they love scratching through, and nestling into, the mulch around the bushes. It makes for happy hens, and a very vocal rooster.

Stir Fry – a with twist

Kimchi Stir Fry on the farm

Kimchi Stir Fry on the farm

It was what was in the fridge: organic brown rice, half an onion, butternut squash-kale kimchi, and eggs fresh from from the coop. I stirred the egg in hot butter over medium heat till it was just set. I moved this to a bowl. Then it was chopped onion into heated toasted sesame oil. It smelled wonderful as I stirred till the onions became translucent. I added these to the egg and put them aside. I fried the rice and chopped kimchi over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, slowly stirring and flipping to keep it from burning but letting a rich crust form on the bottom. Once that was done, I recombined the rice with the onion and egg, and enjoyed the meal with a drizzle of organic tamari sauce.
Thank you God.

Snow? What snow? Time to get ready for farmers markets everywhere. Jan. 31, 9-9:30AM Central, Deep Roots Radio

Tune in as we chat with Val Burke, manager of Amery, WI’s Monday evening Farmers Market. Yes, there’re six inches snow on the ground. And, yes, temps are due to plunge below zero, again, over the next several days. But, hey, what better time to plan for short-sleeved T-shirts, fresh spinach, sun-warmed tomatoes and fresh green onions??!

And if you’re a farmer, you’re elbow deep in seed orders for CSA customers, retailers, restaurants and, yes, farmers markets.

What: Deep Roots Radio with Val Burke, farmer and manager of Amery’s Monday evening Farmers Market
When: Saturday, January 31, 9:00-9:30AM Central Time
Where: Broadcast and streamed live from the studios of WPCA Radio, 93.1FM and www.wpcaradio.org

What do you buy at your local farmers market?
Sylvia

Jan 24, 9:00-9:30AM CT – How grass-fed diary is better for people, cows and land

What: Deep Roots Radio recorded interview with Cheyenne Christianson, Wisconsin organic dairy farmer who sells through Organic Valley
When: Jan. 24, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM Central Time
Where: WPCA Radio, 93.1FM and streamed at www.wpcaradio.org
Why: Virtually all diary operations are built on the confinement model: lots of grains, use of antibiotics and hormones, and in some cases, limited access to pasture. Not so for Cheyenne who, with his wife and children operate Grazing Acres in Chetek, Wisconsin. Now more than 20 years into certified organic, grass-fed dairy management, he shares why he does it, the challenges and the many healthful rewards. Did you know that most dairy cows live less than four years? In contrast, Cheyenne has cows well over 14 years old.
CheyenneChristianson
Hope you’ll tune in.