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.

2″ of snow expected. Yes, it’s spring.

The sun’s getting so much stronger. Even when morning temps are well below freezing and the driveway is glare ice, I know my car will be cozy by afternoon.

My veggie-farmer friends are eager to get into their hoop houses. Like runners at the blocks, they wait for that flash of just-enough solar energy to set them sprinting to the start of another growing season.

2021 Buelingo heifer

Soon there’ll be lambs, kids, calves and chicks arriving at neighboring farms.  All those gangly legs and cute faces will be bouncing across fields, butting heads and running circles around their moms. Life on the run. But that’s a few weeks away.

Tonight we’re expecting a couple of inches of snow. Not surprising; it’s March in northwestern Wisconsin. So even as I pick a lighter sweater to wear, I keep a heavy pair of boots stashed in the back seat of my car.

The days are getting longer and the sun’s definitely more yellow. Still, I wait to farm in step the arrival of real spring. Soon enough, our beef cattle will be grazing across Bull Brook Keep again.

Sylvia

Testing social media connections

Can I post across platforms simultaneously?

How can you create social content once and post on several sites at the same time?

There are numbers of for-fee services that make this a simple process, but the cost can be high. Can it be done directly from your website? I need this capability for our grass-fed beef direct sales, as well as to invite visitors to my farm for tours and classes. This little test will let us know immediately.

If you’re a business with this same challenge, let me know what you’re doing to save time while building business.

Thanks.

Sylvia Burgos Toftness, Bull Brook Keep.

It’s Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week! 9/27-10/3 Time to take an ag-adventure!

Governor Tony Evers proclaims Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2021 Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week. Yahoo!

Looking for the Great Pumpkin

And what a perfect time of year to celebrate the hundreds of farmers and agribusinesses that invite visitors throughout the growing season, and beyond. Enjoy the fall colors as you to pick crisp apples, wander through a corn maze, pet baby farm animals, sip wine among grape vines, try some hard cider, or take a pasture walk.

Governor Evers’ proclamation

The Governor’s proclamation recognizes agriculture’s impact on the state economy: nearly 64,800 farmers on 14.3 million acres; 435.7K jobs; and a $104.8 billion impact on the state’s economy.

Many thanks to the Governor and to the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association for this formal recognition.

Our farm, Bull Brook Keep is a small, grass-fed-grass-finished cow/calf operation, and we market our beef directly to consumers in Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. Visitors are not only welcome to Bull Brook Keep, they’re fundamental to our mission. Dave and I intentionally established our farm as a platform for conversation, education and recreation. We welcome over 200 adults and children every year. We appreciate every opportunity to explain why we’re committed to regenerative practice, and to farming in harmony with the seasons.  We like walking the pastures, introducing visitors to the moos, and learning about your food journey. 

We hope you’ll come out to the farm some time this week. Just give a call. We’d like to hear from you.

You can learn about ag-adventures near Amery, WI:  amerywi.gov/703/Agritourism. For venues all across the state, visit wiagtourism.com.

 

Sylvia and Dave Toftness
We’d like to be your farmers
651-238-8525
sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com

It’s mid-September – harvest season at Bull Brook Keep

Wasn’t it just Memorial Day? Yup, another growing season is coming to an end. Fog hangs heavy over the pastures in the mornings. The days are getting shorter and the evenings much cooler. Trees are turning on nearby hills. The sumac at the northern fence post is blazing red, as are the hawthorn berries. Bees are a loud cloud above the chive blossoms, and bright yellow heads of goldenrod sway in every ditch and fence line.

The herd has been grazing happily all summer and fall. As usual, they take a mid-morning lie-down from about 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM. It’s a sign of a healthy, contented herd.

And that’s a major goal: healthy cattle raised on healthful grass. Another is to work in harmony with the season.

And so, it’s time: We begin the 2021 beef harvest in a few days. If you’d like to order, please do so early to secure your beef.

Please know that you don’t have to buy half a cow to enjoy the great taste and high nutrition of grass-fed-grass-finished beef. Our variety packages start at just 30 pounds. (A variety package includes ground, steak and roasts.)

Don’t hesitate to call, email or text with any questions. We’d like to be your farmers.

Sylvia & Dave Toftness

Deep Roots Radio wrestles with good food (wink), Saturday, July 24, 9-9:30AM Central

Join co-host Dave Corbett and me tomorrow, July 24th, when Deep Roots Radio goes on the road to learn how national wrestling champs are pinning a spotlight on local food. We’ll be at the Amery Farmer’s Market from 9:00AM to 9:30AM.

Join us at the market, or tune in on the radio or on the web: 93.1FM in and around Amery, WI, or www.wpcaradio.org all around the globe, 9:00-9:30AM Central.

Tune in!

See you on the radio!

Sylvia

It’s the Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour! Come visit our farm July 10, 10AM – 4PM

This is one of the high points of summer: the Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour!  Collectively sponsored by a dozen Minneapolis/St. Paul MN natural food cooperatives, the annual event encourages co-op shoppers to walk, bike or drive to rural and urban farms within 80+ miles of the Twin Cities.  Cancelled last year due to COVID, the tour is back! Yippee!!

This is Bull Brook Keep‘s fifth year on the map, and we sooo look forward to meeting

Bull Brook Keep’s 100% grass-fed Buelingo beef cattle

you. We’ll walk the pastures, meet the moos, sample some beef (oh, yum), and watch a demonstration of rotational grazing. (That’s where we move the herd from grassy field to grassy field so that they can enjoy fresh grass and get some exercise.)

We’ll move the cows at 11AM, 1PM and 3PM. Please join us. And since there are other nearby farms participating in the tour, you can visit several of us in a single trip. Here’s the map.

So, come on out. We’re an easy ride on good roads no matter where you’re coming from. Wear comfy shoes, hat and shades.

See you soon!

Sylvia & Dave Toftness

I guess I’ll do it tomorrow

The evening was wonderfully cool, and although the light was fading fast, I was sure I had just enough time to get my herbs transplants into the garden.

I had my trowel and garden fork, a little map showing where I’d place the plants, and a kneeling cushion for my knees. I’d sprayed down my jeans against ticks and my ball cap against bothersome mosquitos.  “Let’s go, Siggy.” And so my corgi and I climbed a slight rise to a generous plot set aside for medicinal herbs.

I could see the herd just across the field. I’d moved them to a fresh paddock just hours before. And there was a cow, #7, a red-and-white Buelingo, trumpeting across the fence to the next open field. She was calling for her calf. She had been pacing the fenceline for a good half hour, and her call was sounding more and more desparate. Where was her calf? Born just this morning, the little red-and-white heifer was strong and healthy and had immediately followed her mom around on long, wobbly legs.

Where was she?

The cow’ was getting more agitated as the dark edged in.

Up until a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have been too bothered by the scene. Calves love to slip under fences and walk away from their dams. But last year, we lost two calves to coyotes and I just didn’t want to chance that again.

And so, I got off my knees, dusted off my jeans and headed to the garage for a flashlight.
“Come on, Sig. Let’s find this little girl.”

Fortunately, it was a very brief search. The calf was nestled down in some long grass just a few yards from the fence. It’s amazing how well calves can disappear in high grass. There can be a dozen of them right in front of you, and you’d never know.

new Buelingo heifer

It took quite a bit of jostling to wake her and get her on her feet (very young calves can be tough to move)  and headed back towards mama. Meanwhile, the entire herd had lined up along the electric fence line, and watched me struggle with the little animal.

I eventurally pushed the calf back under the fence where she was reclaimed by her dam.

By then, it was nearly dark, and Sig and I walked back to the house by flashlight.

The herb transplants will have to wait till tomorrow.

Sylvia

 

 

Praying for rain

“I know to you, it may sound strange, but I wish it would rain.
Oh, how I wish that it would rain.
Oh, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah”
The Temptations

It’s been weeks since we’ve had anything that’s amounted to anything. Stretches of grass by the house and driveway have gone pale tan. Parched blades crackle underfoot. Every night, after I brush my teeth and put the dogs in their kennels, I check the 10-day forecast, and I’m nearly always encouraged by the little rain and thunderstorm icons. My spirits lift with the hopeful percentages: 50%, sometimes 60% possibility of rain two or three days out.  And for the last 6 weeks or so, I’ve awakened to evaporated promises.

I look skyward and grimly watch the clouds shrink as the day progresses. Come evening, I often see thunderclouds build to the south, and virgo ghosting far to the north. But here? Nada.

Fortunately, the permanent pastures are still holding out — better in the low areas than on the higher, drier ridges, of course. We don’t  plow or till, and the rotational grazing we use with our beef cattle is helping maintain good soil texture and moisture, but we need rain. There’s just no substitute for it.

Praying for rain.

Sylvia

 

 

Grateful to farm for health of land, cattle, and customers. Reserve beef online now

I don’t know if there are any words to describe the 2020 virtually all of us are struggling through. Every day we’re assailed with news stories and personal accounts that feel more bizarre than the previous day’s reports.

Dave and I are really grateful for these months of relative peace on the farm —  working for the health of the land, our cattle, and ultimately, our family and friends.

Well, I’m not going to attempt deep philosophy, but I will offer one bright note — our online store is open again and you can now order grass-fed-grass-finished beef to suit your budget, freezer space and appetite.

A few of our grazing Buelingo beef cattle

Reserve 25 pounds of ground beef, or several packages of delicious summer sausage — made without artificial nitrates or nitrites.

Choose the size variety package that meets your needs. These packages range from 30 pounds to 200, and contain a selection of steaks, roasts and ground beef. All cuts are vacuum packaged, clearly labelled, and frozen to -20 degrees to preserve flavor and quality.

Boost your immune system by making bone broth with our grass-fed soup bones — lots of meaty bones as well as marrow. Our cattle never get hormones, subclinical antibiotics or grain, so you can be confident of the nutrition in your broth.

Quantity is limited and we’ve scheduled our last harvest. Reserve now.

Questions? Call 651-238-8525, or email, sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com.  Dave and I look forward to being your farmers.  Sylvia Burgos Toftness

Some medicinal/healthful herbs right outside your door: descriptions & photos

Good morning!

Boy, I enjoyed this morning’s Deep Roots Radio chat with Nancy Graden, medicinal herbalist/farmer, and owner/operator of Red Clover Herbal Apothecary farm.

In addition to cultivating over 50 plants on her certified organic farm in Amery, Wisconsin, Nancy harvests 20 others for her broad line of herb-based products. Today, she introduced us to several plants we can find growing right now in our yards, farms, ditches and woodlands.

pasture herbs

I’ll post Nancy’s podcast tomorrow, but I thought you might find her 14-page resource notes and photos useful this afternoon. I’ve also resposted Nancy’s detailed perspective on herbal helps during COVID-19.

Sylvia