Amery 3rd-5th graders use scientific research to build art exhibit featuring Wisconsin bugs, bats, bobcats and more

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Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
Amery 3rd-5th graders use scientific research to build art exhibit featuring Wisconsin bugs, bats, bobcats and more
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In this Deep Roots Radio interviewed, Jessica “Turtle” Manderfeld describes the pictures and skills displayed by 3rd, 4th and 5th graders excited by the insects, animals and birds of their native Wisconsin. The exhibit, which runs until the end of April, is sponsored by the Farm Table Foundation in partnership with the Amery School District’s Amery Inquiring Minds program, the Natural Heritage Project, and the local Power Up 4 Kids effort. The young artists used this project to develop their research skills, work in teams to create their art works, and then learn how to describe their work to a small jury, and well as to all the adults who attended the exhibit’s opening night reception at the Farm Table Foundation.

I hope you’ll enjoy the interview, and urge you to visit the exhibit. I’m really glad about this collaboration to connect activities and values that make learning fun.

Sylvia

March 28, 2018 honey pastry chef challenge spotlights threats to bees, impact on ag and food supply, and delicious solutions

Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
March 28, 2018 honey pastry chef challenge spotlights threats to bees, impact on ag and food supply, and delicious solutions
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I can’t wait: on March 28th, 2018, I’ll be one of several people confronting a tough assignment. We’ll have the enviable job of judging honey-based pastries created by some of the top women chefs in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN metro area and nearby Wisconsin.

You’re invited to savor the dozens of sweet and savory foods featured at the 5th Annual Dandelion Honey Pastry Chef Challenge, and event created to train a spotlight on the critical role bees and other pollinators play in American agriculture. (Details)

Unfortunately, honey bees, along with the more than 400 native Minnesota bee species and many types of flies, are suffering shrinking numbers due to pesticides and herbicides used on farms and gardens, disappearing habitat, and disease. Without them, dozens and dozens of food crops wouldn’t be pollinated, and we couldn’t enjoy almonds and other nuts, apples and pears, watermelon and squash, strawberries, cotton and tomatoes, just to name a few.

I hope you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio conversation with Kristy Allen, founder/CEO of Beez Kneez Delivery LLC, the Minneapolis-based organization that created and runs this event, and offers beekeeping classes, equipment and local honey.

See you on March 28th!
Sylvia

Becca Griffith: Minneapolis/St. Paul Weston A. Price Foundation chapter brings together great food, people, science and practical know-how

Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
Becca Griffith: Minneapolis/St. Paul Weston A. Price Foundation chapter brings together great food, people, science and practical know-how
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There’s nothing like a gathering of like-minded people – especially when the get-together includes delicious foods created with highly nutritious ingredients. When it’s a meeting of Weston A. Price Foundation chapter members, participants share deep commitment to foods grown to restore the environment, cooked and baked to boost flavor and health.

Cattle grazing lush pastures


These are the hallmarks of the monthly meetings of the Minneapolis/St. Paul chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, one of approximately 600 chapters worldwide. Held the second Saturday of each month, the Minneapolis/St. Paul meetings are organized and led by Becca Griffith and Susie Zahratka. Chapter members and guests travel from around the metro area to share a potluck, hear a short program, and purchase locally-produced vegetables, fruit, free-range chicken and eggs, wild-caught salmon, grass-fed beef, and pastured pork and lamb from local farmers.

I trust you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with Becca. And I hope you’ll look for the chapter closest to you.

Sylvia

Farming ice and sugar snow at Bull Brook Keep

I have to admit – I really loved the thaw this past weekend – temperatures in the upper-30’s, sunshine and no wind. And that’s what did it. That combination of warmth and sun-filled breezes melted the snow, transforming snowy tractor tracks to rounded ice ridges, and making every level surface a skating rink. All across the farm, snow crusted over shoals of deep, loose snow and ice crystals. 16-second video: Farming ice and sugar snow

I had to move hay this afternoon, regardless of the treacherous conditions. It was snowing sideways, and every surface posed a challenge. My boots slipped and slid as I walked to open fence gates. Sleet encrusted the tractor’s windshield and doors. Fortunately, the engine block heater did it’s job, and the machine rumbled to life on the first try.

I could’ve never imagined weather like this when I was growing up in the South Bronx. And the thought of raising cattle and moving hay never entered my mind. But here I am, decades later, raising 100% grass-fed beef cattle in western Wisconsin with my husband David. And that means feeding them high-quality hay throughout the winter. (They graze grasses, legumes and herbs during the growing season.)

It was slow going today. A job that might take 15 minutes on a warm summer afternoon, took hours as I carefully negotiated ice-packed hills and crossed drift-filled pastures, often plowing my path as I went. When I wasn’t sliding on glare ice, the tractor’s nearly four-foot high wheels would spin in pockets of snow the consistency of fine sugar. Lovely to look at, but a real challenge to pull out of when I get stuck. And, yes, I got stuck more than once.

When that happens, I use the front bucket like a claw to drag the tractor onto solid ground. It’s an inch-by-inch process that can take forever. It’s one reason I make sure there’s enough diesel in the tank. Funny – the cows love to watch as I struggle.

It always feels good to get this chore done, to park the tractor and walk back to the house, my Corgi Siggy trotting along side. I thank God for my late-in-life journey from city-girl-to-cattle farmer. (And thank you, Dave) I’m grateful for this opportunity to gain a better appreciation for the work life-long farmers tackle every day.
Sylvia

New. Limited. Natural Veal – really

Veal wasn’t something my Mom put on the table when I was growing up in the Bronx. A dinner of pork or fish, rice and beans, and a salad was the usual fare at our house in the 1950s and 60s.

Veal also never made it to my shopping list in the 1970s and 80s, when I was old enough to stock my tiny kitchens in Manhattan and later in Duluth, Minnesota, because by that time, news stories told us that those pale cutlets were the result of calves kept isolated and in the dark. Ugg.

Now, here I am, selling veal! We’re offering our Nature’s Veal in limited quantity for the health of the pastures, the cattle, and for economic sustainability.
– Rotational grazing. Because we rotate the herd from paddock to paddock throughout the growing season, we have to manage the herd size to promote top-quality grass. We’ve reached our maximum herd size given the 72-acre size of the farm. Our pastures are lush and diverse, but can provide highly nutritious grasses, herbs and legumes for 35-40 animals during the growing season. It’s also about giving the pastures time to recover and regrow for 40-60 days between grazings.
– Cow, pasture and economic health. If we keep more and more cattle on the pastures, they’ll decline, and the cattle will require hay to keep growing and staying contented. Fresh grass is more desirable. An alternative would be to sell the extra calves to the conventional food system, where they would end up in feedlots. We don’t want that! So we offer naturally raised veal.
– Working in harmony with nature. All our cattle – bulls, cows and calves – are provided fresh water, open pastures and a natural diet every day of their lives. That means grasses, legumes and herbs on the fields throughout the growing months, and good quality hay in the winter. They never get grains, hormones or subclinical antibiotics. It also means the calves stay with their moms, nursing 9-10 months and grazing more and more as the season progresses.

A few of our grazing Buelingo beef cattle


Know that when you buy our veal, you’re part of a sustainable food system. You can purchase ground veal in bulk, or variety packages that include delicate, low-fat roasts, cutlets and ground veal. Order here.

Questions? call, 651-238-8525, or email,
Sylvia

The tough challenges older farmers face as they shift to retirements and strive to transition land to next generation – 2 interviews

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America’s farmers are getting older. In fact, the average age is about 57 years old. It’s an age at which many American workers look forward to retirement – putting long commutes, desk jobs, office politics, or hard work at a factory behind them.

Retirement, when you’re a farmer, looks significantly different because it is often a 24-hour-a-day preoccupation. It’s not only where you work, it’s where you live all day, every day. It is very much about soil under your nails, wind in your face, animal sounds (and smells) in your head. It’s about decades of caring for land and water, and scheduling your activities and life’s events in accordance to the seasons. How do you shift away from that? Or, how do you try to reduce some of the labor while staying in your home, the farm house?

Given that most health insurance in America is tied to off-farm jobs, how do you, a retiring farmer, afford health care? And what will you do about taxes?
And how do you transfer land to the next generation already struggling with student loans??

These challenges, and opportunities, are the focus of two Deep Roots Radio interviews with Karen Stettler, Farm Beginnings Program Organizer for the Land Stewardship Project (LSP). Founded in 1982, LSP is a private, nonprofit that promotes stewardship for farmland, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable communities.

I hope you enjoy the interviews. Part 1 describes the challenges, and Part 2 describes an upcoming 3-part course to help farmers identify and begin to address key issues for this life – and land – change.

Sylvia

45th Parallel Distillery – WI, award winning, world-class and committed to local

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Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
45th Parallel Distillery - WI, award winning, world-class and committed to local
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When you think scotch, whiskey, bourbon, vodka, brandy – what comes to mind? Maybe Makers Mark, Jamison, Wild Turkey, Dewer’s, Korbel? (To name a tiny few.)

And where does your mind go? For me, it’s Scotland, Ireland, Russia and Poland, Kentucky, and California for the brandy.

It was almost two years ago, to the day, that I was visiting organic and sustainable livestock family farms in England, Ireland and Wales, and had the good luck to be treated to a hot glass of slightly sweetened and barely buttered Irish whiskey. My host and I were seated by a small fire after a full day of touring farms and meeting musicians and civic leaders in wet and blustery Wexford.

That experience stayed with me, so it was with great joy that I learned about 45th Parallel Distillery, a craft operation in New Richmond, Wisconsin – just minutes from my farm and a very easy drive from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

I hope you enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with 45th Parallel’s founder and CEO, Paul Werni. He brings a passion, commitment to local sourcing and collaboration, and a team to the business that’s proven out in regionally- and nationally-recognized spirits.

Sylvia

Classes: Baking artisan breads, cooking pastured meats

It’s cold out, the holiday’s are upon us, and you’re committed to delicious, healthful, deeply nutritious meals. Plus, you’re looking for a chance to learn something new, chat with interesting people and enjoy some great food.

Beefy soup!


If that’s you, take a class with us! Our teaching kitchen at Bull Brook Keep is just the place for learning to bake artisan sourdough breads, focaccia and ciabatta, and for examining how best to cook pastured meats.

artisan breads from your home oven

These classes feature strategies and tips for fitting sourdough, bone broth, and pastured meats into your busy schedule.

For the class schedules and to register:
– Baking classes
– Pastured meat cooking classes

I look forward to baking and cooking with you at the farm!
Sylvia

The tough challenge of transitioning land from retiring farmers to the next generation – w Land Stewardship Project

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Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
The tough challenge of transitioning land from retiring farmers to the next generation - w Land Stewardship Project
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The average age of the American farmer is nearly 60. An entire generation of growers – of commodities, specialty crops, dairy, and livestock – are staring retirement in the face and the transition is often a tough one for many reasons. Not only does the older farmer confront the end of a loved career, but perhaps a dislocation from the land he or she has lived on for decades, or an entire lifetime.
Just as critical is the challenge young people face as they try to acquire land so that they can begin farming.
In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Karen Stettler, the Farm Beginnings Program Organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, probes this sea change in American agricultural.
Who will you be buying food from in the future?
I hope you enjoy this interview.
Sylvia

Typing, invoicing, phone calls, map searches – getting our grass-fed beef to your table

I sat down to the keyboard a bit before 8:00 this morning, and now it’s after 1:30PM. How is that possible?!
Well, there were all those emails with a subject line I love to write: Your beef is ready!
Then there were the follow-up calls with customers to confirm delivery to drop sites in and around the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN metro area.
And there were Google Map searches to find out where I’d have to make home deliveries.

Beefy soup!

And, of course, while all of this was going on, I was keeping a mental inventory of beef just picked up from the USDA processor. Hmmm, T-bones, ribeye, sirloin, chuck and cross-rib roasts, briskets and flank steaks, and lots more.
This is the record-keeping-and-communications time of the year that adds the final links to the food chain. To be honest, it’s a time I value and respect – delivering beef directly to the customer.
It represents well over two years of work on Bull Brook Keep farm.

BueLingo calves

It starts in the early spring with the arrival of our BueLingo calves. The herd grows sleek and fat as we move them from pasture to grassy pasture throughout the growing season. Midsummer marks the breeding season. We separate the bulls from the larger herd in mid-fall (away from the heifers too young to breed). Grasses shrivel as frosts hit and snow blankets the farm. That’s when we provide the cows with hay grown in our own fields. As the days warm in April and May, the cycle begins again. Dave and I work to manage our pastures and herd in harmony with nature.
Cattle that spend the last several months of their lives eating grain in feedlots reach harvest weight by the time they’re 16-18 months old. It’s a confinement approach that is often accompanied by subclinical antibiotics in the feed, and the administration of hormones.
In contrast, our 100% grass-fed cattle, take nine to 10 months longer to reach harvest condition. It means an extra year of feeding and care for us, but we’re committed to breeding and raising our beef cattle on grass – and only grass. No grains, no hormones, no subclinical antibiotics. And by practicing rotational grazing, our cows are contented and healthy, and the pastures improve. We’re seeing more farmers in our area adopting this approach.

Fresh air and sunshine 24/7


Dave and I made a home delivery last night, and I’ll be making several stops at drop-sites this week and next. It’s hard work, but to me it feels like a reward. When I hand over the boxes, it’s almost like placing a big bowl of delicious beef stew and a thick slice of homemake sourdough bread in front of a dear friend or family member. (It’s so much more fun to cook, when you’re cooking for someone you value.)
I thank God for the farming stewardship He has given Dave and me, and for the wonderful customers and friends walking the path with us.
Sylvia