Monthly Archives: June 2015

June 27, 9-9:30AM CT, live w Wedge & Wheel cheese shop. Why a public radio guy now promotes local, artisan, farmstead cheese.

What: Deep Roots Radio interview with Chris Cahtz, owner/proprietor of Stillwater, Minnesota’s Wedge & Wheel cheese shop and bistro. Nineteen months into this venture, the assortment and menu is growing with demand.
When: Saturday, June 27, 2015, 9:00-9:30AM Central Time
Where: Broadcast and streamed live from the studios of WPCA Radio, 93.1FM, and www.wpcaradio.org
Why: Why would a public radio exec move from broadcast to cheese mongering? And why in Stillwater, Minnesota? Tune in and meet Chris Cahtz: hear his story and why he’s fostering the growth of local, farmstead cheeses. I think you’ll discover that it makes all the sense in the world to make tracks for the Wedge & Wheel.
I hope you’ll tune in.
Sylvia

Connecting the dots between what we eat and how it's grown

Connecting the dots between what we eat and how it’s grown

Investing slow $$$ to build a better food system, faster. Chat with Renewing the Countryside’s Brett Olson.

Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
Investing slow $$$ to build a better food system, faster. Chat with Renewing the Countryside's Brett Olson.
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One way to move America’s food system to great taste, high nutrition, environmental stewardship, humane animal welfare, and fair wages is through thoughtful investment – slow money. What is slow money? How does it work and what does it mean to you and me? How can you and I make a difference? Find out in this Deep Roots Radio interview with Brett Olson, co-founder and creative director of Renewing the Countryside. Minnesota’s first Slow Monday event is June 17, 2015, 5:00-8:00PM at Como Park, St. Paul, Minn. For information on this event, click here.

The real dirt on soil-Why it matters to human/earth health. Live w A&L Great Lakes Lab soil guru

BueLingo beef cattle graze

Our beef cattle graze all growing season

I did some weeding in the herb garden while the morning was still cool. It had rained yesterday, so the soil was loose and earthworms were everywhere. I shook all kinds of bugs from the weeds’ roots. For the 300th time, I wondered why weeds grow so aggressively while basil takes forever to sprout.
After half an hour, I got up off my knees and stretched my back. As I brushed my jeans, I saw that my nails were – once again – packed with dirt. I bent down and grabbed a handful of garden soil. It was rich, black and crumbly. It smelled clean and warm and, well, earthy.
Dave and I work hard to keep our soil alive with earthworms, insects, bacteria and fungi. Why? Because it makes a huge difference to the nutrition in the grass our cows eat and to the vegetables we grow in the garden. How does it make a difference? Ahh, that’s the topic for tomorrow’s Deep Roots Radio show!
What: Deep Roots Radio live with Jamie Bultemeier, agronomist and certified crop advisor with A&L Great Lakes Laboratories, Inc., Fort Wayne, IN
When: June 13, 2015, 9:00-9:30 AM Central Time
Where: Broadcast and streamed live from the studios of WPCA Radio, 93.1FM (in and around Amery, WI), and worldwide on the web at wpcaradio.org
I hope you’ll join us.
Sylvia Burgos Toftness
Deep Roots Radio, 91.3FM and www.wpcaradio.org

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

A special day for Siggy. He’s 3 months old!

*An ongoing farm-dog adventure for children of all ages*

Siggy @ 3 mo

Siggy @ 3 mo

Sylvia looked at Siggy and said to herself, “This little puppy has grown so much in just a few weeks.” She also thought that little puppies and little children are alike in many ways. They both start out very small: a human baby can weigh just six pounds. Puppies can be much smaller, maybe just one pound. Human and dog babies need their moms to feed and protect them. Both kinds of babies also need their moms or dads to teach them important lessons, like what to eat, or how to play nicely with others.

Siggy is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. One day, he will learn how to herd cows and chickens, but right now he’s a growing puppy.
It is June, and Siggy is now three months old. He has been on the farm, Bull Brook Keep, for many weeks now. He has become very good friends with his big dog friends, Chevy and Parker. He has begun to learn how to obey Sylvia when she tells him to “sit,” “stay,” “come,” and “kennel.” But he does not obey all the time. Sylvia has two children. They are all grown up, but she remembered that sometimes little children don’t want to obey their moms and dads. That is naughty and can be very, very dangerous for little children and for little dogs.
Do you know of any times when children have not obeyed their mom or dad?
A big difference between human children and puppies is that puppies grow faster than human babies.
When Siggy was born, he couldn’t hear or see, but he could always find his mom because he could smell and he could crawl to her warm fur. Like human babies, all Siggy did was eat and sleep all day long.
Siggy opened his eyes for the first time when he was about 12 days old. He began walking at about 16 days, and his first teeth showed up when he was about 18 days old. Siggy’s world changed in an important way when his ears opened when he was 20-21 days old. Imagine hearing things for the first time!!
All this while, Siggy was very well taken care of by his mother, and by his human family. The adults and children petted and talked to him every day.
As you can see from these pictures, Siggy came to the farm when he was still a very little guy. You can also see how much he’s changed, now that he’s three months old. He’s still a puppy, but he’s on his way to becoming a real, working farm dog. One day, he’ll be in charge of the farm’s grass-fed beef herd and free-range chickens. Happy growing, Siggy!

Siggy, 2 1/2 wks
Siggy, April 3, 2015
Siggy, first day on the farm, April 19, 2015
Siggy, April 20, 2015
Siggy, 6 wks, April 2015
The tall and short of it
Siggy @ 3 mo

For earlier stories about Siggy, click here.

Video: moving cows to fresh pasture. Great beef starts with the soil and grass.

My husband Dave and I are committed to a handful of values: living in thanksgiving to God, nurturing our marriage and family, producing delicious and nutritious beef, using agricultural practices that regenerate soil and pastures, improving our financial sustainability, and contributing to a thriving local community.
These core principles matter to us, to our neighbors and to our customers.
Moving our cattle from paddock (small field) to paddock is one of the things we do to regenerate soil, reinvigorate our grasses, and promote the health and growth of our BueLingo beef cattle. This practice, called rotational grazing, accomplishes several things at the same time: it puts fresh, sweet grass under the noses of the cattle; their hoof action churns up the soil and exposes dormant seeds to sun and rain, thereby increasing the diversity of plants in the field; the herd deposits fertilizer as the move; and it avoid spending money and fuel to move feed to the cattle and to remove waste from a barn. At the same time, the cows move as a herd across open fields. This is important because cows are social creatures – they are most calm and healthiest when they are with their herd. Because they are on pasture, the herd is also in open sunshine and moving on springy grass and soil. This promotes strong bodies.
I hope you enjoy this very short video of moving the herd from one paddock to the next. Although it takes time and effort for me to set up the electric fences for the temporary paddocks, moving the herd is easy because they’re always eager for fresh grass.