In between Thanksgiving, Christmas and beavers

We didn’t do a conventional Thanksgiving this year. No turkey, stuffing, or cranberry sauce. Thanks to Dave’s hard work, we had home-grown pork shoulder roasts done Puerto Rican style. Dave grew the pigs, I did the Puerto Rican. I took all the garlic cloves I could buy, smashed them with salt, pepper and oregano, and then rubbed this fragrant paste liberally into every nook and cranny of the roast.

The aromas took me back to noisy celebrations at my grandmother’s apartment in Spanish Harlem. So many aunts and uncles, cousins and laughter, and so much food: the pork, rice and beans, green beans, big salads, and pumpkin pie. My Wisconsin take was just a little different. I didn’t make rice and beans, but I added roasted smashed potatoes and an additional home-grown apple pie. We enjoyed family, laughs and great conversation. A real blessing.

That was last week. Now, we’re cruising to Christmas as snow accumulates and temperatures fall, farm equipment is repaired, and we worry about the beaver dam.

In the 13 years we’ve been on Bull Brook Keep, we’ve never had a dam threaten the brook that runs across the southeastern corner of the farm. For some reason, this fall beavers decided to build just downstream of the property.  This has caused two large problems: water backup on the farm, and, a dramatic reduction of the speed of water flowing in the brook. It is the strength of water flow that keeps the brook from freezing over. This is critical because the cows need open water from which to drink. They can’t break through ice.

The problem

Bull Brook runs just 8 or 10 feet from the road that forms the western boarder of our farm. I walked down the road to take a closer look last week, I quickly realized taking this dam down is not going to be an easy task. The beavers used hundreds of long and heavy branches, wedging them tightly to create a structure able to hold back hundreds and hundreds of pounds of water pressure.

Dave has reached out to local officials to hopefully get their cooperation in removing this blockage because the rising water not only affects us but also poses a threat to a public bridge that abuts the farm and to the nearby road.  We’ve got to do something sooner than later.

I’ll walk the road again today, while it’s still light.

Meanwhile, I’ve started pulling out cookbooks. What desserts will I make for Christmas dinner?  A spicy chocolate bundt cake? Maybe a cranberry steamed pudding with vanilla hard sauce? A frangipane dotted with honeyberries? Hmmm. This should be fun.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and are looking forward to lots of love, laughter and great food this holiday season. Oh, and no beaver dams.

Sylvia

 

 

WI Agricultural Tourism — ag-adventures for visitors & farmers year’round

Agritourism
Agritourism
WI Agricultural Tourism -- ag-adventures for visitors & farmers year'round
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Autumn colors are on display all across the country. Kids are running through corn mazes and families are enjoying hay rides, picking apples and sipping cider at farms throughout Wisconsin. Wrap a scarf around your neck and you can still savor wine outdoors at a local vineyard or hard cider at one of the many thriving orchards now offering the best of local.

Pretty soon it’ll be sleigh rides or snowshoeing across pastures. And then there’s the cutting of your very own yule log.

All of these activities are parts of agricultural tourism — relaxation, education, adventure, a meal or overnight stay at a farm that welcomes visitors.

This Deep Roots Radio chat with Sheila Everhart takes a look at this growing form of tourism, and celebrates Wisconsin’s recognition of agricultural adventures. Sheila is the Executive Director of Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association.

Enjoy!

Sylvia

Why American Dexter beef cattle work for the smaller farm

Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
Why American Dexter beef cattle work for the smaller farm
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To say that Kevin McAnanny likes his Dexter cattle is understatement. He’s Director of Region 12 of the American Dexter Cattle Association, and he’s passionate about this small — but not miniature — beef breed.

Kevin McAnnany and one of his Dexters

Standing a bit more than a yard high at the hip, the Dexter is originally from Kerry, Ireland. Today, Dexters are increasing in popularity, especially among small landholders — and with good reason.  The Dexter is thrifty, docile and able to take the weather extremes of the Upper Midwest with nary a flick of the tail.

I hope you enjoy this Deep Roots Radio conversation.

Sylvia

Elderberries – pratfalls, hazards, harvest – and wasps

My bad! This update is to correct slander to our friends, the bees, and to provide helpful info about the differences between bees, hornets, wasps and yellowjackets.

August 30

Was it just a few weeks ago that lovely elder flowers were in bloom? August has just flown! The day’s are getting a bit cooler now and it’s a race with the birds for the berries.

Yesterday afternoon, I spent about an hour and a half picking ripe elderberries (Sambucus nigra) on state land that abuts a friend’s farm. What a thicket! The area is a jungle of 10-ft high elderberries, tangled vines, and a treacherous mat of foot-snagging fallen branches.

Elderberries – Sambucus nigra

The sun was high and some of the vines were thorny. I was very glad for my thick jeans, long-sleeved shirt, and wide-brimmed hat. I worked for those berries! Over and over, I’d reach up to a hanging cluster, snip the thick main stem, and drop the heavy berries into a bag. About an hour in, I tripped and fell to my knees when I failed to high-step over fallen brush. No harm done.

But, just as I was thinking I was done for the day, I felt hot pain on my left thigh. A yellowjacket (not a couple of bees) had made its way up my pants leg and wasn’t happy about it. It panicked and stung several times. I crushed it through my thick jeans to stop the assault. It hurt!

Once home, I changed out of my elderberry-stained jeans and discovered the inert body of what I at first thought was a bee. After some research, I now know it was an aggressive yellowjacket, a type of wasp. The difference between bees and this insect is evident in the markings on the lower abdomen.

Yellowjacket

Like all wasps, yellowjackets have a segmented body — a nipped-in waist — and are decorated with yellow-and-black geometric patterns. And where a bee can sting you only once, yellowjackets and hornets can sting multiple times.

 

 

 

Bee on echinacea

Here’s some more information about the differences between bees, wasps, yellowjackets, and hornets.

Back to the elderberries: it took well over an hour to strip the fruit from the stems. Now, that’s a messy job! Thank goodness for disposable gloves. Unfortunately, my t-shirt got the worse of it. I’ll have to see what I can do to lift that ink.

About four quarts of berries now rest in the freezer until I have time to process into a heavy syrup. That syrup is the foundational ingredient of my immunity-boosting tonic for the cold/flu season (also includes honey, echinacea and brandy). It’s really helped the last three years.

As for the insect stings — the area’s hot, red and swollen. The first thing I did was rub some lavender essential oil over the area. Then I splashed on witch hazel, and combined tinctures of echinacea, plantain and St. John’s Wort.

Today, Aug. 31st, I’ll apply a compress of freshly mashed plantain leaves combined with dried holy basil moistened with a strong tea of boneset, skullcap, and yarrow. These should help reduce the swelling, heat and pain.

There is so much life and bounty around us. Interested in herbs, shrubs and trees that provide herbal remedies? Leave me a comment or email me, sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com. Thanks.

Sylvia

July 16, 2022, 10AM – 4PM Come visit — Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour

Agritourism
Agritourism
July 16, 2022, 10AM - 4PM Come visit -- Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour
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Bull Brook Keep is once again part of this Saturday’s Eat Local Co-op Farm Tour.

Save the date and time:  Saturday, July 16, 10AM to 4PM

It’s a high point of our summer and you’re invited to visit our cows and pigs, as well as the livestock and festivities at nearby farms. Make a day of it! At our farm, you’ll get a chance to meet the moos, sample our beef (and buy ground beef and delicious summer sausage), and learn about upcoming herb-hunting tours called Herbal Safaris.

21 farms from around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area and western Wisconsin are part of this annual event sponsored and organized by a collaboration of natural food coops. These are many of the sustainable and organic growers who provide food for co-ops, farmers markets, CSAs, and direct sales in our region.

In this Deep Roots Radio interview, organizer Jennifer Dean describes why the coops launched this event a dozen years ago, and how its gained in popularity.

Go to coopfarmtour.com for a downloadable guide and colorful map you can use for your self-guided tour.

I hope to greet you on the farm this Saturday.

Sylvia

Exec Dir Terry Hauer – Polk Cty Economic Development Corp works in WI farm country

Deep Roots Radio
Deep Roots Radio
Exec Dir Terry Hauer - Polk Cty Economic Development Corp works in WI farm country
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Economic development in rural northwestern Wisconsin isn’t all about “chasing smokestacks” explains Terry Hauer, Executive Director of the Polk County Economic Development Corporation.

In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Hauer describes his organization’s role in a rural county with a large agricultural component, and in a time of post-COVID challenges.

I hope you enjoy this interview. For previous Deep Roots Radio conversations, please visit my archive.

Sylvia Burgos Toftness 

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.

Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week starts with a bang in Amery, population 2902

Agritourism
Agritourism
Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week starts with a bang in Amery, population 2902
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Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Week, Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2021

I grew up in Bronx, NY, in a city of 8 million, yet I couldn’t be more excited about Amery, Wisconsin’s launch of a special week dedicated to agricultural tourism. Agri what?

Looking for the Great Pumpkin

It’s a term that covers lots of things you’ve probably already done. If you’ve ever enjoyed an afternoon picking crisp apples or juicy strawberries, petted a little lamb or held a squirmy piglet, walked a corn maze or selected “just the right” pumpkin at a pumpkin patch, walked near grazing cattle, or sipped wine at a winery, helped gather eggs, or helped your farmer pick your CSA box — you’re an agricultural tourist. Maybe you’ve attended a wedding or special event at a repurposed barn, or fished at a trout or catfish farm, or cut down a Christmas tree.  That’s agricultural tourism, too.

Why am I excited? Because my husband Dave Toftness and I raise grass-fed-grass-finished just four miles from downtown Amery, and a major part of our mission is to welcome visitors to our farm, Bull Brook Keep. We chat with well over 200 people a year, every month of the year. We appreciate the opportunity for walks across our pastures, explaining why we’re committed to sustainable practices, introducing our moos, and learning about people’s food journey. It’s educational, fun and friendly.

Governor Evers’ Proclamation

In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Amery’s Mayor Paul Isakson describes how the city is marking the launch of this very special week set aside by proclamation by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. It runs from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, 2021. Many thanks to the Governor and to Sheila Everhart, Interim Executive Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association, for working for this recognition of the contribution agritourism makes to people’s lives and local economies.

Earlier this year, the Mayor established a new page on the City’s website just for agricultural tourism, making it easy to find an ag-based adventure in and around Amery, www.amerywi.gov/703/Agritourism.  To find agricultural venues across the state, visit wiagtourism.com.

Happy cows at Bull Brook Keep

I hope you enjoy this interview. And I hope you’ll come visit us. The trees are turning glorious, and the moos would like to meet you.

Sylvia Burgos Toftness

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