Debbra Anne's Jam it On! - taking jams, jellies and preserves to the grill, seafood, bar and more
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Late summer – a time for capturing the season’s best fruits and vegetables for great eating when the snow flies. One way to enjoy warm-weather flavors and aromas is by making jams, jellies and preserves. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Wisconsin author Debbra Anne highlights easy ways for using her creative Slippery Moose jellies to create layers of flavor in meat, fish and vegetable dishes.
Dexter cattle - a thrifty, small cow for small-acre farms offers "right-sized" portions to meet demand for grass-fed beef
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Docile Dexters at Birch Grove Farm
I love trading stories and learning from other cattle farmers, or ranchers as they say out West. And being able to attend the Region 12 annual meeting of the American Dexter Cattle Association was a real treat. Held at Birch Grove Farm, Deer Park, Wisconsin, the event was hosted by farm owners Kevin and Barb McAnnany and near neighbors Cherrie and Steven Woods of Plum Creek Little Cattle Company.
Although my husband Dave and I raise 100% grass-fed BueLingo cattle, the Dexter group welcomed us with big smiles. I’m so glad we were invited.
Birch Grove Farm welcomed Region 12 members
Dexter ranchers at Region 12 meeting July 22, 2017
The gathering pulled Dexter ranchers from throughout the Region 12 area: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota. The meeting started off with official business, featured three presentations (research on hay storage, about vaccinations, and direct-marketing beef), and a delicious pot luck. I was honored to give the brief talk on marketing.
I was also glad for the opportunity to interview a handful of the leaders and attendees. I hope you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio in-the-field interview.
For another account of this meeting, take a look at detailed news article in The Country Today.
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin - how rainforest stories of "Green Man" fuel his values and demos of regenerative ag systems in Minnesota
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I know you’ll be fascinated by Reginaldo (Regi) Haslett-Marroquin’s new book, In the Shadow of Green Man. Get a copy at your earliest opportunity and be prepared for a memoir unlike any you’ve encountered. Half bio, half legends, it’s a page-turner.
In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Regi describes how and why he weaves his personal biography with the tales of Green Man, an alter ego that personifies the challenges, ravages, questions and watershed decisions within the multi-storied ecosystem of a threatened rainforest – the rainforest in which Regi farmed with his father and brothers as civil war raged.
Regi is the chief strategy officer for Main Street Project, a nonprofit headquartered in Northfield, Minnesota. He is the principal developer and engineer of the innovative poultry-centered regenerative agriculture model that is at the heart of the organization’s work. His focus is on multi-level strategies for building regenerative food and ag systems that deliver social, economic and ecological benefits. He does this work in the U.S., Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
He began his work with Indigenous Guatemalan communities in 1988. He served as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program’s Bureau for Latin America and as an advisor to the World Council of Indigenous People. He was a founding member of the Fair Trade Federation in 1994.
Regi served as Director of the Fair Trade Program for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy from 1995-1998, and led in the creation of Peace Coffee, a Minnesota-based fair-trade coffee company.
Regi lives with his family in Northfield, Minn.
Jessica Manderfeld - about sensory exhibit of bees in art, food, drink and agriculture
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Honey Bee
Bees – a hot topic in agriculture, food and in art.
Bees are essential to the pollination of hundreds of crops all across the United States. Bees’ critical role is why scientists, farmers and food lovers are alarmed by hive collapse and environmental threats to these pollinators.
Bees’ contribution to food, cosmetics, and beverages, like mead, are on display at the gallery space of the Farm Table Foundation in Amery, Wisconsin. The exhibit was developed by, and features the detailed artwork of, Jessica “Turtle” Manderfeld, the foundation’s marketing and creative director.
With extensive formal training and experience in art and cooking, Jessica’s paintings are reminiscent of the detailed botanical drawings of yesteryear.
For information about similar exhibits focusing on wildlife and habitat conservation, visit www.naturalheritageproject.org.
I hope you enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview and plan a visit to the exhibit:
Amery Ale Works - creative, new micro-brewery with real local flavor
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I can practically smell the hops from my farm – the brewery is so near!
It’s a big statement of trust and faith when an entrepreneur brings her funds, hopes and dreams to your community. Amery, Wisconsin, population 2906, couldn’t be happier that Jenna Johnson chose to build and operate Amery Ale Works, a new craft brewery, here.
I hope you enjoy this Deep Roots Radio conversation about Amery Ale Works. It launched to great reception, and Jenna continues building local relationships. For example, she’s reached out to nearby sustainable farmers who will grow the herbs and crops she’ll use to develop unique brews.
Amery Ale Works
craft brews
New brews rotate through
Listen in, or download, and then come on out to enjoy craft brews and good food at Amery Ale Works.
Sandor Katz - the ease, great taste and nutritional boost of home-fermented foods.
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I hope you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with fermentation guru Sandor Katz. We chatted about the value of making fermented foods at home – just how easy it is to start, and how much you gain in the way of flavor, food preservation and increased nutritional content.
The author of Wild Fermentation, The Revolution Will Not be Microwaved, and The Art of Fermentation, Sandor conducts workshops all over the world. He also continues to gather and document research of the history and effectiveness of these traditional foods over the centuries and in every culture.
Sandor will hold workshops in Wisconsin in early August. Please visit his website to learn about these and other upcoming events.
Jim Riddle on the new Organic Farmers Association - the certified organic farmers voice in Washington, D.C.
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Although there are hundreds of environmental, agricultural and good-food nonprofits nationwide, Jim Riddle asserts that none represents the voice and influence of the 16,000 certified organic farmers in the US today. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, organic farming pioneer and policy analyst Jim Riddle describes how the Organic Farmers Association, a new member-driven organization, will represent certified organic farmers in the policy and regulation issues debated in Washington, D.C. Jim heads the 18-member steering committee developing the foundational documents and procedures for the Organic Farmers Association.
A certified organic grower, Jim is a former chair of the National Organic Standards Board, was the founding chair of the Organic Inspectors Association, and co-authored their manual. Jim was instrumental in the passage of Minnesota’s landmark organic certification cost-share program, which is now a Farm Bill program.
I hope you enjoy this interview. Sylvia
Three Wisconsin women farmers battle to legalize sale of home-baked goods
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In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Lisa Kivirist describes the multi-year battle to legalize the sale of home-baked goods in the state Wisconsin. The Badger state has been one of only two in the entire country that has not permitted the sale of home-baked muffins, cookies and breads.
Lisa is one of three women farmers who sued the state in this effort, and recently won a state Judge’s declaration that the ban against the sale of home-baked goods is unconstitutional.Her sister champions in this effort are Dela Ends (Scotch Hill Farm) and Kriss Marion (Circle M Farm and Bed & Breakfast).
Lisa is an assertive champion of women farmers and their ability to build their farm-based businesses. The author of several books on eco-entrepreneurship, she and her husband run the award-winning Inn Serendipity Farm and Bread and Breakfast in southern Wisconsin.
I hope you enjoy this lively interview. Sylvia
Peace Coffee: serving up great taste, social justice, environmental stewardship cup after cup
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Drink coffee? One, two, three cups a day? Now multiply that simple act by several hundred million people every day. It’s hard to imagine the mountain of coffee beans needed to satisfy that thirst. Now, consider that those beans could work not only to create delicious brews, but also to produce a fair wage for farmers half way around the world.
This is the reality for at least a small percentage of coffee harvested for the American market because of Peace Coffee, a firm headquartered in a city you might now automatically associate with the tropical coffee bean – Minneapolis, Minnesota. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Peace Coffee CEO (and Queen Bean) Lee Wallace describes the business’s unorthodox beginnings in 1996 and its steady growth since then.
Yes, every cup of coffee you buy could help farmers move from poverty to a living wage.
Alison Martin, Exec Dir, The Livestock Conservancy on why we need to save our heritage breeds for tomorrow's food and farming
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I hope you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio chat with Alison Martin, Ph.D., Executive Director of The Livestock Conservancy. Ms Martin describes why we need to conserve the genetics, and the behaviors, of our old heritage breeds of cattle, goats and sheep, donkeys and horses, poultry and waterfowl. They are living storehouses of biogenetic diversity – strengths and traits we need to meet the food needs of tomorrow.
