Chilly! This week the temperatures dipped into the single digits (Fahrenheit!) and winter felt like it was finally here. The frost has been pretty. There was some produce in the walk-in cooler that had been insulated against the nightly dips in temperatures into the 20s. Apples, peppers, carrots. I got…

Almost ready for winter — This week we finished mulching the garlic with straw. It took 60 bales to cover the 3500 square feet of garden beds that we have planted to garlic. Each bale had to be separated into chunks and then those chunks had to be teased apart to make a fluffy blanket…

The stakes are high in genealogy and in life — It is blockbuster movie season when studios bring out the epics with all the stars. This December, be on the lookout for the biggest story of them all, The Genealogist, starring you! I like to think we are all heroes in our own stories. What kind of hero do you…

Last Official Harvest of 2023 — This was a big week on the farm. Monday we got ready for our annual delivery of winter produce. We harvested carrots and herbs, sorted squash, and bagged up onions, garlic, and shallots. Then on Tuesday, a crew of Junior High students came to help us finish the prep and…

Pippa maybe saves a life Story not from the farm but definitely about our obstinate farm dog. Our dog Pippa is a lifesaver. She saves our lives every day by being such a good dog that she makes us be the best versions of ourselves. But last weekend she did…

Another cat! — Tuesday was Halloween. My Morris dance team danced in the nearby town of Menomonie, and when I came home I heard a loud yowling coming from somewhere on the farm. I was instantly scared that I had inadvertently let our new cat Franny out earlier, and I went to look…

Winter is coming — It has been an unusual autumn. There have been exactly two very light frosts, and it is almost to the end of October. Our typical first frost is on September 15th. That puts us about five weeks behind. We have had some amazing fall produce: great Brussels sprouts, arugula, lettuce…

Not literally, of course — Halloween is a good time to designate a place in your house to honor and show gratitude to our ancestors. This place could be called an “ancestor altar.” The place of honoring ancestors could be as small as a photograph…

It is not follow for follow If you clap or respond to one of my essays, I will check out your page. I usually scroll past the pinned essays and see when you last posted. Then I check out one of your titles that grabs my attention. If I read…