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The Best of Days In her book, Beloved, Toni Morrison writes: “In Ohio seasons are theatrical. Each one enters like a prima donna, convinced its performance is the reason the world has people in [...]

The average yearly rainfall for our area is around 35 inches. Since May, we have had 72 inches of rain. That’s just crazy town. With a critical eye, and damp feet, it can sometimes be too [...]

Last season on one hot June afternoon, my Dad stopped by the farm. I was driving our large Kubota tractor. He walked up to say hello and peek inside, and then exclaimed, “Look at you, [...]

Sometimes there is a certain metaphorical symmetry between family life and farm life that I find beautiful. A truism one discovers when working on a farm, is that change is the one constant to be [...]

Touched by the Sun One day back in the spring, one of our employees, Taylor, was getting a little loopy after having to hoe broccoli and Brussels sprouts for 5 hours straight. That day she and [...]

I ran religiously 3-4 times a week until my late twenties. By then I was farming, and therefore extremely physically active, and in between pregnancies. Finding the time,  and having a body [...]

The Sardine Meal Towards the end of each August, right before some of our seasonal workers begin to peel off (thanks, Jared!), Mike and I treat the crew to a nice meal in Madison. Sardine has [...]

According to the EPA, in its document entitled, What Climate Change Means for Wisconsin:  “Wisconsin’s climate is changing. In the past century, most of the state has warmed about two [...]

Thank you Today’s inbox is FULL of the most amazing, supportive, warm messages from so very many of you. Thank you for all of your thoughtful support and various offers of ways to help! To [...]

The Party Crew In seasonal work like farming, we see big changes from year to year in our farm crew. For most of our employees we have only 6 months of full time work to offer. So it is very [...]

The Zoning Card About a month ago, we received a small white postcard in the mail. It informed us that the zoning for our property is changing. It said “this change should not affect the [...]

–Basic concept is to make a soy sauce based stir-fry with egg roll filling ingredients. Then serve on shiso leaves, wrap them up like you would a lettuce wrap and enjoy. –Ingredients [...]

~~~the Crossroads Companion~~~ stories, recipes, and news from the farm  Week #7 – Wednesday, July 18th: All REGs & Group A – EOs Sungold tomatoes are still circulating slowly. [...]

Gearing up for family camp! Camp Unistar When the kids were younger, it didn’t matter so much that Mike and I worked crazy hours in the summertime. They were at home all year round, and it [...]

~~~the Crossroads Companion~~~ stories, recipes, and news from the farm  Week #3 – Wednesday, June 20th: All REGs & Group A – EO Finding Our Groove We’ve made it to week [...]

~~~the Crossroads Companion~~~ stories, recipes, and news from the farm  Week #2 – Wednesday, June 13th: All REGs & Group B – EOs Two quick notes for week #2: – Sometimes we [...]

Shepherding Time  Do you ever have those moments when you remember that you are indeed an animal? Like when you (or your partner) went into nesting mode, cleaning your home prior to the arrival [...]

–by Michele Zindars, as printed in Farm Fresh and Fast 1 lb lean ground beef or turkey 1 large onion, chopped 1 t salt 1/2 t ground black pepper 3 large tomatoes, diced 2 large potatoes, [...]

–STEW: 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash 1 cup diced onion 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 dried red New Mexican or guajillo chile, seeded and crumbled 1 [...]

from www.realsimple.com 1 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into chunks 2 sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch-thick half-moons 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes 1 large red onion, cut [...]

— adapted from www.sheknows.com 1 small head of cabbage (16 leaves) 7 ounces ground pork 7 ounces ground beef 1 carrot, minced 1 zucchini, minced 1 small onion, minced 1 tablespoon ginger, [...]

adapted from www.fountainavenuekitchen.com this is a good one to use as a base recipe and use different brassicas and leafy green types 1 cup dry lentils, rinsed (I prefer brown lentils in this [...]

–www.allrecipes.com 3 1/2 cups water 1 1/4 cups white vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon sea salt 4 cups cucumber spears 2 cloves garlic, whole 2 heads fresh dill Stir water, vinegar, [...]

–from www.cookieandkate.com –Soba 6 ounces soba noodles or spaghetti noodles of choice 2 cups frozen organic edamame 10 ounces (about 3 cups) sugar snap peas or snow peas 6 [...]

— from www.cookieandkate.com 1 large head of cauliflower, sliced into bite-sized florets 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper –Seasoned lentils 1 [...]

Thanks to Cookie and Kate for this recipe. Check out her blog at www.cookieandkate.com Roasted Cauliflower 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or [...]

Yesterday morning we began to seed the first plants of the season in the greenhouse – onions. When I walked outside with my seed tub in hand and headed toward the greenhouse, I heard a [...]

Arugula Bunched, green leaves. Resembles dandelion greens. Peppery, nutty flavor. Great in salads, pastas, pizza toppings. Store in plastic bag in fridge. Basil Bunched green leaves, oval shaped. [...]

Recently, Madison Magazine published a wonderful story on eating locally, written by Jonnah Perkins of Vermont Valley Community Farm. It’s entitled 5 Ways to Eat Locally After the [...]

Is CSA Right for Me? We are super lucky to live in the Madison area, where local, organic produce can be found at farmer’s markets and some grocery stores.  If you want to support local [...]