~~~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 three of the CSA. This marks one of our first big [...]

~~~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 might sneak something extra in your box! With the [...]

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 of a newborn. Like when you finally get a drink of [...]

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 redwinged blackbird call. It startled me almost, to [...]

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 Frost. She did a great job and gave a shout out to several [...]

When the farm work slows down, each year around this time I find myself in a distinct home mode: de-clutter and organize.  This feeling is akin to the crazy housecleaning phases I would go into just before the birth of each of our daughters.  [...]

In our family, Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate family, friends, food, and the many other blessings of comfort we enjoy. I imagine it is similarly celebrated like this is your family too. However, as the coloring pages of turkeys and Pilgrims [...]

I looked across the dinner table at my husband, and he had a familiar look of stress on his face.  “Stressed?” I asked.  “We gotta get those carrots out before it freezes,” he said.  “We’ll get them [...]

Yesterday morning I found myself scraping the windshield of our little harvest vehicle. Crates loaded, and off I drove into the field to harvest greens. I had to chuckle at myself as I looked down at lettuce laced with frost. Despite my action [...]

The craving I feel for time with my kids this year is intense.  I miss them so much throughout the season.  While I see them every day and make time for them, I can’t help but feel like 6 months of their lives just flew past me. In a farmer’s [...]

My dear veggie lover, I received your letter the other day. It breaks my heart that you want to leave our relationship. It’s my hope that you’ll read this letter and I may be able to convince you to stay. I think I can change. In [...]

The other day I read Ta-Nehisi Coates essay in the Atlantic entitled the First White President. If you’ve never heard of Coates, he is very talented, very eloquent writer who writes about the experience of being a black man in [...]

For the sixth season in a row, we raised pigs on our farm this year. We get them from a conventional breeder in Waunakee when they are about 40 lbs. We transfer them from their farm to ours in dog crates and then I drive them in a pick-up truck [...]

In the age of Whole Foods being bought by Amazon, technology keeps intersecting into the food industry. It leaves farmers like us wondering how much we need to think about adding customization as a dimension of our CSA. Mike and I constantly [...]

Summer CSA: Week #14 Wednesday, September 6th: All REGs & Group B – EOs Mark your calendar for our Annual Barn Party, Saturday Sept. 23rd. 5:30pm. Catered cash taco bar by Stack foods. Musical guests, the Soggy Prairie Boys – 7pm [...]

Summer CSA: Week #13 Wednesday, August 30th: All REGs & Group A – EOs Potato harvesting time. Can’t resist the heart-shaped taters. “Your kids must be great veggie eaters, seeing as you farm and all!”   I hear this comment so [...]

Intention I don’t go to yoga classes as much as I’d like to. My life feels so busy and it’s hard to make it to the classes. Plus I have this yoga app that has short classes and there’s Youtube classes too that I can take on my own– at my own [...]

Exhale If I could give mid to late August a name, it would be Exhale. While there is still so very much to do at the farm, this time of year marks a real transition. The edge, the intensity lessens. The vast majority of crops are in the ground [...]

My trip to Rock Island with our girls was so very special. Just got home at 10pm and put their dirty, lovely little camping bodies in bed. I’m grateful to be home. Grateful to Mike for making it possible for us to have this adventure. [...]

Summer CSA: Week #9 Wednesday, August 2nd: All REGs & Group A – EOs Please Note: Next week’s newsletter will arrive later than usual. I’ll be sending it late Tuesday evening.  We are loving these dry, pleasant days! Perfect [...]

Summer CSA: Week #8 Wednesday, July 26th: All REGs & Group B – EOs We’ve never seen our fields this wet. It’s not great, but things could always be worse. Last week we received about 7 inches in just two days. Plants are [...]

Summer CSA: Week #7 It’s that time in the CSA season, where you may need a reminder on how to use everything without getting overwhelmed! Johanna Voss posted this nice article, entitled “11 Enlightening Ways to Get More Out of Your [...]

We are so thankful for CSA and the local food movement. The hail storm we had last week was one of the most destructive hail storms we’ve ever experienced. Very few crops were spared from the unasesthetic markings that would make them [...]

This past Sunday fun day, we enjoyed the weekend with some friends and their kiddos down at Mt. Horeb’s little gem, Stewart Lake. The kids played in the sand, hunted for painted turtles, and waded out into the cooling, soothing water. [...]

Michele & The Fairy Garden You ever met someone who just about always takes that extra step and does something kind for others, unasked?  Michele is one of those people. Michele is on her 2nd year on the pack line. Every Wednesday for 20 [...]

These 3 little girls are so excited for you to come visit the farm! Our first on-farm event of the season is coming up on Saturday, July 1st, 1:30 – 4pm.  We call it the Strawberries and Silkscreens event, though the rhymer in me wants to [...]

During certain moments of every farm season, you can suddenly find yourself stuck in intense mode. You know it’s going to happen. You plan for it with staff. You prep your friends for your imminent dissapearing act. And then you wait… It kind of [...]

The other day Edie was very upset to find herself at a beautiful sandy lakefront beach without a swimsuit. We’d camped out at a friends’ farm in Argyle, and Mom remembered everything but the bathing suits. Edie was super upset. I [...]

  Our final preseason installment is a short, sweet one taken from an article entitled, Getting Hooked on Cooking with CSA by Katherince Deumling (author of Cook With What You Have). A CSA share offers a plethora of produce every week and [...]

Until I became a farmer, I treated recipes as rules. (My mother taught me this.)  If I didn’t have the full list of ingredients for something, I wouldn’t make it.  If I found myself half way through cooking something and realized I was missing [...]