Mushroom Mania

I have spent the entire morning and early afternoon going back and forth from my computer to my kitchen, where the morels still sit in piles and piles that don’t seem to diminish no matter how many batches I wash, saute, dry, even sell. Five pounds went to R-Pizza this afternoon, so watch for that [...]

Morel Motherlode

Here’s what H and I did this afternoon:
All told, we ended up with about forty to fifty pounds of the succulent fungi.
Today’s hunt was a heckuva lot different than other hunts I’ve been on–where I’d find a few, then walk half a mile, find a few more, walk again, etc. I’d come out with a [...]

Keepin’ it Real at Farmers Markets

Excellent article in Mother Jones last issue about how some farmers markets are turning into something never intended by the farmers who started them.
…if you shop at the farmers market in part to vote with your food dollars—for a stronger local economy, say, and for better stewardship of the land, and for a food network [...]

Art of the Earth Event Tonight!

Come on out to the Buffalo Run Winery this evening from 6-9pm for the Art of the Earth event.
There’ll be music, information, and lots of great food (I know–I helped prep some of it yesterday!).  Obviously, there’ll be some locally produced wine, too!  An art auction featuring the works of great local artists will round [...]

Schedule Change

Up and at ‘em early this morning, though I had to set the alarm (something I almost never do) and drag myself out of bed after a midnight return from Dakota Rural Action’s Evening of Green in Brookings last night.
It was good to see all my northern compatriots and introduce H around.  Dinner was amazing–cream [...]

Trellis-pulling and tax subtraction

Spent a good portion of yesterday out in the gardens–pulling the rest of the posts and cattle panels that formed the trellising in the east garden.  I’ll be putting some of it back up in the lower part of that garden before too long to support indeterminate tomatoes and pole beans.
The problem with keeping the [...]

Permaculture Institute in Brookings!

What to do this summer…
From: Glacial Lakes Permaculture!
“Well-known Australian permaculturist, Darren Doherty, will be offering a two-week Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course on the campus of South Dakota State University, June 4-17. The intensive, 72-hour course will lead participants through the history, theory, and practical application of Permaculture and culminate in a formal design project [...]

Tulips, Daffodils, and Hyacinths, Oh My!

How about some spring images from the home gardens?
These babies are fragrant, indeed.  I’ve always avoided the fragrant hyacinths, not being a frilly sort of lady.  But the scent is so lovely…
Thought I got these daffodils from Breck’s, but no record.  So, they’re just “daffodils.”  I don’t think that makes them any less pretty.
These tulips [...]

That Dinner Issue

The Sioux City Journal posts an article this morning about the DENR Board of Minerals & Environment’s dinner with Hyperion at Whimp’s in Burbank on the Wednesday evening of Hyperion’s contested case for an air quality permit:
ELK POINT, S.D. — Who’s dining where and with whom has become a topic of discussion among proponents and [...]

Asparagus!

H and I went out to the asparagus patch this afternoon to survey the work that needs doing there.
Last year, I ordered a few dozen asparagus crowns to transplant in the decades-old patch on the hill.  Using the backhoe, H, carved out the barren sections, and I managed to get in about half of the [...]