How far is too far?

One week from today I take my local foods show on the road. I love to talk about local food, local food systems and the need for sustainability in our food network.

Did you know that if trucks couldn't get into North Dakota, most grocery stores would only have enough food for three days?

I'll be on my soapbox on Saturday at the Women's Showcase in Fargo. As my colleague and I were discussing our talk, we knew we didn't want to pull any punches. But at the same time..."How far is too far?" Should we show them the video of chicken nugget production? Should we talk about high fructose corn syrup?

I hate the fact that the USDA and their cohorts have painted the local foods picture as "cute". "Come, everybody, let's buy a tomato at the farmers market this week!" Local food sustainability isn't cute, it's vital. But it's a wonder of modern science that we can buy tomatoes in the grocery store in January! Right? WRONG. On so many levels.

So I'm torn, what do I say? How much do I say? And, most importantly, will they listen before it's too late?

A New Form of Slavery?

A couple of weeks ago, I drove into a yard to make a delivery. One of our regular customers was out of town and wanted to share that week's produce with her neighbor. As I drove in my jaw dropped at all the new farm equipment, new machinery, new buildings and new house. I was staring at roughly millions of dollars. Now, this neighbor is younger than my husband. I'm willing to bet every bit of it was financed.

I can almost guarantee that I would choke if I had to look at that much debt every single day of my life. How is a farmer supposed to make a living, and I'll even add a life, when they start out in debt to the tune of millions of dollars? Lending institutions are making loans based on recent production trends and prices. Which, history will substantiate, are the best we've had for quite some time. What happens when we get a drought? What happens if the prices drop? What do those farmers do then? Will the government bail them out? Is there enough price support and insurance built into today's production models that the farmers are insulated?

Could the farmer leave or change production models? I don't think so. Agri-business is making money, lots of money, based on conventional production models. Chemical agriculture at its finest. But the farmers are basically indentured to those models because of the debt load they carry. I can tell you from experience that if a farmer went in to his (or her) lender and said, "I'd like to plant 100 acres of organic raspberries. Will you back me?" The answer, after the laughter had died down, would be no. A farmer who wants to break free of the bondage has a long and difficult road to climb. How can agri-business keep the farmers buying from them? Make it near impossible to do anything else.

I just don't know the answer. I don't know if they know. All I know is it would scare the living daylights out of me to have signed my name.

Do you read?

One of the truly great ideas I've had in the past month that I've been working to further sustainable agriculture (in an official capacity) has been the idea of a Sustainable Library. Where we would have all the books/DVDs/etc. from the world of sustainable living and agriculture and lend them to people in a manner similar to the ND State Library. You could check them out for a month and only have to pay the return postage.

Brilliant, right??

Someone would surely give me a $10,000 grant to do this, right??

Then a co-worker mentioned this tiny fact to me. People don't read anymore. Really, they don't read. 50% of Americans will never read another book after they leave school.

This shocks me. Me, who is a voracious reader. Me, who would read the back of shampoo and shaving cream bottles in the bathroom, just for something to read. Me, who has at least 2 books going at all times. Me, who has 500+ volumes in her home and those are just my favorites. Me, who checks out 5+ books a week (during the winter) at the library and reads them all.

I can't believe this. Why wouldn't people want to read? Why wouldn't you want to learn something? Go somewhere? Become someone? Have we become so dependent on TV and the internet that we cannot use our imaginations anymore? Have we lost the ability to imagine?

We don't have TV in our home. It's been over three years since I saw any television on a regular basis. I've never seen Glee or The Office. I certainly don't watch the news. And you know what? I think I'm much better off then when I planned my week around Grey's Anatomy, ER, House and The Closer. Come November, we'll renew our subscription to Netflix and watch a movie or documentary every week or so. But that's the extent of our TV entertainment. I can live without TV.

Books, I can't live without.

Am I the only one?

You CAN go home again.

Last night the hubby, kiddos and I went to a wedding in my hometown. Not the town that I listed as my address for 18 years, but the one where I went to 13 years of school and 22 years of church. My longest-known friend was getting married. I've known Travis for all but 10 months of my almost 34 years. Our parents have been best friends forever and we grew up together. I've literally known him longer than my own sister!

There are pictures of the three of us (me, Travis and Coley) in the bathtub together as little tykes. (I would have included some of them, but they are buried in my parents basement somewhere.) Then my brother and his sister joined the group, and that made five. We all went to the same church, sang in the same programs, were confirmed together, lighted candles together. Then we went away to college...together, all at the same school. Except my brother, the traitor, who went to a private school to play football and ended up cheerleading (another tale, another time).

So this is a long way of saying that Travis and I go way back, farther back than anyone else on this planet. He's my other brother. Whenever we see each other, which isn't as often as it should be now that we've gone and grown up, it's a big hug or two and lots of laughter. It was a joy to see him get married to a wonderful gal, I can't wait to get to know her better!

But along with the fun of a lifelong friend's wedding comes other joys. The joy of seeing your church family again. I only have one uncle, total, that's it. And he lives in Ohio so we never saw them. So my church family is literally my family. They've held together and held on to one another. They love and support you like nothing you've ever felt. We walked in late to the ceremony and one of the pillars-of-the-church was sitting just inside the door. He leapt up, threw his arms around me and said, "I'm so glad you could come." These same people prayed and loved for our family the first time Dad had cancer. I was sixteen. Now he's fighting it again and they are back at it. Loving and praying for my parents from afar. These people are my real aunts and uncles and cousins. They're closer than family.

The only thing missing last night was my beloved Eleanor. My youth leader growing up. It's been a year and half since she died and I still miss her. I miss getting cards from her with funny sayings just because she was thinking of me. I looked around the church and didn't see her little, silver-haired body or hear her laugh...and I missed her desperately. I think I always will. I keep the card she sent me two weeks before she died and the pictures she included of me and her in high school. She could always talk me into doing stuff with her, like dressing up as clowns for a Turtle Days Parade! I hate clowns and I don't like Turtle Days. But I loved Eleanor, so I did it. We all did.

It was so wonderful to laugh and hug and share and celebrate. You can go home again...I did it just last night.

The first egg!!!

If you are a fan of our farm on FaceBook, you know that this egg recall has got my blood boiling. And rather than continue my government-food-safety rant here, I'll share the good news!

Our pullets (girl chickens) have heard about this egg recall and wanted to do their part in providing fresh, healthy and SAFE eggs for our customers.

John found our first egg Sunday morning! And I cooked it for him for breakfast, because he is the ChickenMan.


Pullet eggs are always small and will get bigger in a little while.

How small are they?
That's a pancake.

John looked at it and said, "I'll have 6, please."

Here's to the chickens...you go girls!

Sweet Corn

Sweet Corn

It's an obsession really.

Particularly for my daughter and her father plays right into it.



Good grief!

Wheat Harvest

On Friday, John harvested our wheat.

Harvest is always a fun, exciting and stressful time. So we waited until after naptime to head out and watch Daddy bring in the harvest.

Jana had trouble walking in the stubble and felt much safer in Daddy's arms.


The combine looks a lot bigger when you get up close!


It's not so scary when you're with Daddy.


Dad makes a spot for Jana to ride in the cab. (Mom would have ridden on the engine hood, but we didn't tell Jana that. She did ride there as a wee fetus three years ago.)


Jana is ready to climb aboard!


Jana in her perch.


Dad checking things over one more time.


Waving goodbye as they head off down the field!


Poor Henry had to sit and watch with Mom.


He was pretty despondent about the whole thing.


But it didn't last long...He seems to have recovered nicely!