19 minute read
The Bookworm Sez
You have a lot on your plate.
What, with the kids and school, getting back to normal, pent-up socializing, paying bills and … yikes, those food prices! You’re wondering if maybe it’s time for that diet you’ve been saying you’ll go on, or some old-timey recipes from Great-Grandma. Or maybe you should read “To Boldly Grow” by Tamar Haspel and eat a little closer to home.
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Shortly after Tamar Haspel married her husband, Kevin, he told her he wanted to plant a garden on the roof of their Manhattan apartment building. For weeks they schlepped dirt and colorful containers skyward; and that summer, they had the best tomatoes Haspel had ever tasted.
Consequently, when they bought their house and two acres on Cape Cod some time later, they both knew that gardening was a for-sure. In fact, Haspel suggested, why not try to eat “first-hand food” (dinner they didn’t buy from a store) every day for an entire year?
Immediately, there was a learning curve: they had to know what kind of soil they had in order to know what they could grow. Neighbors helped with that information and they taught Haspel about cold frames, which are often necessary in New England gardens. This satisfied her for a while until she learned about perennial vegetables, which weren’t necessarily satisfying. The couple considered going organic, but the bugs won that battle until chickens arrived at the tiny farm. Eggs were perfect first-hand “To Boldly Grow: Finding Joy, Adventure, and Dinner in Your Own Backyard” by Tamar Haspel c.2022, Putnam $26. 272 pages
THE BOOKWORM SEZ By Terri Schlichenmeyer
food. Later, the chickens would be, too — but not until after a heartbreaking trial-and-error with
fencing.
Haspel learned to trust ice, love fishing, and embrace the joys of “fishing it forward.” The couple taught themselves to catch lobster, grow mushrooms with old logs, make their own sea-salt, and to forage in nearby areas with high-level awareness of what was not safely edible. They bought some turkeys and began hunting venison.
And then they built their own outdoor oven because “There is... a deep-seated satisfaction in taking food we harvested, cooking it in an oven we built, and feeding it to people we love.”
You can absolutely think of “To Boldly Grow” as a book filled with adventure. Undertaking new endeavors, after all, is not always for the faint of heart — even when those endeavors are as quiet as digging and fishing. Consider it, too, as lighthearted reading: author Haspel has a great sense of humor mixed with her inner IndianaJones-in-the-garden; and in that, there’s a lot of good-natured self-ribbing and an appealing open-mindedness for trying new things. But that’s not all. There’s seriousness in this book, and a number of pages full of helpful advice. For total novices who are unsure about raising their own vittles, or for readers who never thought they could grocery shop a few feet from their back deck, that’s very tantalizing information.
Whether your tomatoes are starting to bloom, or there are seedlings waiting patiently inside, this is a fun way to pass the time before harvesting it all. Find “To Boldly Grow” and put something different on your plate.
The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives in Wisconsin with three dogs and 10,000 books. v
Bolks left established church, moved to Orange City
FARMHOUSE KITCHEN, from pg. 6
The Bolks family always seemed to be on the move. In 1865, they received a call to the Reformed Church in Zeeland, Michigan. After six years of service there, he received a call to the new colony that had been formed so far away in Iowa. This would be their last move, until God called them to their eternal home.
Orange City was a new settlement born in 1870. A Reformed Church had been formally organized on May 6, 1871. On Aug. 21 of that year, the newly formed congregation extended a call to Bolks. The church history records indicate they didn’t really think he would accept the offer. After all, his church in Zeeland was one of the largest churches in Michigan. All Orange City had was a small schoolhouse building to worship in — and not even a parsonage.
But Bolks did accept, and in the spring of 1872 he and his family departed for northwest Iowa to the small town on the prairie. Pioneering was hard work. It was no easy task for Dominee Bolks and his wife Geertje — who were both nearly 58 years old — to begin all over again.
No one could have predicted the hardships these early pioneers would face. The Bolks family, along with everyone else, suffered when the locusts came in 1873. The insects devoured almost every green and growing plant — whether it be in the field, garden or pasture. Harvest was minimal that fall. In spring, when the seed was sown, hopes for a better year were soon shattered when the locusts returned.
Extreme deprivation despair set in as all their hard work and dreams were gone. Some did leave … others stayed. Dominee and Geertje did their best to minister to their flock. Many think this new settlement would have failed if it wasn’t for the efforts of “Father Bolks” and Henry Hospers, the colony’s leader.
Bolks worked tirelessly to encourage during those desperate days, with his steadfast faith he reminded his flock to look to God. Wherever he was needed, he either walked or rode his horse. During all his years of ministry, he never took a vacation. He knew every member of his churches and was well-known in nearby settlements such as Alton, Maurice, Middleburg, Newkirk and Sioux Center.
I wish I knew what words he used to encourage. So far I haven’t found anything written other than he preached with great zeal, pounding the pulpit often and hard. When this was brought to his attention, he replied that unless he did so he could not preach.
Early in 1878, Dominee Bolks became ill with a lung infection which developed into asthma. By August his health hadn’t returned, so at 64 years old, he resigned as pastor.
His faithful helper and counsellor, Geertje passed away on Sept. 10, 1888. She was 74 years old. Seine Bolks lived to be 80 — dying on June 20, 1894. They are both buried in the West Lawn Cemetery in Orange City, Iowa.
The picture of Bolks I am most familiar with shows a slender man with a white beard and piercing eyes. I can imagine hearing his commanding, pleading voice saying, “He that believeth in the Son, hath everlasting life, and he that obeyeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36 (The majority of this information comes from the paper “Crossing The River With Seine Bolks written by Jan Jongsma )
Renae B. Vander Schaaf is an independent writer, author and speaker. Please contact her at 605-5300017 or agripen@live.com. v
Planting progressing in between rain showers
Bob Roelofs Garden City, Minn. May 19 Scott Winslow Fountain, Minn. May 20
How’s planting going for Bob Roelofs? “Better than other parts of the state,” Roelofs said. The Land spoke with him on May 19 as he was getting ready to head back in
2022
“We’re done planting.” The Land spoke with Scott Winslow on May 20 as he reported conditions were favorable to get all the crops in the ground. “Things changed pretty fast around here. I was FROM THE FIELDS Compiled by KRISTIN KVENO, The Land Staff Writer pleasantly surprised.” the field that afternoon after a pause in planting — thanks to the three-fourths of an inch of rain that fell on May 17.
“We’re about 60 to 70 percent done.” There’s been a lot of starts and stops in planting for Roelofs, which began the weekend of May 7-8. On May 11, the Roelofs farm received one and a half inches of rain and 70 to 80 mile per hour winds.
“It’s been kind of slow going.” Roelofs has had to switch between planting corn and soybeans based on when fields were dry enough to be planted. “Southern Minnesota and southeastern Minnesota are better than other parts of the state; but we’re still behind.” He knows he’s fortunate, as he’s spoken to farmers in northern Minnesota who haven’t been in the field yet.
In addition to planting in between rain events, Roelofs is busy on the hog-side as well. “We’re re-loading the two hog sites now. We’ve got some hog maintenance to do.”
Planting began later than usual, but the end is in sight. “If we can dodge the storm tonight, we could be done Monday-Tuesday,” Roelofs said. While he’s grateful to be at the tail end of planting, he’s not optimistic that there’s going to be high-yielding crops this fall. “It’s better to get the corn in the first week of May or before.” That didn’t happen for Roelofs this year. He’s planting 106-day corn today and is thinking ahead to the drying time this corn may need post-harvest. “I’d be really surprised if we’d have a record-breaking crop.”
“I think we’ll be good on moisture.” One month ago, Roelofs wouldn’t have said that, as he was concerned about drying out sub-soil. These spring rains have provided some comfort that the crops won’t be hurting for moisture in these upcoming spring and summer months. v
Once the fields dried up, Winslow was able to pump pits, haul manure, as well as apply anhydrous by May 7. He started planting on May 10, finished corn on the 12th, and soybeans on the 14th. Winslow headed to the Filmore fairgrounds on May 19 to teach 250 local fourth-graders about grain bin safety at the Tesmer Farm Safety Day. “It was a full day. It feels rewarding.”
After a day of teaching, Winslow headed back to the farm where he watched a deluge of rain hit the farm. In less than 20 minutes, it rained approximately two inches. “It came down so hard that you couldn’t see my house, 100 feet away.” The concern for Winslow is the washing away of seed and plants. Only time will tell if there needs to be replanting. “I think the corn will be fine, all the corn is up.” He’s not sure how the beans handled all the rain as the last time he checked those fields they weren’t up yet. In addition to the rain, hail ranging from pea-size to marble-size hit the farm as well. This morning, Winslow could still see hail piled up on his lawn from last night.
In the next few weeks, Winslow will be focused on scouting the crops. “Walking the fields, getting herbicides down.” In addition to crop checks, he will be starting the task of taking down the old machine shed which was damaged in a December 2021 wind event. In addition, there’s still tin 20 feet up stuck in branches in the tree row that Winslow needs to get down.
Winslow isn’t a stranger to storms; but he’s glad that a few missed his farm this spring — which resulted in him getting the crops in the ground quickly. “Right now, we’re sitting OK for moisture.”
“I’m hopeful for a good crop. Going into the summer we got the seed in the ground, and it’s germinated.” It’s forecasted to be cold May 21-22, with nighttime lows in the upper 30s; but Winslow points out, it won’t be as cold as Father’s Day on the farm about 30 years ago when frost hit.
With no frost in the forecast and the crops in the ground, Winslow’s concerns turn to cost — especially fuel prices. “Inputs are too dog-gone high.” v
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By WHITNEY NESSE The Land Correspondent
AFTON, Minn. — In a brief conversation with Halliday Anderson, owner of 10th Street Farm and Market, you will quickly hear about her passion for agriculture and teaching others about agriculture. As a first generation farmer who started in 2011, Halliday has carved out a successful niche on her farm in Afton, Minn. From community supported agriculture (CSA) shares to wholesale crops to a year round farm stand, 10th Street Farm and Market has something for everyone.
Although not farmers themselves, Halliday’s parents were both employed in the agricultural industry working for Oxbo International, a company that manufactures specialty market agricultural equipment. “My mom retired and had always wanted to start a bed and breakfast or a small farm. The more she thought about it the more she thought it was the right time to do that,” related Anderson, “She called me up one day and said, ‘Do you want to do this with me?’ and I jumped on it!”
So in 2011, Anderson and her husband found a small acreage in Afton, Minn. which was priced right and they made the purchase. “That fall we put up two moveable high tunnels. The next winter we planted in them and went from there,” she said. “We had no idea what we were doing! But we were deter-
Halliday Anderson, owner of 10th Street Farm and Market.
mined to figure out how to make it work!”
Anderson said the original intent she and her mother had for 10th Street Farm and Market was to provide fresh produce to local farmers markets and to try and extend the growing season using their greenhouses. “For the two of us who had never vegetable farmed before, it seemed like a way for us to manage the land on our own and do it in a way where we didn’t need huge capital investment, we didn’t need a tractor, we didn’t need any large scale tools, we could just do everything by hand,” explained Anderson. “In our area, the east side of the Twin Cities, there aren’t a lot of farms. We found an opening in the market for high-quality greens as well. That was our intention immediately.”
Anderson went on to say that during their first growing season, they were bringing produce to three different farmers markets.
With selling products in various locations, Anderson noticed they were away from the farm too often. “With our very hands-on system and high tunnels that needed to be constantly opened and closed with the [changing] weather, by the end of that season, we fell into the CSA idea purely as a functional way to keep the farm bringing in money and for us to be on the farm more.
“The idea of a CSA really terrified us. Collecting money from customers before the season even started and then being beholden to them really scared us!” laughed Anderson. She said since then, 10th Street Farm and Market has become a hidden gem for locals who desire fresh produce and greens. Customers can get them by way of a CSA or stopping at the farm stand as well as finding Anderson’s produce at co-op grocers whom she supplies.
Currently, Anderson is 10th Street Farm and Market’s only full time, year-round employee. “My mom has since been promoted to Grandma,” she said, chuckling, “so she doesn’t spend as much time at the farm.” This year, Halliday will hire seven seasonal employees. “We do a lot of training. We have an apprentice program. My side passion is to help train small scale farmers to be both sustainable and profitable,” she said. 10th Street Farm and Market is certainly not your average Minnesota vegetable garden spanning from May to September. Rather, Anderson is able to offer 44 weeks of CSA and farm stand crops, breaking the CSA’s up into spring, summer, fall and winter shares. She is able to do this by using her three moveable high tunnels, her 100-foot in-ground growing tunnel, three heated greenhouses and caterpillar tunnels or low tunnel greenhouses. “For me, I like to think of my season starting in October and running until the next October,” she explained. “So in October, I’m thinking about what I’m harvesting out of my winter tunnels which are my three movable tunnels and my 100-foot tunnel that I’m growing in the ground in. That’s my main production for the winter.”
In January she begins pulling out one crop in order to transplant a new crop for the spring CSA’s. “Our caterpillar tunnels are more of a three-season structure because they are smaller. Our greenhouses transition as well, we remove our winter [crops] and we move to raised beds in there in the summer where we do strawberries and more heat-loving crops.”
Once spring planting conditions are favorable, Anderson then plants her outdoor field crops. During
See 10TH STREET, pg. 14
Livestock and crop farmers are always being asked for their opinion, for information about their management practices, or a myriad of details about how they farm today. Four specific “asks” have come across my desk and computer screen lately, and each has important merit in the continuous improvement and protection of our swine industry.
US-Swine Health Improvement Plan (SHIP)
US-SHIP includes biosecurity, traceability and disease surveillance through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Veterinary Services-sponsored initiative with support from state and industry partners.
US-SHIP is modeled after the very successful National Poultry Improvement Plan which has been in place since 1935. US-SHIP is intended to provide a national program for certifying health status and is initially focused on African swine fever and classical swine fever. Minnesota has committed to participating in US-SHIP and we encourage all of our swine producers to enroll their production and packing sites in this unique program.
Industry and state representation from Minnesota attended the inaugural US-SHIP House of Delegates in August 2021 and approved the initial requirements for certification in the program.
The benefits of US-SHIP enrollment include: strengthened ASF/CSF preparedness (prevention, response and recovery) for our state; establish a uniform biosecurity, traceability, sampling/testing approach across participating states in “peacetime” as well as “wartime;” and participation in a collaborative industry (producers/packers), state, and federal program in which producers can help establish appropriate standards for health certification.
Enrollment in US-SHIP is by site and is fairly straightforward: Complete the enrollment form (either single premise or multi-premise form); complete the biosecurity enrollment survey provided after you submit your enrollment form; and show ability to provide 30 days of swine movement records in an electronic format. In short, US-SHIP will establish a national playbook of technical standards and associated certification recognized across participating states that centers on disease prevention and demonstration of freedom of disease outside of control. At the Minnesota Board of Animal Health, Senior Veterinarian Brian Hoefs has taken the lead with US-SHIP. Further information about US-SHIP can be found at the Board of Animal Health website: https://www.bah.state.mn.us/.
SWINE & U By Diane DeWitte
UniversityofMinnesota EXTENSION SWINE&U
the online needs assessment. The survey can be found at z.umn. eduNeedsAssessmentSurvey.
Minnesota’s Swine On-Farm Sustainability Report
In 2021 the National Pork Board piloted its U.S. Pork Industry Sustainability Report tool for producers to complete and use to establish their own farm sustainability report. This is the latest step in the swine industry’s long-standing effort to produce a leading, sustainable protein choice. The goals and metrics of the Sustainability Report were developed through a National Pork Board producer-led multiyear process which considered customer needs and expectations.
Completion of the sustainability report provides free, farm-level data to help pork producers establish an individual baseline for social, environmental and economic sustainability. Nationally, the industry is focused on doubling the number of farms participating in the reports in the next 12 months.
“We need benchmarks to better track and monitor progress, and also to make better data-driven decisions for the future of pork production,” said Dale Stevermer, Minnesota pig farmer and participant in the goals and metrics development. “The On-Farm Sustainability Reports provide metrics that can be aggregated to track progress at the industry level, while also giving farmers individualized data that helps them make better decisions for the future of pork production.”
Here in Minnesota, swine producer leadership has set a target to have at least 50 percent of the state’s pigs represented in the reports. Minnesota Pork Director of Marketing and Public Policy Engagement Lauren Servick is leading the effort for Minnesota’s pig farmers. The on-farm sustainability reports are available free to farms through a pork checkoff investment at the National Pork Board. Pig farmers and contract growers are all eligible to participate. Interested farmers should contact Lauren Servick at lauren@mnpork.com or by calling (507) 345-8814.
U of M Extension Swine Needs Assessment
University of Minnesota Extension’s Swine Team launched the 2022 Swine Needs Assessment in Mankato at the Minnesota Pork Congress in February. In order to better determine the educational needs of the Minnesota pork industry, the survey is available to all pork producers and ag professionals. Five participation incentives are available and participants have the option to sign up for the drawing of the incentives which include gift cards, management services free of charge and a product donated by Hubbard Feed. The survey timeline is drawing to a close and participants are encouraged to take five to ten minutes to complete
University of Minnesota Swine Biosecurity Survey
The Center for Animal Health and Food Safety at the University of Minnesota is conducting a survey about biosecurity on swine farms across the state of Minnesota. By collecting data from producers about what biosecurity protocols they currently use, and those which they don’t, researchers hope to gain an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of biosecurity across the industry.
This study will help the swine industry identify gaps and opportunities for improvement in the face of a new or foreign animal disease outbreak. With a better understanding of practices currently in use, new resources, training materials, and research can be done with the ultimate goal of helping swine farms prevent the introduction of disease, spread of disease, and ultimately protecting the health and profitability of the Minnesota swine industry.
The project is funded through the USDA.
Pig farmers can access the biosecurity survey at https://umn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_2lB48FKmiwDAzUG
The researchers estimate that the survey will take 10-20 minutes, and all identifying information is kept confidential. Those who complete the survey and provide an email address will be entered into a drawing for one of eight $75 gift cards.
Participation helps producers direct their destiny
It’s often easy to let requests for participation fall to the bottom of the list, or the waste basket, but in