What a whirlwind of a weekend it was! I was fortunate enough to be able to attend and present at the very first Harvest Wyoming Small Farm Symposium in Riverton. It was a blast! There were workshops, talks, farm-tours, and a fabulous farm-to-table dinner with a panel discussion. At the end of this discussion, folks were wondering how to get involved in the Local Food movement in Wyoming, and it seemed like a fitting time for Wyoming Food Coalition board member LeAnn Miller, to announce my new position as Executive Director of the Wyoming Food Coalition! The Wyoming Food Coalition is a non-profit organization set up to increase awareness, facilitate collaboration, increase education, promote transparency, and influence legislation centered around local...
This first Rancher Interview is with Blake and Helen of the Balzan Ranch in Wheatland, WY. They can't wait to have you out to tour their operation and meet their Longhorn Cattle! I got to ask them some questions customers have previously submitted, plus a few that I came up with too. caption for image Q: What makes your beef different? First, our beef is from Longhorn Cattle. It is a lean, very nutritious, and flavorful meat. Our cattle graze on only the best variety of grasses and legumes our ranch has to offer. Our herd is free range and our cows spend their whole lives on pasture. We treat them kindly and they are not introduced to outside diseases...
Who the heck are "they," and what do they not want you to know?! The uncomfortable feeling I get when someone starts talking like this has only been made worse by my recent experiences with the healthcare system. I have been fighting to have our hospital bills, from the birth of our son, covered by our insurance company for weeks. It has been a ridiculous and exhausting process and it has truly injured the last shred of trust I have for the "healthcare" system. The whole experience of having a child in the hospital wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, although I do think there were a few things that were done without full disclosure or my...
I felt so jipped when I learned the history behind Valentine's Day! What's with the candy and lame cards, when we could be enjoying this time of year the way people used to back in the day??? Valentine's Day actually claims to celebrate several individuals (considered saints) who were murdered for their kind actions, because the ways in which they helped people violated Roman law at the time. Several of these saints were named "Valentine" including a Christian Priest who was performing miracles, and an Italian Bishop who was marrying couples in secret. The irony of this holiday is, that it is now celebrated around the same time of year that the ancient Romans would celebrate with the feast of...
Six more weeks of winter, said Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog)... Out here we call them marmots, and they are all currently asleep... I don't think this rule really applies in the Wyoming dialect of Groundhogese... they all just assume the weather will be too cold to bear until May, and they stay safe and warm underground... no shadow-dance necessary. So as we hunker-down in our own burrows and grumble at the windiest part of the year settling down upon us, what better past-times than to cook, to garden plan, and to dream of Spring... What does your Spring Dream look like? Mine includes my biggest garden yet, and a summer/fall full of canning. I have truly missed canning and growing...
