It's officially Spring, but not in Wyoming! Did you know that most people in the U.S. are vitamin D deficient for at least part of the year? This can be detrimental to our health, because Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption, and for your genes and cells to talk to each other for several different bodily processes, and adequate amounts of vitamin D can help prevent several degenerative diseases. Problem is, synthetic vitamin D supplements are not always very bioavailable. This means your body cannot break them down into useable forms efficiently enough to get the benefits you need- especially this time of year when you still have to keep your skin covered in the inclement "Spring" weather. So,...
Spring in the desert is one of the most beautiful experiences on earth. Flowers in the most unexpected places. Birds and bugs of crazy varieties. Life oozes from the crevices of what seems like deep, dry, cold nothingness, and then... it's gone again. Have you ever seen a desert Spring? If you haven't, I highly recommend spending a week in the Mojave, or the Arizona/New Mexico Plateau, it's breathtaking! Up here in Wyoming, we have a lot of Cold-Desert expanses. It is a different kind of beauty for sure. This time of year doesn't embody the typical "Springtime" at all. In fact, a lot of us refer to this time of year as Spri-nter... because it is as if Spring...
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...
