Voices From the Farm: Double Dip Lambing

Lambing of the mature ewes began in early April, and they were just finishing up when the young ewes started, so it was an intense six weeks. By the end of lambing I was thankful to be done climbing in and out of lambing jugs doing tags, tails, testicles, and tattoos… Yes, tattoos!

Daryl Lasilla, Montana Grain Farmer

Daryl Lasilla, grain farmer, grows buckwheat, barley, spelt, and lentils in just outside of Great Falls, in north central Montana. Soft-spoken and dedicated to organic production, Daryl has befuddled his neighbors growing conventional grain; especially when his organic spelt tops 4 1/2 feet high!

The Business of Bread and Baking: Kneading Conference West

Whether it’s the urge to start a small bakery to sell a better loaf to the community or just a wish to make and eat a better loaf of bread than that available at the grocery store, the poor quality and poor nutritional state of our daily bread sends hundreds to gatherings like the Kneading Conference West to learn more.

Sounding the Wake-Up Call

We keep saying this but, of course, the “big boys” don’t want to hear it: the wake-up call is being sounded! In fact, Big Food and Big Ag (Monsanto, et al) are covering their ears. La, la, la – no one wants to listen! And why? That’s the way our economic system operates – “big” is rewarded. But only at a rapidly increasing social and environmental cost.

Sakuma Brothers: Unique Farm Worker Struggle in Washington State

Burlington is not a very old city center and got its start in 1902 as a logging camp. Today the small town of 8,380, located in the Skagit River watershed north of Seattle, does count with a prosperous fruit and vegetable agricultural industry. Of course, the industry relies on mostly migrant families for farm labor. This is especially the case during harvest work and strawberry crops present an opportunity for workers to seize the current condition of ‘labor scarcity’ and high demand for skilled pickers during harvest time to organize for their workplace rights. And that is exactly what has happened in the State of Washington, and not in the Yakima or Wenatchee valleys but on the western side of the Cascades where peri-urban farming is increasingly big business.

How Much Does COSTCO Cost Us?

We are hooked by the insatiable bait of savings in the face of size. We love getting twice or three times as much for something – anything – because it feels “free.” But it isn’t free… it comes loaded with consequence (in the form of calories), and we can never feed this gaping maw with enough dollar savings. Our only way out is to unplug from believing in its value.

Stumbling Goat Bistro I-522 Fundraiser – No Stumbles Here!

Make no mistake about it; good food does not require genetic engineering! Stumbling Goat Bistro’s Executive Chef Josh Theilen, Sous Chef Gunnar Erickson, and Pastry Chef Jens Melin proved it Monday night, September 16, at an intimate fund-raiser. All ingredients used were produced and harvested locally or regionally and, while most were organic, all were GMO-free!