Yesterday, I was totally geeking out when I visited a new friend’s farm. I met Cathy when she attended the last Driftless Curiosity workshop on perennials. When I found out she was into canning, I asked her if she’d like to help me with the class on food preservation in August. She invited me to her place to check out her outdoor kitchen and talk about the curriculum. I asked another Driftless Curiosity participant, who has expressed interest in canning, if she would like to come along as well, and she was also like a giddy school girl. We walked around her property with bright eyes and wide smiles, taking in the magnificent Driftless view, fruit trees, pollinator garden, “chicken condo”, vegetable garden, flowers, goats, sheep, and my personal favorite, The Three Sisters Garden (corn, beans, and squash, an indigenous cultivation method). While snapping pictures, borrowing books, and asking questions, we weaved together the beginning of a friendship. This in person connection with like-minded women carried a refreshment that splashed away the heaviness of the afternoon heat.

~Joy