“Dear Farm Journal” is a creative project that connects people to their food and the farmers who bring it to life. We share our daily story to build community, advocate for small-scale organic farming, and appeal to the curiosity of those who want to know what farm life is all about.   

Ripe red fruit draws the eye from beneath the sour cherry tree, and the farm team pauses for a post harvest snack. A mother...

As we pass through the summer solstice on the farm, I remind myself to rest. This time of year, everything moves at the speed of...

The building of the Driftless Curiosity hammock forest is underway. We selected a peaceful portion of one of the pine stands on...

We’ve entered the segment of the growing season in which we need to flex the time and location of farm work. You can only take...

Our new running joke on the farm is that we’re all part of an elaborate production called, “Sun Stroke The Musical”. Rufus and...

With no steady rain in sight and not quite enough hose to go around, I had to resort to “the 5 gallon bucket experience” for the...

Oh sweet purple basil, that vibrant color, that calming essence. The aroma fills the greenhouse as we snap the stems for 152...

When it comes to beet puns, we just can’t help ourselves. As we work through the first harvest of the summer CSA, we fire off...

The high temperatures tested our mettle today. Trellising in the greenhouse was brutal and required frequent escapes into the...

Yesterday, I was totally geeking out when I visited a new friend’s farm. I met Cathy when she attended the last Driftless...

Last year on this day, mid-Covid summer, Rufus and I quietly married on the Richland County courthouse lawn. It was early in the...

Today was our organic inspection and just like every other year, we have inspection day nerves. Did we do everything we were...

Somehow, after all that chicken tragedy, I got talked into another day on the water. Let me tell you what, we made sure that...

Rufus and I have slowly been recovering baby chickens out of the weeds. We put out some food and water and keep periodically...

Oh how farm life can slap you in the face when you try to sneak away. Waking up to the Mississippi River outside the Trempealeau...

I’m back in the garden after my very brief writing sabbatical and the soil gives me the most wholesome kind of welcome between...

I’ve committed the day to writing for Driftless Area Magazine and it feels luxurious. Once I settle my nerves and shake off a...

It isn’t easy to take a day off of farm work while the team heads out for the gardens, but I’m drowning in office work. If I...

I descend the decrescendo of the long weekend, coming down from a serious live music hype to the steady tempo of office and...

A scintillating charisma settles into the contour of the valley at Driftless Music Gardens. It’s the weekend we’ve all been...

  Although I carry an acute awareness of the need for rain, it doesn’t make it any more agreeable to work in. The...

  Do you remember the joy and enthusiasm of building a fort when you were a kid? When my brother and I were younger, it was...

  While we pack the final share of the spring CSA, Rufus brings on a new batch of baby chicks. Our chicken coop has gotten...

  Now that we feel relatively certain of being past the last frost, it’s all hands on deck for outdoor planting. We...

  I rise early on a Sunday to prepare for the Kickapoo Valley Forest School planting day. A quirky voice in the back of my...

  The Driftless Curiosity workshop, “Perennials in Agriculture” was so much fun! We had a smaller group this time and I’m...

  Rufus and I spent Friday preparing for the Driftless Curiosity workshop on perennials in agriculture. While Rufus mowed,...

  It’s time to tack up the trellising, a fixed indicator of summer on the cusp of full swing. Within days of being...

  When your office is a hand-me-down couch and your desk is a throw pillow, it’s easy to lose sight of how much time you...

Rufus has declared this week “besties week” because we’ve harvested our personal best looking chard and spinach. We’re into our...