Deep Roots Radio Sylvia Burgos Toftness

First, they served in posts and on battlefields across the globe. Then, they came home and are now striving to bring their skills and energies to America’s agricultural system. They are veterans working to reshape our food system as they build soil health, grow vegetables and crops, and raise livestock in rural communities in every corner of the nation.
Sarah R Cope
This podcast features our Deep Roots Radio conversation with Sarah R. Cope, retired United State Marine Corp, and President of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Farmer Veteran Coalition. She served 31 years, which included completing three combat deployments to Iraq and one combat deployment to Afghanistan. Fifth-generation military, Cope retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2016, but continued serving with several Federal agencies until January 2020.
Today, Cope lives in Wisconsin and farms 40 acres with her wife Heather Schumann and their five children. She brings this experience and perspective to the veteran farmers in Wisconsin.
In this interview, she mentions websites that may be of help, including a Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/farmerveterancoalition, and a link to the Ag Solidarity Network. You can also link to the national FVC organization here.
I hope you enjoy this interview.
Sylvia

What do these foods have in common?  Cheese, coffee, chocolate, wine, bread, beer and saurkraut.  That’s right, they’re all fermented! We’re talking about lots more than kombucha, kimchi and yogurt.
Mild French sourdough with dried cherries and coriander
In fact, fermentation has been a critical strategy for preserving foods for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
In this Deep Roots Radio conversation, historian Julia Skinner chats about her latest book, Our Fermented Lives. In it, she describes how this culinary skill has shaped cultures and communities all across the world. Dr. Skinner is the founder of Root: Historic Food for the Modern World.
I hope you enjoy this lively interview. Do you make fermented foods? Let me know.
Sylvia
sylvia@bullbrookkeep.com

I really enjoyed this Deep Roots Radio conversation with Tom Wisniowski of The Happy Earth Orchard, Ellsworth, WI, and Andrew Mommsen of Mommsen Produce and Pumpkin Patch, Rice Lake, WI. They are among the hundreds of Wisconsin farmer-members of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association who invite visitors for you-pick produce, corn mazes, delicious foods and fresh beverages, relaxation, and a wide range of family-friendly activities.
Andrew Mommsen
While Tom is now in his third year opening his orchard to eager visitors, Andrew is celebrating 30 years of a growing interest in farm experiences. Both represent a range of lessons learned and rewards experienced as they’ve welcomed individuals and families to their farms.
You’ll also hear from Sheila Everhart, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association (WATA). She describes how the public can go to WATA‘s website to find a wide range agricultural adventures near you. She also describes how farmers benefit from the educational, advocacy and promotional work WATA does for its members every day of the year.
I hope you enjoy this podcast.
Sylvia

Have you found yourself checking your weather app every few minutes? (Often hoping that the forecast would change ;-).  I know I have. Well now there’s a network of weather stations being built out across the state of Wisconsin that’ll meet that need to know what the weather’s done this last five minutes.
It’s called Wisconet. I hope. you’ll enjoy this Deep Roots Radio interview with the program’s Research Program Manager Chris Vagasky. He describes how this expanding web of weather data collectors will help farmers, gardeners and the curious get weather info — for free — to help plan for the short and long term.
To learn more about the program, visit the Wisconet website. To contact Chris Vagasky, email him at vagasky@wisc.edu
Sylvia

It’s not often you get in a room with over one hundred women educated, committed and experienced in farming and conservation of our soils and water. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it is occurring more and more as organization like the Wisconsin Women in Conservation bring the women, the issues and the opportunities to the challenges of restoring our soils, protecting our groundwater and encouraging all farmers across the state.
The Wisconsin Women in Conservation (WiWiC) is a state-wide collaborative effort led by the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in partnership with Renewing the Countryside, Marbleseed (formerly MOSES), and the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
I hope you enjoy this Deep Roots Radio chat with Kriss Marion, a long-time powerhouse in efforts to empower farmers and women landowners to conservation efforts. Kriss is WiWiC’s Media and Communications Lead, Communication’s Specialist with the Wisconsin Farmers Union. She is a small-scale farmer using managed grazing practices with her cattle, goats and sheep. Kriss and her husband Shannon run the Circle M Farm BnB.
During our chat, Kriss described several upcoming meetings that’ll be a help to any woman farmer and landowner. They can be found on the WiWiC website.
Sylvia
 

We love visiting farms during warm weather. But what about when the snow’s 2 feet deep and there are ice crystals in the air?
Winter’s a perfect time to enjoy great food, family activities and adventure on Wisconsin family farms. In this Deep Roots Radio interview, Sheila Everhart, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association, describes just how easy it can be to have fun and create lasting memories on any one of the scores of farms that regularly welcome visitors to their operations.
Find your next ag-adventure
I hope you enjoy this interview, and I urge you to visit the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association website to find your next ag-adventure, www.wiagtourism.com.
 
PS. You’re invited to visit my farm, Bull Brook Keep, for an afternoon of snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. Just give me a call, 651-238-8525.
Sylvia