Shout outs!
Kelly Maroney | Community Coordinator
We are so grateful for these people and organizations for helping us as we plan for and embark on our first growing season at Wonka’s Harvest. Thank you!
Shout Outs to Madison, Wisconsin Area Folks:
Soil Sisters is a nonprofit organization that connects women-owned farms in the area. The farmers are actively connected through email, asking for advice, providing resources, buying and selling or trading, giving updates on ag-related legislation, or sending farm memes that make us smile. We can’t wait to get together with these farmers and homesteaders post-COVID times, especially at the Soil Sisters event “A Celebration of Wisconsin Farms & Rural Life” scheduled for August 6-8, 2021.
Lisa Kivirist is the founder of Soil Sisters, advocate for women in sustainable agriculture, author, owner of eco-friendly Inn Serendipity, and baker in Browntown. She has worked, along with Dela Ends and Kriss Marion, to expand the law for small farms and bakers to sell their homemade goods. Check out their latest lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin in The Wisconsin State Journal.
Dela and Tony Ends are seasoned CSA farmers, educators, soil fertility advocates, and owners of the lovely Scotch Hill Farm & Inn Bed and Breakfast in Brodhead. Patty and Ky learned how to build a high tunnel, baled hay for the first time, fed pigs, and ate delicious homemade meals, and Ky even learned firsthand how to butcher chickens!
Frieda Synnestvedt is owner of Dancing Sun Gardens in Blanchardville. She gave us the 101 on hoop houses last fall (we learned what wiggle wire was!). Frieda has a wealth of knowledge on growing vegetables and caring for sheep and chickens, all while keeping a focus on reusing materials and farming sustainably. In our short, but valuable time spent with Frieda so far, we see the many gifts that she contributes to the community.
Ingrid West of Misty Dawn Farm Mushrooms grows sustainable Shiitake mushrooms in Stoughton. She has willingly helped us in our beginning stages of our mushroom production and will be connecting more with us as we go!
Scott and Chelsea created Plowshares and Prairie Organic Farm in Argyle. They are sustainability and conservation focused farmers with 75 CSA members and produce sold at the Fitchburg farmer’s market. We spent a whole Saturday morning on Zoom learning about the ins and outs of their farm, asking questions and learning so much!
Tami Bowser of Windridge Fiber Farm lives down the road from us in Hollandale. She cares deeply about her sheep (along with her donkey, Clementine, and Mr. Goose) and is a wealth of knowledge (mostly self-taught!). Her photographs on @windridgefiberfarm Instagram page are stunning and writing is beautiful.
Our very own neighbor and friend, Jim Fowler, whose daughter was the previous owner of the property we are fortunate to reside on today. Jim has a 6th sense for when we might need a hand or have a question about something. He’ll ride over just at the right time on his Polaris Ranger to save the day. We’re so lucky to have Jim up the valley, and we think he doesn’t mind us kids bugging him too much either.
Roberta and Kim Barham started Barham Gardens in Blanchardville. We were able to pick and learn about the health and nutrition of these native and organic aronia berries. They are welcoming folks and passionate about sustainability.
Sheri Doyel is the director of the Center for Agrarian Learning at McHenry Community College in Illinois, which offers programming to help educate and connect local farmers through farm tours and Zoom workshops. These interactive and jam-packed information sessions provided us with useful resources, connections with local farmers, and a sense of reassurance as we embark on our first growing season.
Patty’s family has helped us with projects generously and enthusiastically! Andy and Curt spent whole days moving rocks and excavating for our greenhouse space, and Karen is our leading CSA salesperson to date! They are our biggest cheerleaders and also keep us well fed after long work days. We love the Grimmers!
Teaching in Nature’s Classroom: Principles of Garden-led Education is a virtual course that Kelly is currently working on, led by a Madison local and author, Nathan Larson, and made possible by Rooted, Life Lab, and Wisconsin School Garden Network. (The next free session will be offered again from May 17-August 30, 2021!) She is looking forward to using what she learns to develop some opportunities at the farm for families to enjoy some gardening.
REAP is a local organization that works to support local farmers by connecting them to larger institutions, such as to Madison Public Schools and hospitals. During COVID times, a new program was set up by Haley Traun, the Farm to School and Community Director, and Yolibeth Rangel Fitzgibbon, Resilience Box Coordinator, to deliver 100 bags of food purchased by local farmers to families each week. We have been volunteering with this program for the past 6 months and have gotten to learn a ton about Madison’s food system from Haley and Yolibeth.
Chainsaw Safety Level 1 by Safety and Wood Working (SAWW) training program through the Driftless Area Land Conservatory. We took this course to both harvest logs that we can incubate for mushrooms, as well as to manage and restore the oak savannah forest adjacent to the farm.
Madison Community Fridges is an outdoor space for food to be donated and taken by people in two locations in Madison. We worked with the members of this organization to build two outdoor shelters so that the fridges could withstand the winter cold temperatures. Their Instagram page provides daily updates of food available in the fridge!
People and Organizations Elsewhere:
Conor Crickmore of Neversink Farms in New York is an organic farmer who offers tips and tools to make small farming more productive, with a focus on soil fertility. We love the way Conor thinks carefully about each aspect of the farm to make the system more efficient while caring for the environment.
Beekeeping in Northern Climates from University of Minnesota is a course that Patty completed along with her dad, Andy Grimmer, who will be in his second year of beekeeping. They are excited to support the bee population here on the farm this summer!
Atina Diffley is an organic farm consultant and educator from Minnesota, as well as author of “Turn Here, Sweet Corn”. We were fortunate to do a workshop with her on topics including creating systems and crop planning. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge in all aspects of the planting cycles.
VergePermaculture offers courses to the knowledge and tools for regenerative land design. Ky took this course to learn about passive solar greenhouses and batteries. He’s looking forward to applying this knowledge as we continue to build and expand our farm!