Our Local Gardener

Our Local Gardener
Post Date May 08, 2013
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Category Backyard Garden, Biodiversity

Wading through the endless rows of plants and flowers at Weber’s Greenhouses, there are several things that are hard to miss: Franz, his jovial dog and sidekick, Basil, and the feelings of energy and anticipation that pulse through a place brimming with so much new life. Franz Weding has operated Weber’s Greenhouses for roughly four years, though the business was first established in 1931. His mission is simple and sincere: to grow healthy plants from non-GMO seeds, in a safe and natural way, free of harmful pesticides …

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Seed Starting

Seed Starting
Post Date April 11, 2013
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Category Backyard Garden, Biodiversity

We all know how easy it can be to drive down to the local garden center and pick up a few “six packs” of tomatoes and petunias to start a home garden. But for many gardeners, the benefits of starting their own seedlings far outweigh this convenience. If you do not already, below are five reasons to consider starting your own plants this year.

1. Selection.

Nurseries tend to only stock a small number of tried-and-true varieties that people are familiar with. ‘Big Boy’ hybrids are often the …

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MKE Apple News

MKE Apple News
Post Date March 12, 2013
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Category Biodiversity

Grow it to save it!

Preserve this endangered fruit by adopting your own Milwaukee Apple tree!  Click here for details.

For Current MKE Apple Tree Growers:

Did you adopt a bench grafted tree last year?  If so—it’s time to get pruning! Some orchardists prune year round (if you have hundreds of trees  it’s a year round job!) but our experts tell us that we are approaching the best time of year to prune: during the dormant season when the weather is mild (above freezing.)  Here are some resources …

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Help Protect Wild Rice

Help Protect Wild Rice
Post Date January 23, 2013
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Category Biodiversity

Real wild rice is at risk of disappearing.   

Manoomin, the “good grain” in Anishinaabeg, the only grain native to Northern America, the richly delicious and nutritious aquatic seed that is a keystone traditional food of Anishinaabeg (Chippewa) people has yet another threat to its existence. Unique to the Upper Great Lakes’ region, Manoomin, which is on Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste (and one of only seven US Presidia) for its amazing depth and diversity of flavors and its rich cultural heritage, is respected around the …

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Turkey Musings

Turkey Musings
Post Date December 08, 2012
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Category Biodiversity

It’s been a couple weeks now since many of us carved up a Thanksgiving turkey. Was it cooked right, juicy and tasty? Or was it a little lacking?

About 7 years ago, my wife Dara and I started getting a locally raised heritage turkey for Thanksgiving dinner every year. After a number of years of eating vegetarian, and an unfamiliarity with cooking any kind of meat, we found ourselves bewildered as to where the gizzard and such were until we realized we were looking in the …

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2012 Heritage Turkey Producer List

2012 Heritage Turkey Producer List
Post Date November 08, 2012
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Category Biodiversity

Its time to get your heritage turkey for Thanksgiving! Slow Food WiSE’s Heritage Turkey Project promotes the restoration of heritage breed turkeys in our region by pairing farmers with eaters.  As opposed to the Broad Breasted White turkey that dominates our industrial food system and tables, heritage breeds such as the Narragansett, Bourbon Red, and Blue Slate have varying foraging, tending and flavor characteristics.

Here’s our 2012 list of local farms offering heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving. We realize this is an incomplete list–please let us know …

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Taking Care of Your Heritage Apple Trees: The Cold Season

Taking Care of Your Heritage Apple Trees: The Cold Season
Post Date October 17, 2012
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Category Backyard Garden, Biodiversity

For those of you who took home heritage trees this spring, you may be wondering if there’s anything special to do now that winter is approaching.  Here are some tips for the novices out there:

Consider compost–adding a little compost around the trees is a good idea. If you don’t have your own, we can recommend Purple Cow Organic.

Protect–your trees need protection from nibbling mice, voles, and even hungry cats.  If you still have the hardware cloth the trees came with, keep it on. …

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Beaver Dam Pepper

Beaver Dam Pepper
Post Date August 10, 2012
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Category Biodiversity

Celebrating Our Regional Biodiversity

The Beaver Dam Pepper: An Ark of Taste Success Story
The Ark of Taste, Slow Food’s catalogue of more than 800 rare, regional, and extraordinary foods from around the world, has worked to bring back several delicious foods from the brink of extinction.

 

One such success story is Wisconsin’s own Beaver Dam Pepper.  This year the large, crisp fruits, just now blushing red in my gardens, are spicier than I’ve ever tasted them before…maybe the horrid drought & heat is responsible for the extra lovely heat …

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Johnny Appleseed or Johnny Apple Scion?

Johnny Appleseed or Johnny Apple Scion?
Post Date May 11, 2012
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Category Biodiversity

Last September I finally had the pleasure of shaking Tony Dembski’s hand and walking through his orchard, Maple Valley Orchard, as he picked out apple after apple for me to taste. It was an honor to finally meet him, you see, not only because Slow Food WiSE had been working with him from afar for two years, and not only is he a rare sentinel of apple biodiversity, but he also tends the only adult Milwaukee Apple tree that we know. It is his Milwaukee …

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