>> Funding for
Around the Farm Table
is provided in part by
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
a member driven organization
for family farmers,
rural communities
and all people.
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
united to grow
family agriculture.
Information at
WisconsinFarmersUnion.com
[rooster crows]
>> Welcome to the farm.
My husband Joe and I bought the
place from my parents,
oh, about a month ago.
We're celebrating by inviting
some friends and neighbors over
for a Scandinavian smorgasbord.
First, I need to pick up a few
farm fresh ingredients over at
Castle Rock Dairy, where we'll
get some cream and some blue
cheese.
Then I'll head out to the ice
and see if I can do a little
ice fishing with my friends,
and maybe reel something in.
Then it's down to
Lonesome Stone Mill
to pick up rye flour for the
all-important Danish rye bread.
Gather with us,
Around the Farm Table.
I'm your host, Inga Witscher.
>> All: Gather with us,
Around the Farm Table.
>> A few years ago,
I moved up to Wisconsin.
I started an organic dairy farm
at St. Isidore's Mead.
That's when I discovered
the abundance of Midwestern
local food
and small-scale farmers
growing everything
from green zebra tomatoes
to pasture pork.
I'm taking a break
from the cows,
hittin' the road
and seein' if I can't satisfy
my epicurious appetite.
Let me just finish feeding
Rosie, and then we can get
started on our journey.
Feeding calves is one of the
most important things you can do
on your dairy herd.
This is the calf of the next
generation of your farm, so you
really have to treat them gently
and with a lot of respect.
I've found, in the last six
years that I've been farming,
that how you feed the animal is
just as important as what you're
feeding that animal.
According to Dr. Dettloff,
there's three different rules
you need to think about when
you're feeding your calf.
Number one, is the position of
the head.
That head needs to be in the
upward position, just like it's
drinking milk from its mother.
If the head's facing down,
Mother Nature tells that animal,
oh, you must be eating grass,
so the milk goes into the
undeveloped rumen, where it just
sits and goes rancid.
So, you're effectively starving
that calf.
Number two, you need to make
sure the temperature is correct.
Milk, when it comes out of the
cow, is about 101 or 102
degrees, so you need to have
your milk, when you're feeding
your calf, up to that
temperature.
Because again, if it's not,
it's going to go back into that
undeveloped rumen, and that
calf's not going to get those
nutrients that it needs.
Number three, is consistency.
You know, these are babies.
You always have to be
consistent, just like with a
human baby.
So you want to feed your calf,
just like you milk your cow, say
every 12 hours, that's fine.
And you know, once in the
morning and once at night is
what we do here at our farm.
Let me just get cleaned up and
we'll head out to Castle Rock.
>> Hey, Jake.
>> Hi there, how are you?
>> Good.
>> That's good.
>> You know, one of my favorite
things is every Tuesday, I see
the Castle Rock truck going by
to deliver milk to some of my
neighbors.
>> Yep.
>> I think it's so neat that
that's still happening in this
generation or this era.
>> The home delivery part came
in when we started delivering
ourselves.
We started up in the Eau Claire
area.
We have about 150 home delivery
customers in the Chippewa and
Eau Claire area.
We just thought that was neat,
taking product right straight to
the customer.
>> I was introduced to you guys
through my father, who started
his cheesemaker's apprenticeship
here.
It's interesting, because the
state of Wisconsin is one of the
only states where you have to
have a license to be a
cheesemaker.
What kind of process did you
have to go through to get that
license?
>> You've got to take so many
short courses, either
at River Falls or at Madison.
There's like six different short
courses you have to take, and a
few other ones.
Then so many hours, 240 hours,
I think that's what you need for
an internship.
>> You've had a couple of
interns here doing their hours.
>> Yep, your dad was the second
one.
We had one while your dad was
here, too, so we've had three
now.
>> That's nice.
That's really great that you
offer that mentorship for an
up and coming cheesemaker.
>> I think there's a lot of
opportunity out there, and we
need more.
>> Well, I'm having a
smorgasbord because Joe and I
just purchased the farm from my
dad.
I don't know if you knew that.
So now I'm officially tied down!
>> Yep.
>> But we're celebrating with a
smorgasbord, because of our
Scandinavian heritage.
I just thought it would be fun.
I want to make butter.
This is totally embarrassing,
because I have my own dairy
herd, but they're all dry,
except for one cow, so I need
some cream.
I was hoping to get
an assortment of cheeses, too.
>> My mom's down at the cave,
and she'll get you some
specialty cheeses for your
smorgasbord, and stuff like
that.
>> Okay, I'll just grab the
cream, and then I can just run
down to the cave.
>> Just get yourself down to the
cave there.
>> Okay, thanks, Jake.
>> Very good, have a great day.
>> Is this beautiful, or what?
I'm standing in Wisconsin, and I
feel like I could be anywhere in
Europe.
The cheese cave is the perfect
temperature and humidity for
aging cheeses.
It also looks pretty cool from
the outside.
Hey, Carla.
>> Hi, how are you?
>> Good, nice to see you.
>> Nice to see you.
>> This is a cool cave.
Why did you guys want to age
your cheese in a cave?
>> Well, when we first started,
we actually had it up in the
cooler, and as milk production
increased, and stuff, we had to
find another place to do it.
>> So this is where you age the
cheese and you also cut it down.
>> We do all that down here.
>> What's the history
of Castle Rock Dairy?
When did you guys start the
business?
>> In '97, we first went to the
organic conference.
That is when we came home,
I think in February it is,
and told our sons
we're going organic.
We had to return everything we
bought for crops that next year.
>> Oh, no!
[laughs]
>> So, that was the beginning of
our organic process.
>> Was their a learning curve,
or was it pretty...?
>> Oh, yeah.
It's a real big learning curve,
and especially, we were one of
the first ones in this area.
>> Yeah.
>> People thought we were crazy
when they saw the weeds.
We just assured them they were
organic weeds, they'd be just
fine.
[both laugh]
After we got the ground totally
working right, the weeds aren't
there.
Then they were asking us
questions about, wow, how do you
do that?
We actually bought cattle back
in 2003.
At that point, we had already
turned our farmland into
organic, so when we wanted to
bring the cattle back, our older
son came out of corporate
America and wanted to come back
farming.
He said, well, you have to buy a
herd of organic cattle, so we
thought it'd be a while.
Well, within three months, he
had found this herd of organic
cattle to buy.
So there we were in 2003, coming
back to the farming to actually
milking, and stuff.
Then by 2005, was when we
decided to make the next step
and bottle our own milk.
You learn as we go.
>> Yeah.
>> Our big thing is we want to
get it into the next generation.
>> That's really great.
So Carla, I need some help.
I need some really, really
fantastic blue cheese.
I wanted to get something and
kind of have it on a piece of
bread with a drizzle of honey,
or something.
>> That sounds fantastic.
>> I'm going to make some
butter, too, homemade butter,
which I hear that Alice,
you know about making homemade
butter.
What's the best way to do it.
>> We have a Dazy Butter Churn.
>> Okay.
>> You have to get the cream up
to about 65 degrees, then you
you pour it in.
Then you start churning.
>> Okay, and just wait.
>> It takes a little bit of
time, then the buttermilk will
separate from the butter, and
you'll have some real yellow
butter left in the churn.
>> Can I take a peak in the
caves while I'm here and just
see some of the cheeses aging?
>> You sure can, yeah.
>> This is amazing.
We're underground right now.
>> Yes, we are.
We built it.
We dug out a hill, and then we
actually built the cave, and
then it's all covered back up
with dirt.
>> You guys have a lot of
energy.
[both laugh]
>> We have a number of family
members that help us.
It helps.
>> I thought you'd get a kick
out of this, Carla, because
you're a dairy farm woman.
Traditionally, it was the women
who would always milk the cows.
Then they would stay inside and
make the cheese and the butter,
and everything else, while the
men would go out and farm.
So, I always think it's funny,
because people always say,
"You're a dairy farmer?"
Like, you know.
It's been happening like that
for a billion years.
>> One summer before we bought
our first farm, was I milked
every day of the summer.
Everybody booked me in.
Yes, I do feel women do
an awful lot.
They wouldn't make it without
us!
>> I agree!
Carla, if I go away on vacation,
or something, will you come
milk my cows at my house?
>> I will!
[both laugh]
>> Where can I find
the blue cheese?
>> That'd be in the next cave.
>> Great.
What makes blue cheese,
blue cheese?
>> The Penicillium Roqueforti
that we put in there.
>> That's a mouthful.
>> Yeah, it is.
[both laugh]
This is a natural rind.
Would that be enough for what
you're looking for?
>> That's beautiful.
I would love that.
>> Okay, I can get that ready
for you.
>> All right, ladies, I'm off
for my first try at ice fishing.
>> Oh, great!
Have fun!
>> Thank you.
Thanks for spending time with me
today.
>> Yeah, nice to see you.
Bye-bye.
>> Off to the ice.
There's a quote from this book,
"Hook, Line and Shelter."
It pretty much set
my expectations for ice fishing.
"We'd been sitting
for two hours on this lake
in northern Wisconsin
with a ten below blizzard
buffeting the house.
No one had said a word
since we got there.
We just stared down
at our bobbers
and watched the whiteout.
'She don't get much better
than this,' said Gary Lund.
It was my first time
ice fishing."
David Tripp, Siren, Wisconsin.
>> We've got a pole for ya here.
Do you want to join us?
>> Yeah, I do.
What's the deal here?
This is like literally my very
first time out on the ice, and
I'm a little bit nervous,
because I'm from, you know,
Washington state, where we don't
have 20 inches of ice.
So I'm a little nervous that we
might go through.
>> You can rest assured that
we've checked.
We're definitely on two feet of
ice today.
>> So, how do we get started
here?
>> Yeah, so we've got our
tip-ups out.
We're just waiting for flags.
Now we're trying to jig.
>> Now we just sit back and
drink beer?
Is that right, or is that later?
>> Well.
>> That's definitely part of it.
>> It's mixed in throughout.
Yeah, let me get you a line in
the water here.
>> I think it's like five
degrees maybe today.
What is the draw to come out
here when it's this cold?
>> Just all about providing our
own food.
>> Yeah?
>> That's the biggest appeal to
me.
Especially if you see at the
grocery store the price that you
pay for fish.
>> Yeah.
>> A walleye dinner, that's
pretty valuable.
>> Since I was a kid, probably
as soon as I could walk, I was
out on the ice.
Five or six years old.
>> You're a native Wisconsinite,
and it's just part of the
culture?
>> Yep, I grew up, up north
around Minocqua.
Ever since I can remember, all
my friends and family have
always fished, both during the
summer and ice fishing.
>> This time of the year, what
are we catching?
Is there a certain type of fish?
>> We've been getting a real
good bite from the northern pike
this morning.
It's a little late in the year
for us to target walleye, which
we like to do around
Christmastime.
>> Anybody Scandinavian?
>> Yeah, my family is Swedish
and Finnish.
>> No kidding?
>> Yeah, I've grown up with the
holiday smorgasbord.
Tradition for the Scandinavian
smorgasbord is with pickled
herring.
>> Yeah.
>> But I've found that my
northern pike tastes pretty
close to it.
>> What do you do to pickle it?
>> Well, we'll let it sit in a
brine solution for a day,
a very salty brine.
Then let it sit in a vinegar
solution.
And then make a pickling brine
to let it sit for about a week.
Without cooking the fish,
that'll solidify it, dissolve
all the bones away, and give you
a delicious pickled northern.
>> Wow, could you bring some up
to the farm?
>> It'd be my pleasure, yeah.
We'll be making a batch with
these fish we're catching here
today.
>> Okay, that sounds awesome.
Thank you!
You guys, what's the deal with
the little flags, the little
orange flags?
>> Those are tip-ups.
That's the other way that we're
fishing.
We leave live bait down the hole
that then attract the fish to
us.
>> I saw that there are some
flags like, they're up in the
air.
>> We've got a flag up?!
>> We've got a flag up?
>> Yeah.
>> Well, geez, we better get on
that!
>> Okay, what do I do?
>> We're going to feel for
weight, and then set the hook as
soon as you do.
Slowly pull it out and grab the
line.
>> Is it gonna wiggle at me?
>> It definitely will.
Grab that...
>> Ahh!
>> Set the hook.
>> Okay.
>> Wow.
>> It's big.
>> We got some weight.
>> It's heavy.
Good, good.
Just keep coming.
>> What the...?
>> Oh!
>> Hey, this is my kind of fish!
[all laugh]
All right!
>> We got the old Bottle Bass
there.
>> Our smorgasbord
is now complete.
>> Awesome.
>> That was some excitement
there.
You caught the best fish of the
day.
>> I've got to get going.
I've got to go get some flour.
But you guys keep it real.
Glen, you're going to bring the
pickled fish to the party?
>> Yeah, it'll be done by then.
I'll plan on it.
>> All right, good luck guys.
>> We'll pull in a few more fish
here while the sun is still up.
>> I hope so.
>> Bye, Inga!
>> See ya!
>> Bye!
>> Hi, Gilbert.
How are you doing, today?
>> I'm good, I'm good.
>> Am I interrupting anything?
>> Oh, it can wait.
>> So, I came down to pick up
some flour.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> To make a Danish rye bread.
Where else would anyone go for
quality flour in Wisconsin?
>> Well, thank you.
That's what we do here.
>> It's great that you're giving
these farmers an opportunity to
stay on their land and continue
to make a living and stay put,
instead of having to have
off-farm income.
I know that all your farmers,
they do the biological farming.
>> That healthy small grain is
what we're looking for, because
it's going to have a very
flavorful grain.
Then we want to mill it in a way
that we're going to preserve
that quality.
Now, when you grind a grain with
a stone, you're grinding that
whole grain into flour.
You're not taking out anything.
Modern white flour is made from
what is a series of rolling
mills that will take out the
wheat germ.
That contains the wheat germ
oil.
It's that wheat germ is where
the nutrients and the flavor
are.
Plus, you've got to have a good
crop rotation.
It's not all about growing corn
and soybeans.
That's going to wear down your
ground.
But it's rotating through small
grains.
We find that using ridge tops to
grow wheat is a very good
opportunity.
In the driftless area, it's all
hilly.
We have a lot of ridge tops.
In these hilly areas, you still
have a lot of family farms.
It's not taken over into big
farms.
The big farms are in the
flatlands.
It leaves these hilly farmers,
these farmers in hill country to
take a more creative approach to
making a living.
Well, come on in.
The mill is right in here.
Now, originally, this building
was a general store.
Then it became the local meat
locker.
Then it was renovated into the
sausage facility for Black Earth
meats.
That worked for a few years,
then they consolidated it all
into Black Earth.
>> That's why it looks like
we're in a freezer.
>> Yes, this was a freezer.
>> Do you just pour the grains
in there, or do you have a
chute?
>> Right now, we're still
pouring grains in.
>> I still pour my milk in like
that, so I'm right there with
ya.
>> So many things in this little
company are based on used
equipment.
>> Uh-huh.
>> It takes a lot of, well, just
creative energy to make the
process work.
>> Yeah.
>> I had a younger guy working
for me, Jeremy Lynch, and one
day he came to me after we had
cleaned some wheat.
He said, you know, I took some
of that rye home and I took some
of that wheat home, and well,
they made great pancakes.
That was kind of the stumble
upon.
That was the discovery.
Okay, well I tell you what.
Let's get our coats on, and I'll
go show you the seed cleaner
mill.
>> Okay.
>> This is a 1947 Clipper 29-D.
I think about the most popular
model they made in the day.
This is the primary grain
cleaning system that we use.
She ran up until 2008 with the
original owner, got knocked out
in the flood, and we bought it
for parts in 2009.
It took all summer to get it
running again.
Her name is Mary Ellen Carter.
>> Why did you name her that?
>> Well, it's themed on
determination.
It took quite a bit to get it
going again.
This runs almost every day
during what is from about July
to October.
>> So is this the first process,
then, when the farmer brings the
crop in?
This is the first process?
>> At the time of harvest,
we clean the grain.
That is, you want to take out
the weed seeds, the chaff,
anything you don't want in
there.
>> This has been so educational.
If I ever decide to stop milking
cows, I want to move down to
this part of the country and
start growing crops for ya.
Well, I need to pick up some rye
flour to make this bread.
Then I've got to get back and
start cooking.
>> Sure.
>> So let's get started right
away.
We're going to make butter
first.
You want to have your cream
at about room temperature,
65 degrees.
The way that I do it, is just
pour it into a mason jar.
You can do this other ways,
you know, if you have a vintage
butter churn, or even in a
KitchenAid, or something like
that.
But I just find that this is the
easiest and most effective way
that I like to do it.
This method works especially
well if you happen to have a
small child on hand.
You want to shake it?
Go ahead and shake it.
Shake it, there you go.
It's gonna get to a point where
you feel like giving up, and you
feel like it's not happening.
That's when you just have to
shake harder and get through it.
Ta-dah!
It turns into butter.
So at this point, all the fat
came together to make the
butter.
What's left is the butter milk.
I need to get that out with a
little spatula, or something.
I wanted to make the bread and
the butter today because
"smorgasbord"
translates literally
into "buttered bread."
When you're starting this bread,
make sure you do it like a week
in advance, even ten days,
because it takes a while.
But really, it's worth it.
For the starter,
I have 1-1/2 cups
of the Lonesome Stone rye flour.
To that, we're going to add
1/2 of whole wheat flour, about
a tablespoon of kosher salt,
and about 1-1/4 cup
of butter milk.
Add a layer of kosher salt
to the top.
This is going to protect the
starter from any bacteria.
Then you'll cover that.
Stick that in your basement or
another cold, dark place.
Not in your refrigerator, just
find some other cold, dark place
and let that sit for seven days.
I have a starter that I did make
about seven days ago.
That's what we're going to use
today.
The first thing that we're going
to do is we're going to start
with the yeast.
You want warm water.
I just made a cup of tea about
an hour ago, so this is cool
enough and hot enough to where
it's going to be perfect.
A teaspoon of yeast.
And then a little bit of sugar
with the yeast to help it grow
and do its thing.
Stir up your yeast.
First we need to add the flour.
I'm going to add to that our
starter.
To the flour and the starter,
we're going to do
two tablespoons of honey.
Then to help add some flavor,
we're going to do a bottle of
beer.
You're just kind of mixing all
these ingredients together.
Really, this is a chore,
but it's a good chore.
You feel good when you're
serving it to your guests.
You've worked hard at it and
you've churned your own butter,
and you're so proud...
And, I'm going to go
with the KitchenAid,
because this is ridiculous!
This is so much nicer.
You're going to add about 3 cups
of water throughout this
process, just to make everything
come together and get it nice
and smooth.
You're going to want to mix this
up for about five minutes to let
it come together.
Then you want to add 2-1/2 cups
of cracked rye.
After you've got your batter
thoroughly mixed, you'll just
spoon it out into a 3-liter
bread pan.
This reminds me of last summer
when I had to mix up all kinds
of concrete and lay it down on
my milk house floor, because I
had some cracks in there, and
you don't want to have cracks in
your milk house floor.
My great uncle was a concrete
layer, so maybe I channeled it.
After you've got the dough in
the pan, just leave it sit for
six hours.
Then you're going to bake it at
350 degrees for two hours.
Here's an important thing.
Every half an hour while it's
baking, spritz a little bit of
water in there to add some
moisture and humidity.
When you're finished, you're
going to have this nice dense
loaf that, if you're not going
to eat it, you could always use
it as a doorstop.
Or, if someone's trying to rob
your house, you could throw it
at them.
It's pretty heavy.
It's like a brick.
But it turns out really, really
fantastic on the inside.
You can keep this for a couple
days before you serve it.
It's actually better if you keep
it for a couple days.
This way, it's also great for a
party, because you can have this
done, you know, a week before
you're going to entertain, and
everything's good to go.
Serve the pickled northern
with chopped eggs, creme fraiche
and a sprig of dill.
Complement the Castle Rock
blue cheese with local honey,
sliced apples,
and garnish with chives.
Pickled beets pairs well
with the buttered rye bread
and egg salad.
Pasture pork is a perfect
match up for Italian salad and
seasonal microgreens.
It's traditional to serve
aquavit as an accompaniment
for your smorgasbord.
For a local variety,
try Gamle Ode Dill Aquavit,
made in New Richmond, Wisconsin.
[indistinct conversations]
I hope you enjoyed
"Ingaborg's smorgasborg."
I hope you'll gather with us
next time,
Around the Farm Table.
All: Cheers!
>> Funding for
Around the Farm Table
is provided in part by
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
a member driven organization
for family farmers,
rural communities
and all people.
Wisconsin Farmers Union,
united to grow
family agriculture.
Information at
WisconsinFarmersUnion.com