>> 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.
[dog barking]
* *
[growling]
>> Carlos!
[moo]
Come here, Carlos.
* *
[moo]
Carlos!
Come on!
[growls]
* *
Good boy.
Get your harness on.
Come on.
[barking]
Carlos and I are about to take
off on a skijoring adventure
around the state of Wisconsin.
We're going to be visiting Bull
Brook Keep Farm in Clear Lake,
Wisconsin to pick up some
wonderful grass-fed beef.
Then we're skiing over to
Keppers Produce and Pottery
in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin.
Then it's back to
St. Isidore's Mead where we're
meeting up with our other
skijoring friends for a little
celebration of winter in
Wisconsin.
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.
* *
I have a lot of folks who've
helped me be successful here on
my farm, my neighbors come down
and help me at a moment's
notice, my family's been here
through thick and thin, but most
importantly, my farm dog,
Carlos, who I love more than
anything in the whole world.
He helps protect our chickens,
he helps herd the cows in during
the springtime and the summer
grazing.
And he helps just make me and my
husband feel safe and secure
here out in the country.
I've made him a little dog
biscuit to take along with us,
and I've got some here at the
farm I'm going to keep for all
of his friends who are going to
be meeting us later.
Carlos, are you ready?
[growls]
Sit for Mommy.
Good boy.
Are you ready to go?
Let's go.
* *
Skijoring translates to
ski driving.
Skijoring was a Scandinavian
form of easy transportation
during the winter months.
They usually used reindeer and
long skis.
But lacking in reindeer here in
the Midwest, we use dogs.
Up in Hayward, Wisconsin during
the birkebeiner there's a
special race called the
Barkebeiner where dogs will pull
their two-legged friends right
down Main Street.
[barking]
* *
Carlos says, it was good for
Mommy's gams.
Carlos is fine.
There's your treat, buddy.
Well, we're at Keppers Produce
and Pottery in a winter
wonderland, surrounded by
beautiful pottery.
Carlos and I are going to go
meet everybody down at the
greenhouse.
I hope you'll come with us.
* *
I've been living in the Midwest
for about seven years now.
I've always hated winter
except for this year.
I don't know if it's because I
can get outside with my dog,
or maybe it's because I finally
broke down and bought myself a
proper pair of long johns.
That, my friends, is the secret
to living in the Midwest,
good long johns.
Come on, Carlos.
>> I think we can leave the
door open.
>> Yeah.
>> Hi guys!
>> Inga, how are you today?
>> It's nice to see you, Ken.
>> Good to see you too.
>> Hi, Inga.
>> We're just out here
coolin' down.
It's over 90.
>> Is it?
I want to get in there 'cause I
am freezing cold.
>> Well, let's get you in there
and warm you up.
>> Come on in, Inga.
>> There you go, Carlos.
How old are these seedlings?
>> These are about, this time of
year, about six-weeks.
>> Okay.
>> In the prime weather for
lettuce, it's four weeks in the
house and four weeks in
the field.
>> Okay.
>> This has a four week jump on
the weeds, so it's really easy
to stay ahead of the weeds
because you start ahead.
You don't start behind.
>> Okay, now you and Judith
have a CSA.
How do you decide what to plant
for your members?
>> Like lettuce, I plant every
ten days.
Green beans I plant three times
through the season.
Tomatoes I'll plant twice in
the season.
Then I have a much steadier and
longer supply, more like a
person eating in a house
would want.
>> Sure.
Do you ever surprise your
members with anything unusual?
>> Yeah, this herb over here,
chirval, is one of those things.
It's an herbal that like very
cold weather and very wet soil
so you can't get it in June.
Farmer's markets start in June,
and the chirval is already done.
>> Yeah.
>> And so that's a surprise,
because it's a new flavor to
deal with.
People aren't used to it.
>> You must have seen your soils
change over the last 20 years.
>> Oh yeah, it's awesome.
I'm so happy I started with what
I would call virgin soil.
It's never been farmed.
You see, other people, they
start with soil that's been
conventional for a long time and
they struggle.
I knew this one farmer, he
couldn't--
He planted that family with
spinach, beets and Swiss chard.
It would come up and die
immediately.
>> Wow.
>> Something was in the soil.
There's that thing about
starting with soil with a
limited history.
>> I know for me, to see the
difference just in the short
time that I've been at my farm,
of taking a farm that was in
CRP, putting cows on it, grazing
it, getting that manure into
that soil.
Just the difference of the
amount of what I can grow, just
the pure yields that I'm
getting.
You really have to take care of
your soil.
>> We rent a one acre field from
the neighbors.
That had been hay for 20 years.
They took one crop off for
20 years.
If they would have taken three
crops every year or put
conventional corn on there every
year, it would have been a real
different story.
I went there and all I had to do
was build organic matter.
I didn't have to deal with any
residue of chemistry.
>> Because still, when you're
taking off hay, you're taking
off the nutrients.
>> It's mining the soil.
>> It's easy to forget that.
Is there something that you
would tell a beginning farmer or
yourselves even 20 years ago
when you first started about--
What is a piece of advice you
could give that would make our
lives easier as beginning
farmers coming into it?
>> Start small and expand.
I know that doesn't fit in with
your typical business model, but
there's so much to learn when
you farm.
>> Start with the farmer's
market, because then you'll get
immediate feedback from people,
you'll see what people want.
A typical winter CSA box would
have garlic, onions, shallots,
winter squash, potatoes,
carrots, beets, celery root,
black radishes, kohlrabi
and/or rutabagas.
>> What we realized early on,
what people wanted every week
was lettuce.
So we really focus on having
lettuce and greens.
Other people will focus on
potatoes or broccoli or, you
know, what they want to.
You have to be really good at
some of it, and pretty good at
most of it.
>> This is going to be perfect
in the chili I'm making.
Thank you guys--
Oops, we'll just drop those in.
Thanks for spending time
with me.
I've got some cash for you here.
>> Great.
>> Have a good afternoon.
I'll see you soon.
[barking]
* *
[barking]
[moo]
>> Hi, Sylvia!
>> Hi, Inga, I'm so glad you
got here!
>> Nice to see you.
So Sylvia when you were growing
up in New York, did you think,
one day I want to move to the
Midwest and raise cattle?
>> It was a good place to
grow up.
I loved having come from
the Bronx.
But I think I can really
understand where people have
tiny, little refrigerators,
they're working really hard,
they have hard commutes,
they're dealing with a budget.
When you're growing grass-fed
beef, when you're dealing with
sustainable farmers, we've all
got those pressures too.
And we want to be able to serve
families.
We actually spent the summers on
Staten Island, which at that
time was rural.
It was not connected to the rest
of New York City with any kind
of a bridge or anything.
My grandmother had a tarpaper
shack, a real tarpaper shack.
No indoor plumbing, no
television, no anything,
but she had a little garden.
I think she really implanted
that whole notion of, you can
make something grow.
I don't know if some kids are
born wanting to be out in
the country.
I guess I must have been one
of those.
>> Well, we're happy
to have you.
Boy, these are the nicest
looking cows.
I was noticing them when I was
coming up.
They're in such good condition!
>> We've been very fortunate.
These grass-fed beef, they were
made for these conditions.
These are BueLingos.
>> I've never been around
BueLingos before.
>> As you can see, they're a
belted breed.
That's part of their quality and
characteristics, but their a
breed that was actually
developed by a syndicate of
cattle in the upper Midwest.
>> Oh, okay.
>> So it was North Dakota,
Wisconsin, Minnesota back in the
late '70s.
What they had determined was
that they wanted a really good
beef cattle for our conditions,
that would do well with the
diversity that we have here in
the way of weather.
So our breed, our BueLingos,
they fend for themselves.
There's no assistance when they
are delivering their little
calves.
And because we only do grass-fed
it takes our cows about
30 months to reach market size,
which is a whole year longer
than happens on a feedlot cow.
>> Wow.
>> But they're very healthy.
They've had nothing but good
grass and alfalfa and all kinds
of herbs from the pastures that
we have here.
>> Boy, I have often thought
about trying to get my dairy
herd to go all grass-fed, but I
do have some concerns.
I wanted to talk to you
about it.
One concern is that if I'm not
feeding them that extra calories
in the grain, how am I going to
make sure that they're going to
stay in great condition.
Because looking at your cows and
seeing the condition that
they're in in a winter like
this, it's really--
I feel more optimistic about
going grass-fed, but what are
some of those key things that
you have to make sure you're
doing?
>> Every season brings a whole
different set of circumstances.
When we first got to this farm
it rained like there was no
tomorrow.
The fields were three feet high
and I thought, wow!
Isn't farming easy?!
Then it's followed by years of
drought, and you really have to
scratch you head and try
different strategies in an
effort to keep your herd really,
really healthy.
>> But that's the great thing
about farming, isn't it?
There's always challenges that
you have to overcome.
And when you overcome it, you
just feels great about it.
It never is boring.
>> Your pastures continue to
improve while you're protecting
the soil and you're protecting
groundwater.
And what you end up with is a
product that has a really tiny
carbon hoof print
>> I like the hood print.
That's cute.
>> That's something that our
customers really like.
They want to know that they're
contributing to a food system
that actually benefits the
animal and benefits the
environment.
That's one of the reasons why
love to have our customers and
other people come and visit
the farm.
>> Do you sell just directly to
the consumer, or do you sell at
different co-ops around
the area?
>> We consider one of our
primary markets the Twin Cites
of Minneapolis and St. Paul,
Minnesota.
Our bundles start at 25 pounds.
It gives them an assortment of
cuts and ground beef.
And they can decide, you know,
this is something I can afford,
this is something I want to be
able to offer my family.
We're finding that a lot of
people like the smaller bundles.
Although we've also sold, you
know, half cows as well, to
those who are more familiar
with it.
Right now we've also just become
part of a brand new farmer
cooperative in Amery, Wisconsin,
called The Hungry Turtle
Farmer's Cooperative.
>> Great name.
>> So we will be selling
through there.
It's a wonderful cluster of
farmers who are involved with
meats, but mostly vegetables.
We want to be your farmer.
So we're gathering together in
order to bridge the big, kind
of, gap right now in local food
is the distribution channel.
How do get it?
This farmer cooperative is
really working to bridge that
gap and get our product into the
Twin Cities as well as into
other drop-offs in the area.
[moo]
>> Well, I'm looking forward to
getting some meat.
I do have to get going.
But before I get going, you're
not only a farmer, a radio host,
but you're also a bread baker
and a teacher.
Do you think that I could get a
quick lesson?
>> Absolutely.
Bread and beef, I mean, you need
something to sop up the gravy,
right?
>> I should have brought butter.
>> Sure, let's go do it.
* *
>> This is a treat.
Sylvia gives classes about bread
baking right here in her farm
kitchen.
Today she's going to show us a
little bit about that.
I think all of us want to be
able to make bread right in our
own kitchens at home.
There's something about bread
baking, isn't there that is so
enticing?
>> I think that we can use the
old technologies and the new
technologies to make artisan
breads that you're just going
to love.
>> And they're beautiful!
I mean, this is really
impressive.
This is what I would want to
take as a hostess gift to
somebody and just really set the
tone for the evening.
>> That's really nice.
That's made in a regular oven.
This is not a big brink oven,
it's not a fire oven.
This is something that you
can do.
What we're going to use is a
sourdough starter.
We're adding 200 grams of
sourdough starter.
This will actually rise all of
the bread.
>> Oh, okay, so you don't have
add yeast, this is the
leavening agent.
>> This is the leavening agent.
We mix it up.
Once it's mixed up, then we'll
add flour to this.
>> Okay.
>> Okay, Inga, the next step is
to add 1,000 grams of flour.
You know, it's really
interesting in bread baking in
that it's not like cooking where
you can add a little bit of this
or a little bit of that.
You have to be very precise.
That's why all of these
ingredients are measured by
weight, not by volume.
>> I can just dump it.
>> Just dump it all in.
>> What we're doing here is
we're actually mixing up that
sourdough starter water mixture
with the flour.
>> I like that you can get your
hand on.
>> It is really hands-on.
But the thing is that's it's not
really strenuous.
That's really important for
anyone who is perhaps suffering
with a little arthritis or
you've got any kind of pain in
your arms or hands.
These are the kinds of breads
you can do regardless of how you
might be feeling that day.
>> When I was a cheesemaker in
Virginia, the man who taught me
how to make cheese, he would say
you really always have to have a
positive attitude when you're
making cheese, because you're
putting yourself into that
product.
And it's really the same with
bread baking, isn't it?
You have to have a good frame of
mind before you start.
Now that we've let it rest,
it's developing.
What's the next step?
>> The next step is to actually
take some water and some salt.
We sprinkle it over the dough,
we add water.
In this instance it's 50 grams.
Then we get to get our hands in
here again, but this time what
we're doing is actually we're
squishing it through
our fingers.
This is almost like you've been
a kid and you've had you toes in
the mud.
This is kind of like that,
because of the kind of action
that it takes to get that salt
into the dough.
>> Boy, I'm going to do this
when my nephews are down, make
bread with them.
I bet they'd just love the
gooeyness and the fun hands-on.
>> Oh, yeah, this is something
that anybody, any age, can do,
which is the fun of it.
We let time and the moisture
knead this bread for us.
>> Oh, nice!
>> What we do now is we take
this wet dough and we put it
into a container.
>> Okay.
That's kind of nice that you
can just--
You could do this in the
morning, go to work, come back
and it's done.
That's great.
>> Yup, and usually this is
about a four hour rise in here.
But if you're gone for the day,
stick it in your fridge or stick
it in a cool spot, and let that
temperature kind of delay the
process for you.
>> Okay.
>> And you'll end up with great
tasting bread.
* *
[moo]
>> Well, I've got my BueLingo
and bread.
Now I just need my farm dog and
my skis, and it's back to my
kitchen to cook up supper.
* *
Okay, let's get started.
We're going to make a
Wisconsin chili.
It's a Wisconsin chili because
we're using primarily Wisconsin
ingredients to go into
this chili.
We've got our BueLingo beef
from Sylvia.
From the Keppers we've got our
vegetables which is the carrots
and the onions.
And from my garden last year we
have some beautiful peppers and
some jalapeno peppers.
What I like to do during the
growing season is take those
different sweet peppers, like my
green peppers or red peppers or
orange peppers, whatever I have,
and I dice them up, throw them
in a freezer bag all together.
Then I'll just throw that in the
freezer so I can pull it out
later to use in chilies
or stews.
I do that same thing with my
jalapenos, except for I freeze
them whole.
When I get ready to use them I
can just pop one of them out of
the bag, stick it in a coffee
cup with some warm water and it
thaws right out, and I can go
ahead and use it.
The first step in making this
chili is we're going to toast
our spices.
I have here some whole spices.
I have coriander, cumin, star
anise and even a few cloves.
I can already start smelling
them.
It's just delicious.
This is just going to help your
chili have a little bit more
flavors.
Okay, the kitchen is smelling
good and the spices are done.
I'm going to put this right back
in my mortar here.
Put that there.
Then I will just get it all nice
and pulverized.
You want to make sure that you
do a good job pulverizing this,
because you don't want a big
piece of star anise in someone's
bowl of chili.
You could also do this in your
coffee grinder if you wanted to.
To clean your coffee grinder
just put a piece of white bread
in there and spin it around a
little bit.
That's going to take all the
coffee grounds out.
Then you can just grind your
spices right up.
Okay, so we'll just add a little
salt here.
We want to sear the meat at a
high temperature so that the
sugars in the meat can
caramelize to the pan.
That's going to also help build
those flavors.
So in we go.
We want to get all the sides of
the meat nice and cooked.
* *
Okay, our short ribs look like
they're good and brown, so I'll
take those back out of the pan.
Now basically, it's just
sauteing and assembling.
I'm going to put my onions in,
and it's just one onion.
And carrots, there we go.
Throw my peppers in there.
We'll let this cook down for a
few minutes until the onions and
the peppers and the carrots get
a little bit soft.
Then we'll add our spices.
I like to add a lot of different
vegetables to the chili because
it makes it more colorful.
I think that you eat with your
eyes and your mouth and all your
different senses.
Everything you eat should be
beautiful, right?
That's good and cooked, so now
I'm going to start adding
my garlic.
If I add my garlic too soon then
it's just going to burn.
So I'll add that now.
I'm going to add the spices that
I toasted up, get those
in there.
I also have the jalapeno that
I'm going to add.
One of my secret weapons is
these chipotle chilies that
I find.
They put them in adobe sauce so
it makes them a little bit
smokier and it's a nice flavor
to add to your chili.
I'll put a few of those in
there.
Get the sauce in there.
And then also I have some
Mexican oregano, pop that in.
I'm going to save my bay leaf
for a second.
I'll season this with a little
salt and pepper.
[pot hissing]
And I have a can of kidney beans
that I like to add, get those in
there, some tomatoes.
Come on tomatoes.
I did a good job canning them,
they won't come out.
A little bit of broth.
I'm using a homemade beef broth
for this, not too much.
And then my other secret
ingredient--
Look at me with all my secret
ingredients, I'm like a ninja.
It's just a dark beer.
I use like a oatmeal,
stouty beer.
Good, good, good.
Stir that up together, and then
I'll put the short ribs back in
with everything else.
Now they're going to cook down
for about an hour inside this
beautiful chili with all of it's
wonderful spices.
I just get my meat in here, and
that meat's going to cook down
for about an hour or two.
As it cooks down the meat's
going to come off the bone and
the fats are going to break
down.
It's going to just be delicious.
When it's done cooking, I'll
take the meat back out and I'll
chop it into bite-sized pieces
and put it back in.
Take away any fats or sinews,
and take the bones out too.
We'll put that on.
I've got a few things to do on
the farm here before the
skijorers arrive.
I'm going to go feed the cows,
I'm going to let this simmer,
and I'll see you then.
I wonder where all my skijoring
friends are?
* *
[barking]
>> Telegram, ma'am.
>> Oh, thank you.
>> You're welcome.
>> Nick, can you read this?
I don't have my glasses.
[moo]
* We welcome your invitation *
* But regret *
* That we cannot show *
So we've sent you
* A fiddle band *
* To tell you with a strum *
* We want to take *
* A rain check *
* And by rain *
* We don't mean snow *
* To raise a glass *
* And eat your chili *
* By the warm fire's glow *
[whistling]
>> In that case, I guess I'll go
get the chili.
This chili is sure to warm you
up on a snowy winter's day.
Serve the chili with country,
crusty bread,
and garnish with sour cream
and cilantro.
Enjoy with a good group of
friends, around the bon fire,
of course.
* *
I hope this has inspired you to
dust off your skis and get
outside and enjoy wintertime
with your dog.
And I hope you'll gather with us
next time around the farm table.
I'm your host, Inga Witscher.
[whistling]
[crunching]
>> Yum.
Hum, nobody's going to
miss these.
[growling]
[whining]
[barking]
* *
>> 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.