(upbeat guitar music)
(children giggling)
- Welcome to the farm!
I've got my nephews helping me
with all the farm chores today.
We're gonna fly some kites, have a little fun.
Then it's back to work washing water tanks.
But don't worry, I've got a great idea for later on.
I'm gonna have a root beer float party for these two.
For the soda, I'm gonna head down to Viroqua,
to Wisco Pop.
And then it's off to Humbird, Wisconsin
for some fresh strawberries for the ice cream.
You guys like strawberries?
- Yup.
- Oh, good!
Well, gather with us Around the Farm Table .
I'm your host.
- [All] Inga Witscher.
- [All] Gather with us Around the Farm Table !
- [Inga] 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 takin' a break from the cows, hittin' the road,
and seein' if I can't satisfy my epicurious appetite.
(lively music)
That's great.
This is amazing.
- [Voiceover] 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.
With additional support from these community members
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.
(water sloshing)
- Wah!
So, one thing that's important on a dairy farm
is water for the cows.
It's important to have clean water for the cows
because milk is 90% water.
So, the more the cow drinks,
the more milk production you're really gonna get,
and cows really need fresh, clean water.
That's why we try to clean our water tanks out here
at least once a week.
My veterinarian told me to clean it out every day.
I'm not nearly that neurotic, so I just do it once a week.
And what I do is just add a soapy water mixture
and just scrub away.
After I'm done scrubbing all the algae and debris off,
then you can go in there with a little bit
of bleach and water mix, just to sanitize everything.
Rinse that out, and then fill it back up with cold water.
The best thing about doing these kinds of things
when you've got the kids around
is that you can get them clean at the same time.
(splash)
Get in there, boys, get in there, boys!
Get in there, boys!
I'm gonna scrub you up, I'm gonna scrub you up.
Well, I think I'll leave Craig with the kids and the cows,
and I'll see you guys down in Viroqua.
Thanks, Craig.
(boys shouting)
Hey, I see the milk truck's here!
I'm gonna see if I can hitch a ride with him.
Hey, Shane. - Hey!
- Can I get a ride to Viroqua with you?
- Yes, you may. - All right, good.
I'm gonna go get changed and I'll be back in a few minutes.
- Okay, no problem!
- The milk truck driver plays a vital role
in the dairy industry.
(upbeat guitar music)
He uses a measuring stick in the bulk tank
to find out how many pounds of milk
I'm gonna ship that day.
He takes a milk sample from each bulk tank
to determine the milk quality
and the components in the milk.
The milk is agitated before a sample is taken.
This ensures correct results.
With a simple flip of the switch,
the milk is pumped from the bulk tank
into the milk truck.
And then, it's off to the creamery.
(truck horn honking)
You see the milk trucks all over the state;
on the road, through the rain and snow,
and gloom of night,
365 days a year.
They're unsung heroes,
but of vital importance to the dairy farmers.
They even sometimes help me corral up some loose heifers
or drop off butter from the plant.
And every once in a while, they let me hitch a ride.
Thanks for the ride, Shane.
- [Shane] See you next time, Inga.
- Hi, guys. - Hello!
- I was on my way down to Westby and I thought,
"Why don't I grab a ride with the milk truck driver
"instead of driving myself?"
- Wonderful. - It's nicer!
That way you could pay attention with the scenery.
So guys, I know how the milk gets from the cow
into the milk tank, but tell me,
what is the process now that the milk
has arrived at the creamery?
- Well, once the milk arrives at the creamery,
the procedure is going to be:
unlock the back doors or remove the seal.
In this case, we have a lock.
The intake man will collect a sample
from the top of the truck
and take that into the laboratory for testing
for antibiotics and the acidic tests.
And once it's cleared both of those tests,
soon, we'll be able to unload that milk.
The primary thing we're gonna test for is--
(woman talking over loudspeaker)
Is a regulatory test that has to be--
- There's the clearance for the load.
- What are they saying? That we can?
- They're actually saying that this load
has been cleared, and it's okay to unload.
- So, why are you sampling for antibiotics
if, like on this example, it's a truck of organic milk?
Like what, just to double check?
- Well, it is a regulatory procedure that is mandated
by the state of Wisconsin that it be done.
- Oh, nice.
- Yeah, so all loads of milk, regardless of type.
- Okay, what are those other things that you're testing for?
- Well, the primary test is for beta-lactams
which is a penicillin-based antibiotic,
but we also do an acid test on the milk as well.
- Why would acid make a difference?
- Well, the pH of milk is naturally about 13 to 14 pH.
We wanna make sure that that load of milk
is in good condition upon its arrival,
and that it not be in excess of 18,
which becomes the fusel level for that milk.
- So, how does that acid affect the milk?
- It actually, it has to do with, affects product quality,
with the pH, the acidity of the milk gets too high.
Actually, some of the products, such as sour cream,
they actually won't even turn out. - Oh!
- And make a quality product.
- Interesting.
- The interesting thing about fluid milk
is that all of it is tested, every single unit.
Every gallon of milk, because it's commingled
in a fluid state on the truck,
is going to be tested for purity.
- Okay. - You know, the argument can be said
that fluid products are more thoroughly sampled.
For example, a load of corn might have many poor ears
of corn in that load of milk, or, excuse me,
a load of corn, I should say,
but a portion of that poor ear of corn might not be
in the representative sample of that load of corn.
- Yeah, and since these guys are rolling down the road,
movin' and shakin', it's all nice and mixed up together.
- Everything's all mixed together.
- (laughing) Well, good.
And then everything just gets washed up
and he goes home for the night?
- Yes, he does. - Good, good.
- The intake man will procedurally wash the truck,
sanitize it,
reattach new seals on the truck that identify it
as being washed today with today's date
and with a seal number identifying it
as having been washed here.
- So, everything is incredibly clean
when it comes to dealing withilk.
- Oh, yes, it must be.
- Well, guys, I'm gonna head out.
I've gotta go to Wisco Pop just right down the road.
Until next time! It was good to see ya.
- Good to see you. - Nice to see you, Reggie.
- See you! - Have a great day.
(mellow rock music)
Hey, Austin, how are you?
- Great, how are you doing?
- Good, it smells delicious over here!
What's goin' on?
- Just grindin' some Peruvian organic ginger.
- Oh, so I've been drinking your sodas for a while,
and it seems like you really care about the ingredients
that you're putting in.
- Oh, for sure.
We care about agriculture a great bit.
- How important is that for you guys in your business?
- Oh, yeah, greatly.
I mean, agriculture across the board from Wisconsin to Peru,
it's important to us deeply.
- It's so nice to hear that
from a producer like this because as a farmer myself,
we need people like you to support us
with buying those ingredients from us and things like that.
And I know that you're using a lot of local ingredients too.
- Yes, yeah, like our honey is procured from this area.
- Tell me a little bit about the business of Wisco Pop here.
- So, we started in 2012 to start procuring honey
from local apiaries just because the decline of the honeybee
and the awareness of honey.
So, that's kind of our long-range goal,
is to be able to produce products
with really awesome honey.
- That's nice!
And ginger.
- [Austin] Ginger, yep, and limes.
We fresh-juice all our limes and lemons.
We procure Door County cherry juice
for our cherry juice soda.
- I had the cherry soda.
It tastes like you're just eating a slice of cherry pie.
The flavor, it's just--
I don't even know how to describe it.
It's delicious! - It's delicious.
- It's an experience.
One thing that I've just found by having food
that's grown used from local ingredients
and really cared about, the flavor's just so nice!
And it's just such a great experience
to be able to just have something that's local,
and have something support people like you
that are committed to that local food movement.
I'd like to see, around the state of Wisconsin,
everyone sort of helping each other out.
And this space, this is sort of a co-op space, isn't it?
- Right, yeah, so I've got friends over across the way,
if I need help with, even down to bookkeeping.
Like, "Hey, how do you look at these financial reports,
"or, you know, whatever."
- Well, Austin, walk me through a little bit of the process.
What kind of soda are you making right now?
- So, I'm making the ginger soda,
and so, I was starting with, as you walked in,
I was grinding this fresh ginger here.
- Do you keep the skins on for that, it looks like?
- I do, yep.
- Is there more flavor in the skin?
- I feel like there is.
I feel like there's something that you're gonna miss
from just skinnin' it.
- Yeah, I feel like there is too.
- So, we pressure wash it and then we grind it,
and then we're gonna fill this in the kettle
for about three hours.
And behind me, they're doing the lemons and lime juice
that we do fresh for our ginger soda.
And then we'll finish it
with a little bit of beautiful honey
that I just procured from an apiary.
And then a little bit of lavender.
- Oh, lavender!
- Yeah, a bit of lavender. - Didn't see that comin'!
- Yeah, I like that.
It just kind of gives it a nice floral note to it.
- Nice, well, I'll take this over for ya.
- Yeah, sounds good.
- So, in goes the ginger.
- Yeah!
(bucket hitting metal vat)
- It smells great.
- Yeah.
- Now, this just steeps?
- Yeah, so we're gonna steep this
for a total of three hours.
- Okay. Oh, wow!
- In about two hours,
we'll start adding our honey and our lavender,
and all the other good stuff.
- Where did you come up with the recipes for these?
- Well, I was doing test batches
and kinda just playin' around with it,
goin' to farmers market, listen to people, what they like
and saying, "This is too spicy.
"This isn't spicy enough."
So, I kind of try to find a middle ground.
- And then you had to develop that
from a home kitchen into a business.
Well, should we go juice some lemons?
- Yeah, I'll give this a little stir,
and we'll go juice some lemons.
- Mm, smells great!
So, you guys are juicing organic limes,
and are most of your things organic,
the ingredients that you use?
- Yes, everything except for the honey in our ginger soda.
- So, I'm really excited to take some of these sodas
back to my house.
I'm gonna be making some homemade ice cream,
and I have a group of children coming over
to enjoy some ice cream floats.
I'm excited about the ginger,
I'm really excited about the cherry,
that's one of my favorite sodas you do.
But I'm also hoping to do some root beer floats.
Can you tell me a little bit about
what the root beer process is?
- Yeah, so we brew all the roots inside the vat,
and then we add our maple syrup and our sugar,
and then we pump it over to our bright tanks,
chill it, carbonate it, start to bottle it,
and then we label it.
Package it, send it off to the distributor,
and say, "Bye-bye."
- (laughs) Well, that's nice.
A nice streamlined way to do things.
I know that you're using a local maple syrup. - Yup.
- Maple syrup is something that I've always
been fascinated with and wanted to learn more in.
You guys get your maple syrup from?
- Eric Meyer, yeah.
- I've been out to his place for RampFest a couple times.
- Yeah, he's out there right now.
You should go out there and check him out!
- Okay, I think I will, yeah.
Well, great.
I'm gonna pick up soda before I go,
but thanks for your time. - [Austin] You bet.
- The aromas in here are just amazing, I don't wanna leave.
(birds chirping)
I love being in the woods like this.
I wish I had woods like this on my farm
because it must be at least 10 or 15 degrees cooler.
I'd love to have a area like this to graze the cows
on these hot summer days.
Hi, Eric!
- Hi, how's it goin'?
- Good, who's this adorable little creature?
- This is my youngest, Zuri.
- Hi there, kiddo. I love your dress!
Oh, does she come out here with you quite often?
- Yeah, she's been out in the woods with me
pretty much since she was born.
She's born in February.
- Right during maple season, right?
- Right at the beginning of maple season, yeah.
So I've had her out here on my back in a carrier.
- Aw, I think it's great.
Don't ever underestimate the importance
of taking your daughter out to work with you.
I grew up on a dairy farm and I was with my dad every day.
From that time, I think that she's gonna take
so much of an experience out of growing up
working in the woods with you.
It's fantastic you do that.
- She loves it. - Good.
I'm hoping you can just fill me in a little bit
on the process of maple syruping.
and every tree has, depending upon its size,
one or two of these hanging from it.
- Okay.
- This is actually the tap.
We come and find old tap holes.
You don't wanna drill in the exact same spot
from year to year.
So, we find a new, clean spot on the wood, drill in.
- What happens if you were to drill in the same spot?
- There's a little bit of a stain in the tree
that will not produce sap.
It's a couple inches above and a couple inches below.
- That makes sense.
- The tree will heal it over.
You can get in close,
you can see how the holes fill in.
- Okay.
- So, you just don't wanna tap right there.
So you find a new spot,
drill a hole about an inch and a half in,
pound the tap in with a hammer.
Put this on there.
This is basically what connects the tap to the tubing.
Pound that in, and on days when it's above 32,
preferably in the 40s or so, the sap will flow really good.
And then at night when it gets below freezing,
sap goes back down below ground.
- So, when it gets to your sugar shack, what happens then?
- Well, in the sugar house,
we first run it through a reverse osmosis machine,
and that's fairly new technology
within, like, the last 15 to 20 years
they've been using that.
And that takes a lot of the water out of the sap,
saves us a lot of time cooking and a lot of fuel.
- [Inga] Okay.
- So, you know how reverse osmosis works?
- (laughs) I'll Google it later.
- Okay. (laughing)
After it goes through the reverse osmosis,
the sugars are concentrated more to like, maybe 10%.
You know, we can do 50 to 200 gallons
of finished syrup a day between the four business partners
that are all working together here.
- That's amazing.
So, it's pretty much during that maple season,
you guys are working 24/7?
- Yeah, yeah, I get a few hours of sleep a day.
When the season's really going,
you have to go with the weather
and you have to be out there right away in the morning
to turn machinery on.
- I know there's different grades of syrup.
Is that because of the color?
- Yeah, maple syrup's graded based on how much light
passes through it.
Grade A was the lightest,
and then Grade B was a bit darker
with a more robust flavor.
And then Grade C was really dark stuff
that either was burned
or it just had way too strong of a flavor.
- So, besides the Wisco Pop,
where do you guys sell your maple syrup at?
- I sell a few hundred gallons to friends and family.
But I've been a part of Maple Valley Co-Op
for about 10 years now.
Probably about 75% of my syrup goes to the co-op
that I'm part of.
- Well, good. Well, fantastic.
I gotta keep headin' out,
but thank you so much for the education.
- Thanks for stoppin' by.
(mellow electronic music)
I'm excited to have you meet Grampa Glenn
and his wife, Nenn.
They're as sweet as their strawberries.
I really like coming onto farms
to purchase strawberries or apples, or anything like that.
It gives you chance to visit with everybody,
and everything tastes so much better.
Well, hello, Glenn and Nenn. How are you doing? - [Nenn] Hi!
- [Glenn] Hi, Inga. Good to see ya! - Good to see you, too!
I brought you guys a present. I just came from Viroqua,
and I thought we could all cool down
with a little bit of root beer.
- That looks good.
- Yeah! I think it'll be delicious.
So, how's everything going with you all today?
- Good! - Great!
Beautiful day. Ooh, that looks good.
- Doesn't it look good?
- I thought it'd be better if I brought those
rather than a cold beer or something--
- We don't drink beer. - Oh! This is perfect!
- Root beer is just perfect.
So, how long have you guys had the strawberry patch here?
- It's close to 10 years, I think now.
- Is it really?
- Told Nenn, "I think I'll plant
"a few berries of my own."
- And then that changes. - It kinda got away from me.
(laughing)
- As all good things do. - Right!
- This land here must have been perfect
for strawberries because of the fertility
from the dairy cows.
- I think so.
- Well, this whole area, general area here at Alma Center
has been well-known for strawberries for years.
- Oh, really?
So, I'm kind of looking for ways to diversify my dairy farm
and I don't wanna put any more cows,
so I was thinking, "Well, maybe I could grow
"some strawberries?"
What kind of soil do you need,
or what do you need to grow good strawberries?
- I think lighter type, rather than the clay.
- Yeah.
'Cause around here we have a silt loam resin in thelay.
- Maybe my soil might be a little bit
too hard for that.
- Oh, I don't know. You could try it.
(Inga laughs)
- So, what is the best part about being able
to grow food for people?
Do you like going to the markets and having people--
- I like going to markets, but the best part is
when people with kids come here and thank us.
- So now, you're open for people to
come right to the farm and pick berries.
- Yes. - Any time, any hour.
- Well, that's great! - You oughta bring a flashlight.
(laughing)
- I'm gonna make some homemade ice cream
with strawberries for my nephews.
- Sure, that would be great. - I think that'd be great.
- I think that you can't live on a dairy farm
without making ice cream at least some point in your life.
- We used to make it.
I don't think we've made it here,
but when we were growing up, of course.
- It was so nice to visit,
and I gotta come back and visit again
before the strawberry season's over.
Do you mind if I just head out?
You guys look so relaxed here.
I'll just head out and pick my own strawberries.
- All right, sounds great. - Sure, that'd be great.
- So we've got a box here. There's lots more out there.
- And thanks for the pop.
- Next time, I'll bring the cap back.
- All right, sounds good.
See ya, Inga. - Bye-bye. - Bye-bye.
- Hold on, I gotta get my pop! There we go!
(mellow electronic music)
It was so great to meet those two.
I think that strawberries is something
that I really might consider growing on my own farm.
But I better get back to my farm because I'm sure that Craig
probably needs a little bit of break from the kids,
and I need to get some ice cream made.
Whenever my nephews come visit,
I always like to get them in the kitchen
and show them a little bit about cooking,
'cause I think it's important to give kids that idea
of bringing things in from the garden,
or finding them at the farmers markets,
and turning them into a wonderful meal.
And I thought it would be great to make ice cream
because who doesn't like ice cream, right, guys?
Do you like it?
- [Ashton] Yes. - [Kaden] I do! - You do?
Are you ready to eat some ice cream?
Okay, when I was a little girl growing up on the farm,
I would go to my grandmother's house all the time,
and we would make things in the kitchen.
And that's where I first really found that love of cooking
and eating seasonally, and it was just amazing.
So, I thought this would be a great way
to introduce these little guys.
So, first of all, we're gonna make a strawberry ice cream
with the wild mint that I found in the pasture earlier,
and then I'm gonna add a little bit of lemon zest
just to brighten up the flavors.
This is a great way to use any extra milk
that you have at your house.
A great way to use local milk too.
So, first thing I'm gonna do
is I'm gonna take the strawberries,
like a half of a pint--
- And I take 'em off.
- You do? What part? These parts?
Why?
You don't like the green parts? Okay.
- [Kaden] I do! - [Inga] You do?
Okay, well, we're gonna cut these up into bite-sized pieces.
You guys wanna try 'em and see if they're good?
You can try this one and you can try this one.
And you tell me if they're sweet or not.
'Cause that's gonna depend on what
kind of sugar we're gonna put in.
Is it good? Sweet? Okay.
So, chop these up here, and you guys are still a
little bit young to be using the knife,
so you're gonna have to help me with different parts.
Is that okay?
Your hands are clean?
Of course.
There you go.
Sprinkle the sugar just right over top.
I'm gonna put a little bit of lemon zest in here.
That's gonna help just brighten up those flavors,
and I just love adding lemon zest to anything.
Guys, this is called "zesting a lemon."
And I'm just takin' that outer skin off the lemon
'cause it has a lot of flavor in it.
You guys love cookin' with your auntie?
- [Boys] Yeah.
- Are you guys gonna grow up and be farmer cooks?
- [Kaden] Yeah. - [Inga] Good.
Are you guys gonna take care of your auntie in her old age?
- [Ashton] Yeah. - [Inga] Good.
Zest that whole lemon, and then you wanna stir it up.
Who wants to stir? - [Ashton] Me! - [Kaden] I do, I do!
- Okay, and this is gonna marry the flavors
of the strawberries and the lemon
and the sugar all together, it's gonna be delicious.
And if you've got the time,
just go ahead and leave this on the counter.
You know, sometimes, like the other day,
I was makin' some ice cream,
and I was makin' strawberry ice cream
and got everything ready,
went out and milked cows, came back in,
and then threw everything in the ice cream maker.
And it gives those flavors a chance to really come together,
and, I don't know, come out of their bodies
and be really delicious.
What do you think, guys? That's good?
- [Boys] Yeah.
- Okay, since we don't have the time today,
since the party's starting soon,
we're just gonna keep goin' ahead.
What I did here is I've got a cup and a half of cream,
and I put that wild mint in overnight
to really have, you know, you wanna bruise the mint first
so that the essential oils can come out.
And then it steeps in a cold cream, and that way,
the flavors, they're just true flavors.
It's really delicious.
So, I just added a cup here
and I left it for about eight hours.
Who wants to strain it? - Me!
- You think you guys can put it in there
without it dumpin' over?
I guess we can always clean it up, right?
All right, Ashton, I'll help you.
And this is just pure Jersey cream right here.
It's just delicious.
We'll mix this back in.
Incorporate those sugars. Add some milk.
Kaden, you wanna add the milk?
- Oh, yeah! - Oh, good.
You love it? You guys both want to?
You got to add the cream.
You guys are such good helpers!
Who loves hangin' out with their auntie?
- It's like pee!
- (laughing) It's kind of, in a way.
(laughing)
I love little boys.
You never know what they're gonna say.
Okay, a little bit of salt, just a touch of salt.
And then about one and a half tablespoons of vanilla.
All right, stir this all together.
And again, if you've got the time,
let this sit in the fridge for two hours.
Just again, the flavors are just gonna come together.
Give it a good whipping before you put it
in your ice cream maker.
You follow the directions on your ice cream maker,
mine is probably different than yours,
and yours is probably different than mine.
So, just go ahead and read through the directions.
All right, you guys wanna give it
one stir for good luck before we do it?
Okay, give it a stir. Hold the spoon. Give it a stir.
Put lots of positive thoughts in there.
There we go.
Are you guys havin' fun doin' this?
Should we always cook together when you visit?
- [Boys] Yeah.
(ice cream maker whirring)
Well, thank you guys for helping me.
Can I have a smooch?
(smooching loudly) - Ah!
- What about you? Get over here!
(smooching loudly)
All right, let's go eat some ice cream.
When you plan a party with the little tykes,
keep your fingers crossed for a sunny day.
We can always hide out in the hay loft
if there's a sudden downpour.
And don't worry if the kids trample the tomatoes,
squish the squash,
or use a head of cabbage to play kickball.
Think about it, how much sauerkraut can you really eat?
Mix and match different flavors of ice cream and sod
(children chattering happily)
And an ice cream cone tastes best
when you're with your best friends forever.
Well, I hope this has inspired you
to make some homemade ice cream and root beer floats.
And I hope you'll gather with us next time.
- [All] "Around the Farm Table!"
- I'm your host--
- Inga Witscher.
(mellow electronic music)
(bright guitar music)
- [Voiceover] 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.
With additional support from these community members
and Friends of Wisconsin Public Television.