-
2 days ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
The forecast had called for afternoon storms. This was a surprise to no one, as temperatures had rocketed up into the low 90s. The air was heavy with humidity, as if we had suddenly jumped to July for the day. The mosquitoes loved it — just as much as they loved trying to bite us. Brilliant sun accented by the staccato notes of puff clouds danced by in the azure sky as we kept an eye on the heavens during the day.
-
1 week ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
“The chicks need to get out of the house!” Mom exclaimed. We had hatched them in our incubators from our own hens, and they were living in cardboard boxes in the walkout basement. “What needs to happen?”kAm~FC >62E 49:4<D H6C6 :? E96 4@@A H6 FD6 2D 2 3C@@56C :? DAC:?8E:>6[ 2?5 E96 3:886DE @?6D H6C6 H6==\762E96C65 2?5 C625J E@ EC2?D:E:@?
-
2 weeks ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
It’s 3:30 a.m. and I wake up to the sound of dripping outside the window. It’s a familiar Northwoods sound from my childhood — just rain, with no thunder or lightning. Afternoon or overnight gentle soakers were common in the big woods for as long as Mom can remember, as well. But that weather changed, and we would go for long stretches with no precipitation, only shattered by angry thunderstorms. Summers grew hotter and drier, which is a challenge with sandy soils.
-
2 weeks ago | 
leadertelegram.com | Laura Berlage
Between the old farmhouse and the creek that separates the barnyard from Farmstead Creamery is our main garden. There’s the rhubarb “patch” (roughly 200 plants), the raspberry patch and asparagus patch, and then the main vegetable garden. The 50-foot-long high tunnel is transitioning from its springtime duties of spinach, radishes and arugula, which were planted when we still had to shovel a canyon in the snow in order to reach the door.
-
2 weeks ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
Between the old farmhouse and the creek that separates the barnyard from Farmstead Creamery is our main garden. There’s the rhubarb “patch” (roughly 200 plants), the raspberry patch and asparagus patch, and then the main vegetable garden. The 50-foot-long high tunnel is transitioning from its springtime duties of spinach, radishes and arugula, which were planted when we still had to shovel a canyon in the snow in order to reach the door.
-
1 month ago | 
leadertelegram.com | Laura Berlage
Winter hung on long this year. The buds on the trees have lingered closed before daring to open, maple syrup season went on and on and on and many of the birds came back late. Then, boom, it was hot and the spinach in the high tunnel that waited to sprout threatened immediately to bolt. It’s a wild ride in the garden this year. Our farm is in a cold pocket, not near enough to a lake for temperature mitigation, and we know how finicky spring can be.
-
1 month ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
Winter hung on long this year. The buds on the trees have lingered closed before daring to open, maple syrup season went on and on and on and many of the birds came back late. Then, boom, it was hot and the spinach in the high tunnel that waited to sprout threatened immediately to bolt. It’s a wild ride in the garden this year. Our farm is in a cold pocket, not near enough to a lake for temperature mitigation, and we know how finicky spring can be.
-
1 month ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
Winter hung on long this year. The buds on the trees have lingered closed before daring to open, maple syrup season went on and on and on and many of the birds came back late. Then, boom, it was hot and the spinach in the high tunnel that waited to sprout threatened immediately to bolt. It’s a wild ride in the garden this year. Our farm is in a cold pocket, not near enough to a lake for temperature mitigation, and we know how finicky spring can be.
-
1 month ago | 
apg-wi.com | Laura Berlage
It’s a week of little birds! On Tuesday, our baby meat chicks arrived — 100 of the little cheepers. With bird flu hitting the breeder flocks in France that supply hatch eggs for Red Rangers, it was trickier to source chicks. This year, we are going half Cornish cross (the breed we raised before switching to Red Rangers) and half a different kind of performance red.
-
1 month ago | 
leadertelegram.com | Laura Berlage
Spring lambing season on the farm continues, with 63 little ones so far and four pregnant ewes left to deliver. We’re in the home stretch! The barn is full of little families as the momma sheep tend to their tiny children. Their bond is so precious and special to the health of the little ones and the mother. Mothers really do make the world go round, and honoring that mother-child bond with each other is just as important to us as it is to the animals we tend.
