REEDSBURG — A good-sized crowd gathered around the sugar house at the School District of Reedsburg’s Hartje Outdoor Learning Center to celebrate the First Tree Tapping of 2019, kicking off maple syrup season for the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association on March 16. Wisconsin’s Maple Month runs from March 15 to April 15. ... Read more
EVERGLADES CITY, Fla. — Jeff Butler was on site and only days away from joining a special team of python hunters for a New Year’s Day 2017 trip into the Everglades of south Florida when he got word from back home in Frederic, Wis., that a best friend had died suddenly. It was devastating new…
Jefferson County Farm Technology Days 2019 has extended the deadline for local exhibitors in the Rural Entertainment Center, formally the Family Living Tent, and Arts and Crafts applications.
BIRNAMWOOD — About the time most people are getting ready for bed, Linda Meade’s day is just beginning.
MANITOWOC — Sister Natalie Binversie learned plenty during her years as a student at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family, Creighton University, St. Bonaventure University and Angelicum Pontifical University in Rome.
NEW GLARUS — Five young women from across Wisconsin have been named finalists for the 72nd Alice in Dairyland position, it was announced at a news conference on March 15 in Green County, which will host the Alice in Dairyland Finals Program May 9-11 at various locations.
MADISON — Everyone experiences stress, the type of tension that accelerates our bodies into fight or flight mode. Stress can also be energizing and motivating, pushing us to accomplish tasks. But how do you know when stress morphs into something else: distress?
WISCONSIN
One of my first memories as a child involved gardening. I wanted to check Pa’s big potato patch. I had turned 3 in July and had developed a considerable exploratory nature much to the unhappiness of my mother, who tried to keep track of me while she did all the other tasks required of farm w…
DODGEVILLE — When the family-owned Quality Bakery closed for a week recently to complete a remodeling project, area people went into a panic. In the family’s best estimate, it had been at least 40 years since the bakery was last closed for a week, and people were quick to notice this downtow…
Recently I was showing a friend the seedlings I have started for the garden. Her 12-year-old son Mason was with us and he became quite excited at the prospect of growing his own food. He wanted to do it all! He has now declared me his gardening mentor and we both look forward to hours togeth…
CADOTT — The saying goes, “close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades.” In Cadott, you might have to leave horseshoes off that list.
School Name and Chapter Name: Spencer FFA Chapter, Spencer High School.
Editor’s note: In this installment of Country Matters, we look at small-town bakeries across Wisconsin. While the number of bakeries has declined through the years, many local bakeries continue to thrive.
UW-Madison Extension’s North Country Master Gardener Association will host a Mini Master Gardener Short Course for youth and their families from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 30, at Bashaw Valley Farm and Greenhouse south of Spooner.
The UW-Madison’s Department of Dairy Science invites prospective students and their parents to visit campus on Friday, April 5, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., to explore what the program has to offer.
Lakeshore Technical College has been serving students in eastern Wisconsin since 1974, expanding several times and adding community education courses in various locations in surrounding communities. More than10,000 students were enrolled during the 2017-18 academic year, preparing them for c…
WISCONSIN
Every year presents the same problem: What shall I grow?
The Midwest-produced feature-length documentary film “Decoding the Driftless” has been named Best Picture and Best Cinematography in the Documentary Feature category by the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards.
PRAIRIE FARM — Eager to know more about elderberries? Flirting with the idea of grass farming? Curious about kombucha?
Two The Country Today staff members received awards at the 2019 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Convention and Trade Show held March 7-8 in Madison.
Wisconsin has much to be proud of, from our diverse agriculture industry to fruitful businesses. One of the best parts of my job as Alice is to share the success stories of those who provide food, fuel and fiber for the world. Those tales are becoming more prominent as Buy Local, Buy Wiscons…
DODGEVILLE — Since 2004, former agricultural journalist and photographer Pam Karg has been living in the Republic of Armenia, a country 10 time zones away from Milwaukee, where she was raised. It is a country that has truly touched her heart with its people, stories and hospitality, but she …
Barneveld-based company Bio-Vet is a new benefactor of the nonprofit Wisconsin FFA Foundation, partnering recently to provide a $5,000 gift to support the organization and other agricultural education partners statewide.
The Wisconsin Farm Technology Days Jefferson County foods committee has extended the application deadline to April 1 as the committee continues to look for nonprofit organizations to staff the food tents during the show on July 23-25. The show will be hosted by Walter Grain Farm in Johnson Creek.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents has authorized UW-Green Bay to establish the UW System’s first Bachelor of Science degree in water science.
SCHLESWIG — It’s not quite the time-traveling DeLorean from “Back to the Future” movie fame.
WISCONSIN
DARLINGTON — The first round of well water sampling in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties as part of the Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology Study, also known as SWIGG, has been completed, with state geologist Ken Bradbury and federal biologist Joel Stokdyk awaiting results of specif…
Many winters have come and gone since those days growing up on a farm. Although the stories happened many years ago, they are forever embedded in my mind. The details are as vivid to me as something I experienced yesterday. However the meaning of the stories has only begun to come into focus…
Just in time for St Patrick’s Day, I receive questions about potatoes and cabbage — two traditional Irish staples.
Nominations are now open for the 2019 College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Honorary Recognition Award, Distinguished Service Award and Distinguished Alumni Award. These are the highest honors awarded by the college at UW-Madison, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated outstanding…
PRAIRIE DU SAC — When George and Ruth Culver opened their first restaurant in 1961 — and 23 years later when they opened their first Culver’s restaurant with their son, Craig — the Culver family didn’t have to be told how important farmers were to their business.
If there is one Culver’s restaurant owner who can identify with the company’s “Thank You Farmers” program a bit more than others, it is likely Eugene Smith.
For 30 years, Richard Kolarik faithfully ventured onto frozen Lake Winnebago for the sturgeon spearing season.
The 2019 sturgeon spearing season in the Winnebago System concluded with a total of 786 sturgeon harvested, including 479 on Lake Winnebago and 307 on the Upriver Lakes.
WISCONSIN
Spring is nigh and it’s definitely time to think about starting some seeds indoors for planting outside when the weather is warmer.
Twelve Wisconsin schools have been awarded grants to establish habitat for imperiled insect pollinators and monarch butterflies.
One is “very, very, very outgoing,” whereas the other is “much more laid back.”
WISCONSIN
Well-known author Madeleine L’Engle once said, “A good laugh heals a lot of hurts.” Colfax comedian Steve Russell definitely agrees.
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — Excitement was in the air at Kramer’s Auction Gallery in early January as auctioneers prepared for their Winter Firearms Sale. A record number of registered bidders were watching the auction items closely, with 1,500 bidders anxiously following online while a record-settin…
My daughter Sue, who is a second-grade teacher, tells me that kids today are absolutely forbidden to take part in snowball fights at school. That’s probably a good thing, but that rule was certainly not in place when I attended our one-room country school. Snowball fights were as common as p…
Since it first opened in 1910, Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior has only been entrusted to a handful of head lighthouse keepers. In April 2019, Split Rock’s latest and longest resident keeper, Lee Radzak, will retire after 36 years in the role and 42 at the Minnesota Historical Society.
March brings spring! It may be cold and snowy outside but come March 10, it’s time to spring forward into Daylight Savings Time. Ten days later March 20 brings the vernal equinox and the official start of spring. Get ready to garden because the days are getting longer, the sun is getting bri…
The Wisconsin FFA Foundation is accepting applications from eligible Wisconsin FFA members for its 2018-19 Post-Secondary Scholarships.
School Name and Chapter Name: Portage FFA Chapter, Portage High School and Bartels Middle School.
More than 300 members attended the Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association’s 39th Annual Convention earlier this month in Stevens Point.
