State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

farming

  • Pick a Peck of Peppers

    RURAL CEDAR TOWNSHIP— Part of Thursday’s work was to harvest the hot pepper row at the CSA. We have Anaheim, which is not really hot, Hungarian wax peppers, jalapeno and Serrano. The peppers looked very nice, and the work prepared me to discuss them with customers at the drop site later that afternoon. I am… Read more

  • Letter to the Solon Economist

    To the editor, National Farm Bureau’s spokesman Mace Thornton was recently quoted by David Biello in Slate Magazine, “we’re not convinced that the climate change we’re seeing is anthropogenic in origin. We don’t think the science is there to show that in a convincing way.” That a large national organization with strong Iowa roots would… Read more

  • Rain and the High Tunnel

    LAKE MACBRIDE— After arriving at the farm, I took this photo and headed to the high tunnel to plant lettuce. The western sky was illuminated by the sun, a harbinger of rain, which came, along with lightning and thunder, within the hour. I continued planting while the drops pattered against the heavy gauge plastic and… Read more

  • Then Rain Came

    LAKE MACBRIDE— A co-worker and I were talking about the weather on the farm. For city-folk readers, people who work in agriculture do that a lot. I asked her, “when was the last rain?” Without hesitation, she answered, “in July.” And except for a couple of sprinkles, last night’s rain was the first since then.… Read more

  • Water and a Farm Worker’s Dinner

    LAKE MACBRIDE— Hydration is important while working in the field, and water is the preferred beverage. Water drawn from the well at one of the hydrants on the property. What else would it be? Once in a while, I stop at a convenience store in town, and buy a plastic bottle of sweetened soft drink.… Read more

  • At the Farm Bureau Annual Meeting

    NORTH LIBERTY— Craig Hill, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation president, spoke last night at the annual Johnson County Farm Bureau meeting. What he said was surprising. He acknowledged that the lack of adequate regulation of air and water quality in China was problematic if people wanted to breathe and drink clean water. Specifically, he pointed to… Read more

  • Climate Changed Locally

    RURAL CEDAR TOWNSHIP— A co-worker was asked when the last rain fell. The answer was July. In a community supported agriculture project, there is no option other than to irrigate when drought comes, and that means a series of hydrants spread throughout the farm, and frequent draws on the underground reservoirs. So far, there has… Read more

  • Picking Up the Pace

    LAKE MACBRIDE— Harvest season is accelerating, and there is more food available than we know what to do with. Through a complex system of work for food, gardening, barter and foraging, purchases at the grocery stores have averaged a ticket total of well under $20 consisting mainly of dairy, canned goods and sundries. It is… Read more

  • On Urban Chickens

    LAKE MACBRIDE— It is with a bit of trepidation that I venture into another expository piece about urban chickens. As people continue to move from rural areas to cities, attracted by jobs, apartments, and a type of society reliant upon the aggregation of diverse human interests, to raise chickens at home seems anachronistic. By definition,… Read more

  • Paying Tolls on the Ronald Reagan Road

    CHICAGO, Ill.— Yesterday I was surprised to notice the irrigation of corn fields along the Ronald Reagan Toll Road, or Interstate 88 in Illinois. What defines the Midwest and its row crops is the generous rainfall that enables crops without irrigation. This isn’t Nebraska after all. Maybe the rigs have been there for a while,… Read more