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  Chequamegon Bay

In The News

News articles featuring local food projects that are occurring in the Chequamegon Bay area

Washburn School District hosts tour of school garden and high tunnel to celebrate Local Farm to School Success

9/9/2016

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  • By Hope McLeod hmcleod@ashlanddailypress.net
  • Sep 1, 2016
Washburn was the first school district in the region to take advantage of Farm to School federal funding. Spearheaded by Sue Masterson, former principal for the Washburn Elementary School, a small garden was plotted in ’06. Ten years later, with assistance from a host of college-age Americorps members, plus kids and faculty, the garden has expanded to include raised beds for each grade, a straw-bale shed, a fruit orchard, and a greenhouse. Much of the produce is used for the kids’ luncheons.
Others regional school districts have since joined the Farm to School movement: Ashland, Bayfield, Drummond, and South Shore. Segal, Farm to School Regional Lead for Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, commented later in the day that this region has become a role model for the entire Midwest.
Tom Wiatr, district administrator for the Washburn School District, sprinkled a few verbal seeds on the day, “From the size of this group you can see this is not something that can be done in isolation. It takes partnerships between school districts, the city, UW-Extension, volunteers, residents and experts – state and national– to get behind these types of initiatives.”
One partner, Greta Kochevar, a Family Consumer Science teacher and Green & Health coordinator for the district, spoke to the history of the garden.
“The idea started in ’06 with the Wellness Committee. After a couple of years we needed to expand to make more room for each of the classes,” she said. “Now we have things blocked out by grade. The first grade has the brassica section with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale; kindergarten has cucumbers and squash; fourth grade, the Three Sisters Garden (corn, beans and squash).”
In spring students till the soil, plant seeds, water, weed, and learn about the science of food. Some participate in the garden during summer school, but mostly Liz Downy, garden caretaker from May-September, hauled the wheelbarrow around this summer. Bushels of produce are waiting for the kids to harvest when they return to school next week.
“We have specific benchmarks for Green & Healthy sustainability from 4K-12,” Waitr said. “We believe you can’t just read about it. You have to live it.”
He stressed the school’s commitment to honor the earth, the water and the culture in this area while providing wholesome foods and sustainability learning opportunities for students. Wiatr also announced the school recently applied for a permit from the city to graze goats on a piece of school property adjacent to the garden. Having signed an agreement with the US Fish & Wildlife in September 2015 to make habitat improvements to this meadow, the first job is to remove the invasive species, naturally.
“To be able to have students come back this fall and highlight, ‘You can do this chemical free’ without any runoff to Lake Superior and the watershed region, is critically important for us,” concluded Waitr before herding the crowd down to the high tunnel.
The Washburn School District has fully embraced the Green & Healthy model to “reduce environmental impact and costs, improve health and wellness, and increase environmental and sustainability literacy for all students.” Sticking to these values, an insightful school board realized when ‘06 school gardeners grew up they needed a more challenging Green & Healthy curriculum. Thus was born the high tunnel, aquaponics lab, and the rain, butterfly and pollinator gardens.
Visitors clustered around the high tunnel constructed in 2014. Part of a larger USDA Farm-To-School grant awarded to the Bayfield Regional Food Producers Cooperative (FPC) in 2013, FPC received $76,000 for its project, “Meeting the Challenge of Winter: Using High Tunnels to Expand Farm-to-School in Northern Wisconsin.” As a result Todd Rothe from River Road Farm coordinated the construction of five high tunnels greenhouses at the South Shore, Drummond, Washburn, Bayfield and Ashland School Districts.
Students manage the tunnels during the school year, even growing spinach in winter. During summer they can opt for the Agripreneur Program.
“The Washburn agripreneur managers are selling produce from the high tunnels during the summer at Farmer’s Market. They’ve done just under $1,000 in sales, which will be used to fund next year’s agripreneurs,” Fischbach said.
Besides the science involved in monitoring plants and controlling conditions inside the tunnel, students learn valuable economic lessons growing, harvesting and selling their own produce.
Other valuable lessons are learned in this quadrant of unique classrooms as well. Vicki Aldritt, chair educator for the school’s Ecology Club, gave an update on the butterfly garden and monarch butterfly tagging project. Currently she has 100 monarch butterfly larva and chrysalis at her house, which she’ll move to an outdoor tent near the school. After hatching she and her student team will “test them, tag them and send them on their way to Mexico.”
After a few words about the aquaponics lab, where students among other things grow lettuce on water, the crowd migrated to the high school cafeteria where Noreen Ovadia Wills, owner of Coco’s Bakery, introduced the luncheon menu: garnished boiled potatoes, tossed bean and tomato salads laced with local cheeses, and bread.
“Everything that you’re eating today is locally made including the whole wheat flour in the baguettes, grown and ground five miles away by Tom Cogger,” said Wills, who added many of the vegetables were grown in the school garden and high tunnel.
In closing, the distinguished guests added a few words.
“You can read all the grant reports and see all the pictures, but to come up here really makes a huge difference,” Segal said. “What I’m seeing in this community that’s really great is the best practice of working together. There are so many people at all different levels – students and administrators. That’s’ what it takes to grow these Farm to School programs.”
Baldwin, D-Madison, who co-sponsored the Farm to School Act of 2015, said, “I’m happy to tell you it’s a bipartisan legislation. But I also need to tell you that there are folks who don’t just want to pass a freestanding bill. They want to make this part of a larger discussion on reauthorizing the child nutrition program.”
She explained the House and the Senate have produced very different bills.
“The House, I’m sorry to tell you, has put new burdensome restrictions that would make it harder to access these school based nutrition programs,” she said.
Nothing will happen until after the November election, she said. Until then she’s committed to eliminating burdensome obstacles for people to be able to access nutritious food in school.
Plates clean, minds full of stories to take back to D.C. and Chicago, the guests darted off to their next important meeting.
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Washburn School Garden Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

8/5/2016

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"Approximately 25 people gathered together at the Washburn High School's Castle Garden ribbon cutting on Friday for a 'celebration of community.' Although sections of the garden have been operational for over two years, this ribbon cutting ceremony was held to honor garden contributors and celebrate the garden's new sign. Washburn High School's Castle Garden was originally a parking lot and now includes a high tunnel, pollinator garden, rain garden, and monarch oasis. The Castle Garden is open to the public, however caretakers suggest using caution around pollinators, such as bees. Students from Washburn High School will be selling produce from the district gardens at the Washburn Farmers Market on Wednesdays through the second week of October."

Picture taken by Amber Mullen, as featured in the Bayfield County Journal.
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Pigs in peril survive the big storm

8/2/2016

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"After 12 inches of rain fell in just five hours on July 11 the Marengo River broke its banks. Three feet of water converged from three different directions roaring through River Road Farm submerging everything in its path. Owners Todd and Kelsey Rothe, though terrified, were more concerned about their nine pigs and 16 chickens. Despite the danger, Todd risked his life to save them and discovered along the way that pigs really can swim.

"Nestled on the banks of the Marengo River, River Road Farm is a mixed-vegetable farm specializing in four season production under high tunnels."


Written by Hope McLeod for the
Bayfield County Journal. Read the full article here.

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Madeline Island solves discord with community garden

8/1/2016

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"One way to solve discord on an island is to start a community garden.

"'The original purpose of this garden was to bring people together,' said Glen Carlson, a founding member and president of the Madeline Island Community Garden & Project, now in its seventh year.

"A one acre plot close to downtown La Pointe provides produce for 20 members this year, which includes individuals, families, and a few businesses. Carlson, also the co-owner of Madeline Island Candles, shared the garden's humble beginnings last week while also giving a tour of it."

Written by Hope McLeod for the
Bayfield County Journal. Read the full article here.


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Bone-Deep: In Conversation with Clare Hintz

6/23/2016

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"Clare Hintz of Elsewhere Farm is a systems-thinker. She sees the world as a set of interlocking pieces that create the system as a whole. And this is clearly how she views and treats the land she lives and works on. We sat down with Clare during our first week of running to talk about paying attention to the land and what happens when you do so. As we broke from the heat of the day, our conversation opened up into more than just farming-talk. What follows is our edited conversation from that day.

"How does this farm fit into the broader western Lake Superior watershed? Because the only resilience that this farm is gonna have is if the whole region is resilient. So where is my energy coming from? Where are my foods going? And what’s coming back to the farm... So the work that I’m doing is not just about growing food. But also what are the economic structures? What are the financial structures? What are the community celebrations? How do those things become more vibrant? Because that’s just gonna help us weather the shocks better that are in process already."

Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Love of the Lake. Read the full article here.

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Washburn School District sets stage for sustainable student success

6/17/2016

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"Washburn School District’s Green and Healthy School Program has gained national attention for providing students with the tools necessary to live in harmony with the natural world and may even result in a visit from First Lady Michelle Obama.

"This year, the Washburn School District has gained national attention as a district that fosters academic excellence and environmentally focused programming at all levels for students.

"In September, Washburn High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award for Academic Excellence. Then this spring, five Washburn Elementary students visited the White House — twice — to plant and harvest with First Lady Michelle Obama as part of her 'Let’s Move!' initiative supporting school gardens and healthy lifestyle choices as a way to combat child obesity.

"So what exactly does this recognition mean for the district, and what makes it such a unique place to learn?"



Written by Amber Mullen for the Ashland Daily Press. Read the full article here.


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Garden Gone Wild: In Conversation with Landis Spickerman

6/14/2016

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"Landis and Steven Spickerman own and operate Hermit Creek Farm in Highbridge, Wisconsin and have been providing local vegetables to the northwoods for almost a quarter of a century. Their farm, a collage of hoop houses and open field surrounded by national forest, has become a rich and fertile plot after decades of careful stewardship. A few weeks ago, Landis baked us rhubarb pie and answered our questions about washing carrots and putting down roots. What follows is our edited conversation from that day.

"I kind of married into northern Wisconsin. I grew up near the Gulf Coast and wanted a big piece of water to live nearby, and for a lot of reasons you can’t live by an ocean and farm. But Lake Superior, you could. I was fascinated by it. We set out to homestead, and live a simple life and grow all our own food, but one thing led to another and really, we joke it always comes down to a garden gone wild – we just couldn’t help ourselves. We didn’t set out to farm; we set out to live simply. We homeschooled, we chopped firewood, we built our house, we wanted to grow our food and that’s what we set out to do and it just seemed really natural. Our passion turned into an occupation."

Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Lake. Read the full article ​here.


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The Spring White House Kitchen Garden Harvest

6/13/2016

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"Yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed students from across the country to harvest the White House Kitchen Garden and prepare a fresh, healthy meal with ingredients straight from the garden. The First Lady invited back the students who participated in this year’s planting so they could see the fruits – and vegetables – of their labor.

"The students from Wisconsin, Colorado, Louisiana, and Washington, DC, whose schools have inspiring garden programs, couldn’t believe how much the garden had grown since they planted everything almost exactly two months ago."

Written by Kelly Miterko for The White House's Let's Move! Initiative blog. Read the full article here.



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Cheese Underground: Dandelion Addiction & Fini Sur La Paille Debut in Madison

6/13/2016

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"There are distinct advantages to living in a state with a high percentage of third- and fourth-generation cheesemakers boasting Swiss and German descent who make some of the best Cheddar, Swiss, Brick, Colby, Havarti, Muenster (and of course, Limburger) in the nation.

"But a pair of cheesemakers in northern Wisconsin are on a mission to change Wisconsin's dearth in soft and stinky cheese. Michael Stanitis, owner of
Sassy Nanny Farmstead Cheese, and Fred and Kelly Faye, owners of Happy Hollow Creamery, each make a variety of artisan sheep and goat milk cheeses at Fred's farmstead cheese plant near Bayfield, Wisconsin. Each has their own farm and their own animals, but share creamery space to make their cheeses."

Written by Jeanne Carpenter for her blog Cheese Underground. Read the full article here.


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The Whole Big Quilt: In Conversation with Chris Duke

6/9/2016

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"I feel really humbled to be able to grow food for people. That’s kind of a sacred thing.

"I feel all the people that live here, we’re all stewards of this land and by default, the water. I feel that farmers especially we’re directly, we’re like managing some land with our hands, intentionally. As farmers, there’s even more weight to do a good job.

"I feel like as an organic farmer, it’s one more level of stewardship, of fitting into the bigger puzzle. I’m pretty pumped. We’re at the top of two watersheds, it feels good to be taking care of a piece of land that’s, you know, kind of got impacts to some other places. It’s just one piece of land, it’s one piece in the quilt."

Written by Our Shores: Ultrarun for the Love of the Lake. Read the full article here.

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         The F.E.A.S.T. by the Bay website is currently maintained through the community outreach of the Farm to School Programs in the Ashland, Bayfield, and Washburn School Districts.
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  • Home
    • Contact
    • In the News
    • What We're Reading
    • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Food Sovereignty
    • Bad River Tribal Food Sovereignty
    • Community Gardens
    • Local Resources & Partnering Organizations
  • Education
    • Winter Spinach High Tunnel Research Project
    • Farm to School >
      • Harvest of the Month
      • School Gardens
      • Farm-to-School Contacts
      • Internships
      • Local Food Requests
      • Events
    • High Tunnel Greenhouse Project >
      • Resources for Educators
      • School High Tunnels
  • Access to Food
    • Local Food Retailers
    • Farmer's Markets
    • CSAs
    • Farm-to-Table Restaurants
    • Food Pantries & Community Resources
  • Sustainable Farming
    • Listing of Local Farms
    • Resources For Established and Aspiring Farmers
  • Traditions
    • Ojibwe Food Traditions
    • FEAST Community Cookbook & Recipes
    • Farm to School Local Foods Recipes
  • Donate