Happy Dancing Blog

Happy Dancing Turtle’s Garden Team starts 10,000+ seeds on campus every year. They grow plants in many ways–using hoop houses, aquaponics, hydroponics and the beautiful traditional outdoor garden beds on Campus. The Garden Team uses soil blocks for seed starts and recently shared some of their recipes, tips and tricks that also apply to the home gardener.

HDT staffer Jim Chamberlin shares his love of backcountry skiing.

What Exactly is a Lichen? A lichen isn’t a single organism, but an example of symbiosis. It’s made up of a fungus and an alga living together so closely they function as one. The fungus provides structure and protection, while the alga produces food through photosynthesis. Together, they form a resilient team capable of surviving in some of the harshest conditions.

Buying local beef is now even easier thanks to the online store from Headwaters Beef Cooperative.

Some folks simply aren't built for winter outdoors and that's perfectly fine. Others can't fathom being cooped up indoors for months and that's fine too. What counts is discovering a way to make winter feel healthy and fulfilling rather than merely survivable.

What is the correlation between eating well and mental health?

Winter sometimes comes and goes within the blink of an eye, which is unusual for an area that usually spends months covered in snow with freezing temperatures. It is so interesting to go outside and see how nature has taken to this weather-wackiness, and wonder what is to come. 

Hydroponics, or growing withou traditional soil, can seem mysterious. A photo tour of HDT's aquaponics system shares how it works.

One of the secrets to making it through challenging winter weather conditions may be winter denial. I call winter denial the behavior/task/habit that is appropriate in a season other than winter that someone still carries on through as much of winter as possible.

Each year, I eagerly anticipate the days growing shorter, the hush that falls over the land as the trees lose their leaves, the animals going quiet, and the first frosty white flakes falling from the sky. Winter is by far my favorite season.