Happy Dancing Blog

For the last few months we’ve had a large flock of wild turkeys hanging out on our place, Island Lake Farm, east of Brainerd. They gather in the woods and in our big field. It’s a flock of at least three mature hens and their young, maybe thirty birds in all. They spend a fair amount of time in our neglected asparagus patch or in the cover crop that was planted following potatoes. We hope they’re eating bugs and weed seeds, while helping to fertilize the soil. The first time

Do you have a summer and winter diet? Many of us do, at least to a certain extent because it seems more fun to eat melon in the summer and baked potatoes in the winter. Local food advocates (like me), try to eat seasonally–to savor the springtime taste of asparagus and the autumnal return of butternut squash. Squash from campus gardens. Photo by HDT staff. Personally, I’ve found there’s an intrinsic satisfaction to staying in tune with the seasons like this. Eating foods like

We tend to be more aware of pollinators (bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and some flies) in warm-weather months, there are things to do right now that are crucial to preserve pollinator habitat.

The Happy Dancing Turtle garden team has planted several different purple vegetables in the garden. You may be accustomed to enjoying purple onions (which we also grow), but read on to discover some varieties you may not be familiar with.

Why is Jim Chamberlin nuts for hazelnuts? Hint: It's not a cash crop!

A mindset can make all the difference. Jim Chamberlin explores what it means to nurture, rather than exploit, soil.

As most of our regular readers know, I, along with my wife Audra, own and operate Island Lake Farm, located east of Brainerd. It is a diverse farm operation with an abundance of different products, from various fruits, nuts, syrup, and lumber grown as part of our agroforestry systems, to livestock and veggies grown for market. Water quality certification is another step Island Lake Farm took for conservation. Photo by Minnesota Water Quality staff With a mission of using ec

Drinking water is a ridiculous shortcut to living better. But, why does it help? According to the Nutrition Information Center, 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

As June 8 - World Ocean Day - approaches, it’s easy to feel that as a Midwesterner living very far from the ocean, our actions don’t have impacts on that ecosystem, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Interest in local food isn’t just a passing trend, it’s a return to something deeply rooted in our culture: knowing where our food comes from and who grows it. Across communities, the prevalence of farmers markets reflects a renewed desire for fresh, flavorful, and responsibly grown food, along with connection.

In the foodie circles I keep there has been a lot of talk recently on the expansion of a dairy operation in southwest Minnesota. The proposal is to expand production by building a new 11,000-cow dairy adjacent to a nearby existing facility, bringing the total number of dairy cows to 18,855, making it the largest dairy operation in the state. By all accounts it will be an efficient operation, applying the manure over more than twenty square miles of land. Cows will be kept i

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.

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

What is the correlation between eating well and mental health?

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

This interview with The Forager Chef is a preview of his keynote, "The Grocery Store Outside."

Jim Chamberlin gives a personal overview of homestead planning and resources.

When a favorite color has a dark side...

Prescribed burns, long practiced by indigenous cultures, are a means of reducing the risk of damage to natural resources by wildfire.

Recently a small group of people gathered at Island Lake Farm on a cool fall evening to talk about Climate on the Farm. Sponsored by the Climate Land Leaders and supported by Happy Dancing Turtle, the evening started with a history of the farm. We have been on our farm for thirty years and consider it to be a special place. With a half mile of shoreline on a natural wild rice lake and the headwaters for the Ripple River, we have kept conservation at the heart of our farm ope