Happy Dancing Blog

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 op

It can be tempting to cut everything down in the fall, but leaving some of your garden “messy” through winter is one of the best gifts you can give to birds, pollinators, and your soil.

I started going to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) over fifty years ago with my parents. Our trips began as one week...

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the 19th Biennial North American Agroforestry Conference. As part of the conference, the Working...

My family tries our best to reduce the food waste in our kitchen–even just by doing things as simple as not peeling carrots, cucumbers,...

Planting trees has long been seen as an act of faith, action, and stewardship.  Trees provide numerous benefits. They protect the soil,...

Doesn’t that title sound super impressive and knowledgeable? Don’t worry I just came up with it in the shower one day. Zero waste...

Based on the premise that adaptive grazing management is vital to mimicking the natural systems that build healthy soils and landscapes,...

Climate change is a hoax, or at least the notion that reducing carbon and other heat-trapping gasses in our atmosphere can stabilize our...

I grew up in the Central Valley of California during the start of the recycling revolution trend, but that doesn’t mean I understood it....

Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, also operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry operation near...

If you’ve heard an undercurrent of whining every time you step outdoors, that may have been my muttering carried on a brisk north wind to...

Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, also operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry operation near...

Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, with his wife, Audra, operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry...

The numbers are sobering: According to the Environmental Defense Fund , 160 billion pounds of food goes uneaten every year in the United...

Sustainable agriculture gives me hope. What gives me hope is the knowledge that much of what ails us and the planet we are part of can be...

Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, also operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry operation near...

In the fall, once the gardens are put to bed, many of us feel the urge to “clean up” our yards. We tend to label fallen leaves, pine...