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!

I started this challenge incredibly optimistic. I was optimistic about myself, my available time and even my enthusiasm. It got real, real fast! Sweat and flip flops became a part of the equation. There were wins, there were…not wins.

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

I mean you drive your car and park it at your campsite, cabin, yurt, or other camp lodging option, allowing you to bring some luxuries along that wilderness camping does not.

I genuinely wanted walking (or maybe skating) to become something ordinary, woven into the fabric of my days instead of treated like a special occasion. Then life, in its usual unceremonious way, happened.

Resources for understanding air quality and air quality alerts.

Summer is the peak season to explore on a camping trip - a way to spend quality time in nature or with friends and family.

My quiet place is in the garden. The act of sitting completely alone with my thoughts...

It’s important to remember that your garden is also likely under the effects of the heat. Let’s review what you can do to help keep your soil and little green buddies happy and thriving in the hot summer months

This summer I decided to set a simple goal: walk to and from work as often as possible.

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.

It’s fire season again, as are most spring seasons in the Midwest. This time the wakeup call came closer to the Northern Lakes campus of Happy Dancing Turtle in Pine River in May 2026. Wildfires are a concern statewide. The 1600-acre Flanders fire burned in Mission township in north central Crow Wing County. Flanders Lake sits on the western end of several thousand acres of publicly owned land. That land surrounds the Pine River, just before it enters the Mississippi River. M

We need to ensure that our lakes are clean and healthy. But how can we tell? One way to tell is to look at the bugs in the water!

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.