Happy Dancing Blog

Minnesota residents craving fresh produce won’t have to wait long, as farmers markets are beginning to open across the region — with some coronavirus-related restrictions in place. According to Governor Walz’s stay-at-home order, farmers markets are deemed essential, but in more ways than one. They are a direct line to your producer. Short of heading out to the farm itself and buying right out of the barn, farmers markets are the most direct way to talk and learn and create a

Some bad news has arisen concerning food production. As the coronavirus pandemic has supply chains disrupted, farmers and producers are being forced to destroy their crops, dump milk, and butcher livestock. The reduction in commercial demand is mainly due, among many other reasons, to fewer people eating out, going to restaurants, and fewer school lunches being produced. However, that doesn’t mean that people are interested in eating less often. (Personally, I’ve been eating

Eco Camp registration is now open! If you’d like to learn more about a specific camp, visit our website for more details. You can even register and pay online. Right now, we all need something to look forward to, especially our kids. What better time to sign them up for Eco Camp! This year, our theme is “‘Log In’ At Eco Camp” with a focus on the forest and trees, specifically maples, oaks, birches, and pines. Kids will get outside and be up close with nature. Here are the dat

The energy of a collective makes pursuit of big ideas possible. This is true for Back to Basics: without the effort of a few for months followed by an intense amount of effort and energy by many, this long-running event wouldn’t be the success it is today! Another great example of collective energy resulting in realized dreams is that of co-ops. While there are different types of cooperatives, the one many consumers see commonly is that of food co-ops. In this region of MN, w

As we’ve discussed in previous blog posts, there are a lot of great alternatives to material gifts – volunteering/donating, giving experiences, spending quality time together, travel, etc.  However, if you are choosing to give a material gift, there is something you can do to make it far more meaningful and extra special: Make It Yourself. Sound scary? It’s not! I promise. Let’s start with the warm fuzzies of why you might do this before moving on to tips and ideas. Reasons t

As the fields turn from gold to brown and the leaves shake off their final layer of foliage, now is the time to revisit the recipes that may have a special importance to you, recipes that your family have kept in a little box, pulled out every time the winds start to get a bit brisk. These are the recipes that bring you back to your childhood. The smells of an evening as you sit near the window, feeling the crisp cold of the chilly night on your hands, as you see the snow sta

Agritourism: It’s kind of a made-up word, right? Some people use “agritainment,” instead. (Agriculture and tourism. Agriculture and entertainment. Makes sense, yes?) The basic gist of the term is a fun outdoor activity that focuses on farms, orchards, or any sort of food production location. This is not a new tactic. Local producers have incorporated into their economic repertoire (along with CSA subscriptions, farm to school programs, and farmers markets, to name a few other

The garden in all its splendor. Photo taken in early August. The last CSA shares were distributed out last week, (nothing but rave reviews in terms of quantity and quality!) Dave and the garden crew are spending this week and the next few to finally put the garden to bed. An annual tradition of pulling irrigation hoses and planting garlic (for overwinter germination) have been completed, and now the time to look back is on us. The variety and flavor of the garden was out of t

If you’ve been keeping up with the HDT harvest, you’ve seen that this year has been particularly good for us. We’ve been inundated with a bumper crop of Scarlett Nantes, or in other words, we’ve got a load of carrots! Britney & Dave during the great carrot crop harvest of 2019. With wheelbarrows overflowing, our campus chef, Chris G. has the pleasure of making use of these flavorful root veggies, and not just through salads and roasting. He’s been treating us to rare forms of

Cash and Dave showing off their garlic bounty, harvested in mid August. A quick internet search of “garlic benefits” gave in 303,000,000 results.  Need I say more? One of my go-to remedies for just about anything that ails me is raw vinegar and garlic shooters.  In theory the raw vinegar balances stomach pH and rejuvenates the gut microbiome, while the garlic provides beneficial nutrients and compounds that support health. It seems to work, but it could just be the psychology

People who have chosen to work in the farming and ranching communities have a persona of being solitary, private folk. Stoic would be an appropriate definition, working from the wee early hours until sundown, with tradition and pure grit their only tools. However, several independent developments are culminating together to create a perfect storm making life increasingly more difficult for farmers. Aging Producers The median age of the US farmer is now 55, with fewer people w

In this episode we talk about the growing “faux” meat market and what it could mean for climate change and agricultural practices being used in the US. Lab Based/Plant Based companies discussed: Impossible Foods: impossiblefoods.com/food/ Just: www.ju.st/en-us/stories/clean-meat Beyond Meat: www.beyondmeat.com/products/the-beyond-burger/ Music used in episode: 1) What to Expect by Jake Bradford on the album Sharp 2)Free Yourself by Maya Isac 3)jell-o by Egozi 4)Sparkle

It’s 3:30 in the afternoon and you’re getting a bit antsy. Nothing’s going right and you’ve still got a few hours of work before you can head home. You may snip at a co-worker and they’ll notice that you’re getting a little “hangry,” the perfect storm where your mental state is dictated by low blood sugar. We’ve all been there. It’s nothing a little snack and a walk around the office can’t fix. Just eat this candy bar and you’ll be fine. That isn’t what I’m talking about. Som

We continue our discussion with local foraging enthusiast, Travis Grimler. In this episode we talk about the legality of foraging, Travis shares some of his favorite recipes, and we share some good references to turn to if you’re interested in getting started in foraging. 1) Samual Thayer’s site www.foragersharvest.com/ 2) Green Deane’s site www.eattheweeds.com/ 3) Find foraged recipes – honest-food.net/ Music used in this episode: 1) What to Expect by Jake Bradford on th

Happy Holidays from the staff of Happy Dancing Turtle. We want to share with you some of our favorite traditions and recipes that we’ve used over the years as we met and dined with our families. Some are more classic while some are different, indeed! However, the main reason behind them is they are a reason we get together with our friends and families during the holiday season. Colin M’s Rosette Recipe We’ll start with dessert, which indeed seems like a good place to begin.

You would be forgiven if your thoughts immediately wandered over to the the eleven herbs and spices used in the “finger-licking good” recipe for KFC. It’s not your fault. Ads are prevalent in our society, and there are none more pervasive, none more that have stood the test of time, than the solicitations for that greasy, but oh-so good, fried chicken. BUT! We’re not here to talk about fast food chicken. In this episode, we do talk about the many different ways you can enjoy

This month, the theme we chose for media content was “Conscious Consumerism.” If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen advice on buying local, greener gifting, and giving experiences rather than things. The theme helps us focus our message and our creativity for the month, and ensures we’re bringing you the best and most timely content possible. We gather inspiration from big events, holidays, and national observance days (ie: Nov 15th is “America Recycles Day”). The upcom

On Thursday, November 8, we gathered at Bites Bar and Grill for our annual holiday party. Our crew ate scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, laughed at the great games provided by Janis & Shirlee, snacked on delicious desserts made by Bites owner, Wendy, and then counted our blessings, one by one. Door prizes were handed out for those that could guess how many beans were in a jar and we even played a form of HDT Jeopardy, to the delight of all participating. A big thank you to the part

There are so many reasons to purchase your turkey from a farmer that is local. You can easily find out the conditions the turkey was raised in. You can find out what they feed the turkey. If you’re serious about looking locally for your Thanksgiving feast, Minnesota Grown is a valuable resource that will connect you with local producers throughout the year, not just for Thanksgiving. You can search for the local producer nearest you, or the one that best fits your values. If

In Minnesota, we have our four seasons, and at the end of the bright, sunny, summer, leading into crisp, sweater-weather, fall, we are inundated with a bounty of end-of-season produce that can make your grandmothers recipe book open by itself in excitement! Just take a quick look at some of the most used produce here in MN; we’ve got garlic, squash, potatoes, carrots, romaine lettuce, spinach, pumpkins, and apples. There’s a lot to go with here, lots of directions to go. Do y