Jim Chamberlin
- 2 days ago
- 3 min
Meat that Meets the Cut
Plant based diets are all the rage, and for good reason. Livestock is responsible for much of the environmental damage caused by...
HDT Team
- Oct 12
- 3 min
Getting Your Pollinator Friendly Yard Ready for Winter
The population of pollinators is declining worldwide. Habitat loss and lack of food for pollinators are the primary reasons for the...
Jim Chamberlin
- Sep 26
- 3 min
Long Game of Soil Health Reduces Drought Impact
Well into the drought this summer, I drove by a corn field east of Brainerd and was surprised how healthy the corn looked. Just a mile or...
Jim Chamberlin
- Aug 7
- 2 min
Digging Into the Lives of Dung Beetles
Dung beetles came late in my soil health journey. More than three decades after becoming an “organic” farming advocate, the dung beetle...
Jim Chamberlin
- Jul 26
- 3 min
Grassland 2.0 Update
Grassland 2.0 is a social project involving grass, water, cows, and people. On a recent Saturday, a group of around 30 people gathered at...
Jenny Hill
- Jul 3
- 3 min
Adventures in Sustainability: Food Waste and Some Great Alternatives
The numbers are sobering: According to the Environmental Defense Fund, 160 billion pounds of food goes uneaten every year in the United...
HDT Team
- Jun 2
- 4 min
Watersheds 101
Minnesota sits atop a triple, continental-scale water divide. As one of the exhibit pieces in We Are Water MN describes it: “This means...
Jim Chamberlin
- May 5
- 3 min
Keyline Design Works with Water
Happy Dancing Turtle recently hosted journalist and National Geographic Explorer, Erica Gies, to discuss Water Always Wins, a book in...
Jim Chamberlin
- Apr 14
- 3 min
Grazing Update for the Pine River Watershed
Jim Chamberlin is a long-time member of the Pine River Watershed Alliance. Below is his most recent update on grazing initiatives. The...
Jim Chamberlin
- Mar 3
- 4 min
Bringing It All Together for Soil Health
The Change Exchange discussion group the last couple of months have focused on the life under our feet. This month we bring it all...
Jenny Hill
- Feb 17
- 5 min
Garden Tips
As we watch the snow melt, then rain come and go, and then the snow start all over again, many of us have fallen for the siren call of...
Jim Chamberlin
- Feb 3
- 4 min
Soil Health: The Challenge of Our Time
Soil health is defined as the ability of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem. The soil's ability to function, to cycle water and...
Jim Chamberlin
- Dec 2, 2022
- 4 min
Celebrate World Soil Day
World Soil Day is December 5th and is dedicated to focus attention on the importance of healthy soil and to advocate for the sustainable...
Jim Chamberlin
- Sep 23, 2022
- 5 min
Soil Health, Part Three
Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, also operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry operation near...
Jim Chamberlin
- Sep 16, 2022
- 5 min
Soil Health, Part Two
Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, with his wife, Audra, operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry...
Jim Chamberlin
- Sep 9, 2022
- 5 min
Soil Health, Part One
Jim Chamberlin, Happy Dancing Turtle’s Conservation Technician, also operates a 109-acre diversified farm and forestry operation near...
Jenny Hill
- Aug 5, 2022
- 3 min
The Garden Files: Cover Crops, Who’s Bugging the Potatoes, Garlic Success, Berries, and Herbs
It’s August! This time of year, many gardens are a feast for the eyes with the many, many shades of green and colored pops of fruit and...
Jenny Hill
- Jun 17, 2022
- 2 min
The Garden Files: Nettle Tea, Skinks, Strawberries and Asparagus Harvest
Gardening is a complex process. So many variables–plant type, soil health, timing, spacing, companion planting–can contribute to...
Jenny Hill
- May 27, 2022
- 2 min
Controlling Cutworms, Cool Season Crops and Planting Lore
The Happy Dancing Turtle atrium/gardens/hoop houses are in full swing now and Gardener Dave has some tips to share about controlling...
Jenny Hill
- May 6, 2022
- 3 min
Community Gardens a Good Fit for Beginners
Maybe it happens to you every year about this time–the idea of tending a garden rises like an incredible mirage. You see yourself (tanned...