Dear friends and farmers,

This weekend was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining, it was warm and the birds were singing. Where was all of this beautiful weather last weekend during the Fall Harvest Festival?! Despite the chilly breeze and the drizzle through the morning, we still had a lot fun last Saturday as young farmers donning sweaters and rain boots joined us to harvest beans from the field.

Dear friends and neighbors,

When I was a kid, my parents spent a lot of time packing my brothers and sister and I up to make the obligatory rounds to see our family members. One of those people happened to be my Great Aunt Christine. Visiting my Aunt Chris as a child was almost like stepping back into an earlier era, though I didn't know it at the time.

Dear friends and neighbors,

In 1937, June was named National Milk Month as a way to encourage Americans to include milk as a part of their daily diet. Only a few year's later, the event was renamed National Dairy Month, and became a month dedicated to celebrating not only the nutritional value of milk, but of all milk products and the dairy industry as a major and important contributor to our lives. Throughout the month, there are a number of dairy-inspired holidays:

Dear friends and neighbors,

I come from a family of Midwestern farmers. When I joined the team at Historic Wagner Farm, I felt at home in many ways. The culture, the personalities, the people - it was all familiar to me in the way an old friend you haven't seen in many years is familiar. Growing up surrounded by farm culture, it was a surprise to me how much my work at the Farm has taught me about the impact agriculture has had in developing our local communities.

Dear Visitors and Friends,

Spring is just around the corner, and soon Wagner Historic Farm will swirling with guests, volunteers, and livestock roaming the grounds once again. The vacant stalls behind the barn, where you’ll most likely find me, will be occupied by 4-H pigs and sheep. I’ve written a lot about sheep over the years, but not so much pigs, so I’d like to take this moment to give you a brief history of swine in the settling of America.

Dear friends,

Thinking about how important our volunteers are at the Farm, I’m reminded of a story that took place almost 200 years ago. The main character of the story is a young Frenchman who was sent to America to figure out how we were doing so well with democracy, and how the French might be able to improve their not-so-successful efforts.