Sheep & Wool Festival 2014

The Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson, Wisconsin always marks the beginning of the Fall season for me. The rows and rows of vendors get my creative juices flowing and all I want to do  for the next six months is knit. The Baby loved the sheep. She even got to see one hour old lambs.

Of course I came home with a few goodies.

I'm in love with Briar Rose Fibers! I also appreciate a large skein, over 500 yards of merino wool heaven, not to mention the beautiful hand painted color way (now I really sound like a knitting nerd). I also got to talk with Jenny The Potter who makes amazing ceramics. I wanted everything in her booth but I managed to have a little self-control and made the modest purchase of a set of buttons for my latest sweater.

I definately regret not entering any skeins of my angora yarn into this years competition. I just had too many commitments this weekend, but I will next year, I must!

Wool!

Thanks to a dear friend, I recently scored four huge garbage bags of Llama and Alpaca wool from a farm in Waterford. I think I will have enough wool to spin for quite some time. The wool was really clean so I did not have to do much soaking but it took a full day and a half to get through two bags.

Also, many thanks to my father-in-law who got both of my antique spinning wheels in working order, so that I have a mechanism to actually spin all of this wool!  Yes, there will be many future spinning posts. After all, I bartered all of this wool in exchange for making a few hats with the finished product.

3,024 things to do over the next 18 days

56 eggs, turned three times a day for 18 days for a grand total of 3,024 egg turns.  112 are down so far.

These eggs are from my father's flock.  This is the first time he is supplying his own eggs.  We shall see if his good-for-nothing rooster can dodge a trip to the stew pot if most of these are fertilized.  There are always a few eggs not fertilized and that is why the incubator is more crowded than it should be.  Some of the eggs are also a bit older than I'd like (around 6 days) but they should still be viable.  The variety of egg age, size and breed are what I love about hatching these guys.  So many variables!

We did this last year and it was one of the highlights of 2011 so we figured on doing it again.  It is a big commitment but the payoff is even greater.

Out and About: Sweet Water Organics

Indeed, Milwaukee is becoming the Aquaponics Capital of the World! Sweet Water Organics an urban farm located in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee. Sweet Water has re-purposed an industrial building space using in an aquaponics mansion.  They sustainably grow fresh, safe produce and fish for local Milwaukee residents, restaurants and groceries. Another goal of the foundation is to become a resource for job creation and the revolutionary re-use of urban landscapes.

Jake is very found of aquaponics, I honestly did not know much about it. I had volunteered at Growing Power and learned what aquaponics was, but did not know the ins and outs of it. With the opportunity to tour Sweet Water, I got to see aquaponics on a much grander scale. 


So... what is Aquaponics? It's the marriage of aquaculture (fish, snails, prawns) with hydroponics (cultivation of plants in water) to create a sustainable food production system. Basically the plants filter out the fish waste and the filtered plant water is recirculated back to the fish. In this system, both plants, water, and fish thrive.


Our tour guide, Jim Godsil - Co-Founder of the operation, told us stories of how this amazing place came to be and where they are going (thanks Jim!). The tour was a solid two hours, and we enjoyed every minute of it.  If you live in Milwaukee or ever visit the city, be sure to visit this truly amazing place!

Media with a message

We were deeply moved by this commmercial. Not only does Willie Nelson do a cover of Coldplay's The Scientist, but the animation portrays an important message that we believe in, and if a food chain can source locally, than it is posssible we all can.

Happy Campers

We had a blast this weekend in Door County, Wisconsin. We visited friends in Sister Bay for a few nights and then headed to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and camped on the shore of Lake Michigan. We also picked up some salsa, jams, fruit and beef jerky - all made locally from fresh local ingredients. We dipped into the raspberry salsa while sitting by the campfire, oh so good.


We always try to make a point to support local businesses whenever we travel. There is just something so satisfying about buying local. You know who made it or grew it, and when you hand off your hard-earned cash, you know who you are supporting with that money. You are supporting a person, a family, a lifestyle and not a corporation.

What is so cool about Door County, is once you go north of Sturgeon Bay, there are no large chain stores and no fast food. This is definitely a switch up from Waukesha where chain stores are everywhere. So with no big box stores, you have to support the local economy and that is a beautiful thing, especially when you visit a place that offers tons of fresh foods and good company. Door County cherries anyone?

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin

On the way back home, we visited our parents and got a huge bag of apples and zucchini. So apple butter, zucchini bread, and more adventures in the kitchen later this week!