Category Archives: Farm Almanac

Keeping sanity alive and my mouth shut

By Frank Paynter | Published: October 29, 2010

Yesterday, my carry-on packed, I headed off into the dark of a midwestern morning, on my way to the Rally to Restore Sanity. At the airport I was questioned by Transportation Safety officers and I admitted to possession of toothpaste and shampoo. They made me unpack so they could examine my Dopp kit. I had [...]

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Dances with chipmunks

By Frank Paynter | Published: October 5, 2010

I just got back from a hike on the prairie. Dogs are glad I’m home. They like these daylight rambles in the fall, the season for gathering seeds from the prairie… big blue stem, little blue stem, prairie drop seed, Indian feather grass, compass plant, prairie dock, cone flowers, and umpteen kinds of sunflowers all [...]

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iCandy

By Frank Paynter | Published: September 9, 2010

The kitchen table is covered with iTrash. We’re recharging the proprietary batteries. No grab and stash common batteries fit this gear. You can skip the pharmacy or the hardware store or the supermarket or the airport kiosk if you need a new battery. Rather, when the battery dies, you either buy the next generation of [...]

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Windchime Time Lapse of Perseids Meteor Shower

By Frank Paynter | Published: August 14, 2010

Image by Nomad Art Works I missed Perseid sky watching this week due to mosquitoes and humidity. Thanks to @NASA_GoddardPix on twitter I have a couple of great images available for my vicarious enjoyment. Bonus! They have a link to a high def video of the recent solar activity, the coronal mass ejection or super-flare [...]

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Clonal moo juice

By Frank Paynter | Published: August 13, 2010

Savvy dairymen in Britain may be adulterating the nation’s milk supply with something that looks like milk, tastes like milk, and comes from an animal that moos like a milker, but leaves regulators and ethical arbiters unsure of whether or not to permit its consumption. Here and there around the world, cloned cows and their [...]

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Tumble down shack

By Frank Paynter | Published: July 1, 2010

Tumble down shack in Bigfoot County Snowed so hard that the roof caved in Delilah Jones went to meet her God and the old man never was the same again Brown eyed women and red grenadine the bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean Sound of the thunder with the rain pouring down and [...]

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Down on the farm, administrivia department

By Frank Paynter | Published: January 16, 2010

I’ve been following the unfolding story of the Trautman farm and their struggle with Wisconsin’s Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Affairs. A recent post inspired an email from Betty, one of my favorite readers. She gave me permission to edit it a little and post it here. Any errors or misstatements in what follows [...]

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Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund – FTCLDF

By Frank Paynter | Published: January 6, 2010

Before New Years Day I wrote here about the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and the Kafkaesque way they have treated Scott and Julie Trautman. Scott and Julie are certified organic farmers selling grass fed beef. They also have a small dairy herd. Until recently they were able to market their [...]

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