Tomatoes

Tomatoes. Easy to grow and wonderful to enjoy. This is the time of the year to eat those grown in your garden and allow the juice to run down your chin, while you are smiling all the while. Not like the tomatoes that one finds in the stores in January that look like tomatoes and taste like . . .well is cardboard close.

I plant enough tomatoes so Ruth cans tomato juice and tomato soup, which we enjoy all winter.

The Old Timer says: "Don't matter none if tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable. Those grown in your garden can't be beat."

ANNOUNCEMENT: My new book for this fall is titled OLD FARM: A HISTORY. The Wisconsin Historical Society Press is the publisher and it will be in the stores by the end of September. My photographer son, Steve and I did this one together. Go to www.wisconsinhistory.org/whspress to learn more.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Threshing Days

About this time in August, when I was a kid, the threshing crew came by our farm. What a great time going from farm to farm in our neighborhood. Teams of horses hauled the grain bundles from the fields to the enormous machine that shaked and shuddered and sent a stream of golden yellow oat straw onto an ever growing straw stack. Oat kernels trickled down the grain pipe and men, sturdy men, carried sacks of oats on their shoulders to the farmer's grain bins in his granary.

When I was 13 or 14, I made the rounds with the threshing crew. Working hard, but eating well. Oh those threshing meals. Never to be forgotten. A great social event it was as well with storytelling, practical jokes and one more way for neighbors to get to know each other well.

The Old Timer Says: "Know your history, but avoid being stuck there."


Coming Events:

September 1: Paperback edition of IN A PICKLE available.

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Rose Bush

A tough old rose bush grows at the corner of my cabin at the farm. I planted it more than thirty years ago. Not once have I sprayed it, dusted it, or covered it for the winter. It's a little shaggy around the edges and prickly enough so no rabbit, deer or other critter comes near it.

Best of all, it begins blooming in the spring and blooms all summer without any attention whatever. It attracts bees and old farmers who stop and look--and yes, stick their noses up close to the red blossoms as the flowers smell like I think a rose should.

My rose is a bit like some people I know--a little shaggy around the edges, but dependable and require little attention. And are a joy to have around.

The Old Timer says: "Get yourself one of those old fashioned rose bushes--and take time to enjoy it."


Coming Events:

September 10, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing, Borders West, Madison. In A Pickle.

September 11, 7:00 PM Presentation and Book Signing. Mineral Point Historical Society, Opera House, Mineral Point, WI. "Stories From the Land."

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

September 20, Saturday, 2:00 PM Monroe Cheese Days. Presentation and Book Signing.

Tell Your Story

Everyone has a story to tell. That was the theme of the writing workshop I taught at The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin last week. Sixteen students, examining their memories, jotting down their stories, and sharing them with each other. Laughter, tears, smiles and smirks. A great week.

The Old Timer says: "When something gets in your way: Don't try to go around it. Don't try to crawl under it. Don't try to step over it. Meet it head on."


Coming Events:

August 16 and 17. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI I will be there both days to sign books. I will also speak at 1:00 p.m. each day, "Every Farm Tells a Story."

September 1: IN A PICKLE available in paperback. If you've not yet gotten the book, here's a second chance.

September 13, Saturday. One-day writing workshop at The Clearing. A few slots still open. Call 1-877-854-3225 for further information.

The Clearing

I'm off to The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin where I will teach a week-long writing workshop. Jens Jensen, a Dane by birth, established The Clearing as a residential learning center in 1935. He was then 75 years old. Jensen saw The Clearing as a place where city people could renew their contact with the "soil" as a basis for life values.

The Clearing has continued over the years offering classes in natural sciences, fine arts, skilled crafts, and humanities including writing. Jensen's dream was to offer a year-round folk school in a natural setting. And that's what it is. I've been teaching there for 18 years, and for Ruth and me, it's one of our favorite places.
To learn more, go to www.theclearing.org.

The Old Timer Says: "To walk forty rods on a never before traveled trail is far more difficult than traveling five miles on a well-used road."


August 16 and 17. Railroad Days, Stonefield Village, Cassville, WI I will be there both days to sign books. I will also speak at 1:00 p.m. each day, "Every Farm Tells a Story."

September 1: IN A PICKLE available in paperback. If you've not yet gotten the book, here's a second chance.