Archive for the ‘Family – Linda’ Category
July 5, 2011 – Linda Visits Claire in DC
Linda was able to drop in and see Claire (and actually have a sleepover at Claire’s place one night while she was there).
Mother and Daughter in front of USDA building, Claire’s work station for the summer.
After all the photos of her out and about town, there’s at least one of her at work!
Claire picked out this place for them to dine. This acclaimed restaurant is owned by the North Dakota Farmer’s Union! Great food and atmosphere.
At the Capitol at dusk.
July 2, 2011 – Linda in the Hen House
I must say that Linda is one of the most well-rounded people you’ll ever meet. Here she is with a bit of an overdue spring housecleaning of the hen house.
From the hen house to the White House in 3.5 days. I’m guessing not too many people have that on their list of latest accomplishments!
one year ago…”Love to the Brotha”
June 29, 2011 – Linda invited to the White House!
Linda received word that she has been named a “Champion of Change” and is invited to a reception at the White House next week to honor innovators in rural America.
I’m not sure D.C. is ready for two Barnes women to be there at the same time! More next week.
June 25, 2011 – Emma At Dorian Music Camp
One of Emma’s favorite weeks of the year is Dorian Music Camp at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Nestled in the driftless landscape of trees, streams, hills and forests, it makes a great setting.
She has a week to concentrate on music and hang out with other kids with similar interests.
Dad cleaned up pretty good after being on the trout stream in the morning!
one year ago…”Cherries to Food”
May 29, 2011 – Daily Life of the Camper
Claire writes today.
Camping is a completely different style of life, and it’s so easy to forget everything but your basic needs which is endlessly refreshing. We pride ourselves on building one match fires, and all of the fires that we cooked on in the Boundary Waters were made with a single match.
Claire stirs the food while tending to the fire at the first campsite.
One of the beautiful things about camping is that your whole life for that period of time can fit into a canoe, and you can carry it anywhere in two trips. The efficiency of all the equipment is a beautiful thing.
Typically you try to find a campsite somewhere between 2 and 4 so you have time to set up camp. Portaging and canoeing all morning and afternoon is exhausting. Linda rests on a rock here after arriving at a campsite.
It gets cold at night. One morning we woke up with ice in our water bottles. Linda had the luxury of a brand new sleeping bag to keep her nice and toasty! The tent also held up quite well and it was affectionately nicknamed the “Emerald City”
Sometimes the weather doesn’t go quite your way. We were fortunate to have glorious day time weather all up until the last day when we awoke to raindrops. That’s when you pile on the rain gear and put a smile/grimace on your face!
one year ago…”Garlic off to Great Start”
May 28, 2011 – Boundary Waters Adventures
Claire writes today. One of the conditions of going on the Boundary Waters trip was that Claire carried the canoe on some of the portages. She and Linda split the portages about 50-50.
Here she carries the canoe on a portage
Claire paddles the bow in the canoe in one of the lakes they visited
Linda does her share of the beastly portages here.
The most useful (threatening) tool we had.
one year ago…”Smallest of Habitats”
May 22, 2011 – Linda’s Presentation to IOM
Slideshow of presentation with talking points.
one year ago…”Graduation Party”
May 21, 2011 – Linda Presents
The session Linda spoke at was filmed by HBO for an upcoming four-part special on the farm bill and health. Linda relates that at one point, she may have rubbed one of the panelists the wrong way as a former US Secretary of Agriculture bristled at one of her comments regarding the importance of local and regional food systems to help America become more self-sufficient by 1) eating a healthier diet based on varieties that taste better (and therefore eaten more) than those bred for shipping long distances 2) in case of a disruption of supply from other countries or the Central Valley of California, for regions to grow more of their own food. The former Secretary seemed a bit agitated and responded that there has never been a modern famine in the US. As the panel’s job was to tackle obesity, the comment about famine seemed somewhat out of place and after the discussion the HBO crew told Linda “that makes great television.” Although you won’t have the more extensive text that went along with the presentation, I’ll post that tomorrow.
As many have and will find out, the “Wall” is a touching reminder to all of us who lost family, friends, and Americans in the Vietnam war.
After the museums on the Mall closed and Linda was walking back to her hotel, she had a “moment.” The herds of middle school tours in their mobs of different-colored t-shirts were flocking back to their buses – the groups themselves people of all colors and accents. Then hordes of 20ish young adults, also in their colorful kickball or frisbee team shirts came to use the Mall. Their temporary bases dragged with them, giant elementary-school balls, all having a good time, sans alcohol on the public green space in the Capital. I think it made her hopeful for Claire’s upcoming summer in DC as well.
one year ago…”Salads By the Gallon”
May 20, 2011 – Linda’s Trip to DC
I had intended for Linda to write about her trip, but between trying to get the garden in and getting ready for a wilderness trip with Claire, it never happened, so I’ll try to fill-in for her. Linda was asked by make a presentation to the Institute of Medicine (one of the National Academy of Sciences) regarding barriers to domestic fruit and vegetable production to a panel investigating factors of obesity. But she had a half day or so the day she arrived to check out the Mall.
She was happy to stumble on this great lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian consisting of a salad of the three sisters (corn beans, and squash, and a wild rice salad – “native foods” so to speak.
She found refuge in a conservatory surrounded by her friends in the plant kingdom.
And she remembered the moon shots of her childhood.
one year ago…”Thingamajig Thursday #209″
May 11, 2011 – Linda to Advise in DC Next Week
Linda received an invitation to DC from a branch of the National Academy of Science and HBO to participate in a discussion about obesity and farm policy. The agency is the Institute of Medicine and here’s a bit of description from their web site.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public.
Established in 1970, the IOM is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, which was chartered under President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Nearly 150 years later, the National Academy of Sciences has expanded into what is collectively known as the National Academies, which comprises the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Research Council, and the IOM.
Here’s a brief description of the event from the IOM:
More after Linda returns…
one year ago…”Spring Bee Renewal”
January 1, 2011 – Goodbye to 2010
I thought I’d begin the year with some of my favorite photos from the last year.
We’ll lead with the “barn dogs” one cold December morning.
Here’s a shot you can only get once a year – frost on a zinnia.
As a storm passed, we had great mammatus clouds overhead.
It’s really quite remote and quiet where we’re at – a reminder on a cold winter morning.
There’s also a continual cycle of life on the farm.
Things can change in a hurry – a day firing the maple syrup stove turns nasty, so in goes the stove into the shed – improvisation is always a great quality to have.
Garlic – we were lucky to get it out during the wet early summer.
More invention on the farm – this time Martin’s cat feeding station.
After many years of angst and fundraising, the ribbon cutting for the ag incubator building at MCC happened this year.
Linda’s pies and fruit from the farm – a combination to die for!.
A great lunch spot at Devil’s Lake Wisconsin.
Finally, the kids at perhaps one of the world’s best outdoor playgrounds – Baptism Falls along the coast of Lake Superior.
one year ago…”Looking Back on 2009″
November 25, 2010 – The Feast
After yesterday’s uncomfortable outdoor experience, thought it best to lead with something warm and turkey related.
Here’s a slab of turkey in the smoker. We baked one turkey and smoked another half outside in the smoker. I was the best-smelling guy all day, tending the smoker. This turkey was out of this world good.
Pie master Linda at work on the lattice top for the cherry pie.
The completed cherry pie.
An apple pie.
And of course, a so-called pumpkin pie (actually it was squash from our garden - many folks don’t know that even store-bought pumpkin pie filling from the store is squash).
Getting the vittles ready.
Still more vittle preparation.
Making the cranberry sauce from scratch (great with port).
Finally, the turkey dressing getting ready to mix. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
one year ago…”Turkeys Ready to Go”
November 21, 2010 – Three Generations of Chicken Cleaners
We’ve been waiting for the time and weather, mainly the time, to magically turn our old laying hens into chicken broth and stewing hens. With forecast for very cold weather on tap, and a foggy and mostly drizzle free day in the upper 40′s, today was the day. We’ll have to take whatever we get on Wednesday – turkey day.
Here’s three generations of chicken knowledge lined up taking care of their end of the processing line. We fairly easily put 25 in the freezers today.
one year ago…”Morning Wake-Up”
Octobert 16, 2010 – Oxfam Event at High Hopes Gardens
We’ve spent the last few weeks spiffing up the farm in anticipation of the event held at our farm this weekend. A month or more ago, we learned that we would be hosts for an Oxfam event held in conjunction with the World Food Prize.
Here we are with the farmers from around the world. After being hosted by farmers and farm-related businesses on our ag trips to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Japan, it was nice to be able to return the favor.
Here the minister at a local church greets the guests from Haiti.
By the time the event was over, about 80 people came to hear the farmers and tour the farm. Media from the local paper and Iowa Public Radio covered the event – I have since heard that three short stories ran on IPR, but I haven’t heard them yet.
Here, Linda readies some appetizers before the guests arrive – watermelon from our garden. We provided the watermelon and raspberries for the wonderful raspberry pastries that Kamal from the Phoenix cafe provided in the catered meal that included squash soup, chicken soup, veggie tray all sourced from the Grinnell Farmer’s Market – in addition to rice from the farmers in attendance – a true local/international meal!
This woman from Haiti talked about the challenges of growing food in Haiti. So much of their crop is lost to dmage in storage (or lack of storage). She was working to locally transform crops into products that would not spoil as easily (turning peanuts into peanut butter). She had a hard time getting out of the country in a timely manner as the only place to do government business is the capital, so she needed to make the 6 hour trip to visit the capital and spend 2-3 days there. She was supposed to arrive days ago, but arrived at the DSM airport at 8:15 and was scheduled to present at the World Food Prize symposium at 9:15!
This Vietnamese farmer was part of a cooperative growing rice in a new production scheme called SRI or System of Rice Intensification. The local farmers were leery of changing over to a new method of production that did not require periodic flooding of the rice. Even though he tried it and had great success, the other local farmers would not try until the coop agreed that if they tried the new method and it didn’t work, they would pay the farmer for the amount they usually grew. That method worked and the coop didn’t have to pay out since the yields were so much higher.
This farmer is from Mali. He brought along some props, including a big gourd on a rope that they used to have to use to throw water out of a pit, over the top of his head, to the crops above. They now have a pump and a new non-flooding rice method, so he no longer spends days throwing water out of the pit.
This farmer from India was a real fireball (in center). Among other things, she invented a new type of weeder for her fields. At the symposium, she cornered the director of the Gates Foundation and others to tell her story and advocate for funding for small stakeholders. In the “it’s a small world” category – her project was undertaken by ICRISAT and some researchers from the ICRISAT campus in India where Claire had her summer internship were at our farm as part of this tour!
Finally, at the end there was a Q and A. Here, distinguished sustainable agriculture Fred Kirschenmann brings up some discussion points. Fred arrived early and helped set up. A farmer true to heart, I join the very few people in the world who have had Fred arrange hay bales in the barn for seating! One of the participants said the barn was the best auditorium they’ve ever been in to see a powerpoint presentation!
one year ago…”World Food Prize Symposium Sessions”
