BRODHEAD - Tour the Farm Day is different this year, featuring solar energy uses, alternative farm and income ideas and May Day fun at one location.
The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. May 1 at Scotch Hill Farm, 910 Scotch Hill Road, about three miles northeast of Brodhead in Rock County. Hosts Dela and Tony Ends have farmed this property for 22 years. Nine area producers and four organizations will take part in the free educational and family event.
Solar food drying, which the Ends have been teaching on Farmer to Farmer volunteer assignments in Africa, is just one of the scheduled offerings. Midwest Renewable Energy Association and North Wind Renewable Energy of Stevens Point will provide information, featuring solar energy installation ideas. North Wind, an associate Wisconsin Farmers Union member, has been a solar installer in Wisconsin since 2007. To date, it has installed nearly 200 solar electric systems in Wisconsin, approaching two megawatts of capacity.
Tour the Farm Day previously included a variety of farms in a circuit around the city. The new South Central Chapter of Wisconsin Farmers Union has picked up and enlarged the event, with the Ends family hosting in one location. Producers in the chapter will share information on a variety of small business, farm-related and entrepreneurial topics.
Jams, jellies, canned goods, maple syrup, meats, wool, eggs, spring greens, milk soap, beaded jewelry and alpaca products, all produced locally, are on the agenda. Coffee roasting and spinning demonstrations are planned, in addition to solar drying and preserving of vegetables and fruits. Anna Landmark will attend with her award-winning specialty cheeses. Educational books, including cooking and preserving foods, will be for sale.
Families and children are welcome. They can connect with WFU members making products in their own food shed. Also planned are a ploughman's lunch and May Pole activities in an English tradition for children. Donations for the lunch will benefit the chapter activities. A cookie bar benefit sale will promote local WFU advocacy for cooperative and rural development. A bill that would legalize home and farmstead baked goods sales in direct transactions on a small scale is before the state legislature. An earlier bill on home canning and pickle-making and sales was enacted into state law with WFU support three years ago.
Also on hand will be members of the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association and Green County Defending our Farmland to inform the public about their work conserving and protecting local resources.
Admission to Tour the Farm Day is free. The first 20 people attending will receive a free copy of "Renewing the Countryside Wisconsin," a book that sells for $26.95. Direct questions to WFU chapter secretary Dela Ends at dela@scotchhillfarm.com or 608-897-4288. A map and driving directions to the farm are at www.scotchhillfarm.com.
The event runs from 1 to 4 p.m. May 1 at Scotch Hill Farm, 910 Scotch Hill Road, about three miles northeast of Brodhead in Rock County. Hosts Dela and Tony Ends have farmed this property for 22 years. Nine area producers and four organizations will take part in the free educational and family event.
Solar food drying, which the Ends have been teaching on Farmer to Farmer volunteer assignments in Africa, is just one of the scheduled offerings. Midwest Renewable Energy Association and North Wind Renewable Energy of Stevens Point will provide information, featuring solar energy installation ideas. North Wind, an associate Wisconsin Farmers Union member, has been a solar installer in Wisconsin since 2007. To date, it has installed nearly 200 solar electric systems in Wisconsin, approaching two megawatts of capacity.
Tour the Farm Day previously included a variety of farms in a circuit around the city. The new South Central Chapter of Wisconsin Farmers Union has picked up and enlarged the event, with the Ends family hosting in one location. Producers in the chapter will share information on a variety of small business, farm-related and entrepreneurial topics.
Jams, jellies, canned goods, maple syrup, meats, wool, eggs, spring greens, milk soap, beaded jewelry and alpaca products, all produced locally, are on the agenda. Coffee roasting and spinning demonstrations are planned, in addition to solar drying and preserving of vegetables and fruits. Anna Landmark will attend with her award-winning specialty cheeses. Educational books, including cooking and preserving foods, will be for sale.
Families and children are welcome. They can connect with WFU members making products in their own food shed. Also planned are a ploughman's lunch and May Pole activities in an English tradition for children. Donations for the lunch will benefit the chapter activities. A cookie bar benefit sale will promote local WFU advocacy for cooperative and rural development. A bill that would legalize home and farmstead baked goods sales in direct transactions on a small scale is before the state legislature. An earlier bill on home canning and pickle-making and sales was enacted into state law with WFU support three years ago.
Also on hand will be members of the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association and Green County Defending our Farmland to inform the public about their work conserving and protecting local resources.
Admission to Tour the Farm Day is free. The first 20 people attending will receive a free copy of "Renewing the Countryside Wisconsin," a book that sells for $26.95. Direct questions to WFU chapter secretary Dela Ends at dela@scotchhillfarm.com or 608-897-4288. A map and driving directions to the farm are at www.scotchhillfarm.com.