MONROE - For six years, Soil Sisters has been celebrating Wisconsin farms led by women with an organic focus on local, farm-to-table practices.
On Wednesday, people packed into the Enterprise Center at Blackhawk Technical College for the first ever sneak peek social to announce upcoming workshops and the details of the annual Soil Sisters event meant to highlight family farms from Aug. 3 to 5.
Organizer Lisa Kivirist, who operates Inn Serendipity on 5 acres of farmland with her family in Browntown, has been proud to see the project, operated with the support of the South Central Chapter of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, grow over time.
"We are now the largest women-farmer-led event of its kind in the country," Kivirist said. "The event itself has about 20 women involved. Then we have an area list-serve, which is broader, and that's about 200 women."
It has gained so much attention in its initiative to create sustainable farm practices that Gov. Scott Walker officially proclaimed July 30 to Aug. 5, the week leading up to the Soil Sisters weekend tour and workshops, as "Wisconsin Women in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Week."
Wisconsin has 1,180 organic farms, the second highest in the country, and roughly 11 percent of all Wisconsin farms have primary operators who are women, a higher percentage than bordering states. Kivirist said the group wants to increase those figures to enable more female-led farms to flourish in the future.
"It's definitely stereotypically male, which is kind of funny because women have been raising food forever," Kivirist said. "They've contributed huge amounts."
Those taking part in the preview event spoke to the crowd of roughly 35 people about their practices, goals and passions in operating their own farms regionally.
Betty Anderson highlighted a workshop at her 40-acre farm, The Old Smith Place in Brodhead. The Navy veteran plans to explain the utilization of firearms on the farmstead in a safety session during Soil Sisters weekend.
Third-generation farmer Katy Dickson said she plans to show off Christensen Farm of Browntown to those unaccustomed to farm life by collecting eggs, picking vegetables and grooming ponies. April Prusia of Dorothy's Range in Blanchardville told those interested in learning to make kombucha to stop by her farm Aug. 5 for a workshop on creating fermented beverages.
Jen Riemer talked about plans to host a fundraiser stand but also called on attendees to talk to her about establishing a steering committee to create another poultry processing operation in the area. Riemer is known for co-founding Green County Defending our Farmland, which was organized at a grassroots level "to protect the health and safety of Green County" from concentrated animal feeding operations' possible negative impact on water quality.
The sneak peek was a small-scale sample of what will unfold in August, with an assortment of snacks created by local farmers while displays highlighted operations throughout the area. LindaDee Derrickson of Bluffwood Landing in Monticello walked around with a tray of her cookies she had made earlier with the addition of foraged dandelions. Conversations about food and best practices filled the room.
The weekend of farm visits will include more than 20 female-owned farms from Blanchardville to Brodhead. Five women-owned farms in the area will be toured Aug. 5 with culinary events throughout the weekend, like a pizza fundraiser at Inn Serendipity or a stop at Cow & Quince in New Glarus to try organic items. During the day of the tour, fundraiser lunch stands will be serving foods made with farm-raised produce from Raleigh's Hillside Farm of Brodhead and Riemer Family Farm in Sylvester.
Workshops like "In Her Boots" focus on helping women establish their own farming operations while others like "Green Acres" call on visitors to pull on a pair of boots and dig into the soil alongside women running their own farms within the Green County area.
"We want to create opportunities for folks to come out, learn about their farmers, support what the farmers are raising, and then education about how we're farming and why conservation is important," Kivirist said. "And thirdly, supporting a new generation of farmers, particularly new women who are interested. We're all about creating those networks to get them going."
On Wednesday, people packed into the Enterprise Center at Blackhawk Technical College for the first ever sneak peek social to announce upcoming workshops and the details of the annual Soil Sisters event meant to highlight family farms from Aug. 3 to 5.
Organizer Lisa Kivirist, who operates Inn Serendipity on 5 acres of farmland with her family in Browntown, has been proud to see the project, operated with the support of the South Central Chapter of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, grow over time.
"We are now the largest women-farmer-led event of its kind in the country," Kivirist said. "The event itself has about 20 women involved. Then we have an area list-serve, which is broader, and that's about 200 women."
It has gained so much attention in its initiative to create sustainable farm practices that Gov. Scott Walker officially proclaimed July 30 to Aug. 5, the week leading up to the Soil Sisters weekend tour and workshops, as "Wisconsin Women in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Week."
Wisconsin has 1,180 organic farms, the second highest in the country, and roughly 11 percent of all Wisconsin farms have primary operators who are women, a higher percentage than bordering states. Kivirist said the group wants to increase those figures to enable more female-led farms to flourish in the future.
"It's definitely stereotypically male, which is kind of funny because women have been raising food forever," Kivirist said. "They've contributed huge amounts."
Those taking part in the preview event spoke to the crowd of roughly 35 people about their practices, goals and passions in operating their own farms regionally.
Betty Anderson highlighted a workshop at her 40-acre farm, The Old Smith Place in Brodhead. The Navy veteran plans to explain the utilization of firearms on the farmstead in a safety session during Soil Sisters weekend.
Third-generation farmer Katy Dickson said she plans to show off Christensen Farm of Browntown to those unaccustomed to farm life by collecting eggs, picking vegetables and grooming ponies. April Prusia of Dorothy's Range in Blanchardville told those interested in learning to make kombucha to stop by her farm Aug. 5 for a workshop on creating fermented beverages.
Jen Riemer talked about plans to host a fundraiser stand but also called on attendees to talk to her about establishing a steering committee to create another poultry processing operation in the area. Riemer is known for co-founding Green County Defending our Farmland, which was organized at a grassroots level "to protect the health and safety of Green County" from concentrated animal feeding operations' possible negative impact on water quality.
The sneak peek was a small-scale sample of what will unfold in August, with an assortment of snacks created by local farmers while displays highlighted operations throughout the area. LindaDee Derrickson of Bluffwood Landing in Monticello walked around with a tray of her cookies she had made earlier with the addition of foraged dandelions. Conversations about food and best practices filled the room.
The weekend of farm visits will include more than 20 female-owned farms from Blanchardville to Brodhead. Five women-owned farms in the area will be toured Aug. 5 with culinary events throughout the weekend, like a pizza fundraiser at Inn Serendipity or a stop at Cow & Quince in New Glarus to try organic items. During the day of the tour, fundraiser lunch stands will be serving foods made with farm-raised produce from Raleigh's Hillside Farm of Brodhead and Riemer Family Farm in Sylvester.
Workshops like "In Her Boots" focus on helping women establish their own farming operations while others like "Green Acres" call on visitors to pull on a pair of boots and dig into the soil alongside women running their own farms within the Green County area.
"We want to create opportunities for folks to come out, learn about their farmers, support what the farmers are raising, and then education about how we're farming and why conservation is important," Kivirist said. "And thirdly, supporting a new generation of farmers, particularly new women who are interested. We're all about creating those networks to get them going."