• Queen Bee Session 11: Heidi Hankley
    Jan 24 2024
    The Queen Bee Sessions are monthly-ish conversations with Wisconsin Women in Conservation (WiWiC), a collaboration between four Wisconsin agricultural organizations who are seeking to connect more women landowners and farmers with conservation resources and funding. The podcast is hosted by WiWiC Communications Specialist Kriss Marion. In July, Kriss chatted with Heidi Hankley, a prairie property owner in rural Green County. Heidi won the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources “State Natural Areas Volunteer Stewards of the Year Award in 2022 for a decade of efforts to preserve and enhance the York Prairie State Natural Areas, a 145-acre public prairie down the road from her. In this Session, we talk about State Natural Areas that protect “little gems,” the best times for collecting native seed from prairies and roadsides, balancing volunteerism with family, combining art and land stewardship and how it all started with salamanders and cousins. Listen in!   
    Show More Show Less
    45 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 10: Patty Schevers
    Jul 6 2023
    The Queen Bee Sessions are monthly(ish) conversations with Wisconsin Women in Conservation, a collaboration between four Wisconsin agricultural organization seeking to connect more women landowners and farmers with conservation resource and funding. This podcast is hosted by WiWiC Communications Specialist Kriss Marion. In July, Kriss talks with Patti Schevers of Our Thunder Moon, a fourth generation land steward on her family’s Century Farm in Oneida, WI. Patti, her family, and her partner Brad took the family's 100 acres through a conservation transformation in 2020. With the help of Pheasants Forever and federal conservation programs, they were able to plant 10,000 trees and shrubs, plant 90 acres of native prairie wildflowers and grasses and create three wildlife “scrapes” or ponds. Patti talks about how the project was funded, how the plan evolved, and what her hope is for this incredible property.   
    Show More Show Less
    28 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 9: Lauren Langworthy
    May 31 2023
    In May 2023, we're talking with Lauren Langworthy of Blue Ox Farm in Wheeler.  Lauren calls herself a grass farmer and explores her farm history from organic veggies to grazing diverse livestock. She’s also the director of Special Projects with Wisconsin Farmers Union and discusses the importance of mentorship and support in the farm community.    The Queen Bee Sessions feature Wisconsin women farmers, landowners and conservationists who are making strides to protect soil, water, and wildlife in our fair state. The Sessions are hosted by Wisconsin Women in Conservation communications lead Kriss Marion, who practices managed grazing with sheep and hosts farmstay guests at Circle M Market Farm in SW Wisconsin.   For more information on Wisconsin Women in Conservation events and to receive The Buzz monthly e-newsletter, visit WiWiC.org. 
    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 8: Joy Miller
    May 15 2023
    This month we’re talking with Joy Miller of Keewaydin Farms in Viola, Wisconsin, and the Executive Director of Driftless Curiosity, a land-based non-profit that seeks to foster the public's connection to conservation and land.    Miller helps run the farm’s CSA and hosts 30 experiential events on the farm each season. Follow her Driftless Curiosity Journal on instagram and Facebook. Read the Journal and sign up for events at Drifltesscuriosity.org.    For more information on Wisconsin Women in Conservation events and to receive The Buzz monthly e-newsletter, visit WiWiC.org. 
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 7: Una VanDuvall & Ife Olatunji
    Mar 21 2023
    The Queen Bee Sessions feature Wisconsin women farmers, landowners and conservationists who are making strides to protect soil, water, and wildlife in our fair state. The Sessions are hosted by Wisconsin Women in Conservation communications lead Kriss Marion, who practices managed grazing with sheep and hosts farmstay guests at Circle M Market Farm in SW Wisconsin. She kicks off Women’s History Month 2023 by talking with history makers Una VanDuvall of Milwaukee, a community organizer with Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and her talented daughter Ife Olatunji, visual anthropologist and founder of Freedom Lover Films. These women have deep and enduring roots in Nicodemus, Kansas, the frontier community established by African Americans at the end of the Civil War that still survives today. The family continues to support and organize the famous Nicodemus Homecoming every July. 2023 will be the 145th Emancipation Celebration in Nicodemus! Listen in as they explore the power and promise of history, family, community and hope. Check out the links, and follow Freedom Lover Films and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute on Facebook. 
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 8 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 6: Kirsten Jurcek
    Oct 20 2022

    The Queen Bee Sessions are monthly conversations with Wisconsin Women in Conservation, a collaboration between four Wisconsin agricultural organizations seeking to connect more women landowners and farmers with conservation resources. The host is Kriss Marion of Circle M Market Farm, who is the WiWiC Communications Lead and a small-scale sheep grazier in Lafayette County. Her conversation with Kirsten Jurcek of Brattset Family farm covered a wide range of topics with this experienced beef grazier: regenerative agriculture, working lands conservation easements, community, soil health and human health, among other things. Kirsten farms on nearly 300 acres in Southeast Wisconsin - including woodlands, hayfields, pasture and wildlife habitat. She is one of the Conservation Coaches for Wisconsin Women in Conservation. That means she serves as a mentor and guide to other women farmers and landowners who want to implement more conservation practices on their land. But she is a busy professional mentor to both men and women, in many capacities, including her role as a grazing specialist with Glacierland Resource, Conservation and Development - where she develops grazing plans for clients and also arranges field days for folks to see conservation practices in place on farms across the eastern part of the state. Kirsten embodies the Glacierland motto: “Conservation that Works! Bringing together science and community to grow Wisconsin’s economy and protect our natural resources.” For more information about Glacierland RC&D see glacierlandrcd.org. For more information on Wisconsin Women in Conservation events and to receive The Buzz monthly newsletter, visit WiWiC.org. 

    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 5: Ayla Graden-Dodge
    Sep 13 2022

    The Queen Bee Sessions are monthly conversations with Wisconsin Women in Conservation, a collaboration between four Wisconsin agricultural organizations seeking to connect more women landowners and farmers with conservation resources. The host is Kriss Marion of Circle M Market Farm, who is the WiWiC Communications Lead and a small-scale sheep grazier in Lafayette County. On Labor Day, Marion interviewed Graden-Dodge, the mother of three young children and the primary manager at Blackbrook Farm in Amery, the 140-acre diversified organic meat and produce operation she owns with her husband James and a crew of six.  The farm is a mixture of tillable land, pasture, woods, pond, stream and pollinator habitat. The farm is home to pasture-raised hogs, Highland cattle, and chickens who improve the soil for 5 acres of organic vegetables sold through a Community Supported Agriculture model. “We seek to increase the diversity of this land’s biology, both above and below ground, by using regenerative farming practices that nurture the soils rather than just the crops,” says Dodge. “To be able to see the increase in toads, worms, and all kinds of birds and wildlife on our farm brings me great joy and reinforces in me that at stewards of the land, we need to continue protecting our water, wildlife and land in conjunction with using it.” Visit blackbrookfarmstead.com. For more information on Wisconsin Women in Conservation events and to receive The Buzz monthly newsletter, visit WiWiC.org. 

    *Note: Please excuse the audio quality of this recording; sometimes that’s the reality of rural internet/reception challenges.*

     

    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • Queen Bee Session 4: Harriet Behar
    Jun 16 2022
    In the June 2022 Queen Bee Session, host Kriss Marion visits with Harriet Behar of Sweet Springs Farm, a 160-acre veggie, herb, egg and honey operation in Gays Mills. 26 acres of the property are restored prairie installed by Behar and her husband, an much is in woods and streams as well. Behar has been an organic educator for 40 years, through UW Madison and Marbleseed. She is an organic inspector and has been on over 2,500 farms as part of her work. Behar is now a Conservation Coach with Wisconsin Women in Conservation, and mentors women who want to implement more conservation on their land. “Working with nature’s tools is first of all, just so interesting,” says Behar. “And I’m also really interested in people’s motivations and stories about wanting to work with nature.” For more information on Wisconsin Women in Conservation events and to receive The Buzz monthly newsletter, visit WiWiC.org.

     

    Show More Show Less
    47 mins