In 1972, Gordon Garrison purchased 300 acres of farmland in Emmet County, a rectangle near the Minnesota border one county to the east of the Iowa Great Lakes. The Iowa State University agricultural engineering graduate began raising sheep and crops. He also set about working to restore the ...
Communities in every corner of the country now struggle with a lack of affordable homes, an ailment long associated with fast-growing urban areas. I used to think that if the market would take care of any problem facing rural communities, it would take care of housing. If we could get jobs, ...
Certain foods only feel right during the summer. Gnawing on a hot dog in negative twenty-degree weather does not make sense. It’s best to enjoy the summer foods during the right time of the year, and there are only a few foods that truly matter. Watermelon is one of these foods. Have you ...
When George Washington was 6 years old, he received a hatchet as a gift and immediately tested it on his father’s cherry tree. His father saw the damaged tree and asked his son if he had done the deed. The boy confessed with his most famous maxim: “I cannot tell a lie.” The story itself ...
Last week, the North Tama Telegraph published an article about residents stopping Iowa Select Farms from putting up a CAFO in Tama County. The aura of building next to the homestead of the “Butter Cow Lady” was one reason it was doomed despite Iowa Select Farms receiving DNR approval. This ...
The last Passenger Pigeon died over 100 years ago. I would like to reflect on its passing with the eloquent words of Aldo Leopold, On a Monument to the Pigeon, Sand County Almanac, 1949. “There will always be passenger pigeons in book and in museums, but these are effigies and ...
It’s easy to build a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Iowa. Weak regulations and a powerful pork industry make Iowa the country’s leading pork producer. While CAFOs aren’t easy to stop in Iowa, local residents from Tama County showed that it can be done with some grit, ...
Fourth of July is close. A celebration of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. While it has become more about who makes the best burger, brats, or fireworks, it is the most important holiday. Without declaring independence, the United States of America would not have existed, nor ...
We all know what courage looks like. It’s at the core of our favorite stories. It’s central to the plots in most movies and television shows. It’s the backbone of the legends we cherish from history and from daily life. Political courage is not so familiar. It’s an oxymoron these ...