Aug. ’09-Last August, Ed Patzner told us to mark our calender for the following years Midwest Bio-Ag Field Day down by Lone Rock, WI.  It’s close to Madison and was a 3 hour drive for our crew.  My brother Tim has raved about Gary’s exuberant speaking skills. He had seen Gary many years ago and was impressed. Tom, I and Patzie had attended the local Midwest Bio-Ag Conference last winter @ The Arcadia Country Club. Gary was a high energy dynamite speaker with a message we needed to hear. Bio-Ag Bob Schmidtknecht has poured his life into building up a booming business that stretches for many counties. He has somewhat passed the torch to another swell guy from Alma-Joe Danzinger. Bob’s message is to get back to not spraying the land with chemicals, build it up with mined products that are natural, and allow the soil to return to its natural healthy state.  He had brought Midwest Bio-Ag’s intern to our farm to visit last Spring. Becky was I’m sure beyond impressed chatting with us while dear Patzie tried to hammer in between comments made. Patzie is a born again Bio-Ag follower. He’s been after us for several years to try out the products. I’d utilized Bio-Ag’s products while rotational grazing years ago.  I knew it worked, but was shy of the cost. Now I am full circle and sing the praises of the products.   We applied Organical to our crop land this past spring. We also hand spread Organical on our orchard, veggie garden and asparagus patch. So here comes car camp as my sibling Tim,  Patzie, Tom and I aim the van towards Gary Zimmer the Great. It was a pilgramage of sorts as we made our way through the shortest way to Lone Rock , WI. I say that with un-certainty. I still have no clue how we got there. Somewhere between trying to hurry to catch part of Gary’s opening speech and the continual conversation that one would expect with this group-we arrived. It was a splendid, beautiful drive and the sun shone brightly now. Now, Tim, Patzie and I are kinda well..busy. We lost Patzie immediately and I was thanking God that I had the good sense to look the man in the eye and say-”Patzie-we leave @ 3 sharp! Gotta  be back for the boy you know!” Now Patzie is another Gramps to Hawken. He floated us through the last years when our winter chores were 3 to 4 hours of  tractor work with that nice John Deere cab. We say how much we appreciate and love the man and he says-”Ehhh, all in a day’s work! What else is a guy like me gonna do?! Can’t just sit around ya know!”  He’s a spry guy and can work any one under the table.  He’s prompt, doesn’t give up and is just a great man. He and his wife De Laine are such blessings in our lives.  Tom does laugh under his breath for Patzie, Tim and I are kinda similar. Certain idiosyncracies that surface within a personality.  Patzie knows to tell me-”You tell Tom, get that wood out of there before the snow flies or it’ll sit there all winter!” “I hear you Patzie, we’ll do that tomorrow!” Tom hears this and says, “Let’s burn the branches right there and I’ll cut the rest up for Kenny and Mary Kay sometime.”  The next day the wood was cut up and the brush loaded to a safe burning place away from the house.    Patzie and I have issue with starting  mechanical things. We’re not good with applying a smooth touch to a choke. Why are they named a choke I ask?  Then there’s mowing lawn and the desire to scissor it  short.   We share a fondess for burning garbage and tidying up.  Why -Patzie is even good @ twisting words up . It still catches Tom listening to me ramble on and he’s eyeballing me, wondering if I’m being silly or really playfully stubborn to not remember the appropriate word. I enjoy popcorn and I said, “Patzie-I imagine you really like popcorn huh?” “Oh yeahhh! Lot’s a butter-I use that guy with the long name.” I knowingly say, “Orville Redenbacker!” “Yes, that’s it.” Then I ask where he wants his fat cattle processed . “Down in Winona @ Letterman’s.” “Oh sure, Ledebuhr’s does a good job I hear for processing.”   Then there’s Patzie and I on the same hayfield raking hay. Let’s just say-we don’t stop. So I’m driving the John Deere and he’s driving the Field Boss, and Tom must’ve had too much sun. He suggested we both rake on the SAME FIELD to finish the task quicker for the summer sun was over drying the tender alfalfa. Heaven’s to Betsy, we’d lose the succulent leaves on the goatie hay. Shoot, that got me. “Alright, we’ll share the field-just tell him to do the far half. I get too screwed up and can’t turn that fast and the windrow gets all twisted and lumpy. Then I get off and try to spread it out..and Patzie might..run me over!” Let me say that Tom will never suggest doing that again. He about chewed his nails off watching us fly frantically across the field racing to get our section done first.  Patzie is the character that when Hawken and I stroller out to take him refreshments in the hot summer sun- He waves and hollers, “Ehhh, aint got time to stop ya know. Work to be done.” I say, “Sure Patzie, I’ll just set this milk and banana in the grass.” We love ya dear Patzie! Dear Patzie wasn’t seen til 2:30.@ Otter Creek Farm.  It was the running joke that Patzie was trying to get Gary’s autograph and probably was having lunch with him. I suggested doing the most important thing first.  Tim, Tom and I went to check out the creek behind the barns.  We searched for fish and critters. Hidden away from the tents, the hustle and bustle of seminars. We walked the barns and admired the cattle. Tom and I spotted Kaitlin Young sitting next to Dr.  Guy, an Organic Valley Satff Vet  @ a seminar. She’d just spent 3 whirl-wind days with us on vet route.  Then we chatted with  Doc Paul Dettloff. Paul has been a driving force to help guide us ever so gently to our callings. We have the ut-most respect for Paul and will forever hold him with being one of the most influential people in our lives. A  large animal vet with a deep resevoir of knowledge that is phenomenal. He and his wife Joan are so special to us.  They’ve rolled with the times and have proven time and again to be  masters of growth and being open to ideas and thoughts.   Paul travels throughout the world sharing his views and is a sought after speaker. He’s taking us into a new frontier and is a treasure.  He presents us with countless books to expand our minds. He also works for Organic Valley.  Then we went to watch Becky work sheep with her beautiful sheep dog. She was a delight to chat with and certainly was wondering where Patzie was. Sounds like she’ll be out east working like she hoped. We wish her and her dog all the best. Tim, Tom and I were intent on walking out to see the farm’s organic chickens out in the field. Mucky mud pulled @ our shoes. Tim was the one with the most adventure, but turned back when we discovered that there was a chicken wagon that hauled visitors over to the poultry. We ate a feast of food in the tarped tents and browsed through literature. We caught the chicken wagon and I sat down by the chickens in their homes. Then the wagon stopped @ another of Gary’s Farms. People spilled off the wagon with wide eyes as we stood in awe of the great punkin right in Gary’s garden. I knew where Linus would be this Halloween! I watched a bib overalled  farmer take out what I thought was a type of energy tester. I leaned in and he smiled a toothy grin. “I’m checking for stray voltage.”  “I see, what did you find?”  He holds it over my watch and says “It’s good young lady.” Then he asked me to lift up my shirt right there in the great  punkin patch! I burst out laughing and we rode the chicken wagon back to find Patzie.  Patzie was being the disciplined school boy and was immersed in the wonderful lectures, presentations and field demonstrations.  Us three, did it our way and managed to stand 1/2 hour in the sun listening to Gary speak out in Otter Creek’s Farm Field ’til Tim and I stole to the shaded tent.  I motioned to Tom to find Patzie so we could make the 3 hour journey home.   Stories, it’s all about the stories and the great punkin will rise up!!

Road Trip!

Sue Roskos