Stories from the Field
Check out these recent stories from our Board Members as they provide updates on our 2025 Seed Money Projects.
Woollets: An Alternative Soil Amendment
by Roger T. Williams
One of the thirteen Seed Money projects our Network funded for 2025 is an initiative in the Argyle area focusing on “Woollets:” pellets made from waste wool that serve as a soil amendment to improve water retention, help aerate the soil, improve soil structure and add nitrogen as well as a slow release of other soil nutrients.
As a Network project reviewer, I was intrigued with the many benefits offered by Woollets. And, as a gardener with heavy soil, resistant to previous attempts at loosening it and improving water retention, I wanted to try Woollets in my garden. So, I drove to Argyle on April 7 to purchase these “magical” pellets and learn more about the pelleting operation from Woollets owners Elaine Becker and Karen Mayhew. Elaine and Karen sought a Seed Money grant to replace the die and rollers in their pelleting machine. They both greeted me at Karen’s farm and were MOST grateful for our grant. They showed me their labor-intensive pelleting process and shared hopes for taking their business to a larger scale. It felt good to be on the ground floor of a business that could provide an important soil amendment that is not dependent on fossil fuels.
I bought ten pounds of the Woollets and applied them to my garden as follows: on the half of my garden that has row crops, I broadcast the pellets and worked them into the top three inches of soil (Elaine and Karen’s recommendation); the other half of my garden is planted to seedlings (tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, eggplants and Brussel sprouts) and each of these plants received a few pellets while being planted as well as the broadcast spreading of pellets. Time will tell whether Woollets make a difference in my soil health and garden productivity…but I’m intrigued with the idea and am giving it a try!
Hybrid Corn Meeting in Madison
By Sue Nelson
Edited by Rita Hindin
On Tuesday April 22nd I attended a meeting in Madison at the Arbor Good Neighbor House (AGNH) that explained the potential of Mandaamin Institute's Hybrid Corn Varieties. The director of the Mandaamin Institute, Walter Goldstein, presented his findings accrued from the study of bred corn using classical, not bioengineering, methods. Partnership breeding is what Goldstein calls this. Taking the following from the write up I received from Rita Hindin - "Partnership Breeding...puts the plant and the human into a respectful and co-evolving relationship." These efforts bring distinctive features that benefit the land and its inhabitants. For more details check out their website: www.mandaamin.org.
Our Network seed money grant helped offer a donation for use of AGNH, photocopy material for distribution and provide a meal for this event. It was a delicious fair of soups, breads, fruits and sweets--mostly organic.
In addition to local farmers and several curious community members, the ~ 20 attendees included researchers, professors and folks that had bio-ag backgrounds. Attendees with space on their farm and the desire to plant Mandaamin corn were gifted seed to trial on up to 1/3 acre if they agreed to provide Mandaamin feedback about their growing experience. AGNH has a mini-farm on site and the farmer will be planting the corn. Another local farmer will be planting the corn and cultivating it under two different management strategies in a joint citizen science project with Mandaamin Institute. A third recipient, three members of a farm family, https://shireregenerative.farm/, came from the Quad City area. They learned of the event from Rita and are very selective in what they plant and how it is grown. They managed to coordinate a delivery of their produce to a Madison restaurant so they could make the trip to attend the meeting. They too received corn to grow. Many of Shire Farm’s other buyers are people with digestive care needs.
This was a very interesting event. Definitely new to me.