Remembering the Pickle Patch

Back when I was a kid on a farm near Wild Rose, Wisconsin, by now in the season our pickle patch was beginning to look a little ragged from the twice a week pickings since July. By Labor Day the pickle picking season was about over. If the season had been good, my brothers Donald and Darrel and I had new bib overalls and new shoes for school, and maybe even a new Daisy BB gun or a shiny new hunting knife we'd eyed in the Sears Catalog for weeks.


The Old Timers says:

"Knew this blind fellow once. He could see more than most of us."

In a Pickle on WI Public Radio

Tune in Wisconsin Public Radio on 11:45 Thursday, August 30 when host Larry Meiller and I will discuss my new novel, IN A PICKLE. Be prepared to call in and share your pickle picking stories.


Thoughts from the Old Timer:

"Patience is something you just can't have too much of. Most things don't happen near as fast as we'd like them to."

What is In A Pickle?

Several people have asked recently, "Just what is that new novel of yours about?"

In a few words, IN A PICKLE is about small family farms and why we have so few of them these days.

In the book, the newspaper editor of the Link Lake Gazette, writes in response to questions about disappearing family farms: "Don't you realize what we are giving up when we lose a family farm? It's a way of life, but so much more. We lose people who who know the land and how to care for it, who know livestock and how to raise it, who know machinery and how to keep operating, and who know what community means. That's what will be lost when these family farms disappear."

If any of you have comments, please respond. I would enjoy a discussion about the family farm.


Old timer comment: "Life is like a river. There are twists and turns, quiet spots and rapids, deep pools and shallow flats. But a river is always moving. Always the same but always different. Just like people."

Writing From Your Life

I've just returned from a great week at The Clearing in Door County, Wisconsin where I taught a workshop on "Writing From Your Life." Fifteen students from younger to older wrote their stories and shared them for critique. What fun it was.

I'm doing a one day intro workshop on the topic Saturday, September 15. Check my website and the Clearing's website for details.


Old timer Wisdom.

"When it comes to talking about something--if you can't put it in simple words, better keep your mouth shut until you can."

Pickle Patches

This past week I drove past several huge cucumber fields in Waushara County, Wisconsin with migrant workers hunched over picking cucumbers as they have for many years. Try as they might, inventors have not come up with a cucumber picking machine that works as well as human hands.

Take a look at my new novel, IN A PICKLE: A FAMILY FARM STORY. It's all about cucumber growing in the 1950s in central Wisconsin, when nearly every farmer had a small "pickle patch" as we called them.


An old timer shared this with me the other day: "Being old is mostly not a bad thing. It's for sure better than being dead. But never having been dead, I can't speak with much authority."

In a Pickle Out

In a Pickle is in the bookstores. Saw it for the first time in a bookstore last week in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

It's all about small family farms and why we have so few of them today.



And, to continue with old timer wisdom. Heard this one the other day:

Fella had a willing team of horses. One horse was willing to pull and the other one was willing to let him.

Having Fun

An old timer shared this with me a while back. Thought you might enjoy it as I did.

"If you ain't havin' fun doing something, you won't think much of what you've done."


Oh, just heard that IN A PICKLE is on its way to bookstores. You might want to look for it. Read more about the book on my website, especially in the press kit that UW Press put together. Click on my Biography section to find it.

Travels of Increase Joseph & In a Pickle

THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH was the title of my first novel. Folks have asked me if Increase Joseph is at all related to my new novel, IN A PICKLE. Yup, there's a relationship. Both novels take place in the fictional town of Link Lake Wisconsin. Increase Joseph takes place from the early 1850s to 1900--the years that Link Lake was getting established.

IN A PICKLE takes place in 1955, about 100 years later. In the first book we see family farms becoming established. In the second we begin to see them disappearing.


An old timer shared this with me the other day: "You don't get it done 'till you get at it." Seems to make sense.

Wis Dairy Farming Changing

It's not difficult to see how farming has changed in Wisconsin; you need only to drive around the state and see the many abandoned dairy barns. The numbers can help put what you see into perspective.

Wisconsin Dairy Farms

1974--51,655
1987--37,325
1997--24,065
2002--16,886
2007--14,124

But, interestingly enough, Wisconsin has nearly as many dairy cows in 2007 (1.25 million) as it had in 2002 (1.24 million). In 1974, Wisconsin farmers had 1.73 million cows.

Dairy farms are fewer but larger, no question about it. In 2007 the average number of cows per dairy farm was 88 cows. During World War II, when I was a kid, our dairy herd numbered 15 cows, which we milked by hand because we hadn't yet gotten electricity on our farm. (Numbers are from the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service)

My new novel, IN A PICKLE: A FAMILY FARM STORY looks at some of the changes in family farms, and the effects on rural communities.



"If you put all your eggs in one basket, be sure to keep your eye on the basket."

The Family Farm

I've long been interested in the small family farm. Some of my interest goes back to my childhood when I grew up on a farm near Wild Rose, Wisconsin. There I milked cows by hand, hoed a cucumber patch in summer, helped make hay, threshed grain, husked corn and all the rest.

My interest goes deeper. Many of the values still prevalent in our country have their roots in these small farms. The importance of hard work, doing more than what is asked of you, showing up on time, looking out for your neighbors, and taking care of the land are a few examples.

My new novel, IN A PICKLE: A FAMILY FARM STORY is about family farm life in the 1950s. Check my website for more detail.

Ringling Bros. History

Interested in circus history? Want to learn more about the famous Ringling Bros. and their circus?
Did you know that the Ringling circus spent its winters for many years in Baraboo, WI?
Are you aware that the Ringlings once employed 1200 people? That they had 500 horses?

On Wednesday, July 11, 2:00 p.m. stop by Barnes and Noble West in Madison and learn about these famous brothers that made circus history--and a lot of money as well. And for the kids, a free circus clown nose.

See you there.

Lovers of Old Barns

Here's an opportunity to see how an old dairy barn has been remodeled for new uses. Henk Newenhouse of The Merry Farm in rural Lone Rock, Wisconsin is hosting a field day on Tuesday Evening, July 10 from 6-9 p.m.

If you are the owner of an old barn or simply interested in the history and future of old barns in Wisconsin, you will enjoy this workshop.

Directions to the farm: From Madison, WI travel west on Highway 14 past Lone Rock and Gotham. Turn north on Fairview Road and left on Slow Lane, which leads directly to Merry Farm.

Oh, almost forgot. I will be sharing some history of old barns and their interesting past.

Oh, those cukes.

When we weren't calling cucumbers "pickles," we called them "cukes." During the 1940s and 1950s, nearly every farmer in the sand country of central Wisconsin had a pickle patch. For some reason we never called them cuke patches.
These pickle patches ranged from a quarter acre to sometimes as much as two acres, all picked by hand. You could guess the size of a farm family by driving by and checking the size of the pickle patch. The bigger the patch, the more kids in the family.

My upcoming new novel, IN A PICKLE, digs into the pickle business and its many fascinating dimensions.


Words for the day:

My wife says I never listen to her. At least that's what I think she said.

The Pickle Patch

When I was a kid we had a pickle patch on our farm. Our city relatives pointed out that we really had a cucumber patch, and that cucumbers needed processing before they could be called pickles. We listened patiently. When the relatives left, Pa said, "Those city relatives, what do they know? They never picked a pickle in their lives."

Look for my new book--IN A PICKLE--it's all about pickles . . .I mean cucumbers. Check my website for a description.

Personal Stories

We all have a story to tell. Yup, each and everyone of us. Want to learn how to put those stories down on paper?

Consider enrolling in the one-day workshop I'm teaching at The Clearing in Door County Wisconsin. The date is Saturday, September 15. Give The Clearing a call at 877-854-3225 for registration details. The title of the workshop is "Writing From Your Life."

Cheese and the History Channel

Want to learn a bit more about cheese? More interesting than you think. Tune in the History Channel on Wednesday, June 27 9:00 p.m. Central (10:00 p.m. Eastern). Folks from Los Angeles flew out here to Madison a few months ago and interviewed a bunch of Wisconsin people, including yours truly. I suspect I'll be on for all of 30 seconds, but the process was fun.

Wisconsin Eye Interview

Something new in Wisconsin. The State's answer to C-Span. It's called Wisconsin Eye. I recently did an interview with them, which you can listen to, or watch online. Their Internet address is www.wisconsineye.org. Once you reach their home page, click on video archives, then on book programs.

Joan Sanstadt, with Wisconsin Eye, queried me about my book, LIVING A COUNTRY YEAR. All kinds of background stuff about the book, as well as life on the farm when I was a kid. Joan knows how to pull out details I don't ordinarily share.

Give it a listen.

Ringling Brothers Circus History

Interested in learning more about those famous Wisconsin boys who ran the great Ringling Bros. Circus?

I'll be sharing some circus history at the following:

Barnes & Noble Madison East June 26, 2:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bayshore (Milwaukee) June 27, 1:00 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Madison West, July 11, 1:00 p.m.

Bring the kids. Each child will receive a free circus clown red nose.

Strawberry Pie

Oh, how tasty those Wisconsin strawberries. Tonight I enjoyed strawberry pie, first one of the season.

Check LIVING A COUNTRY YEAR for the recipe. It's on page 113. All that's needed is one quart of fresh strawberries--and a few other things. Easy enough to make. And the taste, well I don't have the words.

Rain in June is a Silver Spoon

The home farm was quite sandy and it seemed we never had quite enough rain to grow our crops. Dad had a series of sayings about the spring rains that I have never forgotten:

April showers bring May flowers
Rain in May is a barn full of hay
Rain in June is a Silver Spoon.

Upcoming Events:

Chilton Public Library, Chilton, WI 6:00 p.m. June 20.
Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. June 23. (Sponsored by Apple Blossom Books)