Tricklebee Cafe
by Hippo (a hippopotamus) with help from Al (a bird) Tricklebee Café is a pay-what-you-can community café that offers healthy meals, food-service training, and spiritual nourishment. We are a ministry of the Moravian Church in America. After completing her twenty hours of community service at Tricklebee Café, Lakeya, a 17-year-old girl from a single-parent home,...
Ono Kine Grindz Review
Written By: Hippo (a Hippopotamus) with help from Al (a bird) Ono Kine Grindz North Avenue Storefront There I stood, in the middle of North Avenue; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; head spinning, ears ringing, heart racing, and Al (under my hat, as usual) pecking on my head while automobiles honked and squealed from all directions, lights...
Meuer Farm
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) “Hippo!” exclaimed Al. “Look at this! David and Leslie Meuer won the Leopold Conservation Award for Meuer Farm! Remember Aldo Leopold?” “How could I forget?” I replied. “He wrote The Sand County Almanac where we learned about the land ethic.” Ethics direct all members of a...
The Beevangelists
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird), but mostly by Al “Hippo!” said Al as he landed upon my head. “I’ve met someone!” “Yeah?” I said, thoughts of a love story filling my head. “I met Charlie Koenen, the beevangelist, on a rooftop! He spreads the gospel of the bees in and around...
Braise
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) As the premier farm-to-table restaurant in Milwaukee, a culinary school, a restaurant supported agriculture business, and a home delivery service, Braise is a keystone player in the local food community. “Have I mentioned, Al, that hippos are a keystone species? We are, in fact, known as...
Stone Bank Farm Market/Faye Gehl Conservation Foundation
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) “Stone Bank Farm Market has the best salad greens in the world!” I exclaimed with my mouth full and overflowing. “I could live on this, Al!” Besides the super-fresh salad greens grown right on the property, Stone Bank Farm Market offers oodles of good foods including...
Introducing . . . The Glass Pantry!
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) The Glass Pantry is a zero waste, bulk store located in Milwaukee, WI. You bring the containers, we provide the goods. It’s that simple! Our goal is to make zero waste shopping easy, accessible, and fun. Living mindfully and producing less waste should not be inconvenient....
Red Stone Rice
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Red Stone Rice LLC was founded by Michael Schläppi, a professor of biology at Marquette University. Funded by grants from Marquette University and the US Department of Agriculture, his research identified a high-yielding Southern Russian rice variety that could withstand the colder weather in Wisconsin. The...
Alice’s Garden Urban Farm
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Alice’s Garden is a place of hope, reverence for life, and community. As soon as Al and I stepped through the gate, we smelled the good earth. It felt soft under my hooves. We saw people helping each other as they tended their gardens. Everywhere life...
Barthel Fruit Farm
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) The day was perfect for berry-picking – not too hot with occasional sunshine peaking out between big white cumulus clouds and a few darker ones – a gentle breeze. Al and I joined the hundreds of humans picking strawberries at the Barthel Fruit Farm. These are...
Round, Round, Get Around, We Get Around!
We got around to a couple farmers’ markets on Saturday. We saw our friend Elliott, the Tosa Farmers Market manager, soon after we entered the market. “Hippo and Al!” he said. I think he was happy to see us. We bought some little tomatoes and lettuce mix from Nina and Family Gardens. If I had...
The Tandem
WE CLOSED AS HELL WE MAY BE CLOSED FOR CUSTOMERS, BUT WE DOIN BIG THINGS… TO KEEP THE MOVEMENT ALIVE + CHECK OUT TANDEM 20/20 One of the most hopeful ideas that Al and I have discovered is that life does find a way. “I thought we were writing...
Alice’s Garden Farmers Market
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) The red sun dropped out of sight as Al and I walked out the gate of Alice’s Garden. “That was a beautiful evening,” I said with a sigh. This was the Tuesday evening farmers’ market/neighborhood get-together/celebration of family and friends, good food and hope for the...
Aromatic Acres: Food for the Soul
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) These lovely flowers are from Aromatic Acres, a chemical-free urban garden located in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Using regenerative growing practices – no tractors polluting the air and disrupting the soil, no fertilizer runoff, no harm to neighbors and downstream communities – they protect the balance of life....
Mother Earth, Third Planet in the Solar System, Outer Spiral Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Al and I have wondered many times whether humans are aliens to planet Earth. “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch,” is one of those human ideas that really got me scratching my head – actually, I had to get Al to scratch it...
Scales Family Farm
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) We are Martice, Amy, Mason and Maxwell Scales. We are a family that is on a mission to live life as fully and as naturally as possible by getting back to nature and farming. Al and I are going to try something different today. First Al...
Alsum’s Roadside Stand
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) We could have gotten our pumpkins from a store, but Alsum’s roadside stand looked like much more fun. They have these paintings of pumpkins with holes which the humans stick their heads into for a picture. “Heads?” said Al, “humans only have one head!” “But I...
Scents and Sensibility
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) “Pee-yew,” squawked Al very loudly. “That guy smells like a male antelope marking his territory.” Shhh, Al. He might hear you.” “He’s wearing headphones,” said Al. Al and I were on the treadmill . . . “A really dumb machine, if you ask me,” said Al....
Scents and Sensibility – Part 2 Featuring The Glass Pantry and Friends
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Humans’ noses appear to be “in a state of mismatch” with the modern world. Our sense of smell evolved in very odour-rich landscapes in which we were interacting regularly with the environment. Now today we’re not interacting with the environment and we’re in very polluted places. Our...
Hippo’s Christmas Surprize
By Al (a bird) What with all the cold and darkness, not to menshun the freezing cold and well, lack of sunshine, Hippo is just not herself. She even quit working on our article about essential oils. I reminded her that we have an important job to do – that the animals back home are...
The Cackleberry Farm
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Jordy bounded out of the snow to greet us, ears flying back, carrying a paper cup in his mouth, and his whole body wriggling with excitement. His human, Steven, followed, much more sedately, to tell us that just 5 minutes ago he had sold the last...
Local Food in the Winter? In Wisconsin? Stone Bank Farm Market
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Al and I did some more undercover poking around in supermarkets. By now nothing should surprise us, but still, Al had to peck me on the head when my jaw dropped open without my knowledge or consent. Below signs boasting “farm fresh” were blueberries from Chile,...
No-Till: The Lazy Hippo’s Guide to Growing Food
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) I’m lazy. It’s true. Until Al and I started looking into the back-breaking human way of growing food – digging and hoeing and plowing and turning – I never would have imagined it could be so hard to get something to eat. But, as you know,...
All about Seeds: An Interview with Sonja Schlesner
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) We met Sonja at the Brookfield Farmers Market. She is one of those humans who is easy to talk with so that’s what we did – we talked – a lot. We found that we shared similar ideas and became friends. We met her children. We learned...
Do Pigs Fly?
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Do pigs fly? If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said, “That’s absurd!” But today I saw a dog – namely Jordy – climb a tree. This has opened my mind to wonderful possibilities. You may remember our friend Jordy and his human Steven...
The Glass Pantry is One!
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Al and I have been following the adventures of Jenna Meier and The Glass Pantry, the first zero-waste store in Milwaukee, since before they opened last March. We have bought natural brushes and cleaning supplies, bulk food items and spices, and personal care products like shampoo and...
Pheasant Backs
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Good things to eat are popping up all over the place! Al and I found and ate our first pheasant back mushroom (Polyporus squamosus) of the year two days ago and we are keeping an eye on some logs with baby pheasant backs that will be...
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Wow! Al and I were invited for tea with a family in our neighborhood – Michael, Michelle, and Miles. Our whole day was nicer because of it. We learned that tea doesn’t just mean tea. It means friendliness, getting-to-know-you, or (a word we just learned) gemütlichkeit. Gemütlichkeit...
A Recipe for Dandelion Hearts
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) When we noticed dandelions popping up, we looked for a recipe and found Forager Chef Alan Bergo’s Apulian inspired dandelion crowns with garlic, chili, anchovy, chickpea and water oak acorn oil. “Let’s give it a go,” said Al, so we did. You can find it here. Alan...
Peach Tree Organics, Helios, and Jackrabbit Greens at the Brookfield Farmers Market
by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Al and I are super popular at farmers’ markets so we couldn’t wait to step out and get some hugs from some of our human friends at the Brookfield Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning. We are in the midst of planting our garden, so we made a...
The Amazing Lady Across the Street
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Flowers and peas and real bees’ knees Booker swinging through the trees Houses for fairees, plums on the trees Oh, ouch! I got stuck by a berry Thorn! “I couldn’t quite figure out the rhyming on that last part,” said Al. “That’s OK , Al. I quite...
Ratatouille Time and CNG
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) “I’ve got eggplant coming out of my ears!” I exclaimed. “That’s not saying much,” replied Al. “Your ears are tiny.” Well, we bought a lot of eggplant (It’s ratatouille time) and other things, too. Several humans wondered how we would eat so much food. Truth is, a...
Milwaukee Microgreens
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) “Oh, Al,” I lamented. “I am in a bad way. Ever since we visited Milwaukee Microgreens (MM), I contemplate breaking into their warehouse at night and gorging on pea shoots; I dream of ransacking the place and stuffing myself with tender, juicy, heavenly leek, cantaloupe, and...
Hidden Treasure
Written by Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Dryer Balls and Eggs in the Orchestra Pit? Yes, we really did find dryer balls and eggs in the orchestra pit at a performance of Little Women in Greendale. We happen to know the trombone player who was playing in the pit who, in conversation with...
Turtle Creek Gardens
By Hippo (a hippopotamus) and Al (a bird) Al and I aren’t doing many posts these days because we are busy writing a book about our adventures, but sometimes, like today, we can’t help ourselves. Anna of Turtle Creek Gardens had her very own farmers’ market set up right outside the building that houses Great...