Hi Friends,
Today I am sharing another of our adventures that I did not get around to post in 2021. We attended Wisconsin Farm Technology Days at Huntsinger Farms, Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Huntsinger Farms is the WORLDS biggest horseradish grower-producer, right here in Wisconsin. I am a fan of eating horseradish and I wanted to learn more about how it is grown and processed.
If you have the Silver Spring brand at your local market, you are enjoying horseradish grown and processed in Wisconsin.
Farm Technology Days also featured, the Nellie Holsteins Dairy, Ferguson's Apple Orchard and Chippewa Valley Bean.
Heading into Farm Technology DaysIt is been dubbed the Super Bowl of agriculture for the state of Wisconsin.
You will notice the "fog" or "haze" in my photos, it is smoke from the wildfires that were burning in Northern Minnesota for most of our 2021 summer.
Horseradish plants and the machine used to harvest horseradish.
Q: What do people need to know about your approach to horseradish and the recipe today?
A:We grow the (horseradish) root, clean it, grind it and mix with vinegar and salt. The same way my great - grandfather did. The recipe is the same.
Q: Where do you see the biggest market or appetite for horseradish?A: The biggest market for horseradish is in New York. Second is Philadelphia for highest consumption. There are other big markets in Florida, southern California and Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Baltimore and there's a big market in Chicago. It is very popular for Passover too.
I was interested in speaking with the owners and growers of Ferguson's Orchards because of the new way they are growing apples.
Chippewa Valley Bean
You had the opportunity to see all the variety of bean plants and dried beans.
Off Road Time
We had the opportunity to test drive different styles of UTV's on a fun obstacle course.
We enjoyed learning about salmon farming and lettuce farming done all together... aquaponics. And Wisconsin has the largest aquaponics facility in the world, Superior Fresh.
Gouda Cheese
Colby Cheese
Hereford Cattle to Horses
It was all at Farm Technology Days!
Energy too!
Below I am sitting in a Tesla.
While we were looking at all the electric cars one of the Energy People came over to ask if we had any questions. I asked him "yes, in your opinion, Sir, what is the best way to harness energy for our nation?"
He looked like me like I was some kind of CRAZY person. Then he whispered, "why do you want to know and who are you?"
I answered,"I am a concerned American Citizen."
He was rather floored, and pulled us away from the rest of the crowd. We had a heart to heart talk. We discussed the February power outages in Texas with the iced wind turbines, solar panels, to brownouts in California and how we are going to supply enough electricity for all in America to own an electric car.
He worked in the energy business for over 40 years and worked in the Soviet Union for some of that time. I did get his opinion, and I felt rather happy with myself, because I already knew the answer.
We enjoyed a delicious Everything from Wisconsin Sandwich with creamy AppleWood Horseradish to end our day at Farm Technology Days.
