Local Farm Charm: In and Outside Waterloo, IA

Cedar Falls, Iowa is home to my grandparents, Unc, cousins, great....yeah, you get it. Most of the fam is in Northeast Iowa. I have these vivid childhood memories that are labeled "IOWA" in my mind. From feeding my grandparents' dogs freshly-picked asparagus through the fence, to my great-grandfather's farm, to putting the tomato plants in Grandpa's garden, all my favorite memories are connected to the landscape and products of the natural environment.

One of my absolute favorite "photo study" locations is on an old farm, re-imagined as an art studio and gardens outside Fairbank, Iowa. It makes the move from "landscaped-inspired" art to art "produced within the landscape".  Lyle Chase is a sculpture artist who essentially pours cement in natural molds (such as the ground) and imprints them with found natural objects. 

The best part of visiting Lyle's "Country Roads" studio and shop: it's a surreal cottage-like fantasy land with plenty of mini-exhibits to encounter. I become a little kid, lost with my camera when I visit. I feel like I'm scavenging around a whimsical found-object playland of sets and props: but the Iowa farm version versus LA or NY.

                    

Lyle also grows garden plants and succulents, all very affordably priced. I brought home about five healthy Jade and other succulents, all for about $4 each, and most varieties were rare. 

              

This year, I also picked-up a cement-poured bird bath, which is particularly hilarious because I am terrified of birds. I couldn't help myself! Its a green-shimmery vessel pressed with leaves. I wish I could bathe in it! I put it on the side of the house to divert the birds' attention from me entering in the front (and attacking me). LOL, mostly.

The best reason for a stop by Country Roads: it's the least pretentious art space I've ever been to. It's accessible, affordable, and genuine. Lyle's low-pressure sales and encouragement to enjoy the space make seem more like your stopping by a cool uncle's farm for a visit.

When we get done at Lyle's, we cruise into Waterloo for Rudy's Tacos. Rudy's has been using a sustainable agricultural model since 1997. I don't think "locavore" had become celebrity-status-sexy at that point. Just about every ingredient at Rudy's is locally sourced, so just imagine how fresh the taste is when you've got all the summer veggies in season. In a great article I found about the impact Rudy's has on the community, here's a standout quote:"I like seeing the old men show up with their pickup trucks full of tomatoes," says Mary Twaites, an industrial engineer at the John Deere plant and a Rudy's regular. "The food is so much fresher, tastier. And if I support local farmers, then they can buy a new John Deere tractor." 

The bean burrito drowned in homemade salsa, local cheese and guacamole (ok, that's probably one of the non-local delicacies in Waterloo) is my plate of choice. Great kitchy decor to match great food. Check out my Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, post-taco. Gramps and Grams are 82 years-old, so you can see how that locavore diet pays off in Iowa!

 

This is my last "Iowa series" post, so I wanna give a shout-out to Unc (my Uncle Jim), who works as navigator and local guide on the Iowa adventures. I couldn't find half of the places I go in Iowa without him!

Decorah, IA: Heirloom Seed Sanctuary

When my friends Molly and Heidi told me they would genuinely consider moving to Decorah, Iowa, I had a hunch it would score high on the Julie scale. Nestled in river bluffs, with a thriving main street of locally owned businesses, Decorah wins as a quaint town with strong community. The Oneota Food Co-op and Hotel Winneshiek (opera house included!) sealed the deal for downtown Decorah charm. The true purpose of the trip to Decorah was a visit to Seed Savers Exchange.

The Seed Savers Exchange is committed to sustaining heirloom varieties that have been personally passed down from generation to generation in certain families, but have become nearly extinct as a whole. It is the largest non-governmental seed bank in the United States. Since the exchange began over 30 years ago, over one million rare seeds have been preserved and re-distributed including: Smoke Signals corn, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate flower, Minnesota Midget melon, Black Sea Man tomato, Love, Lies, Bleeding Flower...you get it...naming your family heirloom seed is a blast! My family on my Mom's side has some Hollyhocks passed on from my great grandma Amy, and I'm hopin' to win the title of official seed namer.

The coolest part of this farming project is the generational connection to gardening. I have fond memories of both my Grandparents' gardens, and believe my love for growing my own food began with them. Seed Savers' Co-founder, Diane Ott Whealy started the exchange when her terminally ill grandfather passed on seeds for Morning Glories and German Pink tomatoes. The seeds were brought from Bavaria to Saint Lucas, Iowa in the 1870's. Seed Savers Exchange "permanently maintains more than 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties, most having been brought to North America by members' ancestors who immigrated from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world". Seriously, you gotta go check it out. I can hardly wait to unleash my Seed Savers membership on garden season 2010.

Final anecdote: the lovely towering hollyhocks you see above are of the "outhouse" variety, because back in the day, a proper Iowan lady didn't have to ask where the outhouse was, she just looked for the gigantic flowers to lead the way!

Madison County, Iowa: Farm Junk Paradise and Covered Bridges

I love love LOVE farm junk and antiques. I get giddy at the idea of farmhouse kitchens with old pie safes, primitive-style cabinets with glass doors, lots of antique nick-knacks, etc. (NOT to be confused with "Country Kitchen" decor: lots of periwinkle, gingham and apple motifs). But where I really want to go within your lovely farmhouse property is straight out to the deepest cob-webbed corner of the barn to uncover "farm junk".

That's exactly what I got to do on my trip to Old Crow Farm in late August. Old Crow is an amazing oasis in Southern Iowa where Jordana and her husband Kasey showcase the best kind of "farm junk": salvaged and re-purposed items that would probably be laid to rest in a landfill, if they hadn't rescued it. 

 

Discarded and un-needed items become creatively re-visioned as functional artistic pieces. Considering that Iowa once had 200,000 barns at it's peak, and now that number has plummeted to 50,000, this girl wonders if all those barns' contents ended up in a landfill. It reassures me that Jordana and Kasey are rescuing some of those items and putting them to use somewhere else. Although you are looking through  goods inside of their barn, farm junk isn't the only brand of salvaged goods. Many items have an urban and industrial feel as well, creating a nice balance. If you're not in the neighborhood of Southern Iowa anytime soon, check out their Etsy shop. If you do make it to Madison County, you can check out some their famous covered bridges. That was the selling point of the trip to anchor my mother as a co-pilot!

Iowa: Your Remote Midwest Paradise

Iowa isn’t what you consider a high-profile destination, and I’m pretty sure that’s why I love it. This girl loves an underdog. In the Upper-Midwest, it competes with the lakes and Northwood culture of Minnesota and Wisconsin; and then there’s the rugged, western terrains of the Dakotas. But don’t forget Iowa, folks.

Ok, so Iowa Blood runs deep in my veins. My Mom’s family on both sides has an extensive farming history in Northeast Iowa. Of course, her immediate family has left the farm, which makes me even more infatuated with the modern-day Iowa farmer. But I genuinely swear locavore culture originated in Iowa (probably out of necessity). And Iowans are far too humble to claim themselves as the innovators.  I have locavore nostalgia for my family trips to Iowa during the growing season.  I would watch my grandma eat each meal constructed from local foods: tomatoes and muskmelons sprinkled with salt, a minimum of three ears of sweet corn per day, BLTS’s and some concoction of cucumbers, onions and vinegar which I even witnessed (in Oelwein, Iowa) last summer at a lunch counter. As a kid, I figured this is how everyone ate in Iowa. My grandma even brings her own in-season Iowa produce to Minnesota when she visits, and refuses to eat Minnesota sweet corn!

Finally, this girl can’t help but embrace Iowa as a genuine pioneer of social justice issues.  Not only does Iowa recognize all varieties of families and domestic partnerships through their decision to legalize gay marriage, they have always been on the forefront on social issues. Iowa was one of the first states to “legalize interracial marriage and to allow married women to own property. It was also the first state to admit a woman to the bar to practice law and was a leader in school desegregation.” (MSNBC, April 2009). Hecks yeah, Iowa, you make me proud.

There is a current wildly innovative movement of salvaging and revisioning the family farm as not only sustainable small-scale family operations but also as perrenial flower farms, art workshops and my fave: shops brimming with re-purposed farm junk and antiques. In the next few days, my posts will highlight and celebrate these amazing places that make Iowa one of my favorite retreats.