A wise man once said “measure twice, cut once.” So let me tell you a tale about the fool who measured two times but then forgot the number. In fact, I can tell it from a first-person perspective. Recently...

School is back in session, a sure sign that another summer season has flown by. This year all four of my grandsons will be in school, with the oldest in eighth grade and the youngest starting kindergarten. Seems...

“Time to catch some fish,” Grandpa whispered.   I jumped out of bed in my grandparent’s home in downtown Franklin in Jackson County. Downtown meaning it was at the corner of Highway N...

The lifebl ood of any farmer is the soil that provides their livelihood, so taking care of it has to be a top priority.   That care involves more than simply adding fertilizer and chemicals...

One certainty that I have learned over my long years is that nature moves at her own pace. Yes, we’ve done our worst to mess with the climate and destroy ozone, but nature slowly responds to the changes....

Let’s set the record straight – I am not an economist – which the Bureau of Labor Statistics defines as “an expert who studies the relationship between a society’s resources and its production...

Back Home by Chris Hardie Download this column as a Word document Download the photos that accompany this story Chris Hardie’s headshot   Last week I wrote about the remaining...

I’m putting the blame squarely on Mother Nature’s shoulders, but it’s happening again this year, despite my best efforts to prevent it. This gray tree frog recently emerged from hibernation on...

Can anyone honestly say they are really surprised that Old Man Winter isn’t quite done? As of this writing on the morning of April 17, there are 14 inches of snow outside driven by a strong northwest...

Late season snow storms always take me back to March 24, 1979 in the tiny town of Franklin in Jackson County. My feet were wet, and I was beginning to shiver as the three of us stood at the dark back door...

Being Wisconsin born and raised on a farm, I can honestly say that I’ve dealt with much of the worst that winter can offer. I have cut wood in snow up to my waist, pounded on frozen manure spreader...

The classic harbingers of spring are the return of the robins, the maple sap run or the first blooms to sprout from the thawing earth. But sometimes the signs of spring are actual signs of spring –...