Greener grass on Kopriva's side

Farmers and ranchers are unique individuals. It's what fascinates me: Everyone has their own methods, philosophies and perspectives. I would like to introduce you to one fine example of unique and passionate farmers.

Angela, Karen, Jim and Lee. Picture by Colette Kessler

 Jim and Karen Kopriva, and their children Lee and Angela farm near Raymond, Clark County. As humble as the Kopriva's are, they are the recipients of the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award. What do they do differently? I drive 50 minutes West from the Interstate 29 on a spring afternoon to find out.

Jim grew up in Rapid City. He wanted to be a farmer, but his family had no land. He studied Agricultural Business at SD State. That's where he met Karen, a farm girl from Raymond. He assures me he was not chasing a farm girl; they just fell in love. Ten years later, neighbors of Karen's parents sold their farm to the young couple. The start of Jim and Karen's dream: their own farm.

Some farm buildings

Why farming? Jim explains that he loves working with livestock and producing hay. He shares his passion with son Lee, who alike his family members, graduated from SD State. Lee works full time at the farm. Karen and Angela both combine farm life with careers outside the farm. The farm consists of lots of grassland; used for hay production and grazing cows. There are 300 registered Black Angus cows. Jim explains that his cows get to graze as much as possible. Even in winter! Usually there isn't much left to graze after January first. That's when the cows come home to the farm, where they stay until there's fresh grass again; usually around the first of May.

Proudly talking about bull business

Horse-lovers are the best customers of Kopriva's top-quality hay. This horse-hay is so tasty and of such great quality; it is even being shipped to Maine and North Carolina. What makes this hay so special? Timing and dedication. After working a 22 hour day, Lee and Jim had once decided not to do this ever again. The next day, they worked 23 hours in their hay harvest. Karen's task is to rake the hay carefully. Jim smiles when he talks about the peak season.
Lots of hay, but no horses at the Kopriva's. Trucks and fourwheelers can get them everywhere. There are no rivers to cross, or timber to get through.

The Three-Dimensional Leopold Award

Special horse-hay doesn't get you a conservation award. The Leopold Award found it's way to the farm near Raymond because of the way the Kopriva's take care of the environment. Jim explains that they consider themselves "stewards of the land". It is about improving the soil quality, being in tune with nature to take care of the resources. One major resource: water. The pastures have waterholes to store water. The hay land has a few rows of tall grass left from last year, which captures snow and keeps the moisture on the land. Jim calls himself a "water manager".
The pastures are being grazed in rotation. It works like this: each field is separated in paddocks. The cows graze in one paddock, while the other paddocks are getting a break from grazing. Nests and wildlife will find these paddocks in rest. According to Jim, the cows always behave the same way when entering into a new paddock. First they walk around the fence, then to the waterhole. Then they start grazing from the waterhole, and back.

Pasture with waterhole

We eat supper: Lee's grilled steak. The best steak I've had in a long time (Lewinski... or Wollinski in Washington DC comes close). Karen and Jim rarely go out to eat. If they do, they never order steak. I believe that. It would be a disappointment. Instead, Lee could become the chef of "Kopriva's Angus Steakhouse".

After supper and a wonderful conversation with this friendly family, it is time for a farm tour. Tex, the dog, is chaperoning.

This is what I saw: bulls and their special Kopriva brandmarks, cows, calves playing in a pasture between trees, a pond with frogs, lots of hay, deer and a tiny baby deer in the bluffs, three donkeys to protect the calves from coyotes, green green grass, pheasants, geese, and a field of soybeans. 

The grass is not greener on the other side.

Video: a Frog Symphony at Kopriva's ranch

 

The Kopriva's: http://www.itctel.com/koprivaangus/

More about the Leopold Conservation Award: http://leopoldconservationaward.org

A "Stick To Your Bone" menu

Do you remember "Cheers" from tv? "Where Everybody Knows Your Name"? Today I'm NOT writing about a bar, but a home-style country kitchen. Where everybody knows your name...

Right after lunch hour I visit the local diner in Elkton, a small town near the Minnesota state line. It is the home town of Norma Lynn; the new owner of "The Elk Cafe" since March 3rd, 2014.

Card Players

Norma serves daily breakfast and lunch. Her customers: farmers, other local and area people. You will feel welcome wearing your work clothes, t-shirt, jeans. Business casual oddballs with foreign accents like me are welcome too. I'm greeted by other customers and staff. They are visiting. You can also watch tv. This cafe is "off the beaten path", not located on a highway, not in Elkton's main street. No advertising. She named it after the diner her aunt and mother ran in the eighties in main street. Although a new owner, Norma is not a newbie in the restaurant business. She has worked here for years. Her customer base is steadily growing, and so is the choice on the menu. Every morning card players come in right away, followed by a crowd of dice-shakers around 7. The diner has just begun participating in the 60+ meal-program. I am wondering: how does she make it work?

The Elk Cafe at Antelope St, Elkton

On the menu: "Stick to your bone - meals".
For breakfast: eggs, toast, meats. An early special for $2.50: two eggs & toast before 8:00 a.m..
Lunch: every day a special of Hot Beef, a different special (goulash that day), burgers & fries, sandwiches and lately: salads. Customers expect a good meal, consisting of meat, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread. She proudly explains me about her "Hot Beef Special", a favorite. She cooks a 12 lbs. roast every other day; not a crumble to be left over. Her recipe is not written anywhere; she's got her own mixture of spices "to taste". No measures of anything. Only for baking she measures. Daily baked at the Elk Cafe: Caramel and Cinnamon rolls. Her sister Linda bakes the cookies and bars.

Freshly baked cookies

 Inspired by their late mother, Norma's sisters both help at the diner. Her dad helps with maintenance; her daughters work as waitresses, her husband helps, and her nephews. She proudly tells me that her nephew Peyton is really getting into cooking burgers. All family members help with the dishes. There is only one non-family member on staff.
Some farmers take out meals to eat it out in the field. A local factory has just started serving Norma's breakfast to their employees a few days ago: biscuits and gravy. This week Norma plans on cooking french toast for the factory-workers. Norma clearly loves cooking, but also enjoys visiting with her customers. Freshly cooked food and hospitality are important. Her goal is to run the Elk Cafe successfully for years to come. Ultimately she is dreaming of traveling with her husband.

Norma working in the kitchen

I ask the entrepreneur about rules and inspections. Are those reasonable? Before opening the Elk Cafe, she had to take lessons and pass a thorough State inspection. Norma says the guidelines for the "Save Serve License" make sense. No complaints.

No photo of the famous Hot Beef, but today's special: goulash

Time to try the special of the day: Goulash. In my home country of the Netherlands, Goulash is a Hungary-originated beef stew with onions, peppers, spices. In South Dakota, Goulash is noodles in a ground beef-tomato-sauce. It is being served with green beans, sliced bread and butter. It's freshly cooked. There is nothing too different about it. I add some salt and pepper. The portion size is just right for me. I leave an empty plate behind and no room for desert. Back to work!

View on Elkton

The Elk Cafe, located on Antelope Street, is open daily from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sundays 8 a.m.-12 p.m.. A new favorite: iced coffee. I will swing by on a hot summer day to try it. And to see how Norma and her family are doing with their new business. Where Everybody Knows Your Name

A Weird Bakery in White

Weird, crazy, healthy and tasty. Baking with beets, carrots, pumpkin, oats, flax, anything but flour. At an old farmstead near the small town of White is a hidden gem, owned by a passionate baker: Sheila Rae. Whatever you've got left from your garden; Sheila will create it into something tasty in the oven.

The farm & bakery

The smell of fresh baked goodies lures me into the bakery at the farm. Bizzy Lizzy Flourless Bakery is the name of Sheila's company, which started seven years ago in Michigan. Convinced to try something else than flour, plus a neighbor with lots of excess produce from his gardens, led to the first and only flourless bakery in the U.S.. Four years ago Sheila and her late husband Erik decided to relocate their Michigan based bakery to the farm in South Dakota, where Sheila grew up. Bizzy Lizzy is a family-ran company, named after Sheila's daughter Elizabeth. Lizzy is a junior in high school who helps with baking and gardening.

Sheila in the bakery

What is Lizzy "Bizzy" with? During my visit, Sheila is continuously taking muffins and trays of granola out of the oven. Lizzy's grandmother is baking carrot-muffins, and employee Shawna is thoroughly cleaning equipment. Grandpa helps with the garden. Sheila also gets help from cousin Laura, and part-time help from her aunt (dietician) Sharon and uncle Jim. New recipes are being tried with an endless creativity. She is getting ready to record videos on how to use the ready-to-use baking mixes. When she explains to me how to stir a jar of salsa and a bag of mix together to bake a savory bread, I am wondering how long the instruction video will take. It cannot be more than 20 seconds; it's that easy.
Besides preparing baking mixes, muffins, granola and cookies for grocery-chains in the I-29/I-90 area in South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska, she drives 800 miles to Michigan with 3000 fresh muffins and other products every three weeks. THREE THOUSAND MUFFINS; I would turn into a muffin myself.

Lizzy & her "crew"

How "Bizzy" is Lizzy? Depending on orders, a day at the bakery starts around 7:00 am. Lately, Sheila has set a new goal: taking Sundays off. She proudly tells me she did this once. Alright, a confession: she did work 2 hours that Sunday...

Lizzy's grandma making carrot muffins

Sheila stores produce for the bakery in a giant freezer. Wasting food is the past. Leftovers can be collected in a big freezer bag, frozen and used for spaghetti-sauce in a personal household. She tells me about a lady in Michigan, who buys all leftover produce at local farmers markets, prepares and freezes it and donates it to food banks.

Sheila lets me taste a fresh baked - still warm- chocolate/red beet cake. Absolutely delicious, but it almost feels unfair. To get a more realistic idea, I buy a bag of the Red Velvet Granola at the grocery store. A crunchy oats-mixture with chocolate that melts in your mouth. I can taste the beets. It is not too sweet. Since I opened up the resealable bag, there is no way I'm going to keep my children from munching from this treat. They like it as a snack, I love it for breakfast. I'm wondering how this would taste if you'd add some red pepper or hot sauce. Spicy chocolate, hmmm... Bizzy Lizzy must be thinking I'm even weirder than she is!

Lizzy's garden, ready to plant seeds

Sustainability, creativity and a different philosophy about food seem to be the keys of Sheila's success. Plus the support from her family. Her goal: going National; not limited to selling baking mixes internationally. More info about Bizzy Lizzy is available on their website: www.bizzylizzybakery.com.

Feeding the World: a New Generation

To start with this blog I do not to travel far: a visit at my neighbors, only three miles away. (Okay, in this part of South Dakota, anyone within 6 miles/10 km is considered a neighbor...) A short drive over a gravel road between green hayfields and dark, newly planted fields.
It is a perfect spring morning to meet outside the farm buildings with Tom and Lexy Koch, and their children Leya and Jas. Leya is playing with a tractor, and Jas is crawling around us, playing with a dandelion.
Tom has farmed since he could walk; he grew up here and started driving a tractor at the age of 7. Hopefully he did not start driving this big blue tractor at that young age; it is gigantic.

Their family has farmed here since 1911; more than 100 years. The Koch's grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay.  There are 400 stock cows. Tom explained to me that those animals are at his farm to stay. The calves born from these cows are sold later. Besides the regular farm buildings there's a new style hoop-barn across the road. Here is where the Koch's feed cattle to sell to the market in future. Every day Tom spends his morning feeding the cows.

We walk towards the modern hoop barn. While it all seems neatly organized and clean to me, Tom and Lexy apologize for the mess. I look again... No mess, no smell and 1000 happy young men. The new barn has been a great success; according to Tom it takes away the extremes of the weather. Bearing the cold South Dakota winters is a piece of cake in this barn.
Tom and Lexy both have a passion for cattle. The corn and hay from the farm is all being used to feed the cows. Only the bean harvest is being sold. The manure from the cows is being applied to the fields, which makes a great organic fertilizer. A full circle: feed-cows-manure-feed.

Why farming? Lexy loves the way of life at the farm and to raise her family here. "Farming is a family effort", according to Lexy. Tom enjoys working outdoors and being his own boss.
Proud of the great products they raise, the enthusiastic couple assures me that they eat meat from their own farm. Lexy loves to cook, and chats about stuffed peppers with ground beef, rice, black beans and cheese. Inspiring!
A new generation farmers, innovative and dedicated to feeding the world. I'm looking forward to the future of the Koch's.