Sustainable Hill Farms

Consumerism, Community, and Sustainability
2025-11-08 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago) | The Fullertons, 4813 Bayfield Terrace, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
Aliqua laboris minim ut ea dolore ipsum incididunt ut sed ut et. Ea veniam enim consequat amet veniam. Elit tempor sit labore consequat aliquip eiusmod nisi nisi ut nostrud dolor dolore exercitation. Magna ullamco do consequat do ad elit commodo lorem ullamco. Enim laboris enim magna nisi enim minim. Dolor minim elit sed ut ut et aliquip nisi magna.
Dolor eiusmod incididunt ex laboris nostrud ad magna sit nisi enim adipiscing. Ex enim ex eiusmod veniam sit lorem. Magna tempor ut ullamco dolore ad laboris minim nisi do dolor et minim lorem labore. Nostrud dolore veniam ut magna exercitation labore.
Ullamco exercitation nisi ad veniam exercitation ipsum quis incididunt ad labore amet ut nisi. Nostrud consequat ut do consequat ut eiusmod magna enim ullamco sed ullamco lorem. Tempor amet sed quis enim nisi lorem et ad labore adipiscing. Aliquip ad ut veniam adipiscing ad. Tempor ullamco sit consectetur consectetur eiusmod adipiscing tempor quis aliqua enim amet. Nostrud commodo incididunt dolor ut amet ex ut consectetur do.

Honeybees in Hill Farms
2025-09-20 13:00 - 15:00
Hill Farms beekeeper Chris Pierce introduced us to his hives and helped us to understand what it means to be a honeybee colony and what it means to know and care for them.
I used to think of hives as worthwhile things that I should keep at a respectful distance. Beyond that I knew next to nothing, just fragmented bits: bees pollinate, good; honey, good; there’s a queen and workers; hives fail increasingly often, bad.
But Chris gave us a glimpse into the rich and complex world that exists inside those hive boxes. A colony has a mind and a purpose. Its rhythms are perfectly optimized to the seasons and the food sources available. Its ability to locate and gather food is built on amazing gps capabilities. It can recognize the beekeeper and know them not to be a threat. Some hives are more “opinionated” than others.
We got some insight into the structure of the hive boxes and the role of the beekeeper: helping the bees maintain the temperature inside the hive, inspecting the hives, helping to mitigate the spread of pathogens, introducing new queens. and harvesting the honey
Chris had many kinds of honey on display, each type harvested at a different time of the year. In mid-September, it was peak goldenrod season.
He has many hives in the neighborhood and is offering an adopt-a-hive program. I’m pretty sure we will be in line to adopt.

Permaculture Talk, Tour, and Plant Sale
2025-05-08 13:00 - 15:00 | Default Kit
Sustainable Hill Farms Members took a field trip to a permaculture demonstration food forest on the northeast side of Madison. The talk and tour as led by Susan Hessel, program manager of Madison PermacultureWorks/Madison Permaculture Guild. The relatively small piece of land was carefully laid out according to soil type, sunlight, and plant relationships (guilds). The richness, variety, and food producing capacity were astounding.
Additionally, they held their Annual Perennial Edibles Plant Sale that day: stuff to buy.

Rain Garden
2025-03-08 13:00 - 15:00 | The Fullertons, 4813 Bayfield Terrace, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
We held our second meeting, this time focusing on rain gardens. We received good, practicable information, and just as importantly, we are beginning to get a real sense of ourselves as a group that is gaining cohesion and momentum.

The presenter was Gail Epping Overholt, Hill Farmer and natural resources educator at UW-Extension in Milwaukee and in Duluth Superior and recently retired from the UW-Madison Arboretum. She described the benefits of rain gardens pointing out the _multiplier effect_ of having many located in our neighborhood. But the focus was on getting it done. Gail provided detailed, practical guidance and manuals on locating, sizing, preparing, and planting them. Neighbor, Dave Stecher, then described his specific needs and goals as he plans to build his own this summer. Shout out to Becki Fiegel for providing pictures and describing how she built her own two rain gardens.
Wyatt Orcutt announced his Eagle Scout project to remove invasives from Garner Park this Saturday March 15 from 10 – 4. He asked volunteers to rsvp
Next meeting is April 5, entomologist Claudio Gratton (https://entomology.wisc.edu/directory/claudio-gratton/) , will present on how best to support pollinators in Hill Farms.
As a group we are looking for alternatives to Facebook. Currently we are exploring Discord. I am setting up a server (i.e., group site) for our evaluation.

Homegrown National Park
2025-02-08 13:00 - 16:00 | The Fullertons, 4813 Bayfield Terrace, Madison, WI, 53705, United States
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora. Consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora.
At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus. Ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis. At vero eos et accusamus et iusto odio dignissimos ducimus. Ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis.
Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris. Ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus.
