Business & Work

Root River Current's founding board members celebrate the eMagazine's first year of publication – pictured left to right: Steve Harris, Renee Bergstrom, John Gaddo, Loni Kemp, Dick Nethercut, Melissa Wray, Pat Torgrimson, Nancy North, and John Torgrimson. (Photo by Susie Harris)

Happy Birthday, Root River Current!

Root River Current’s first year of publishing—on behalf of its board of directors, co-publishers John Torgrimson and John Gaddo look back at what it took to get here and plans for the future of this online magazine. They talk with Steve Harris.

The author, Don Bell, is pictured by Amish Experience in Lanesboro—his grandfather’s leather shop was located on the ground floor in the 1950s. The building at one time housed the Odd Fellows Lodge.

Essay | When Summertime Was Paradise

Don Bell recalls his summers in Lanesboro as a boy.

Dave and Lynn Susag, pictured here in traditional Viking garb, have made multiple trips to Norway. (Photo submitted by Lynn Susag)

Profile | A Norwegian Love Story

Steve Harris introduces an artist couple devoted to themselves and their Norwegian art.

Sunrise, with its mottled pinks, blends in with the red farmstead. (Photo by Renee Bergstrom)

Brothers Blend Wine and Mead Into a Welcoming Destination

Julie Fryer introduces us to a Fountain-area winery and how it uses locally-sourced ingredients to create unique wine and mead blends.

Irene Fishburn, a native of Holland, pictured at her bakery in Newburg, north of Mabel. The one-day a week bakery specializes in French pastries. (Photo by Sharen Storhoff)

A tiny bakery thrives in Newburg

Loni Kemp visits a French bakery in rural Fillmore County.

Furniture and home décor designer TiAnna DeGarmo is remodeling an old feed mill to accommodate more seating and a new commercial kitchen at Sylvan Brewing in Lanesboro. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

In Praise of Wood

John Torgrimson profiles artist and businesswoman TiAnna DeGarmo.

Hidden Springs Peony Farm has more than 600 varieties of peonies, from red to yellow to coral to pink and more. Peonies originated in Asia and Eastern Europe. (Submitted photo)

Hidden Springs, Growing Beautiful Flowers and Much More

Steve Harris reports on the new owners at Hidden Springs Peony Farm in Spring Grove.

Three 120-foot-wide contour strips planted with cover crops follow the contours of hills and ridges, reducing runoff, nutrient loss, and erosion on the Phil Schwantz farm near Altura. (Photo submitted by Phil Schwantz)

Finding a Better Way, One Generation to the Next

Jim Ruen reports on an area farmer who continues a decades-long search for new ways to improve soil health and, through that, soil, water and farm profits.

Jack and Nancy Bratrud at their home in Preston. They are shown with their scrapbook documenting the media attention Mrs.B’s generated, which helped put Bluff Country on the map as a tourist destination. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

It All Started with Mrs. B’s

Loni Kemp interviews the founders of Mrs. B’s in Lanesboro, which kicked off tourism development in Bluff Country.

Karla Bloem, Executive Director of the International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota, with Uhu the Eurasian Eagle Owl. (Photo by Alan Stankevitz)

Owl Center Puts Houston on the Map

Steve Harris takes us inside the amazing International Owl Center in Houston

Josh and Steph Dahl and their three children are pictured on their 450 acre farm south of Rushford. The Dahl’s operate a 160-cow dairy and are involved in the Root River Field to Stream Partnership to control runoff and soil erosion. (Photo by Ann Wessel, Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources--BWSR)

Root Causes, Root Solutions

A Houston County dairy farmer, working years with government agencies, invested in environmentally sound practices to control nutrient runoff and soil erosion. Everyone benefits.

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