dsmWeekly: July 5, 2023

You-pick utopia: Edge of the Woods Berry Farm is just north of Indianola. Photo: Joe Crimmings

FOOD AND DINING

Berry bliss, right at your purple-stained fingertips

Writer: James Augustus Baggett

Edge of the Woods Berry Farm near Indianola started small, with a personal patch of raspberries.

“I had a small bed of red raspberries close to the house and enjoyed going out early mornings to pick them for cereal,” owner Beth McGeough said. A year later, in 2005, she and her husband, Rick, carved out space for 40 more raspberry bushes along a hayfield on their rural property, never imagining their horticultural hobby would grow into a 5-acre berry farm bursting with red and black raspberries as well as blueberries, tart cherries, currants and even gooseberries.

Before long, a friend who sold produce at a local farmers market encouraged Beth to do the same with her berries. “The following year,” Beth said, “I added 140 more plants, and the next year I added blueberries and more varieties.” Soon after, they implemented the you-pick process, where customers harvest the produce themselves. They continued to add more plants each year and eventually built the Berry Building, an on-site store where customers shop for farm jams, jellies, fresh-baked fruit pies and products from other local vendors.

The harvest season started in May with rhubarb, followed in early June by gooseberries and currants. This time of year offers red and black raspberries, blueberries and tart cherries. Blackberries round out the season in August, but more beauty follows. Beth said the blueberry leaves “turn a spectacular burning red color and stand out as the fall trees display their colors.”

Read more about the farm – and try Beth’s berry crisp recipe – in the full story online.

Etran de L'Aïr, a guitar-powered band from Niger, will perform on a free stage at 80/35. Photo: Abdoulmoumouni Hamid

PLAN YOUR WEEKEND
80/35 festival heads downtown, one more time

The sweet sounds of the 80/35 Music Festival return this weekend for a final time at Western Gateway Park. Organizers plan to announce next year’s location during the event.

Meantime, this year’s lineup features more than 40 bands, including headliners like Big Boi and the War on Drugs, and local artists like Annie Kemble, the Belin Quartet and Lady Revel. Emerging artists and exclusive performances will pop up at three free stages, but you’ll need a ticket to access the main stage and the silent disco. Last-minute tickets are still available.

PLAN YOUR WEEKEND

Béla Fleck (7:30 p.m. Thursday): The Grammy-winning banjo virtuoso returns to his bluegrass roots on his current tour, “My Bluegrass Heart,” which visits Hoyt Sherman Place.

Mainframe Studios First Friday (5-8 p.m. Friday): Want a sneak peak at what local artists are creating? This month’s First Friday event, “Vive!” features art, music and food from local Latino artists and vendors. Meet artist Siricasso during the sip-and-paint activity, then stick around for music by a half-dozen local musicians and DJs.

"dwb (driving while black)" (2 p.m. Saturday, then July 15 and 21): Writer and artist Roberta Gumbel stars in the Des Moines Metro Opera’s timely new story about a Black mother on a 16-year journey as she dreads the day her son begins driving. Saturday’s performance takes place at Mainframe Studios, followed by a Q-and-A session with the show’s creators.

"The Love for Three Oranges" (opening 7:30 p.m. Saturday): For something completely different on the Des Moines Metro Opera stage, check out this quirky love story about a witch, a prince and an urgent curse-busting quest to find three oranges. Head to the Blank Performing Arts Center in Indianola to see if the prince completes his mission in time.

Fortune Feimster (7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday): Maybe you’ve seen her on “Conan” or “The Mindy Project.” Or maybe you recognize her voice as Evelyn on “The Simpsons” or from her Sirius XM show “What a Joke with Papa and Fortune." Now you have a chance to see her live, in her “Live Laugh Love!” show at Hoyt Sherman Place.

Music Under the Stars (7 p.m. Sunday): Local crooner Max Wellman takes a turn with the Des Moines Metro Concert Band and Big Band at the Lauridsen Amphitheater at Water Works Park. The band will return the following Sunday, July 16, to round out this summer’s free concert series.

Richard with Goats on the Go isn't a picky eater, but he especially likes salad. Photo: Duane Tinkey

PEOPLE & COMMUNITY
Put the kids to work

Writer: James Augustus Baggett

On a muggy afternoon last summer, Lauren Coulson and her husband, Ryan, drove their pickup truck and trailer full of two dozen bleating goats from their farm near Perry and backed them into my driveway in the Waterbury neighborhood. The goats were on a mission: to clear my backyard of noxious weeds, especially poison ivy.

The Coulsons are members of Goats on the Go, a network of goat-grazing affiliates across the country, and they hire out their herd for targeted grazing in Central Iowa. And the goats mean business: They removed all the poison ivy and other problematic plants from my wooded yard after just 24 hours of grazing.

Grazing goats take care of overgrown weeds and thickets without the use of harmful chemicals — while leaving behind their own organic fertilizer. They aren’t trained to eat specific invasive plants, but their taste buds favor honeysuckle, lamb’s quarter, ragweed, thistle, pokeweed and even poison ivy. They actually prefer weeds to grass, and each animal eats up to 10 pounds of vegetation every day.

By controlling competing vegetation at critical times, targeted grazing can enhance habitat restoration. It’s also a cost-effective alternative where other options aren’t feasible, specifically on landscapes that are too steep, rocky or remote to mow or spray, or in urban spaces where burning isn’t allowed.

But did I mention how adorable they are? My friends and neighbors came over to watch them work.

Read the full story online or in the new issue of dsm.