Morren Fruits and Vegetables

Morren Fruits and Vegetables is a small farm in Orfordville, Wisconsin, about 40 miles south of Madison. When Henry Morren and his wife, the poet Lisa Fishman, bought it in 1999, the land had been in disuse for over a decade. Since then, they have planted over 1700 fruit trees, primarily apple (including old and unusual varieties for both cider and fresh eating), as well as plum, pear, cherry and peach. They will begin producing hard cider next year. Many other fruits and vegetables are grown on the farm and sold at the Dane County Farmers' Market and a small number of Madison restaurants that feature locally grown food.

This is the second year that several pigs (Hampshires and Red Wattles) have been raised outside at the farm, on a large pasture along a fencerow lined with oak, hickory and wild cherry. Another large area of their pasture is seeded with canola, assuring that, along with a daily ration of corn and extruded bean, the pigs have a very broad range of feed. Always out in the fresh air, with more exercise than they want and a reliable source of fresh water (which, on a hot day, the pigs readily convert into their second-favorite activity: wallowing) the pigs, tended also by 4-year-old James, live in excellent health free of hormones and antibiotics. Their only approximation of enclosure is a wooden lean-to with three walls. This year's pigs, Red Wattles, are an older, rare breed with a gentle disposition and aggressive foraging instinct.