We had a successful 2023 growing season of Test Plots! Taking their name from designated parts of a field where crops and agricultural techniques are trialed, Test Plots are nimble projects used as research for the biennial Farm/Art DTour.

Zine

Imagining the Future

Wormfarm collaborated with conservationist and writer Curt Meine to invite writers, artists and community voices to imagine thriving rural places 50 years into the future. We gathered essays, artworks, poems, and speculative fictions into a zine publication that was released October 7-8 at Fermentation Fest and is featured on our website.

Artist Exchanges

Community and Ecology

This growing season, we've reimagined the foundational artist residency program. We've invited back former residents and Rural Urban FLOW artists to get dirty, eat well, make art, and collaborate with local conservation partners including Savanna Institute and Aldo Leopold Foundation. We'll share more as the summer continues.

Kernza Harvest

The Final Phase

Artist Tory Tepp completed the final phase of his continually evolving Sauk County ARK installation this fall. As a group, we manually harvested a test plot of kernza, a robust, edible perennial grain related to wheat that holds promise for restoring degraded soil ecosystems. Fruits of this labor were made into crackers and bread at this year's Fermentation Fest!

The two-year cycle (Test Plots to DTour) gives time for these experiments to lead to new discoveries, build community friendships, and spark conviviality & joy as we gather artists, farmers and community leaders from southern Wisconsin and further afield.

Artists in bubble costumes dance at Witwen Park during the 2021 Ferm Fest.
Ellie Erickson carving wood with a chainsaw for the DISCover Art Golf Disc Golf course in Reedsburg, WI.
Sauk County ARK is an artwork by Tory Tepp installed in Sauk County, Wisconsin. Kernza, a perennial grain, radiates from an earthwork in the shape of a landlocked ship: a field station for scientific research, meditation & agricultural play.
Artists installed wood carvings made with natural fibers in a disc golf course along the Baraboo River in downtown Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
Witwen Park Tabernacle Caitlin Vitale-Sullivan music performance presented by Wormfarm Institute at the 2021 Fermentation Fest
collaboration between artist Tory Tepp and a local farming family to plant & harvest Kernza, a new perennial grain, in a field anchored by evolving earthworks created with students from a local school.
Large letters in a farm field spell out H E A L T H a person is holding a sign that reads "Human".
Witwen Park tabernacle along the river at sunset.

2021 Test Plots included:

  • Artist Tory Tepp and a local farming family collaborated to plant & harvest kernza in a field anchored by evolving earthworks created with local students
  • DISCover Art Golf: nine artists installed temporary artworks in a disc golf course along the Baraboo River in downtown Reedsburg
  • Rural Urban FLOW seed exchanges, shared meals, and a zine that invited poets to write odes that were composted and planted with seeds grown by CSA farmers
  • Fermentation Fest teamed up with Grassland 2.0 for a rural revival & grazing renaissance, welcoming 2,000 visitors to the historic Witwen Park for delicious food, music in the tabernacle, bubble dancers, cow callers, cattail weavers and fermented concoctions.