About the Land& Farm History
Driftless Curiosity is located at 15270 Haucke Ln, Viola, Wisconsin. This is a 200 acre ridgetop property currently owned by Rufus Haucke and Joy Miller who also operate Keewaydin Farms, an organic vegetable business on the land, certified organic since 2004. The breakdown of the land is as follows: 40 acres wooded, 60 acres pasture, 90 acres tillable, and 10 acres of homesteaded area. Available learning space includes: hiking trails, forest, maple syrup operation, fields, gardens, greenhouses, barn, shop, picnic area, pond, and pottery studio.
This land was part of the Ho Chunk territory whose traditional lands covered parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. We seek to understand and respectfully recognize the violent history and injustice toward indigenous people which drastically changed life on the land and brought rise to our current system. We further recognize the role of privilege in our status as landowners and strive to use our privilege to work toward land justice and cultural healing. We aim to hold safe space here for people of all backgrounds to connect to the land.
Rufus’s parents, Richard and Mary Haucke were back-to-landers who purchased the property in 1976 and ran a dairy operation of registered holsteins for 20 years. Although they were not certified organic, they held strong beliefs about proper animal husbandry and their role as stewards of the land. Changes to farm policy, particularly the elimination of milk parity in 1983, made their livelihood financially impossible. Like many Wisconsin farmers, they were forced to sell their herd, take off farm jobs, and scramble for creative ways to make the farm payment. We include this history to reflect on how farm policy shapes land use and often land ownership. Rufus was able to purchase the farm in 2009 and transitioned the operation to organic vegetable production. This is the only way he ever wanted to farm, in alignment with his environmental values.
Rufus and Joy strive to be responsible stewards of the land and build ecological resilience into the property through regenerative practices, biodiversity, forest management, prairie restoration, investments in permaculture, and continued education on best practices. Their hope is to work with Mother Nature to provide a balance of wildlife habitat, food production, and recreational space.
Mission:
Deepening connections between people and the land through curiosity, experiential education, farming, social justice, and the Arts.
Vision:
We envision a paradigm shift which ushers in reverence for the interconnection of life and manifests in mindful collective values and actions concerning personal, social, and planetary wellness.
Team
Joy Miller
Founder & Executive Director
Joy co-founded Driftless Curiosity with her husband Rufus in 2021. In 2018, she earned her Masters in Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University where she studied environmental ethics, leadership, and food justice. In her graduate research project, “Socially Responsible Food and Ethical Food Consumerism”, she learned the importance of consumers making meaningful connections with their food. Her research inspired her to open Keewaydin Farms as a social space and create unique programs where people can deepen their connection with the land, learn about producing food, seek better social solutions, express themselves artistically, and gratify their curiosity… and Driftless Curiosity was born. She’s a farmer, writer, director, and life-long lover of all things curious.
Rufus Haucke
Founder & Vice President
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Trisha Wilks
Treasurer of the Board
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Gabriela Marvan
Board Member
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Pete Hodapp
Board Member
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus. Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante. Etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. Duis leo. Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Donec sodales sagittis magna. Sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc,
