How far back can you trace an ordinary dinner?

A mashed potato has a history stretching back thousands of years. A chicken connects us to wild junglefowl, ancient agriculture, and an entire food web. And even that little side salad has a surprisingly complicated backstory.

In this solo companion episode of The Wild Quiet, Bre follows one ordinary meal backward through Indigenous farming, the microscopic world beneath our feet, animal domestication, pollination, and the sunlight that powers so much of life on Earth.

Along the way, we're exploring the relationships between food, nature, and human history—and why we're a lot more connected to the natural world than a trip through the grocery store might suggest.

Because apparently, even a plate of mashed potatoes can lead to some pretty big questions.

A companion to: Everything That Happened Before Dinner, featuring Montana farmer Aimee Miklovic of Full Bushel Farm

A chicken on a boat in Indonesia. A fish curry during an unexpected adventure in Fiji. And a group of kids discovering that carrots actually grow underground.

What do these things have in common? They all reveal something we tend to forget: every meal has a story that began long before it reached our plates.

This week on The Wild Quiet, Bre sits down with her friend Aimee Miklovic, a farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, to explore the surprising connections between food, nature, and the people who grow, raise, prepare, and share what we eat.

From raising livestock and knowing your farmer to seasonal eating, family traditions, and the remarkable amount of life behind an ordinary dinner, this conversation takes us beyond the grocery store and into the relationships that make our meals possible.

Along the way, there's a chicken with impeccable comedic timing, some very strong opinions about vegetables, and a reminder that reconnecting with nature doesn't have to mean growing all your own food.

Because whether it's a homegrown tomato, a hamburger, or a plate of french fries, there's an entire living world behind it.

Aimee Miklovic is a farmer and owner of Full Bushel Farm in western Montana's Bitterroot Valley. Through her diversified farm and farm store, she grows flowers, herbs, and seasonal produce, raises livestock, and helps connect her community with other local food producers.

The Wild Quiet is a podcast about nature—and our place within it.

We know humans changed wolves. But after thousands of years of living alongside dogs, how much did they change us?

In this solo companion to my conversation with evolutionary biologist Greger Larson, I'm turning the domestication story around.

From a 14,000-year-old puppy buried alongside humans to ancient hunting partnerships, prehistoric journeys, and the surprisingly sophisticated ways dogs communicate with us, we're looking at how one relationship may have helped shape human life.

We'll also investigate a particularly tempting theory about dogs and Neanderthals, and why a good evolutionary story isn't necessarily a true one.

Along the way, there's some ancient DNA, a little archaeological detective work, and my Great Dane Freyja, who has successfully trained an entire household without contributing much in the way of hunting or guarding.

Because domestication wasn't simply something humans did to animals. It was a relationship that went both ways.

The Wild Quiet is a podcast about nature—and our place within it.

Keep exploring:

• Listen to How Did Wild Animals Become So Ordinary? with Greger Larson.
• Find additional research, links, and behind-the-episode notes on The Wild Quiet's Substack: https://thewildquietco.substack.com

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