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It wasn't rustic relaxation, but a necessity. Riddle and his family live in a Winona County house he built 20 years ago that is heated only with burning wood.
"It's hard to imagine doing it again, building a house like this, but I'm not as young as I was," said Riddle, 46.
Their home, partially earth-covered by the side of a hill, is a hand-built reflection of Riddle's sustainable and environmental values.
Last month, Riddle, who serves on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's organic standards board, was awarded a certificate of appreciation for helping develop and implement the nation's first organic farming and food program.
This fall, Riddle made four trips to Washington, D.C., and he and his wife, Joyce Ford, led a group of organic farmers on an 11-day tour of farms in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Last weekend Riddle was in North Carolina teaching workshops on organic farming certification.
Back home, two solar panels scan the sky for free energy, and a wind-powered turbine spins on a nearby hill. Both provide the only electrical power his family needs.
"I always figured I've never supported nuclear power, and so if I'm going to be critical of it, I better check out the alternative and see what that's like," he said.
The home's interior is a picture of comfort and rough-hewn independence. Limestone tiles salvaged from Biesanz Stone Co. cover the floor. Copper tubing wrapped around the smokestack of the wood stove heats water.
Out back, split chunks of birch, oak, hickory and slippery elm were ready for winter. The home uses about two cords of wood each season for heating, he said.
"That's not too bad for Minnesota," he said.
<*PL,0,0,10.5>Minnesota's organic food farming industry isn't too bad, either, said Riddle, who is chairman of Minnesota's organic advisory task force.
<*PL,0,0,10.5>Minnesota ranks No. 3 in the nation for acres devoted to organic food production, he said. It was the first state to adopt a organic certification cost-share program. This year, 38,000 Minnesota acres were converted to organic farming production, with the help of a government cost share program.
<*PL,0,0,10.5>All of this is due, in part, to Riddle's work as an organic farm inspector, educator, policy analyst and author.
<*PL,0,0,10.5>Sometimes with pay, sometimes as volunteer, he helps agencies, farmers and nations develop techniques for sustainable and organic farming.
<*PL,0,0,10.5>"I do quite a bit of teaching," he said. "I just got a letter today from the
<*PL,0,0,10.5>He writes technical works, such as an international organic inspection manual he co-wrote with Ford that has been translated into a half dozen languages.
"I just finished an analysis project that was funded by the government of Germany," he said.
Riddle has begun writing popular articles for magazines, and he has a new video out that walks people through the regulatory and certification process.
Riddle and Ford began work as organic farm inspectors in the mid-1980s. Riddle became the founding president of the Independent Organic Inspectors Association, which now has members around the globe.
He came to southeastern Minnesota in 1980 to visit his sister, and that's when he fell in love with the area and Joyce. They started a farmers market in Winona and La Crosse, Wis.
"It continually amazes me where our lives have taken us because of what started off as the Winona Farmers Market," he said.
Riddle's upbringing and college days helped formulate his calling. He grew up on a farm in rural Colfax, Iowa.
"The farm I was raised on didn't use chemicals, but we didn't know we were organic," he said.
He received a degree in biology and political science from Grinnell College in Iowa. While a student he took a groundskeeper job - spraying weed killer on plants. This, too, reinforced his life's work.
"Why have values if you don't live them?" Riddle said. "Are they your values if they're only something you talk about? So, yes, we try to live our values and try as much as possible to live in harmony with the earth. I couldn't tell somebody else that they should change lifestyles or their policies unless I was a living example that actually worked or made sense."
On Tuesday night he and Joyce played a game of ping pong before an appointment to sing Christmas carols with neighbors in Wiscoy Valley.
Riddle and Ford have two daughters, Laura, a junior at Grinnell College, and Sonja, a senior at Winona Senior High School. They have three horses, which Riddle enjoys riding along with Sonja.
"I really enjoy the Winona community and the food co-op and the film society," he said. "The cultural opportunities are way more than we can take advantage of. It's a real kind of gentle people, just good folks, to go along with the beauty and diversity."
But his work will take him away from this. He is scheduled to travel to Vermont in February to conduct more training workshops.
"I always like coming home," he said.
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