The Field To Biscuit Story

I was getting Claire’s cereal ready yesterday morning and noticed a cute little blurb on the back of the cereal box.  It was talking about how the cereal originates in the field and eventually makes it to the cereal bowl.  I thought it was a great, simplified version of the “farm to table” story!  Even though the cereal biscuit is dressed in a way that I have never seen any farmer dress in ha-ha, it was still nice to see J

Field Snapshot: Soybeans

It’s that time of year!  The recent weather makes me feel like it’s harvest time J  Cool crisp mornings, sunny days that are comfortable in jeans and a sweatshirt, and clear starry nights.  This is my favorite time of year!  Brad and I were just talking recently about how much of a bummer it is that we don’t really get to sit back and enjoy this season since he is busy working, but it’s great none the less.

The weather isn’t the only clue that harvest time is drawing near.  The soybeans especially are giving hints.  The soybean growing season is done now.  The plants have been nice and green all summer long and have been working hard to fill each of their pods with fat soybeans.  Now the plant dries down and is ready to harvest.  So if you happen to be out and about and notice soybeans turning light green, yellow, or brown in color that is a good thing!  Nothing is wrong with the soybeans; they are just preparing to be harvested. 

I can’t wait for harvest to begin!  Hopefully only a few more weeks J

Soybeans changing- getting ready to be harvested.

 

 

 

Pear and Apple Crumble

A couple of weeks ago Claire discovered the pear tree in our back yard.  We usually don’t venture out to the tree; it’s much too far from the sandbox, ha-ha.  But, she found it and thought it was really neat that she could help herself to a snack whenever she wanted.  I never eat or cook with the pears from the back yard.  I don’t know what variety they are since the tree was part of the landscape when we bought the house, but I find them to be very bitter.

Here are some pictures of Claire enjoying the pear tree.  You can see they must be tart, but she insists on snacking on them anyway….I guess it is a healthy snackJ  Now that the summer is winding down the pears are beginning to fall on the ground and bees are in them L  It’s been quite a challenge to keep Claire away from the pear tree lately!

Pears are one of my favorite fruits to eat during summer!   Next summer I am going to attempt to do some cooking with the pears in from our back yard.  As this summer starts the change to fall I was looking for a recipe that included pears but would get us in the mood fall weather.  This is what I found and it is really yummy!

Ingredients:

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. apple pie spice

½ c. cold unsalted butter

3 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. brown sugar

3 Gala apples, peeled

3 pears, peeled

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. sugar

¼ c. lemon juice

2 tbsp. corn starch

½ tsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

·         Mix flour, baking powder, and apple pie spice.  Cut in ½ c. butter, until mixture resembles rolled oats.  Set aside.

·         Cut pears and apples in 8 pieces each.  Heat 2 tbsp. butter, 2 tbsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. lemon juice over medium heat until butter melts; stir in apples.  Cook 5 minutes.  Add pears; cook 1-2 minutes.

·         Mix remaining lemon juice, cornstarch and cinnamon; add to fruit.  Cook 2-3 minutes until thickened.

·         Spoon mixture into greased deep dish pie plate.  Sprinkle with topping.

·         Cook on cookie sheet for 35- 40 minutes at 375.

·         Serve warm or cool.  We found it best warm with ice cream and homemade caramel topping J

Picking Wildflowers

I am so thankful that I work part time which allows me to spend a lot of time with Claire!  I do find myself completely exhausted after a day with her, but I wouldn’t trade my time with her for anything!  I love that during our days together she is constantly reminding me that the little things in life are really what are important.

Since day 1 Claire has preferred to spend all of her time outdoors.  One thing we really enjoy together is going for ATV rides around fields or through the woods.  We love to look for geese or ducks on the pond or pick wildflowers.  There are so many wildflowers blooming this summer and we find them everywhere in the woods.  During our ATV rides Claire yells at me when she wants me to stop to pick her wildflowers. 

By the time we get back to the house she always has a beautiful colorful wildflower bouquet and she is completely tickled to have it!  She beams with delight as she shows off her bouquet to the dogs, or Daddy, or whoever happens to be at the house.  Claire’s appreciation of the simple things in life keeps me grounded and keeps me smiling J  What an amazing blessing she continues to be!

 

Grain Bin Extravaganza!

This summer is flying by!  We have been so busy working on projects at the farm that we haven’t had much time for play.  But, even though this project has been labor intensive (not for me but the guys have been working hard) it has been great entertainment watching the progress!

Grain storage before all the construction.


The decision was made quite some time ago that we needed more storage for grain at the farm.  Why have grain bins?  These huge grain bins allow you to store grain rather than having to haul it straight from the field during harvest to an elevator.  Grain bins at the farm are advantageous to utilize.  More times than not, grain prices are lowest during harvest.  So it’s really great to be able to store grain at the farm to sell at a later time for a higher price….hopefully.  I say hopefully because trying to figure out patterns of the grain market prices is quite a risk :) 

 

So in order to add to the grain storage at the farm some rearranging was in order.  Due to the layout of the original grain bins one had to be moved for the new grain bin. 

That should be an easy task, right?  Well, not exactly.  The grain bins at the farm range in size from 55 to 80 feet tall.  And they are made of corrugated steel, so you can imagine that they aren’t feather light to move around.  A new cement slab was poured for the “old” grain bin’s new home.  The cement slab had to be heavy duty to hold up the many pounds of grain stored, so several feet of cement was poured with lots of steel rod to reinforce it. 





Once the cement slab was set Claire had to check it out…she is quality control around the farm, ha-ha!  Then a crane had to be hired to come to the farm to move the “old” grain bin to its new location.  Up and over the power lines the grain bin gracefully flew to its new home.  I thought it was pretty neat to see!



Almost over the power lines....

Starting the flight....





 

Gracefully landing on the new slab!

Now the task of preparing the site for the new grain bin is being tackled.  I will be sure to post a picture of the finished product, but it may be another several weeks before that happens so I wanted to at least get this exciting stuff posted.

If everything progresses as it should we will have everything done before harvest.  You know what that means?  We will be able to store all our grain waiting and wondering if the markets will turn around so we can hopefully get better prices.  Ha-ha, everything in agriculture is such a gamble, but I love it :)

 



What's Going On In Our Fields Right Now?

Claire helping get the combine ready to go to the field.

A little over a week ago we finished up wheat harvest.  Usually our wheat is ready to harvest around the beginning of July, but this year it took a little longer to mature, so we weren’t able to start harvesting until mid-July. 

The wheat that was just harvested was planted last fall, was dormant during the winter months, and then grew and matured during this spring and summer.  In my opinion wheat is the prettiest crop!  I love the golden color it takes on right before harvest, and this year I was lucky enough to have the field directly behind me planted to wheat so I got to see it all the time J 



Combining wheat on a pretty summer day.

As the combine harvests the wheat the grain is separated from the stalk.  The stalk can be chopped up by the combine and spread on the field, or can be put into windrows to be baled as straw.  Usually we don’t bale any straw, but this year we baled the field right behind our house.  Claire was very concerned noting that the large bales in the field didn’t belong there, ha-ha.  Straw can be used for a variety of things including animal bedding, or to increase fiber in cattle feed.

 

The wheat grain that the combine collects is hauled to grain elevators by semis and trailers.  The grain elevators then sell the grain to be used for a wide array of products found in our grocery stores such as bread, cereal, and beer, just to name a few.

It’s a great feeling getting the wheat finished!  The weather made wheat harvest go as smooth as possible.  In order to have a productive harvest the weather has to be dry and warm, and that’s just what we got…thanks mother nature! J

Thanks to the great weather we were even able to combine into
the early night.  Something typically abnormal due to the
humidity during summer nights.

Now that wheat harvest is done it’s a nice idea to think we have some down time or free time until soybean and corn harvest starts in the fall.  But, we have lots of “non- field work” to get done before that time….stay tuned J

I "Loved" Panera Bread.....

I love the Panera Bread Company restaurants!  Or, should I say “loved them” until just recently.  My mom, my sister, and I enjoy them almost every time we go out shopping and the food is always so delicious.  But, I came across this blog post and it left me with a horrible taste in my mouth and I guarantee if this marketing continues you won’t find me in a Panera restaurant!

No- my family doesn’t raise chickens, but as an advocate for agriculture we all stick together and what Panera is trying to do with this marketing is truly upsetting!

Please take some time to read this blog post:

http://dairycarrie.com/2013/07/23/dear-panera-bread-company/