Our Farm is #WorthTheFight

I love agriculture with every cell in my body.  It is not just a vocation, but a calling.



(Photo by www.janiceperson.com )
Our children are the FIFTH generation on our farm.

Living and working on a farm is the best way I know how to raise a family, but it seems like more and more these days there are forces working against us.

From over-regulation, to misguided legislation, to activists with too much time and money on their hands, to ever-thinning profit margins, the challenges in farming today are many

However, like this awesome new tune called "Worth The Fight" by the band The Departed says (listen here), I'm going to keep "kicking and swinging".

Stand back folks, I've got my big girl gloves on...

 

because this life and our farm are worth the fight!

I don't do this for myself.  Believe me, it would be much easier to sit back, do things like they've always been done, and be apathetic to the threats to agriculture around the world. I'd get a lot more sleep and my house would be much cleaner (...maybe).

Instead, I have chosen to invest my time and efforts and fight for the legacy left by those that went before me.

Jeremy's Grandpa W.C. "Bill" Wilson, just after graduating from high school.

And for the opportunities for those that may choose to follow in my footsteps.

Hoping to inspire some future farmers :)

Check out these posts from my friends in agriculture that think it's #worththefight too!

Props to "Dairy Carrie" for putting this little campaign together:

http://dairycarrie.com/2012/09/11/worth-the-fight-worththefight/

My friend "just down the road" (about 60 miles), Val Wagner:

http://wagfarms.com/2012/09/11/worth-fighting-for/

The man behind "I am Agriculture Proud", Ryan Goodman

http://agricultureproud.com/2012/09/11/love-for-agriculture-and-red-dirt-music-worththefight/

A recent visitor to our farm, Janice Person
http://janiceperson.com/food/gotta-keep-movin-far-from-easy-but-worththefight/

and there are many others so check out the Twitter hashtag #worththefight !

THANKS for stopping by and I hope you'll join me in the fight for the right to feed, clothe, and fuel our world.

Step 1: If you are a North Dakotan, Vote YES for Measure 3, www.ndfeedingfamilies.com

Sarah :)

Happy National Agriculture Day!

In 1920, J. Harry and Susan Wilson, Jeremy's great grandparents (below), settled where we still farm today.

We are busy raising not only the fifth generation on the Wilson Farm, but also food (corn, wheat, soybeans) and fuel (ethanol) for YOUR family.

(photo by www.paulyjamesphotography.com)

Happy National Agriculture Day!

If you did the following today...

- Ate food

-Used ethanol to fuel your vehicle

-Wore cotton or wool clothing

-Or used one of the thousands of household, pharmaceutical, or health products derived from livestock and plants that a farmer has raised

...remember to THANK a farmer!

Take a few minutes to learn more about the History of Agriculture in the United States and take a gander at these videos to learn how far agriculture has come:

One Hungry Planet

Some Food For Thought

Thank You, America's Farmers

Have a great day!

Sarah :)

Wordless Wednesday- Life on the Funny Farm- You Write the Caption

I'm giving my first "Wordless Wednesday" post a shot.

These are simply a bunch of random pics from our home and farm. We're just like every other family in America. We're quirky and downright ridiculous at times, but we love each other "no matter what", as my four year old will tell you.

It just so happens that the vocation we have been called to is feeding YOUR family.

This post is so wordless that YOU get to write the captions!

Have fun! And keep it clean, this is a family show :)


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Enjoy the rest of your week! THANKS for stopping by!

Sarah :)

Channelling my Inner Grannie: Banana Bread

My "Grannie", Freeda Graziano, with her oldest child and only son, my Uncle Rick, on our family's farm in North-central Maryland in the late 1940's.

Tonight, as my children slept soundly and Jeremy was still in the field, I baked banana bread to the crackling sounds of classic country music on a.m. radio, in my cozy home built around the same time as those wonderful old tunes were originally recorded. I reflected on a busy day of being a Mama to two little gals, delivering supper to the field, and riding a few rounds in the combine with my husband. It was the first day of wheat harvest and all our hopes for a bountiful harvest are so close to coming to fruition. Standing there at the kitchen counter, putting to use so many of the skills my Grannie taught me, I could really feel her presence. She's been gone now for almost 6 years, but she was a true country woman, one heck of a cook, and was one of my dearest friends. She left a lasting impression on me, which I hope I carry in my heart the rest of my life.

She was a witty and proud woman, who during her child-rearing years was the wife of a dairyman (my grandfather). She spoke up for what she believed in, but was also a good Samaritan, doing countless good deeds behind the scenes. I hope I can be half the lady she was.

This time spent alone in my sweet-smelling kitchen was a reminder that all the values that our farms were founded on still hold true today- a rock solid work ethic, stewardship of the land, animal husbandry, infallible optimism, and at the heart of it all, faith and family. Although the men are certainly working hard on our farm tonight, long after the sun has set and the evening crickets have begun to chirp, it is the women that have been, and always will be, the glue that holds a farming family together.

Oh, and so you can share some of our farm's goodness with your family- here is a delightful recipe for banana bread- the best I've found, with my own special touches. It will make two loaves of delicious bread- and you can thank my family later for the flour (from our wheat) and the butter (from the lovely four-legged ladies who will graze our land this fall).

6 ripe bananas

2/3 cup (10.5 tbsp) REAL melted butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

pinch of salt

3 cups flour

1 cup Craisins (or just throw in the whole durn bag :)

1 cup chopped walnuts (if you're making this for the neighbor farmer, Ben Busch, leave those out)

No need for a mixer, just preheat the oven to 350 and with a wooden spoon, or one of those silicon spatula thingamabobs, mix the butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last and mix in the Craisins and walnuts. Pour the mixture into two generously buttered 4x8 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack (I had to bend mine back to the correct shape, as my 1 year old likes to play with them). Remove from pan, slice and serve with a smile :)

Back To The Future

History has always intrigued me. Maybe it's genetic. My Dad is a huge World War II buff, and as a child, I remember our house being filled with shelves of history books, paintings of planes signed by famous pilots, and spending hours with him watching documentaries. I learned the importance of studying the past, both mistakes and successes. Now I'm not saying that I haven't had a blunder here and there, but I figure, in most cases, it's easier to spend a little time seeing how other folks have erred and try to prevent repeating them, than it is to learn things the hard way.

As an 8th grader, my main project for the year in my U.S. history class was a term paper on "Agriculture from 1900-1990". Now THAT was overwhelming. From horse-drawn equipment to the invention of the cream separator, the tractor, and then modern equipment- WOW! Farming has come a long way in a short time! In fact, just 70 years ago, in 1940, the average farmer fed 19 people. Today each farmer feeds 155 people! (Source: http://www.ageducate.org/)

As part of my research for that 8th grade project, I spent an afternoon with my Grandpa Thomas interviewing him about all the changes he had witnessed growing up on my family's farm, living through the Great Depression and WWII, and working later in life for a local John Deere dealership. Thankfully, I recorded the interview with my little red battery-powered cassette player. That tape is now a treasure.

At the age 26, I realized that Grandpa Thomas, then in his mid-80's, was likely nearing the end of his days. I rushed home to visit with him, armed with my digital video camera, and a list of questions. It broke my heart that when I arrived I found that the chemo treatment he'd had that day had completely wiped him out and he passed away just a few hours later. I was devastated to lose one of my best friends, and I never got the chance to ask him so many of the things I still wonder about today.

Sometimes we do have to learn things the hard way. Not wanting to miss another precious opportunity, I've MADE the time to sit down with my husband's Grandfather, Grandpa Wilson, who will turn 90 this fall. I've been interviewing him, scanning the amazing collection of family photos he has, and recording the history of our farm, with the kids clamoring around and all.

What an amazing journey this has been. You'll definately have more posts to read on this in the future, but here's a little tidbit to whet your appetite.

My husband's Great-grandfather, J. Harry Wilson, was a true innovator in agriculture. He left the east coast, homesteaded in Indiana, then Kansas, then North Dakota. Going broke, and starting over each time. In fact, the farmstead where we farm now was the third farm in the Jamestown area where J. Harry had tried to make a go of it. Grandpa Wilson tells me he was a "hard man", and "wiry". Five feet eleven and about 140 pounds of pure grit. He had three young daughters when he lost his first wife, and re-married to Grandpa's mother, Suzie, a school teacher in her earlier years.

When they got to North Dakota, he and another farmer went to Wisconsin and brought the first dairy cows back to our area. He was one of the first farmers to individually feed his cattle based on production. Take a gander at the picture of J. Harry and Suzie Wilson, with horses Molly (left) and Libby (right). This picture was taken in 1914 in Salina, Kansas. They brought Libby along when they moved to North Dakota.

From the sounds of it, J. Harry was a brilliant man, with a solid work ethic. But as Grandpa Wilson says, he would "pinch a penny, but lose a pound". "The last farm he lost, he could barely pay for the land, but he had a good crop and went out and built a new silo on the place, and put in all new steel fence posts, and when he lost the farm, all the improvements he made stayed with the place." By the time they'd gotten established where we are now, Grandpa Wilson was getting old enough to help out and manage things for his father, and in my opinion, he saved the farm.

So here's the lesson of the day from my time with Grandpa Wilson: Work hard, but treat your family with respect and kindness. Try like the dickens to stay out of debt and invest in the things that last.

And the lesson I'd like to share with you all: Be sure to make the time to thank those in the wiser generations for their efforts. From the way Grandpa Wilson lights up when he shares his memories with me, I can tell he's enjoying our visits as much as I am.

Sometimes going back and taking a stroll through the past, can help you step forward into the future. I hope my husband and I can continue to learn from the past and the present so we can provide future generations the opportunity to farm.