Carpet From Corn!

Yesterday something rare happened.  Perhaps even naughty.

 

Okay, really nothing naughty about it, but it felt wickedly good to break the rules of our "regularly scheduled life" :)

 

Jeremy and I skipped out on a conference we had planned to attend. 

 

It's called the Cornvention and it is the annual meeting of the North Dakota Corn Growers Association.  Yes, you guessed it, there you can learn lots about growing corn in North Dakota.

 

(Click HERE for a video on how we harvest corn on our farm.)

 

However, there is something going on in our lives that has temporarily taken precedence over corn.

 

We're giving the Wilson family farm house a makeover. 

 

This requires us to make approximately 80,000 little decisions that when they come together will create a new home for our family.

 

Yesterday we tackled some decisions about cabinets and flooring.

 

There is some irony here. As we were skipping out on the Cornvention (gasp!), we discovered that Mohawk (which, to my knowledge, is a branch of DuPont) has a new line of carpet.

 

It's called SmartStrand Silk.

 

It is THE SOFTEST carpet I have ever touched.  Softer than my daughter's favorite teddy bear!

 

AND the best part is that it is made from CORN!!!

 

The same corn we grow in our fields!  We have have 79,999 more decisions to make, but I'm pretty sure we're sold on this carpet :)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! And if we missed you at the Cornvention, we'll see you next year!

Sarah :)

 

Monsanto Representative Visits the Wilson Home and Farm

I first met Janice "JP" Person (otherwise known on Twitter as @JPLovesCotton) when I attended the AgChat Training in Chicago in 2010.

I've blogged about her before...

http://farmeronamission.blogspot.com/2011/10/jp-loves-cotton.html

She was full of energy and I was amazed and what a whiz she was with social media tools. She has helped open my eyes to a whole new realm of connectivity with farmers and ranchers around the world, with those who purchase and consume the end products made from the crops we grow, and folks in between.

We kept running into each other at industry events and keeping in touch online. Here she included me in the list of folks she visited with at the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference in Orlando...

http://janiceperson.com/social-media/faces-americas-young-farmers-ranchers/

She reads, and references, my blog (scroll down to "Want to know more about wheat?")

http://janiceperson.com/ag-awareness/wheat-fields-missouri-roadtrips-midwest/

Then when she planned a summer vacation to North Dakota, I was flattered that the Wilson Farm made the list of her "must sees".

I wish I could introduce everyone I know to Janice because she is one of those really special people that is completely genuine and by knowing her, I know there are people in the corporate world that really care (and she cares deeply) about those of us trying to make a living in agriculture. She cares enough that she keeps coming back to North Dakota to learn more and to share her expertise and experiences. Even yesterday, when it was REALLY cold, she travelled to Bismarck.

I am writing now because I realized how much I missed seeing her this time around.

She came to North Dakota the first time this summer and she blogged about her experiences...

http://janiceperson.com/travel/can-southern-hospitality-be-matched-in-the-dakotas/

She also made this touching video called "Parenting on the Prairie", which features our family, and causes me to tear up (with joy) everytime I watch it:

http://janiceperson.com/travel/parenting-on-the-prairie-photos-from-my-dakota-vacation-dadchat/

This summer, we met up with Janice at a friends house where she and Jeremy "agnerded"
about farm-related iPhone apps.

Later that week, she stayed with our family and spent the day touring our farm and our town.

She drove one of our tractors.

She checked our crops with us.

She stayed, even though our "guest room" (which doubles as my office) was formerly my six year old's bedroom and is all Disney Princessed-out.

She stayed, even though there is duct tape on the inside of our ONLY bathroom door. (My kids are infamous for playing with the lock, then closing the door behind them, so I took care of that, lol)

She stayed, even though my three year old daughter had wiped poop on our shower curtain. (Apparently, my little gal couldn't reach the toilet paper, so I guess she went for the next closest thing).

Bless her heart! Janice is a representative of one of the largest agricultural corporations in the world (which we are proud to do business with). She could have gone anywhere on her vacation, but she chose to come see our little family in our little town.

Then a few weeks after she left, the most amazing gift arrived.

A lovely card and a USB drive with all the photos she took while she was here. Janice is a VERY talented photographer and I treasure these photos because not only are they candid shots of us just being us, but I'm in them with my family. You see, I'm almost always behind the camera, so photos of me interacting with my family are worth more than precious jewels to me.

God bless you Janice, in all you do. THANK YOU for the work you do at Monsanto and on your personal time. Your passion is inspiring. THANK YOU for choosing to share your talents with agriculture, when you had the freedom to go anywhere and do anything. THANK YOU for making the effort to really get to know the people behind the products you represent.

Our door is always open (and the lock will likely be covered in tape).

Sarah :)