Christmas Shopping for Kids? Check Out This Great Author- Dahlov Ipcar!

Once upon a time, I lived in the rural town town of Freeland, Maryland, which to this day does not contain a stop light, and there stood a church called Middletown United Methodist Church.  My great-grandmother, Lizetta Norris Bedgar, donated the land for that church to be built and eventually my parents were married there.  Years passed and the congregation dwindled, until the doors were closed.  At that time, my Mom was able to get the copy of "One Horse Farm" by Dahlov Ipcar that was in the nursery.

Source of photos: www.islandportpress.com
 

Mom sent it to me here in North Dakota. The pages are tattered and the binding is taped together, but it is a treasure to my little family and one of our favorite bedtime stories.

In fact, I can barely read it without getting choked up, because it parallels the evolution of my family's dairy farm- from horse power to tractor power so closely and I imagine some of the men in my family, some whom have passed on and are dearly missed, having similar conversations.

I recently discovered that the book's author, Dahlov Ipcar, has MANY other WONDERFUL works as well!

My children will be receiving "The Cat at Night" and "Hardscrabble Harvest" this year.

 

 "The Cat at Night" tells of the adventures of a farm cat, while the farm animals (and the farmer) are fast asleep.

 Hardscrabble Harvest is a funny, yet realistic telling of raising a garden, and all the critters that can cause trouble on the farm.

I was also excited to find the board book versions of her Farm Alphabet and Wild Animal Alphabet for my 18 month old son.

The Island Port Press has re-released her books at:

http://www.dahlovipcar.com/

Dahlov's biography is so interesting as well.  She was born in 1917 in Vermont and went on to farm with her husband in Maine.  She is such an intriguing and talented individual, I wish that I could meet her.

Her essay "My Family, My Life, My Art" is a very enjoyable read.  She wrote "Everything about farming was beautiful in my eyes. I loved the Jersey cows with their softly shaded coats more like deer than cows -- their wrinkled white stockings, and their eyes that looked as if they had been outlined with black mascara." 

Ah, she and I have that opinion of Jersey cows in common. FYI- I spent a year serving as a Jersey Cattle Queen :)

Hope you find this helpful as you do some last minute shopping for the youngins' on your list.
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 :)

"Farm Tech" Exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry

WELCOME...

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the "Farm Tech" exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I hope that someday you will get a chance to see it too!

The place is HUGE! As you enter the exhibit you are greeted by a real-life tractor!

I had fun trying out the combine simulator. Inside the cab a recording of a local ag report was even on the radio! You'll see they've got some real corn plants that blend right into the GIANT screen.

This combine simulator is a real combine, it's just running really sssssllllllooooowwwwww....this way you can see how all the parts move and the corn is harvested. They also have video kiosk's surrounding each piece of equipment so you can learn more detail about how the machines work.

There are some FUN stops too! This life size cow photo op. was a big hit with the kiddos (and their parents who were snapping away)!

Even with all my ag. experience, I learned a lot. Throughout the exhibit there are "farm facts" along the walls. I was so happy to see that the exhibit really embraced and celebrated the innovations in agriculture that have helped us to have such a safe and abundant food supply!

I even found my self-portrait! This soybean farmer welcomed me into her kitchen....

Where I found chocolate cake.... yum...

...and the icing on the cake (pun intended) was that I learned that soybean farmers (like my family) provide so many of the ingredients that I use to cook with everyday in my own kitchen!

For example, the chickens that made the eggs for this cake were fed a diet containing soybean meal, the wheat flour was fortified with soy flour for added protein and vitamins, the oil in the cake is made from soybeans, and the chocolate icing contains soybean oil to help it maintain it's liquid form!

Hope you enjoyed this "virtual visit" to the Farm Tech exhibit!

For more information:

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/farm-tech/