Thankful Thursday: Mama's View of Wheat Harvest

Oh how I long to be behind the wheel of one of those big machines, be it the combine which collects the grain, or the tractor trailer (aka "semi") hauling grain to the storage bin or the grain elevator.  I only get to be a farm equipment operator on rare occasions these days. 

You see, as the only child in my family, I was expected to help on the farm and be son my father never had. 

No problem for me, I was quite the tomboy, so I grew up running farm equipment, helping Dad repair equipment, sand blasting, etc.  Even in our dating days and early marriage, Jeremy was teaching me to be an official farm hand.  I loved it, but it seemed that God had other plans, because we were only 5 weeks into our marriage when we got pregnant with C.W., which was such an answer to prayer :) 

So today, having been blessed with three little ones ages four, two, and three months, and two jobs off the farm, one with a farm organization, the other as a professional speaker, I'm not only booked up, but it isn't a safe situation to have such little ones around such large equipment with Mama's attention divided. 

 

I know my time will come, when the kids are a little older, and I will wait patiently for the "equipment operator" chapter of my life.  Okay, those of you who know me, know that, in reality, I wait patiently for NOTHING, but I'm hoping the good Lord will help me "embrace my place" and enjoy these precious moments with my little ones for the precious gift that they are. 

 

So here's a little glimpse into the view from Mama's seat, not the one high up in the combine or the semi, but from the driver's seat of the family pick-up that the children named "Hi Ho Silver".  I'm the official "go-fer"...I "go-fer" supper...I "go-fer" parts...you get my drift :) 

The day I snapped these pics, we were working on wheat harvest. Yields were disappointing due to the goofy weather we had this spring/summer, but I always say something is better than nothing to harvest.

I had parked on an approach (little driveway across the ditch) into the field. I knew that a truck would be arriving soon to get filled with grain, but I stayed there because I didn't want to leave the pickup running in the tall wheat stubble (can we say fire hazard?) and we needed some air circulation and the Curious George story on CD to keep playing :)

So there I was sitting, when the baby got hungry. Sure enough, as soon as he'd settled into nursing, I had to move the pickup. So I put it into drive and got out of the way of the truck. I think this earns me a gold medal in multi-tasking :)  Of course, I would NEVER do this on a road, but in a smooth field, for a short distance, it worked. And it made me laugh. Being a farmwife and mother, I am constantly doing things that I'd never imagined doing in a million years. 

I love my life :)

- Sarah

"Give the world the best you have anyway."

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith, 1968.



People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

I found this poem at the Prayer Foundation. Hope you enjoyed it.
Sarah :)

JP Loves Cotton!

I am often reminded of how diverse agriculture really is.  I am generally focused on the production of food, but there is SO much more to agriculture, including, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and fiber.  One of those wonderful fibers is COTTON.  I LOVE COTTON!  I love wearing it, I love how easily it washes, I love that it comes from farm fields right here in the good old USA.  But noone I ever met loves cotton as much as JP loves cotton. 

I met JP at the 2010 Ag Chat 2.0 training in Chicago.  I think she smiled the entire weekend.  She's my kind of gal. 

If you like my blog and following my random adventures raising kids, corn, wheat, soybeans, pinto beans and cover crops, but would be interested in slightly more urban flair, and array of different agricultural products (like rice) you've GOT to check out JP's blog:

http://jplovescotton.com/

Special THANKS to JP for mentioning me as one of the "Farm Mom Blogs" she reads (I'm a latecomer in the comments section).

http://jplovescotton.com/blogs-i-read/blogging-home-family-farm/


Oh, and special thanks to JP for snapping this rare footage of the elusive Val Wagner and I in the wild :)

Progressive Dairyman: Dairy Blogs We Love

I am honored that my blog is featured on Progressive Dairyman Magazine's "Dairy Blogs We Love" list! Progressive Dairyman is one of my favorite agricultural publications and their "Proud to Dairy" campaign is fabulous!

I'm not offically a dairy farmer, although I am a passionate advocate for dairy and on our farm here in North Dakota we partner with a local dairy farm to graze dairy heifers on our cover crops and my family raises dairy heifers in Maryland.

If you'd like to see the complete list of "Dairy Blogs We Love", check it out here:

http://proudtodairy.ning.com/page/dairy-blogs-we-love

Oh, and one more thing... someday, somehow, I WILL have dairy cattle again (like this adorable little gal I met in Germany). Mark my words :)

Wordless Wednesday: Faith, Hope, Love.

C.W., my four year old daughter, took this picture when our wee little man was brand new. This week he'll be 12 weeks old. My how the time does fly.

"...And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love".

1 Corinthians 13:13.

You're Invited! CRP Conversion Plots & Cover Crops Tour

Sunhemp covercrop interseeded into corn.

We were awarded a grant from the USDA for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.  We have been working in partnership with the local Natural Resources Conservation District and Soil Conservation District to research how to convert land that was in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to growing forage soybeans and other cover crops.  On our farm we also have interseeded cover crops into corn.  At yet another site we have had success partnering with a local dairy farm who grazes our cover crops in the spring and fall. 

If you're interested in seeing first hand what we are doing to increase the health and productivity of our soil, join us at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 20th at our Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Conversion Plots and Cover Crops Tour!
Directions to research plots: 3 miles south of I-94 & I-281 intersection.  At Countryside RV, go 1 mile west on 39th street.  Then go 1/8th mile south.

Topics Covered:

· No-Tilled Crops After CRP

· Interseeded Cover Crops Into Corn

· Selecting & Establishing Cover Crops

· Grazing Cover Crops

· Mobile Weather Station

· Soil Health Analysis

· Nutrient Availability

Featuring Representatives from:

˜ Jeremy Wilson, Wilson Farm

˜ Ryan Odenbach, Watershed Coordinator, Stutsman County SCD

˜ John Nowatski, Ag Machine Systems Specialist, NDSU

˜ Ron Volk, Western Ag Innovations, Inc.

˜ Terry Entzminger, Entzminger Dairy

LUNCH IS PROVIDED!

Hope to see you there!
Sarah :)

What is a Farmer?

This is my Mom and my Grandfather in November 1959, around the year this poem below was published :)

My Mom shared this with me. She is the daughter of a dairyman and a retired farmer's wife. When I asked her where she got it she said, " I don't know, but it's old. I think it was from something from the Maryland Extension Service. The original is on yellowed paper with worn edges." She guessed it was from the 1960's. So enjoy this oldie, but goodie, with an anonymous author. THANKS MOM!

WHAT IS A FARMER?

Well, that depends entirely on where you stand.

To his wife, he's a big eater, heavy sleeper, someone to share hopes and dreams with.

To his minister, he's a believer in God in nature, and nature in God.

To a politician, he's someone you talk about during elections.

To a businessman, he's a customer.

To the banker, he's a depositor.

To his neighbor, he's a friend.

To his children, he's a man who always has a chore for them.

To his dog, he's a man with a quiet voice.

To the grocer, he's a Godsend.

To the dairy cooperative, he's the owner.

To the insurance agent, he's a big risk.

To the mechanic, he's a mechanical wizard who fixes things himself.

To the doctor, he's a physical wonder.

And to himself, well, only he can tell you that---but chances are, he won't.

You see, it depends entirely on how you look at him.

Actually, the farmer is all of these---and more.

For one thing, he's just about as close to being an independent business as one can be these days. The farmer is pretty much his own boss, and what he makes, he makes by the sweat of his own brow. Each year he has to gamble with nature as to whether or not he will have a crop. If nature wins, the farmer loses- if the farmer wins, then nature has been kind.

He's quite a man, this farmer of ours.

- Anonymous