Committed to Agriculture while Respecting the Earth
I love when Jonathan surprises me with flowers. I love it more when he brings home flowers during the dark days of winter, when I am longing for signs of spring. The flowers in this bouquet have been making me happy for two weeks now. Not bad for a $5 mix from the grocery store!
Livestock farmers all over the upper Midwest are bracing for a cold spell. How do we make sure our pigs are safe?
Over the last few days, Jonathan has made sure the stand-by generator is in working order. We would need that in the event of a power outage. He also made sure the LP tanks were filled, to ensure plenty of fuel to run the heaters in our barns.
We like raising our pigs in barns, especially during cold spells like these! When Jonathan does chores every morning and evening, he is looking at the health of the animal, the food and water supply, the high and low temperature swings, and the quality of air in each barn. Even with the temperature at -10, and windchills at -26, the barns never went below 73 degrees F last night. The heater is set to turn on at 72 degrees, so it never had to run.
I wrote more about how we care for livestock in winter storms in December 2012. Click on the title to read Blizzards and Caring for Livestock.
Another benefit of raising pigs inside is disease control. There is a horrible sickness that is spreading like crazy between pig farms. It doesn’t matter if you raise your pigs inside, or outside, they can catch it. All pig farmers try to keep their pigs as healthy as possible, but sometimes that becomes really difficult. Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus has been found pretty close to our farm. By eliminating the ability for birds to land in their pens, and restricting the people who come into contact with our animals and equipment, we can hopefully keep them from getting sick. (To read more about PEDv, click here.) We hate when our animals get sick, just like we hate when our own kids get sick. We are thankful for a good veterinarian who will help us figure out the best treatment for our animals when they do get sick. We treat our animals a lot like we treat our family. We keep them safe, warm, fed, and as healthy as possible. When they do get sick, we treat them according to the advice of the veterinarian. The difference is, we know we are raising the pigs for meat – meat that we feed our family, and meat that will feed many of our friends.
For us, climate controlled barns are a good way to raise pigs year ’round in Minnesota.
My friend, Janice, of A Colorful Adventure, has complied other storm related blog posts. Head on over and check them out!
Call me crazy, but I love winter. The first snowfall has always been met with excitement. Most years, I bake (and we eat) the first batch of Christmas cookies on that day. When Jonathan and I were first married, our house was pretty tiny. In order to delay turning on the fuel oil furnace, I would bake. The heat of the oven was enough to warm up the house.
There are so many things to like about winter. Sweaters, curling up with a good Cookbook, Russian Tea, puzzles, and snow. I love to take my camera out the morning after a blizzard, and see what patterns the wind made in the snow. The photo above was taken after a December blizzard last year. The skies were a brilliant blue, and the contrast between the sky and the snow was stunning. There is no way I can totally capture that, but the photos I take bring me back to the feeling of the cold, crisp air, the birds singing, and the awesome colors.
I’ll admit, taking care of the animals is a bit more challenging in the winter, especially during a blizzard, but we know they are safe and warm in the barns. Other farm work is a bit more relaxed. Jonathan will crunch numbers, make decisions on what varieties of seed he wants to plant, and we’ll attend farming conferences. I love attending the conferences and seeing friends that we only see in person a couple times a year. We also sit in on sessions where we can learn about what’s happening with the Farm Bill, what we can do to help foster communication between farmers and consumers, and what the latest agriculture research says that will help make our farm better.
Mostly, I am thankful for winter, which is not only beautiful, but it gives us a chance to recharge our batteries for the next growing season.
Want to read more 30 Day Challenge blogs? Click here to go to Holly Spangler’s blog where there is an updated list of fellow bloggers.
Taken April 19th after yet another snowfall.
With yet another winter storm headed for Minnesota, I thought I’d share two photos. The first is from April 15, 2012. The second photo is from April 14, 2013. These are both taken from my front yard.
Over the last 72 hours, we have received between 15 to 18 inches of snow. We’ve had snow in 6 of the last 12 months here. Sigh. Typically we are getting the spring farm equipment out of the machine shed, and making sure everything is ready to go once the fields are dry.
Not this year! Instead of spending time in the tractor we use for preparing the seed bed, Jonathan spent time in the tractor used for clearing snow.
While he was busy clearing snow, I was getting ready to make some of these delicious little treats. Jonathan brought back this box of Beignet Mix from New Orleans when he was there with our youth group last summer.
I made a few, and decided I needed to practice my food photography a little bit. You know, things that help you stay sane on yet another snow day.
The good thing about spring snow storms is the fact that the snow will melt into the thawed ground instead of just running over the top. We can really use the moisture here, so we’re trying to be thankful. To be perfectly honest, though, I can’t wait until I see this out my window:
I’ve been learning new camera techniques during our extended winter. I am loving Digital Photography School right now. The bonus – it’s free! Anyway, I was looking for something inside to try out a few new settings on, since the weather is rainy and cold. Not to mention the blah brown landscape we still have.
I have a camera collection that I display above my built in buffet. There are some really special ones in my collection that I love looking at. They are not special because of their monetary value, but for their stories.
This camera came from my father-in-law. He was drafted into the United States Army during peacetime in the 1950’s for two years. One year was spent in Germany. He had many entertaining stories about his time there, and about the ship ride home. It was on the ship that he came into possession of this camera. According to FIL, there were a few guys gambling to pass the time. One of the guys offered to sell his camera for $30 so he could pay his debt. My FIL agreed, and bought the camera. He used it for a while before updating to a newer Argus camera. He was a pretty good hobby photographer, but mostly used his cameras to take photos at family gatherings.
In this photo, I used natural light from our large east facing windows, and had black velvet behind and under the AGFA. Other settings: Canon 60D, Av mode, ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/125, 34mm focal length. The technique I was playing with was using Av mode to achieve a shallow DOF. I also used the manual focal point setting aimed at the lettering on the top ring of the lens.
I’m sick. It doesn’t happen very often, and this cold is really making me feel cruddy. I am craving foods that give my insides a cuddle that only a warm, fuzzy blanket on a cold day can bring. Since my throat is pretty raw, and talking has become an issue, my first love has been tea.
When I was growing up, my mom would whip up a batch of Russian Tea mix in the fall. I loved coming inside from playing in the snow, and smelling the orange and spicy aroma of this tea. I still make a batch every fall, just to make sure I am prepared for the cold, snowy days of winter.
The ingredient list is pretty simple:
I have modified the recipe that is listed in our church cookbook, but that is the beauty of this recipe. You can tweak it to suit your taste.
Russian Tea Mix
2 cups Tang powdered orange drink (this works much better than orange Kool-aid)
1 1/2 cups sugar (I omit the sugar – this is sweet enough without it)
3/4 cup unsweetened lemon flavored instant tea
1/3 cup powdered lemonade (I use a couple packets of True Lemon instead)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Mix all ingredients…or, if you are like me, put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until all particles are the same size. I prefer everything to be well mixed, and the same size so everything dissolves evenly. Store in an airtight container. Add 2 tablespoons of tea mix to an 8 ounce mug of boiling water.
Lately, I’ve been adding a splash of cranberry juice to my tea. If it’s before bed, I may add a splash of Prairie Vodka as well. It is my form of NyQuil.
What are some of your favorite comfort foods that you crave when not feeling well? Share your recipes, if you’d like. I’d love to try them!
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year from the Olson family!
The Christmas season is typically filled with the hustle and bustle of baking, shopping, and decorating. This year, we added a trip to the Mayo Clinic for Anna’s yearly checkup, and grain hauling into the mix. Some decorating didn’t happen, but Christmas isn’t dependent on how festive the house looks. After all, Jesus was born in a stable, surrounded by farm animals.
I am so thankful for Anna’s positive check up. Her MRI showed no new Multiple Sclerosis activity, and her physical tests showed no major declines in strength or other issues. That was our first Christmas gift this year. Anna and I left for Rochester a day early, due to a blizzard warning in that area. We wanted to get ahead of the storm, and avoid driving in the wide open spaces in wind driven snow. This was the third year in a row that we have spent extra time in Rochester due to winter storms. Our hotel was great when Anna’s first appointment went long, and we were late for checkout on Friday morning. They didn’t charge us a late checkout fee, even though they could have. That was our second Christmas gift this year.
On Christmas Eve Day, we started out with fresh caramel rolls for breakfast. We all went in to our church’s candle light Christmas Eve service that evening, where we served as the greeters. I love seeing all of the families who have come home for Christmas. Having our girls home for Christmas was our third gift this year.
Our family opens gifts on Christmas Eve, following the candlelight service. I love the laughter, the delight, the joy at gifts given and gifts received. Two of the girls did the majority of the gift buying this year. It was a fun night.
Christmas day dawned bright and cold. It was a day of playing games with Jonathan’s cousins from town, and eating delicious appetizers and cookies.
In the midst of all the merriment, Jonathan has been out working in the single digit temperatures to load out semi loads of grain, as well as the usual pig chores. The cold temperatures always bring equipment issues, but typically things get fixed in short order. We are thankful for our dairy friends who are out in the barns every day – holiday or not. I haven’t heard any complaints about working holidays, or working in the extreme cold. This is the life we have chosen, and we are thankful for it.
So, from our farm to you, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
We were hit with a blizzard warning this weekend, the first major snow of the season. Our forecast on Friday was for 3-4 inches of snow for the weekend, and no watches or warnings. That changed in a hurry on Saturday. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a winter weather advisory for Saturday night, and a blizzard warning for Sunday. Our 3-4 inches became 15 inches…and a lot of wind. We had wind gusts in excess of 40 mph.
This is one of our little trees on Saturday morning. I ran out in flip flops and a fleece jacket to take this photo since it was a beautiful 34 degrees.
This is what the tree looked like early Sunday morning. It was still snowing pretty good at this point. I wore my snow boots with my fleece jacket this time. The snow was coming in over the tops of my 10 inch boots.
When the winds picked up around 2:00pm, the temps dropped from 34 degrees to 16 degrees in about a half an hour. When trees and power lines are loaded with snow, and the winds kick up to over 40 mph, chances are good we’re going to lose power. The first time the power flashed, both Jonathan and I held our breath. Then, it was lights out. This meant a trip to our other farm site in a whiteout.
Our pigs are housed inside barns where they are warm and dry in the winter, cool and comfy in the summer. They have curtain sides that act like windows in the summer, and, when opened several inches, are emergency ventilation systems in the winter. The barns were built on the farm site where Jonathan and I lived for the first 10 years of our marriage.
When the power goes out, we hook up a generator that attaches to a tractor, keeping the barns running as normal. This means that Jonathan must bundle up and drive the tractor the 2.5 miles to the other farm. The tar roads were somewhat manageable, if he drove slowly enough. The turn onto the gravel road meant that all ditch edges were pretty much invisible. It really made me think about all the stories of people getting turned around in blizzards, and being found miles from home. This is the part where I did a lot of praying!
The kindly neighbor, who lives on the corner where Jonathan turned, said he would check on Jonathan when I called and told him the situation. That was a good thing! Jonathan had gone off the road, and had troubles seeing which direction he needed to go. He finally could make out the edge of the grove at the kindly neighbors, and headed back in that direction. That is where he ended up staying for the night.
Fortunately, the renters in our little house on the barn site were home. The husband agreed to check on the barns, and make sure the automatic curtains dropped for emergency ventilation. The power was out for just over 5 hours…the first time. It stayed on for about 20 minutes before going out for another hour. The last time we lost power was in the middle of the night, for about an hour that time as well. The outside temperatures were in the -14 degree range at that point. Our renter went out to the barns and adjusted the curtains to make sure there was plenty of fresh air, yet the pigs weren’t getting too cold.
This is what we woke up to. A gorgeous December day.
After Jonathan finally made it home, he went to work clearing out our yard with our little cab-less tractor. He cleaned enough snow to get the pickup out of the yard, then went into town to help his sister. After dinner, our friends went over to the other farm site with their big tractor that has a blade on the front. In the summer, this blade is used for pushing silage into piles. In the winter, we hire him to clear snow. When the barn site was cleaned out, they pulled our tractor out of the ditch, then they came over to our home place and cleaned out our yard.
While our yard was being cleaned out, Jonathan was over checking on things at the barn. There were a few things to take care of due to the weather, but thankfully, all the pigs looked good!
We are so thankful that Jonathan had a warm place to stay last night! This was the first time in 14 years that he hasn’t made it to the barns in a storm. He has driven over in blizzards, tornado warnings, and severe thunderstorms. To him, it’s the right thing to do.
