Tag: Fun Fact Friday

Fun Fact Friday: Where I Came From…

Class of 1986

I grew up in Champlin, Minnesota, one of the northern suburbs of Minneapolis. I had a great childhood, in part because we lived in a neighborhood where kids would get together and play ditch-em, we’d ride our bikes, or just run around the yard playing whatever sport we felt like at the time. I have many fond memories of our house there.

In 1986, I graduated from Anoka Senior High School with a class of over 675 students. On any given day, there were close to 3000 students cruising through the halls of the high school. I had friends in many groups, but mostly preferred those who were in my youth group from church since they were the ones I saw most often. Our academic classes weren’t necessarily split into grades, so sometimes you weren’t sure if someone was in your graduating class or not. It was interesting sitting through graduation ceremonies and realizing you didn’t know someone in your class. That doesn’t happen where I live now!

Jonathan graduated in a class of 40, including 2 foreign exchange students. I’m sure if I asked some of those classmates where everyone resides today, they would be able to tell me. Most of them started kindergarten together, and a few have known each other pretty much since birth. There are good things, and bad things about being a close class. 🙂

Jonathan and I have been married for 26 years, and I still find it amazing that our town population is less than half of what the student body was at my high school. It was a bit of a culture shock when I first moved to the farm, but now I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Every day I am thankful that I met Jonathan, married him, and am now his right hand (wo)man.

I’m pretty proud of where I came from, but I’m even more proud of where I am today.

 

Fun Fact Friday – Always Thinking, Always Improving

CarolynCares New Flame Weeder

The guys tell me that our new flame weeder should be finished today!  Be looking for a full blog post next week about the build, and the safety and efficiency improvements they built into the new unit.

In the meantime, you can read up on what flame weeding is by clicking here and here.

Fun Fact Friday – The Hatfields and McCoys

We’ve been touring Pikeville and Pike County, Kentucky for the past few days. Our daughter and her fiance will be moving here following their wedding, when he begins medical school. This area is full of history, but the most interesting to us this visit was the Hatfield & McCoy family feud. We drove part way through the driving tour, on winding mountain roads that are not suited for prairie dwellers like me! The area is absolutely beautiful, and it was easy to picture the places that were described on the CD narration. We made one stop at the Blackberry Post Office, where the feuds began.

CarolynCares Hatfields and McCoys

The lesson that we came away with, was the importance of forgiveness. All of this might have been avoided with good communication, and a willingness to forgive. We can’t let past hurts and wrongs fester in our hearts. Nothing good ever comes from it.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37 NIV

Fun Fact Friday – Barley Harvest!

Did you know that there is more than one way to harvest barley?

We combine our barley with our “soybean head” while the barley is still standing tall in the field. Part of the reason is that we also have field peas mixed in. For more on growing barley and field peas together, click here.

Barley Pea Harvest - CarolynCares
“Straight” combining barley & field peas

 

Other farmers swath their barley first, let it dry on the ground, then combine it using a “pick up head”.

Yesterday, I read a blog about barley harvest where they swath the barley first. The photos on Griggs Dakota are awesome. You need to go check out the photos, and learn another way of harvesting barley.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Fun Fact Friday – What’s Going on in the Corn Field?

Jonathan, Anna, and I returned from vacation late Saturday. We had only been gone for four days, but the crops had changed a lot in those four days. On Sunday afternoon, Jonathan and I took the Ranger out for a little crop tour.

We checked the sky before we left. Sunshine to the north, a few big clouds, but no rain.

Checking the sky before we went on our tour
Checking the sky before we went on our tour

We took the Polaris Ranger so we could drive through the ditches or on the edges of the fields a little easier. Ok. We took the Ranger because it’s fun!

Riding in the Ranger
Riding in the Ranger

We looked at the barley and field pea field first. Jonathan was hoping it would be ready to harvest on Monday. It was too wet, so only the edges have been combined. Next, we went to one of the corn fields that appeared in our flame weeding video.

Jonathan brought a tape measure out, so we measured a few stalks of corn. They measured 9 feet tall!

The corn is as high as an elephants eye...or 9 feet
The corn is as high as an elephants eye…or 9 feet
Corny...
Corny…

After we measured the height, we went looking for the baby ear. To find the ear, we looked near the base of a leaf, and near a joint in the stalk. You can see the the very top of the husks peeking out.

The baby ear, before the silks emerged
The baby ear, before the silks emerged

We peeled back the leaves to reveal the corn in its husk.

Baby corn husk
Baby corn husk

Next, we peeled back the husks to find the mini ear. You can see the silks and the tiny kernels.

Silks and tiny kernels are ready for action
Silks and tiny kernels are ready for action

Even at this early stage, you can see how many rows this cob of corn would have. There should be an even number of rows. This one had 16.

Counting the rows
Counting the rows

Even field corn tastes sweet at this stage. I prefer to eat sweet corn, though!

IMG_9847b
Scouting can make you hungry!

After our tour of the corn, we went over to one of the soybean fields. We selected a random plant, and checked it over for signs of soybean aphids, root health, and nitrogen nodules on the root system. Thankfully, all things looked really good. The soybeans are blossoming here, so we’re hoping for nice rains and moderate temperatures.

Soybean plant
Soybean plant

Our last stop was the wheat. It is a bit behind the barley & peas, so it won’t be ready to harvest for another week or two yet.

Wheat field
Wheat field

That semi dark cloud that was over the windmill? It started raining on us when we were about 1/2 mile from home. It rained just enough to get us wet, then the sun came back out. Figures!

Please check out my friend’s blogs. Dairy Carrie wrote about Corn Sex, and Brian Scott wrote about Corn Porn. Both are great at explaining how corn is pollinated. Give ’em a read, you won’t be disappointed!

Fun Fact Friday – John Deere Runs in our Blood

This was supposed to have been written yesterday afternoon (Friday), but we had a few waves of severe weather that put us in the basement for awhile. We’re all okay, and our crops look decent despite a bit of hail. Today is our Century Farm Appreciation Party! We are so thankful for the support from family and friends, and all those we do business with. Planning this event has been an exercise in counting our blessings.

Our daughter, Anna, has been putting together a PowerPoint slide show for part of our display. We noticed a trend when it comes to equipment…99% of it is John Deere!  Here are a few photos that show the history of our harvesting equipment.

machinery 13

machinery 6

machinery 8

 

machinery 1
45

 

machinery 5
4400

 

machinery 18
7720

 

DSC_0283b
9600

 

9650
9650

I’m not certain on what the correct order is for the first three photos, but I will be asking some of our local experts. That is the other fun part of this journey. Asking questions of our more seasoned generation, and watching their eyes light up as they talk about using the different pieces of machinery when they were young. Most of the gentlemen I have talked with are either retired, or are getting close to retirement. They all have passed the usual retirement age, but they still love to farm, so they have not yet fully retired. That says something, I think. What other job has you wanting to stay there even after you’ve reached your mid-70’s?

Next week, I’ll give a recap of our Appreciation Party. In the meantime, I have some salads to make.

 

Fun Fact Friday – Some Things Never Change

In a past blog, I’ve talked about how we are following in Grandpa’s footsteps by raising seed. As we look at the history of our farm, and the men who have built it to what it is today, we find little gems that make us squeal with delight.

I may or may not have jumped up and down like a little girl when we found a newspaper article featuring Grandpa Nuel, and Uncle Bob. The article talks about what it takes to raise seed, and why they do it. It also talks about why Bob built the shop that still stands at our place.

The shop that Bob built
The shop that Bob built

When I first read the newspaper article, the thing that struck me is how similar the seed production requirements are today as they were back in that time (we’re estimating the article was written around 1950). The author does a great job of explaining the whole process from planting, to harvest, to storage.

We live in a world where everything has to be the latest and greatest. If it is shiny, updated, loaded with features, we will do what we have to in order to get it. We “need” the software that organizes everything, the farm apps that keep cropping and livestock records, and iAnything to make our lives run efficiently. I will freely admit that I love my electronics!

Sometimes, though, we get little reminders that the “old” way isn’t as outdated as we thought. While our field inspectors may record things on their laptops, we still need the inspectors’ feet in the dirt, looking for things that could prevent us from selling our crop for seed. The process, as a whole, is solid. While we may have an easier time tracking lot numbers and field information with computers (and let’s be honest, hello printing capabilities! I can’t imagine hand writing out tags for 3000 bushels of seed!), the steps to go from seed to plant to grow to harvest to seed is still pretty good.

Like Grandpa is quoted as saying in the article below, we enjoy producing high quality seed. Some things never change.

(Click on the article to make it bigger)

Nuel article a

Nuel article b

Fun Fact Friday – Century Farm Edition part 1

Our family is having fun researching the history of our farm as we prepare for our appreciation party planned for the end of June. For the next few Fridays, I’ll share a fun fact related to what we have found.

Today’s Fun Fact:

In 1914, for 50 cents, our farm was registered as Fairview Farm by Daniel Olson.

A copy of the farm name registration from the county courthouse
A copy of the farm name registration from the county courthouse