You're a "Real Farmer?!"

I wrote a blog post yesterday for my job and have had some really nice comments on it.  Since it's been a while since I've posted on here (I'm really sorry, just been so busy!) I thought I'd share it here as well.  Hope you enjoy and I promise to be back with more soon!

A mutual friend recently introduced me to someone I’ll call Jane. Jane is college-educated, holds a good job and seemed to be an all around intellectual individual. In the course of our conversation and in getting to know each other it came up that I was from a farm. She literally said to me, “Oh my gosh, YOU are an ACTUAL farmer?” I explained that no, I have a full-time job, but my Dad IS a farmer and yes, I do still help on the farm when he needs it and my time allows. His operation isn’t large enough to hire full-time farmhands… that’s why he had four kids of course, built in help!

Jane was so excited to meet an actual ‘farmer’, she had a lot of questions that I was happy to answer. Some of them seemed so silly to me that I had a hard time not rolling my eyes. But then I remembered: if we as individuals who KNOW the answers to the silly questions don’t take them seriously, then who will? The people who have an anti-ag agenda, that’s who. And trust me, they are out there scattering their false statements around like a manure spreader.

After a lengthy conversation, I think Jane has a better understanding of agriculture and what farming actually is all about. She had no clue that 94% of all farms are family owned. Instead, she thought that the majority were owned by corporate entities and they just hired people to work on the farms. I asked her why she thought that and she said one of the reasons was the signs in fields. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. Those seed corn signs that are all over the countryside this time of year? Yeah, to those outside of the ag world, they think that displays ownership of the field.

I must admit there were a few of her questions that I couldn’t give a precise answer to. Like what exactly are in pesticides and how they are applied. I’m not a chemist, nor do I have an applicators license, so while I can give broad answers, I can’t give specific details. However, since I do also work in the ag industry, I told her that it would be easy for me to find the answers and would gladly do so for her if she would like me to.

I present this only as an example and a reminder of what the ag community needs to do. If urban folks that literally live in our own backyards are excited, impressed and shocked to meet an actual ‘farmer’ then we aren’t doing our jobs! For so long, farmers have belonged to an association thinking that the association would promote their industry for them. That worked for a while, but no more.

Non-farmers want to connect with farmers. They want to understand who you are, what you do and why you do it. If you don’t tell them, who will?

Happy Birthday!

A young girl, two hands on the wheel
I can't replace the way it, made me feel
And he'd say, turn it left now, and steer it right
Straighten up girl now, you're doin' just fine
Just a lil' valley by the river where we'd ride
But I was high on a mountain, when daddy let me drive

Happy birthday to the best damned Daddy in the world! 

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Corn on the Cob

Cilantro is a love or hate herb.  I happen to love it.  Mix it with a little lime and you definately have a winner.  We have so much cilantro in the garden and I can't just let it go to waste, so I'm trying out new ways to put it to use.  This is definately a winner!

What You'll Need:

• Corn on the cob
• Butter (2 tablespoon per ear)
• 1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped 
• Juice of 1 lime 
• Salt, to taste
• Red pepper flakes, optional

What You Do:

Preheat grill.

Shuck and clean corn. 

Mix butter with cilantro, lime juice, salt and red pepper flakes. 

Coat each ear of corn in 2 tablespoons of the cilantro lime butter and wrap individually in foil.

Place on grill for around 15-20 minutes. 

Wordless Wednesday: Splash

The temperature is finally reflecting that summer is here!  The last few days have been so hot, there isn't much you can do besides play in the water when outside.  So that's exactly what we've been doing. 

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here.

Destruction

I'm an animal lover.  I'm one of those people that sees a puppy out in the middle of the country and think that maybe some jerkface dropped it off out in the middle of nowhere to fend for itself.  And I want to pick it up and take it home with me.  I'm the type of person that will bottle feed a baby raccoon and nurse it back to health after falling out of a tree.  Yes, I'm an animal lover.  BUT, I'm not a lover of puppy teeth. 

These two adorable pups that we have now are truely testing me.  This the third pair of my boots they have gotten a hold of!  Not to mention they've ruined a pair of Monkey's shoes as well.  Seriously, this has got to stop.  Any suggestions on how to get puppies to quit chewing on things they aren't supposed to chew on?  They have all sorts of chew toys, but those are all still perfectly in tact!